How the threshold works
Every pixel is compared with a brightness value between 0 and 255. Pixels darker than the threshold become ink, the rest become empty space — so the slider decides how much of a scan counts as a line.
Make a Black & White Vector
Single-color line art from signatures, stamps and scans — with full threshold control.
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One ink color, crisp edges
Black & White mode is built for exactly one thing: turning a two-tone image into clean outlines. It is the mode behind digitized signatures and craft cuts, and it has been the standard approach for decades.
Why single color suits line art
Signatures, stamps, logos, pencil sketches and stencils are already two-tone. Without color decisions to make, the tracer can follow thin strokes precisely and produce small, tidy files.
Fully editable paths
The result is ordinary SVG geometry with one fill color, so you can recolor it, split it into layers or scale it to any size without pixelation.
Finding the right threshold
Start at 128, then move the slider while watching the SVG preview.
Faded scans and light pencil
Raise the threshold towards 170–200 to pull faint gray strokes into the ink layer. Too high and paper texture starts to appear as blotches.
Heavy ink and solid logos
Lower it towards 80–110 so only genuinely dark areas count. This tightens thick strokes and stops halos around letters from filling in.
Reduce noise to drop speckles
Paper grain and JPEG noise show up as dots. Noise reduction plus a slightly higher threshold removes almost all of them before tracing.
Upscale thin lines
A signature photographed on a phone is often only a few hundred pixels wide. Upscaling 2× or 3× keeps pen strokes connected instead of broken.
What this mode is used for
Anywhere the final artifact is a machine following an outline.
Cutting machines
Cricut, Silhouette and similar cutters need closed, single-color paths. This mode produces exactly that, which is why it is the starting point for vinyl and cardstock projects.
Laser engraving
Engravers fill or outline black areas. A clean two-tone trace means the machine burns what you drew and nothing else — no gray mid-tones to guess at.
Signatures and stamps
Turn a photo of a signed page or an inked stamp into a reusable SVG you can drop into contracts, certificates, invoices and packaging.
Screen printing and letterpress
A one-color film is the simplest possible print job. Solid shapes at a good threshold need no trapping, halftones or color separation.
Frequently asked questions
What does the threshold slider actually do?
It sets the brightness cut-off: pixels darker than the value become black paths, lighter pixels stay empty. Lower values keep only the darkest ink, higher values include light gray strokes. Around 128 is the usual starting point for a normal scan.
How do I remove the speckles around my lines?
Turn on Reduce noise before converting and nudge the threshold a little higher or lower — most speckles are paper grain sitting close to the cut-off. A 2× upscale also helps, because thin isolated dots get smoothed away.
Can I trace a handwritten signature from a photo?
Yes, and it is one of the best cases for this mode. Crop tightly around the signature, upscale 2–3×, then raise the threshold until the pen strokes are solid. A photographed signature on white paper traces far better than a scanned one with a gray background.
The vector is black. Can I change the color?
Yes. The SVG has a single fill, so you can recolor it in any editor or by editing the fill attribute — perfect for cutting different colored vinyl or printing in a brand color.
Does this mode work with color photos?
It will run, but the photo is flattened to black and white first, so faces and scenes turn into high-contrast stencils. For color work use Photo or Illustration mode instead; for stencils and stencil-like portraits, this is the right choice.