Vector conversion, drawn by hand.

What vector conversion actually is

A raster file — a JPG, a PNG, a screenshot, a photo of a printed sign — stores a fixed grid of coloured dots. Enlarge it and the dots enlarge with it, so edges soften and stair-step. A vector file stores the shape instead: anchor points and the curves between them, described mathematically. The same vector logo prints cleanly on a business card and on a forty-foot banner, because nothing is being stretched — it is being recalculated.

For a production shop the difference is not cosmetic, it is mechanical. A plotter needs closed paths or the blade never completes the cut. A press needs colours separated onto named plates. A router needs geometry it can offset for kerf. An embroidery machine needs stitch data, not a picture. None of that exists inside a JPG, and none of it is reliably produced by pressing auto-trace.

Vector conversion is the work of rebuilding that artwork so the machine can run it. It goes by several names — vector tracing, image vectorization, raster-to-vector conversion, vector artwork conversion — and they all describe the same job. VectorWiz does it by hand.

Manual redraw vs. automatic tracing

An automatic tracer samples where colours change and lays a path along the boundary. That is a reasonable way to make a picture resembling the original. It is a poor way to make a file a machine can run, because the tracer has no idea what the artwork *is* — it cannot tell a letterform from a smudge, or a deliberate outline from JPEG compression noise.

• **Node count.** A trace typically produces thousands of anchor points where a redraw uses tens. Every stray node is somewhere the cut can stutter.
• **Open paths.** Traced contours frequently do not close. A cutter follows the path and simply stops where the geometry stops.
• **Flattened colour.** A trace produces adjacent colour regions, not separated inks. There is nothing to hand a press as a plate.
• **Type.** Small text is where tracers fail most visibly — letterforms mush together or drop out. Type has to be rebuilt, and where a font is identifiable it is set again properly and outlined.
• **No production allowances.** Kerf compensation, stitch-aware simplification, choke and spread, weeding-friendly contours — none of these exist in a trace, because the tracer does not know what machine the file is for.

A human redraw starts from the intent of the artwork rather than its pixels. A designer identifies the shapes, rebuilds them with deliberate curves, sets the type, separates the colours and prepares the geometry for the process that will actually run it. That is slower than clicking a button, which is why it is priced per job — and it is the reason the file works the first time.

What you get back

Every order is redrawn by hand in Illustrator with named layers and correct spot colours, and returns as **layered AI, EPS, SVG and PDF** — all four, on every job, at no extra charge. DXF, DST/PES stitch files, colour separations and other specialty formats are produced on request; say which machine the file is for and the deliverable is built to match. Files arrive as a zip, both by email and in your dashboard.

Colour is matched before anything is drawn, not corrected afterwards. Specify PMS Solid Coated, PMS Premium, RAL Classic, RAL Design, CMYK process or RGB — or attach your own swatch and it will be matched to that.

What it costs

Pricing is set by how much drawing the artwork actually needs, across four complexity tiers — $19 to $190 per job. Upload a raster file and the price is calculated and shown to you before you commit; there is no quote queue to wait in, no setup fee, and no charge per revision.

• **Tier 1 · Simple** — $19. A one-colour mark, a signature, a clean logo with few shapes.
• **Tier 2 · Moderate** — $57. Multiple colours, moderate detail, artwork that needs real separation work.
• **Tier 3 · Complex** — $114. Detailed illustration, many colours, gradients or heavy type rebuilding.
• **Tier 4 · Production-grade** — $190. Full illustration work and layered fabrication files.

Shops sending work regularly can move onto a monthly credit plan instead, drawing the same jobs from a credit balance rather than paying per file. The tier breakdown and the plan comparison both live on the pricing page.

Turnaround, revisions and the remake guarantee

Standard turnaround is 24 hours. Rush delivers in 12 hours for 50% more, and Flex returns the file in 3 business days for 10% less — you choose at checkout, per order, so an urgent job and a routine one do not have to cost the same.

Revisions are unlimited and are not charged for. If something is not right — a curve, a colour, a layer name — it goes back into the revision thread on the order and is corrected. And if a delivered file does not print, cut or stitch correctly, the 100% remake guarantee means it is redrawn at no cost.

Built for the machine that runs the file

The same logo becomes a different file depending on what it has to do. A vinyl plotter wants weeding-friendly contours and overcut compensation. A laser wants closed paths and single-stroke text. A press wants named, trapped inks. An embroidery head wants density-tuned fills and simplified paths. Pick your workflow when you order and the deliverable is prepared for it — or use the industry pages below, which spell out the spec each one is held to.