Homotope

Convert an image to DXF for cutting

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To convert an image to DXF, drop it into the Homotope workshop, choose DXF in the Export panel, check it with the cut-readiness check, then download it for your laser, cutting plotter or CNC router.

Emblem grabbed from the web, as a compressed JPEG: ring, disc, star and band. JPG · 400 × 400 px
The same emblem traced to SVG by Homotope: five clean flat colours. Engine SVG
400 × 400 px compressed JPEG logo and the SVG produced by the engine, Logo preset alone, 5 colours, untouched: the JPEG artefacts are gone, the ring stays a circle and the star keeps its straight edges.
×6 detail: the end of the band against the white rim: a closed contour, with no gap or overlap. Drag the slider to compare; hover over the image or hold your finger on it to move the magnifier.
Try it with your image Open this example in the workshop

Steps in the workshop

The workshop interface is in French; the button names are quoted below in French with their meaning.

  1. Drop the PNG or JPG into the workshop.
  2. Pick Logo or « Noir et blanc » (black and white) to cut shapes, « Trait unique » (single stroke) to engrave or plot a line in one pass.
  3. In Export, keep “cut” mode and choose DXF; tick « Fusionner les frontières communes » (merge shared borders) so a border between two colours is cut only once.
  4. Open « Prêt pour la découpe ? » (ready to cut?), set your tool diameter, fix what it reports, then download.

Homotope traces in your browser: the engine runs on your own machine, in a Web Worker, and your image is sent nowhere unless you save it to your account or ask for a server computation. The workshop opens without an account and without a usage limit: tracing, preview, SVG and PNG exports are free. Fabrication exports (DXF, EPS, PDF, separations): 2 free per month with an account, unlimited with Pro; the conversion stays in your browser.

The DXF you get

Before sending the file to the machine, the « Prêt pour la découpe ? » (“ready to cut?”) section of the Export panel analyses the DXF you would download: open contours, overlaps, self-intersections and double cuts (blocking), details finer than your tool diameter, tiny islands and overloaded contours (to check). Clicking a problem highlights it on the preview. « Simplifier pour la découpe » (“simplify for cutting”) writes a separate DXF and leaves your result untouched.

When this is not the right method

A photo gives hundreds of tiny shapes that cannot be cut cleanly: go through black and white first, or pick a simpler image. A dimensioned technical drawing (mechanical part, plan) is redrawn in CAD software: tracing follows pixels, not dimensions. And a DXF that is already right needs no conversion.

Frequently asked questions

Is the DXF free?

DXF is a fabrication export: 2 free per month with an account, then 1 credit each, unlimited with Pro. Tracing, the preview and the cut-readiness check are free; the conversion stays in your browser.

Which DXF version?

DXF R12 ASCII (AC1009), with closed polylines: an old, simple format that every cutting program reads.

Will my cutting software read the file?

DXF R12 opens in most laser, plotter and CAD programs. Check the unit on import: the file is in millimetres.

Engrave a line rather than cut a shape?

Use the « Trait unique » (single stroke) preset: the axis of each line becomes an open polyline, followed only once.

More guides

Try it with your image