Guide · 4 min read

Vectorize in Photoshop: the paths it makes, and where it stops.

How to vectorize an image in Photoshop: select a color, make a work path, fill it as a shape, and take the paths to Illustrator; then where that stops, and the faster way.

A camera aperture of six plum blades inside a slate ring, a small peach dot at its top right, on ivory
The WebP as uploaded79 KBVecSnap's SVG1.7 KB54 anchor points

Photoshop cannot vectorize a whole image at once: it has no Image Trace. Its way is a path you make from a selection, one color at a time: select a color with the Magic Wand or Color Range, click Make Work Path in the Paths panel, fill the path as a shape layer, and repeat. For an SVG, export the paths to Illustrator, or let a converter redraw the whole image at once.

Updated 5 sources ↓

Can it

Can Photoshop vectorize an image?

Not in one step. Photoshop has no Image Trace: it turns a selection you make into a path, one shape at a time, and its Content-Aware Tracing tool, a preview feature, follows one edge at a time. Illustrator's Image Trace, or a converter, redraws the whole picture.

  • Make Work Path, in Photoshop

    What you get
    One path from one selection, color by color
    Good for
    A logo in one or two colors

  • The Pen tool, in Photoshop

    What you get
    A path you place point by point
    Good for
    A single shape you want exact

  • Content-Aware Tracing, in Photoshop

    What you get
    A path along one edge you point at, a preview feature
    Good for
    An outline traced faster than by Pen

  • Image Trace, in Illustrator

    What you get
    Every color traced in one go, then expanded
    Good for
    A logo in several colors

  • VecSnap

    What you get
    The whole picture redrawn as shapes, each color a group
    Good for
    Logos, icons and illustrations

The steps

How do I vectorize a logo in Photoshop?

Select one color, turn the selection into a path with Make Work Path, fill that path as a shape layer, and repeat for every color. Then hide the picture underneath.
  1. Open the logo. With the Magic Wand, click one color; Shift-click adds more of it.
  2. Or choose Select › Color Range to take every pixel of one color at once.
  3. In the Paths panel, Option-click (Alt-click on Windows) Make Work Path, and set its Tolerance.
  4. With the path active, choose Layer › New Fill Layer › Solid Color: the path becomes a shape you can recolor.
  5. Repeat for each color, then hide the picture under the shapes.
  6. To take the paths out, choose File › Export › Paths to Illustrator.

Tolerance

What does Tolerance do in Make Work Path?

It sets how closely the path follows the edge of the selection, from 0.5 to 10 pixels. A low value hugs every step with many anchor points; a high one smooths the edge with fewer.

An SVG out

Can Photoshop save an SVG?

Not by default. In 2021 Adobe moved SVG out of Export As, behind a legacy option, and points to Illustrator for SVG. The dependable route is Paths to Illustrator, then Save As SVG there.
  • In PhotoshopThe legacy Export As
    • Preferences › Export: turn on the legacy Export As, then restart Photoshop
    • Adobe's own notes point to Illustrator for SVG
  • Through IllustratorPaths to Illustrator
    • File › Export › Paths to Illustrator saves the paths, without pixels
    • Open it in Illustrator, fill the paths, then Save As SVG

The faster way

Is there a faster way than tracing in Photoshop?

Yes: let a converter redraw the whole picture as shapes. Drop it here; VecSnap gives back an SVG with every color in its own group and few anchor points.

Drop your image. Get its SVG.

  1. Drop the image you would have selected color by color.
  2. VecSnap redraws every color at once, each as a group of shapes.
  3. Download the SVG and open it in Illustrator, Figma or Inkscape: every shape is a path.

Questions

Vectorizing in Photoshop, answered.

Sources

No. Image Trace is Illustrator's. Photoshop makes paths from selections, the method shown above, and its Content-Aware Tracing tool, a preview you turn on in Preferences › Technology Previews, traces one edge at a time.

Image Trace, step by step

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Drop an image. Check the file.

Converting is free. You see the whole result before you spend anything.