How do I turn lettering or a logo into a DXF for a plotter or a CNC router?

Updated on 11 October 2026

Drop the lettering or logo into the Homotope workshop, pick Logo or Black and white, then export to DXF: each shape becomes a closed polyline in millimetres, at the width you enter, ready for the plotter software or the router’s CAM.

JPG · 900 × 640 px

Engine SVG

900 × 640 px noisy compressed JPEG logo and the SVG produced by the engine, Logo preset, “Number of colours” set to 5, untouched: the JPEG noise and blocks are gone, the ring stays a circle and the small capitals stay legible.

×6 detail: the apex of the A: a crisp angle, a closed polyline. 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

What the DXF contains

An ASCII DXF R12, in millimetres, at the “Drawing width (mm)” you enter (200 by default, from 1 to 100,000 mm).
Each shape is a closed polyline, letter counters included. No splines: curves are flattened into segments, at most 0.1 px of the original image away (through the API, the tolerance parameter, from 0.001 to 10 px).
One layer per colour, named by its hex value or by the name in your swatch library.
The background is not written, otherwise the machine would cut a frame around the design; “Include the background (frame)” adds it.

Nothing leaves your computer: see vectorize without uploading.

Plotter or CNC router: the settings

Cutting plotter: in “cut” mode, “Merge shared boundaries” (under the DXF format) stops a border between two colours from being cut twice. CNC router: set the “Tool diameter (mm)” of “Ready for cutting?” to your bit; a narrower counter, the eye of an “e” for example, is flagged. Homotope computes no tool offset, no toolpath and no depth: the CAM does that from the contours.

To engrave a line rather than cut a shape, see laser engraving: which format and line width. The format is detailed on image to DXF.

Clean lettering

Start from the largest image you have: lettering a few dozen pixels high loses its serifs. Logo keeps sharp corners and round circles; Black and white splits ink from background with a threshold. For a blurry image, see vectorizing a blurry logo.

Production exports (DXF, EPS, PDF, separations): 2 free per month with an account, unlimited with Pro; without Pro, 1 credit each beyond those 2. A new account gets unlimited production exports for 7 days, once. The preview and the “Ready for cutting?” check are free; the conversion runs in your browser and the server only counts the export. The details: how much vectorizing costs.

Other uses, from screen printing to embroidery: the production page.

Frequently asked questions

Does the DXF contain curves or segments?

Segments: each curve becomes a polyline at most 0.1 px of the original image away from it, in the workshop.

Does Homotope compensate for the bit diameter?

No. The DXF follows the outline of the design; the tool offset is set in the CAM. The check flags details finer than the tool.

Is the DXF free?

It is a production export: 2 free per month with an account, then 1 credit each, unlimited with Pro; a new account gets unlimited production exports for 7 days.

Can I export in inches?

The DXF is always in millimetres: enter the width in mm (25.4 mm per inch) or scale it in your software.

Guides and conversions

Try it with your image