PNGToSVG

A high-performance tool written in Rust that converts PNG raster images into SVG vectors.

Note: This is a fast, standalone Rust rewrite of our original Python prototype. The old code is archived in /legacy_python.

Installation

For Users: Download the standalone executable for your system from the Releases page. No dependencies required.

For Developers:

cargo install pngtosvg

Usage

Command Line (CLI)

pngtosvg image.png         # Convert a single file
pngtosvg ./assets/icons/   # Convert a specific folder
pngtosvg .                 # Convert the current directory

pngtosvg image.png > out.svg          # Redirected stdout: SVG is written there
cat image.png | pngtosvg - > out.svg  # Read PNG from stdin, SVG to stdout
pngtosvg image.png -o out.svg         # Write to a specific file (works in any shell)
pngtosvg image.png -o -               # Explicitly write to stdout

When stdout is a terminal, image.svg is written next to image.png. When stdout is redirected or piped, a single file's SVG goes to stdout instead and no file is created. -o works with a single file or stdin, not directories. Directories always write files.

(Windows PowerShell 5.1 re-encodes > output as UTF-16, which corrupts the SVG. Use -o out.svg instead, or cmd, PowerShell 7+, or Git Bash.)

(Note for Linux/macOS: If not in your PATH, prefix the executable with ./)

Windows Desktop GUI

You don't need the terminal to use this tool on Windows:

• Drag & Drop: Drag your .png files directly onto the executable.
• Double Click: Double-click the executable to automatically convert all images in the same folder.

Use as a Rust Library

Add the dependency to your project:

cargo add pngtosvg

Minimal Example:

use pngtosvg::convert_file_to_svg;
use std::path::Path;

fn main() {
    let svg_content = convert_file_to_svg(Path::new("image.png")).unwrap();
    println!("{}", svg_content);
}

For advanced features, including in-memory RgbaImage conversions, please read the official documentation on docs.rs.