Vectorize your
signature.

A signature that stays sharp at any size

A photographed signature often comes with gray paper, shadows and soft edges, and it looks muddy when resized. A vector signature is made of smooth outlines, so you can shrink it for a letterhead or enlarge it for engraving without blur. Vetorly converts your image into shapes with smooth Bézier curves and few nodes, and each color becomes an editable shape.

Write it for the camera

• Sign with a dark, fine-tipped pen on plain white paper. Black or dark blue ink gives strong contrast.
• Sign a few times and pick the best one.
• Use unlined paper so no lines get traced.
• Leave a margin around the signature.

Photo or scan tips

1. Scan the page if you can. Otherwise photograph it in even daylight from directly above.
2. Avoid shadows from your hand or phone.
3. Crop to the signature with a small margin.
4. Increase contrast so the paper looks white and the ink looks dark.

Getting a transparent background

A signature is typically a single ink color, so the result is the ink shape plus, possibly, a background shape in the paper color. Open the downloaded SVG in a vector editor and delete the background shape. What remains is the signature alone, which will sit on any color or image. Your credit also includes a PNG, which you can adjust for use in word processors and other tools that prefer raster images.

Check the result

• Zoom in on fast strokes and thin connecting lines to see that they are not broken.
• Look for stray dots from dust or paper grain and delete them.
• Confirm that loops are open and that crossings look natural.

Important to know

A vector image of your signature is just a picture. It is not a digital signature in the legal or cryptographic sense, and it should be handled carefully, since anyone with the file can copy it. Share it only where you need it, and consider whether a document's requirements call for a certified e-signature process instead.

Other uses

Vector signatures work well for stamps, engraved gifts, embroidered labels and branded packaging. If you are tracing other handwritten work, see vectorize a hand drawing. For a general intro, visit image to vector.