Image trace
Turn a logo or icon bitmap into editable vector paths you can draw on, morph and stagger.
Image trace turns an image layer into a group of vector paths. It's the quickest way to animate a logo you only have as a PNG: once traced, the parts can draw on, morph, stagger and take any fill or border.
Trace an image
- Select an image layer.
- Choose Stage → Trace Image… (also in the selection bar, the lane's context menu, or Vectorize in the inspector). You can also ⌥-drop an image on the stage.
- Pick a mode and adjust the settings while the preview updates. Hold Original to compare with the image.
- Click Trace. The footer shows how many paths and colors you'll get.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Color / Gray / B&W | Palette mode | Color |
| Colors / Levels | Number of colors or gray levels, 2–16 | 6 |
| Threshold (B&W) | Pixels darker than this become shapes; Auto picks it | Auto |
| Smoothness | Low follows the pixels closely; high gives fewer, smoother curves | 50 % |
| Corners | How readily turns stay sharp corners instead of curves | 75 % |
| Noise | Areas smaller than this many pixels are dropped (0–100 px) | 8 px |
| Ignore white | Drops white areas, usually a logo's background | On |
| Keep image hidden underneath | Keeps the original image inside the group, invisible, so you can switch back | Off |
EaseKit remembers your settings for the next trace.
The group keeps the image's id, frame and motion, so existing animation carries over. The paths are named logo-p1, logo-p2 and so on, back to front.
Troubleshooting
| If this happens | Try this |
|---|---|
| “Nothing to trace” | Try B&W, another threshold, or turn off Ignore white. |
| Too many tiny paths | Raise Noise and Smoothness, or lower Colors. |
| “This image can't be read” | The file is missing or in an unsupported format. Re-import it. |