Image to SVG apps for Android, compared
Several Android apps turn a picture into an SVG. They are not the same kind of tool, and for a cutting machine the differences matter more than the feature lists. This page is written by the developer of one of them, Decaly, so read it with that in mind.
Short answer
If you want a layered cut file from a picture on your phone, you need a tracer that separates colours, not one that makes a single black outline. On 19 October 2026 the best-known Android tracer, Image2SVG, had not been updated since July 2024 and was rated 2.4★; the next two by installs were rated 1.7★. Vector Ink is a full vector editor that also traces. Decaly traces into colour layers and saves files named for Cricut Design Space, Silhouette Studio or Print Then Cut. Every tracer here lets you judge the result in some way; check what it charges for before you spend an evening on it.
Get Decaly Traces a picture into cut layers on your Android phone. Tracing is free, with no account.
How we compared them
The facts about the other apps below come from their Google Play listings, read by hand on 19 October 2026 in the US store. Ratings, install counts and update dates change; if one of these is out of date, please tell us and we will correct the page. We don’t quote prices, ours or theirs, because they vary by country and change; Google Play shows each one before you pay.
The apps at a glance
| App | What it is | Play listing, 19 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Image2SVG – SVG Converter | A tracer, for years the one crafters named | 50K+ installs, 2.4★ (156 ratings), last updated 8 July 2024; ads and in-app purchases |
| SVG Vector – Converter | A tracer | 10K+ installs, 1.7★ (54 ratings), updated 7 October 2026 |
| Vectorize Image SVG Converter | A tracer | 10K+ installs, 1.7★ (28 ratings), updated 25 June 2026; ads |
| Vector Ink: SVG, Illustrator | A full vector editor with tracing inside it | 1M+ installs, 3.8★ (7,027 ratings), updated 19 September 2026; subscription |
| Decaly | A tracer that saves cut files for a machine | New, not yet rated; tracing free, saving with a weekly or yearly subscription |
Cricut Design Space and Silhouette Studio can also turn an uploaded picture into something cuttable; they are covered below, since most crafters already have one of them.
What reviewers mention
We read the newest one- and two-star reviews of the three tracers on 19 October 2026. The same complaints came back: that a picture “only extracts the color black”, that every image became “a square block” or came out “pixelated”, and, for SVG Vector, that nothing could be saved before paying. Many of Image2SVG’s unhappy reviewers are people for whom it used to work, and they describe what it did well: “used to be my go to conversion app”, a picture in and a file that opened straight into Silhouette Studio. We read only the low ratings, so this is the complaint side; each listing’s higher reviews are on Google Play.
Where the others are better
- Vector Ink is an editor. If you need to move points, redraw a curve, add text or combine designs, it does far more than Decaly, which doesn’t edit nodes at all. Its install base and rating history are also much longer than ours.
- Your machine’s own software is already on your computer and knows your machine. Design Space can cut a single-layer upload with its background erased, and Silhouette Studio has its own Trace panel. If one colour is all you need, you may not need another app.
- Decaly is new. It has no rating history yet, its screens are written in English, and it doesn’t do engraving prep, batch work or ready-made designs.
What Decaly does differently
- Colour layers, not one outline. Choose 1 to 7 colours; each becomes a layer you can recolour to your vinyl, leave out, or cut stacked or side by side.
- Files named for the destination. One SVG with every layer for Cricut Design Space, one DXF per layer for Silhouette Studio (whose free Basic edition doesn’t open SVG; see SVG vs DXF), or a 300 dpi PNG for Print Then Cut.
- Checked at the size you cut. Pieces too thin for a blade are marked, specks under 2 mm are removed, and pictures too small to trace cleanly are refused with the reason.
- Free to judge. Tracing and preview are free and unlimited; saving is part of Decaly Pro. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no account.
Which one to use
For one colour, try your machine’s software first. For a design you want to redraw, use an editor. For a picture you want as clean colour layers, cut the same day, from your phone, try Decaly’s free trace on your own picture, and the step-by-step is in how to convert an image to SVG on Android.
Decaly: image to SVG, in layers you can cutOpen a picture on your Android phone and watch it trace into colour layers, free. Decaly Pro saves it as an SVG for Cricut Design Space, one DXF per layer for Silhouette Studio, or a PNG for Print Then Cut.
Get Decaly on Google Play