Importing artwork

This page covers the three ways to bring outside artwork into bisect — SVG, auto-traced raster, and a reference backdrop — plus tips for clean results.

bisect accepts three kinds of input:

Input	How it lands	Reach for it when
SVG	Each path becomes an editable shape	You have clean vector art (logos, icons, lettering)
PNG / JPG / photo	Auto-traced into editable vector shapes (outline stitches by default)	You have a raster image to digitize into stitches
Reference backdrop	A pinned image you trace by hand	The artwork won't trace cleanly and you want to draw over it

SVG

The cleanest path. Drop an SVG onto the canvas and each path becomes an editable shape. Strokes become running stitches; fills become tatami. Adjust per-shape afterwards.

What works well: vector logos, icons, hand-drawn lettering exported from Procreate / Illustrator / Affinity Designer.

Limits: very dense SVGs (1000+ paths) will warn before importing — embroidery files don't sew at that resolution. Simplify in your vector tool first.

PNG / JPG / photo (Image to Embroidery)

Click Image to Embroidery in the top bar (or drop a raster image onto the canvas). The Image to Embroidery dialog opens and walks you through it: choose an image → choose a stitch style → preview → accept to canvas.

Image to Embroidery — the auto-trace dialog

How it works

Choose Image (PNG, JPG, or WEBP) — or drop one onto the SOURCE box. bisect keeps the source image intact while you switch stitch styles.
Pick a stitch style from the gallery on the left. Each is a different way to turn the picture into stitches, with a short description and tags:
- Pixel Tiles — visible square embroidery tiles. Best for sprites, icons, and retro patches.
- Cartoon Patch — posterizes the image into clean filled areas with optional outlines.
- Color Patch — multi-color region trace tuned for embroidery. Good for photos with clear color blocks.
- Line Art / B&W Line Art — turn high-contrast drawings and logos into simple running-stitch paths.
- …plus texture styles like Sashiko, Crosshatch, Contour, Spiral, Stipple, and more.
Adjust the selected style's controls (colors, cleanup, density, and so on) if the defaults aren't quite right.
Click Preview to render the trace in the middle pane before you commit.
Tweak and Preview again, Reset to start over, Cancel to back out, or Accept to Canvas to drop the stitched shapes onto the canvas.

The dialog previews before committing — if it looks wrong, switch styles or nudge the controls and preview again. No re-shoot needed.

Place as reference

If the artwork won't trace cleanly (photos, complex artwork), use a reference backdrop instead.

Drop the image and pick Place as reference in the choice dialog. The image becomes a backdrop you trace by hand with the Pen tool. Reference image controls live in the Reference panel:

Opacity — fade the backdrop so your stitches are visible against it.
Lock — keep the reference from being moved when you click near it.
Vectorize this — convert the reference to stitch shapes after you've sized and cropped it.

Tips

Resize artwork to the final stitched size before importing. Re-scaling stitches after generation loses density information.

Crop tight to the design. Whitespace around the design becomes wasted hoop area.

For lettering, typing the text in bisect beats tracing a rasterized version of it. Use the T tool with a Design font.

Black on white traces best — re-color afterwards in the editor.

Next step

Once your artwork is on the canvas, set its stitch types, then move on to Exporting.

See also: The editor · Drawing & stitch types · FAQs