ImageTracerJS vs VectorIt

ImageTracerJS is a JavaScript raster-image tracer that converts image data into SVG vector output. It can run in a browser by loading its JavaScript file and calling tracing functions, or in Node.js through a command-line interface. Its API returns SVG strings or tracedata for further processing. Browser-only asynchronous functions and synchronous ImageData functions are available for browsers and Node.js. Tracing can be configured through an options object or presets, including posterized, grayscale, detailed, and artistic variants. Controls cover line and spline error thresholds, path omission, corner enhancement, color sampling, palette size, layering, SVG rendering, and blur preprocessing. The command-line interface supports nearly all options, with pal and layercontainerid as exceptions. Node.js image loading requires an external library because Node.js lacks built-in canvas and DOM support. The project is also available as an Inkscape extension. ImageTracerJS is free under the Unlicense, which permits use, modification, and distribution for commercial or non-commercial purposes, with no warranty. The project notes that large images or many layers can trigger out-of-memory errors and that error handling is limited.

VectorIt is a free, open-source desktop app for converting raster images into vector graphics. It accepts PNG, JPG, BMP, GIF, and TIFF files and exports SVG, EPS, PDF, or DXF. It can also re-rasterize vectors as PNG, BMP, or JPEG at any resolution. Presets and live controls cover colors, smoothness, corner threshold, speckle filtering, and path mode; a segmentation editor lets users paint, split, and merge regions before vectorization, with undo. Images can be pasted with Ctrl+V, and Ctrl+S re-exports with the last-used settings. For images above 20 megapixels, VectorIt downsamples for analysis and uses full resolution for export. It runs offline without internet, accounts, or telemetry, and says users’ pixels stay on their machines. The maker identifies the app as Apache-2.0 licensed and describes an installer of about 5 MB. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux; macOS builds are not signed or notarized and may trigger a developer verification warning on first launch.