Purplelink
← All tools

Free web tool

Photo to Logo

Turn a cutout photo of an animal or object into a logo mark made only of straight lines and circle arcs, the way a designer builds one with a ruler and compass. It runs in your browser. The photo is never uploaded.

A raven on a railing, with purple guide lines and the traced outline drawn over it
A raven photographed by Ben Ampel, its construction, and the mark this page made from it.

Bytes of your photo sent anywhere: 0

Your photo is read and traced in this tab, in a background worker. The only requests the page makes are for its own scripts and, if you ask for it, the sample. Your photo is never sent anywhere.

How it works

A designer can build a logo from a photo with a ruler and compass: draw a circle for every curve, a few guide lines at repeated angles, then trace the outline only along those lines and circles and fill it flat. This page does the same steps with geometry instead of a pen.

It takes the outline of your cutout, splits it where the direction changes, and fits each run with a straight line or an arc of a circle. Lines are turned to the nearest of a few angles and made parallel to each other, arcs that nearly share a centre are made concentric, and neighbouring pieces are joined where they cross or touch.

It builds twenty versions with different detail and angle settings, scores each one on how closely it matches your subject at full size and at 16 and 32 pixels, and shows the three best. The result is a starting draft: a designer would usually adjust a line or two.

How to turn a photo into a logo

  1. Cut out the subject. On an iPhone, iPad or Mac, touch and hold or right-click the subject in Photos and choose Copy Subject. On Windows 11 use Photos, Edit, Background, Remove.
  2. Add it. Paste the cutout on this page, or drop the saved PNG on the box. A photo on a plain white or one-colour background also works.
  3. Pick a mark. Look at the three marks and the construction drawn over your photo, and choose the one that reads best.
  4. Download. Choose a colour and download the mark as SVG for print and editing, or as PNG.

Limits

Questions

Is my photo uploaded?
No. The page reads the photo with your browser and does all the work in a background worker in this tab. There is no server step. The meter under the drop zone counts the bytes the page and its worker send while they work, so you can check this yourself.
Which photos work best?
One subject seen from the side, with its legs, tail, ears or beak clear of the body. Side views give an outline that reads as the animal. A subject facing the camera tends to become a blob.
How do I make a cutout?
iPhone and iPad: in Photos, touch and hold the subject, then choose Copy. Mac: in Photos, right-click the photo and choose Copy Subject, or open it in Preview and choose Tools, Remove Background. Windows 11: open it in Photos, choose Edit, then Background, then Remove, and save. Android: in Samsung Gallery or in Google Photos on a Pixel, touch and hold the subject. Then paste or drop the cutout here.
Why does it need a cutout?
The page has to know which pixels are the subject. A cutout says so exactly. Telling a subject from a busy background inside a browser was tested and got about half of real photos wrong, so the page asks for a cutout instead of guessing.
How is the mark made?
The outline of the subject is split into runs. Each run becomes a straight line or an arc of a circle, whichever fits. Lines are turned to a few repeated angles and made parallel, arcs that share a centre are made concentric, and neighbours meet at their crossing or touching points. Twenty versions are built with different detail and angle settings and scored on how closely they match the subject at full size and at 16 and 32 pixels. The page shows the three best.
Can I use the logo for my business?
The mark is drawn from your photo, so you need the rights to the photo. Before you rely on a mark for a business, search the trademark register where you trade. This page makes no claim about the result.
How is this different from an AI logo generator?
It does not invent a picture. It traces your subject with lines and circles by fixed rules, so the same photo gives the same marks, and you can see every guide that made them.
Is it free?
Yes. There is no account and no watermark.

If this saves you time, you can leave a tip. It helps keep these tools free and online.