Convert PSD to AI as shapes, not pixels.
Export a PNG preview and trace it below to see where auto-trace breaks, then let a human deliver a layered Illustrator file rebuilt from your PSD, with real paths, global swatches and live type where the font is known.
The short answer
Illustrator can open a PSD, but its pixel layers come in as embedded images, not paths. Some of the file may already be vector: shape layers and saved paths copy straight into Illustrator, and a vector smart object opens its original artwork when you double-click it. Everything painted, filtered or styled is pixels. Upload the PSD itself, layers intact, and a designer redraws the artwork with named layers, global swatches and live type where the font is known, in 24 hours.
A PSD is layers of pixels. Illustrator needs paths.
A PSD keeps everything Photoshop needs to edit the design: pixel layers, adjustment layers, layer styles, masks and smart objects. Very little of that is vector. Open it in Illustrator and each pixel layer arrives as an embedded image, layer styles are baked in, and the result still pixelates when it scales. Export it flat to PNG for a tracer and the type layers and shape layers, the parts that were real outlines, collapse into the same bitmap as everything else.
We start from the layered PSD, not a flattened copy. Shape layers and paths are reused where they're clean, a type layer's font name tells us which typeface to set the lettering in, and a vector smart object gives us the original artwork. Everything painted, filtered or styled is redrawn by hand as minimal-anchor paths, and effects that are part of the design become flat vector shapes. You get native AI plus PDF and SVG.
Upload the PSD
The layered file, not a flattened export. It goes straight into the order, no conversion needed.
We sort vector from pixels
A designer reuses clean shape layers and paths, then redraws the rest in Illustrator.
Layered AI in 24h
Native AI plus PDF and SVG, with a 100% remake guarantee.
Same PSD. Two very different AIs.
| For a designer in Illustrator | Human redraw · VectorWiz | Instant auto-trace |
|---|---|---|
| Layers | Named, editable | Flattened mess |
| Type | Live where possible | Outlined blobs |
| Colors | Named swatches | Unnamed duplicates |
| Anchors | Minimal, clean | Hundreds of strays |
Before you flatten the PSD.
Can I convert PSD to AI myself?
Partly. Illustrator opens a PSD (choose Convert Layers to Objects in the import options), but pixel layers arrive as images, not paths. What carries across as vector: shape layers and saved paths, which you can select in Photoshop with the Path Selection tool and paste into Illustrator, or send with File > Export > Paths to Illustrator, both without their colors; and vector smart objects, which open their original Illustrator artwork when you double-click them. The instant tracer reads PNG, JPG, HEIC and WebP, so a flat PNG export is the only way to preview a trace, and that loses the type and shape layers.
Which parts of my PSD are already vector?
Shape layers made with the Pen or shape tools, type layers (a T on the thumbnail) and some smart objects hold real outlines or live text. To check a smart object, double-click it: if Illustrator opens, the original vector artwork is inside. Painted layers, placed photos, filters and layer styles such as Drop Shadow or Bevel & Emboss are pixels and need a redraw to become vector.
Will the text stay editable?
If the PSD still has its type layers, usually yes: a type layer stores the text and the font name, so we set the lettering as live type in that typeface, editable wherever the font is installed. If the type was rasterized or the file was flattened, we identify the font from the lettering where we can, and draw custom or modified lettering as clean outlines.
What happens to shadows, glows and textures?
Photoshop renders layer styles as pixels, so there's no vector version to export. Where an effect is part of the design, such as an outline stroke or a hard-edged shadow, we rebuild it as flat vector shapes. Soft glows, grain textures and photographic elements don't reduce to clean paths, so the AI file carries the vector artwork without them. Say in the order notes if you want a flat, simplified version instead.
How fast is a PSD to AI redraw?
24 hours standard, 12-hour rush, or 3-business-day flex, with a 100% remake guarantee.
Where this converter links.
Get the PSD back as real vector.
Send the layered PSD. A designer reuses its clean paths, redraws the rest and has a layered AI file back in 24 hours, guaranteed.