A small logo can be traced. Missing design information cannot.
Judge what the pixels still prove, compare the trace at detail and use size, and stop before automatic cleanup turns uncertainty into false geometry.
Find the best source first. Trace only what remains legible.
Enlarging a small raster does not restore the approved curves, counters or letterforms. A useful vectorization preserves visible structure; it does not pretend to know details the source no longer contains.
The fastest improvement is often finding a different file.
A logo that looks tiny in a document may still exist as vector artwork inside it. Preserve that geometry instead of exporting a screenshot and trying to reconstruct it.
- Open PDFs and design files in a vector editor before rasterizing them.
- Look for an SVG logo in the website header or official media kit.
- Ask the brand owner, sponsor or original designer for the master artwork.
- Prefer a tightly cropped source over a large screenshot where the logo is tiny.
Complex details disappear before the whole logo looks broken.
In the same benchmark, the Starbucks trace loses more agreement at 128 px and fails the topology check at both sizes. More pixels help, but they do not make this detailed mark an automatic approval.
Read the definitions, source manifest and limitations in the complete benchmark.
Match the intervention to the evidence.
“Low resolution” is not one condition. A simple icon with visible gaps is different from compressed lettering whose original strokes can no longer be identified.
| What remains visible | Recommended action |
|---|---|
| Edges are soft, but the silhouette and gaps are still unambiguous | Trace, then compare every important opening and corner |
| Small text is readable but visibly distorted | Trace shapes; rebuild the lettering from the approved typeface |
| Letters, holes or symbols merge into the same pixels | Find a better source or redraw from a verified reference |
| The only file is a compressed screenshot of a complex mark | Do not invent missing brand geometry with automatic cleanup |
Zoom reveals defects. Use size reveals consequences.
- At high zoom, compare sharp corners, curves, counters and detached specks.
- At header or favicon size, confirm that gaps do not close and letters remain distinguishable.
- Check the source and SVG side by side; a clean-looking trace may still change the design.
- Treat sampled colors as observations, not approved brand values.
What this guide relies on
- Vectorize development benchmarkControlled 512 px and 128 px traces, topology and region metrics.
- W3C Portable Network Graphics (PNG) SpecificationThe raster sample model used by PNG source files.
- W3C SVG 2: PathsThe geometry created by a path-based trace.