Upload the bitmap to an online tracer, pick a preset, check the preview and download the SVG: the same job as Inkscape's Path ‣ Trace Bitmap, without installing anything. Either way you get new curves that approximate your bitmap, not the original design file.
A bitmap is a grid of pixels. Tracing groups those pixels into regions of similar colour or brightness, fits lines and curves around each region's outline, and writes the result as vector paths. The result is an approximation of the bitmap — new curves, not the original design file — so it's worth checking zoomed in.
Select the bitmap and choose Path ‣ Trace Bitmap (Shift+Alt+B). Inkscape's single-scan modes include brightness cutoff (a silhouette), edge detection, colour quantization and centerline tracing; multiple scans give more detail but create a separate object for each scan. The trace is placed exactly on top of your bitmap, so move it aside to compare (Inkscape manual: tracing an image).
| In Inkscape | Closest Image2Vector setting |
|---|---|
| Brightness cutoff (single scan) | Black & White mode — it picks the dark/light cut for each image automatically |
| Multiple scans by colour | Color mode — each colour region becomes its own path |
| Moving the trace off the bitmap to compare | The Original toggle in the preview |
Measurements and test files: how to fix a traced SVG.
Inkscape is free and runs on your own computer, so the image never leaves it, and it offers more tracing modes. An online tracer needs no install and gives you presets and a before/after preview. We haven't published a side-by-side comparison of their output, so try both on your own image if quality is close.
No. It builds new curves that approximate the bitmap. For a clean, flat graphic the result can serve as a new master, but it is a rebuild, not a restoration.
The bitmap had noise — dust, grain or compression artifacts — and the tracer traced it. Raise Filter Speckle or start from a cleaner copy; how to fix a traced SVG shows how much each setting removes.
Both. Use Color mode (or multiple scans in Inkscape) for colour, and Black & White for single-colour marks, which come out simpler and recolour easily.