JPG to AI Converter
Turn a JPG into an .ai file of vector shapes, without uploading it anywhere. Many converters put the JPG inside an .ai file unchanged, so it is still a photo made of pixels. This page traces it instead: each area of colour becomes a filled shape, and only those shapes go into the file. The .ai is a PDF-compatible .ai, which is what modern .ai files are underneath, so Illustrator and other vector apps open it with every shape there to edit. Set up for JPGs: it smooths out JPEG noise before tracing, starts from a poster preset that turns a photo into a few flat colours, can remove a plain background colour, sets phone photos upright, and can size the artboard from the photo’s own print resolution. Each file is read back after it is made: vector paths counted, pictures 0. Your photo never leaves your device.
100% private — everything runs in your browser. Your photo is traced and saved as an .ai file on your device; nothing is uploaded or stored.
Your picture
Traced vector shapes
Format
Each format, read back from the file
Tracing
Fewer colours give fewer, cleaner shapes. Photos trace into many small shapes, so start from a poster preset.
Size
Print size uses the resolution stored in the file, such as 300 ppi: a 900 px wide photo at 300 ppi makes a 3 inch artboard.
Leave the width empty to match the artboard (72 pt = 1 inch). The DXF is scaled so its picture is exactly this wide.
Runs in your browser: imagetracerjs (public domain) traces the photo with the same settings as our JPG to SVG tool; our own code writes the SVG, EPS and DXF, svg2pdf.js and jsPDF (MIT) write the PDF and AI, and pdf.js (Apache-2.0) checks them; the libraries load from jsDelivr. Your picture is never uploaded and nothing is saved. You may use what you make here, including commercially, with no credit needed. The rights in your own pictures stay as they were. Not affiliated with Adobe.
How to convert a JPG to an AI file
- Drop your JPG on the box, or click Try a sample.
- Pick a starting point: Photo poster, Bold poster, Black and white, or Logo photographed or scanned. Tick Remove the background colour if the picture sits on a plain colour.
- Move the Colours and Detail sliders until the traced shapes look right. Choose Print size to use the photo’s own ppi for the artboard.
- Click Download AI. SVG, PDF, EPS and DXF from the same trace are one click away, or all five in a ZIP.
What you can use it for
- Send a designer an .ai file of a logo you only have as a JPG
- Make a poster-style vector picture from a photo
- Trace a scanned sketch or signature in black and white for Illustrator
- Get an .ai at the photo’s print size, such as 3 × 2 inches at 300 ppi
- Drop the white background from a scanned graphic before tracing
- Check that an .ai file holds shapes, not a picture
Traced, not embedded
| A JPG put inside an .ai | This page: the JPG traced | |
|---|---|---|
| What the .ai holds | The photo, as pixels | Filled vector shapes only |
| Enlarged | Blurs and shows pixels | Stays sharp |
| Editing in a vector app | One picture to place | Every shape selectable, recolourable |
| Looks like the JPG | Exactly | Close, in the number of colours you pick |
| Checked after making | Not shown | Vector paths counted, pictures 0 |
Tracing is a trade: you get shapes that scale and edit, and you lose the soft shading of a photo. Logos, scans of drawings and flat graphics come out very close; photos come out as posters.
Photo presets and print size
| Start from | Colours | Detail | JPEG smoothing | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Photo poster | 8 | 5 | On | Photos turned into flat-colour posters |
| Bold poster | 4 | 4 | On | Strong, simple shapes from a photo |
| Black and white | 2 | 6 | On | Scans of drawings, signatures, stencils |
| Logo photographed or scanned | 16 | 6 | On | A logo that only exists as a JPG |
| Detailed | 32 | 8 | Off | Clean graphics saved as JPG |
| Artboard size | A 900 × 600 px JPG saved at 300 ppi |
|---|---|
| 1 px = 1 pt (default) | 900 × 600 pt (12.5 × 8.33 in) |
| Print size (the photo’s own ppi) | 216 × 144 pt (3 × 2 in) |
| CSS size, 96 px = 1 inch | 675 × 450 pt (9.38 × 6.25 in) |
To cut the number of colours yourself first, try Posterize Image; to cut out a background that is not one plain colour, use Remove Background and trace the PNG it makes. For an SVG with the same tracing engine, use JPG to SVG; to edit the shapes in your browser, open that SVG in the SVG Editor.
Tested on real JPGs
| Our test JPG | Artboard | AI vector paths (pictures) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| The sample (480 × 320 px, light background) | 480 × 320 pt | 283 (0) | Background removed: #f1eee5 |
| Photo-like scene, 900 × 600 px at 300 ppi | 216 × 144 pt | 59 (0) | Photo poster, Print size |
| Saved sideways with camera rotation tag 6 | 120 × 200 pt | 104 (0) | Traced upright |
Every .ai made in testing was also opened by a second PDF reader, which found vector drawings and no pictures, at the artboard size the page reported.
Not affiliated with Adobe.
Sources
Sources: imagetracerjs on GitHub (The Unlicense); ISO 32000-2, the PDF 2.0 standard (1 point = 1/72 inch); JPEG File Interchange Format 1.02 (density in dots per inch or per cm); svg2pdf.js on GitHub (MIT licence); jsPDF on GitHub (MIT licence); pdf.js on GitHub (Apache-2.0 licence); CSS Values and Units (W3C): 1 in = 96 px = 72 pt.
More free image tools
Getting a photo ready to trace?
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See all free tools →Frequently asked questions
Is this JPG to AI converter free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no daily limit. The tracing and the .ai file are made in your browser, so your JPG never leaves your device.
Is the .ai file really vector?
Yes. The JPG is traced into filled shapes and only those shapes are written. After making it, the tool opens the file again and counts what is inside: vector paths, and 0 pictures. A converter that only puts the JPG inside an .ai gives you a file that is still pixels.
Will Illustrator open it?
Yes. It is a PDF-compatible .ai: the PDF part Illustrator saves inside every .ai with PDF compatibility, which is the part other programs read. It has no Illustrator editing data, so Illustrator opens it the way it opens a PDF, with every shape there to edit, and other vector apps open it too.
Can a photo become an AI file?
Only as a poster of flat colours. Tracing turns each area of similar colour into a shape, so a photo becomes a few to a few dozen colours with sharp edges, not a copy of the photo. Photo poster (8 colours) and Bold poster (4 colours) are made for this.
What is Print size?
A JPG can store a print resolution, such as 300 pixels per inch. Print size uses it for the artboard, so a 900 × 600 px photo at 300 ppi makes a 3 × 2 inch (216 × 144 pt) .ai. Without it, one pixel becomes one point.
Why smooth out JPEG noise?
JPEG compression adds small blocks and speckles around edges. Traced as they are, they become hundreds of tiny extra shapes. Smoothing blurs the picture slightly before tracing, so edges trace as clean lines. Turn it off for crisp scans of line art.
Are colours kept in layers?
No. The .ai holds the traced shapes as one flat drawing, each shape a separate path you can select by colour. The DXF from the same trace does put each colour on its own layer.
Is my JPG uploaded?
No. imagetracerjs, svg2pdf.js, jsPDF and pdf.js are downloaded from jsDelivr and run in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.