Image to PCB Converter: JPG or PNG to Gerber, Online and Free
Turn an image into PCB artwork: a JPG, PNG or scan becomes a Gerber copper, silkscreen or mask layer at the size you set, or a 1:1 etch mask to print. Free, in your browser, nothing uploaded.
How it works
Add the picture
A JPG, PNG or scan: dark shapes on a light background, or tick Invert.
Set the real size
Type the board width in millimetres. The narrowest line is measured and checked against what etching and board houses can make.
Download
A Gerber layer for a board house, a 1:1 etch mask to print, or SVG and DXF.
Image to PCB: a picture to a Gerber layer, at a real size
Image to PCB in one step: drop a JPG, PNG or scan, set how wide the board is in millimetres, and download a Gerber layer (copper, silkscreen or solder mask) that any board house reads, or a 1:1 etch mask to print. This image to PCB converter runs online, in your browser; nothing is uploaded and nothing to install, unlike the Windows-only image to Gerber downloads.
The picture is turned into clean black and white (light across a photo is levelled first, so a shadow is not taken for copper), specks smaller than the smallest feature are cleaned off, and the shapes are traced as Gerber regions with holes in letters and pads kept as holes. The narrowest line is measured and you are told if it is too thin to etch or to make.
Image to PCB download: the result is a standard RS-274X Gerber with X2 attributes naming the layer, so KiCad, EasyEDA, JLCPCB, PCBWay and OSH Park all take it. For a logo on an existing KiCad board, import it there as a graphic layer (File > Import > Graphics) or merge the Gerber in the board house's viewer.
Schematic to PCB is a different job: a schematic to PCB converter is the "Update PCB from schematic" step inside KiCad (Tools > Update PCB from Schematic, F8) or EasyEDA (Design > Convert to PCB). It places footprints with their connections as ratsnest lines; you then place parts and route tracks. A schematic to PCB converter AI (Quilter, DeepPCB, Flux) automates placement and routing from a finished schematic, and still needs checking by hand. This page starts from a picture; for the whole route from schematic to board, see schematic to PCB in KiCad and EasyEDA.
Is it image to PCB AI?
It is image processing, not a model that guesses: thresholding, cleaning and tracing, which keep exactly the shapes in your picture. An image to PCB AI that invents tracks from a photo of a circuit would also invent mistakes; this does not.
Why does it ask for the width?
A picture has no real size. A board made 3% too big does not fit its parts, so the scale is yours to set: measure the drawing or the old board across, in millimetres.
Copper, silkscreen or mask?
Copper for tracks and pads you will etch or have made. Silkscreen for a logo or lettering printed on the board. Solder mask to leave copper exposed in a shape (art boards often do this for a gold logo).
Add it to a board you have already designed
Choose Add to a board under Format and drop the board's Gerber zip. The artwork goes onto that board's layer (top silkscreen, bottom copper, and so on) where you place it, and you download the whole zip back, ready for the board house. Every other file is returned byte for byte as it came; the layer it goes on keeps everything it had, with the artwork added at its end in the file's own units and number format (millimetres or inches). With "Keep clear of what is on the board" on, silkscreen art stays the chosen clearance away from the pads and holes, and copper or mask art away from the copper already on that side and the holes, so nothing is shorted and nothing is printed on a pad. If the board has no such layer, it is added as a new file.
Image to KiCad footprint
Choose KiCad footprint (.kicad_mod) to get the artwork as a footprint on the layer you picked, the way KiCad's own Image Converter gives a logo, and place it on any board. Shapes with holes in them are cut open with a slit, as KiCad stores them; halftone dots are filled circles. It is written in KiCad 7's format and was checked by loading and plotting it with KiCad 7's own command-line tool.
Grid or random dots
Photo shading puts its dots in a grid by default, the truest shading: on a grey ramp the shades come out within about 1 % of those asked for. Random places them at irregular, evenly spread points instead, so there is no grid to see; the same rules hold (no dot, gap or bridge under the limit), and the mid-greys come out softer, within about 6 % on the same ramp.
Image to PCB design
An image to PCB design step for the artwork, not the circuit: the picture becomes one layer of the design (copper, silkscreen or solder mask) at the width you type, as a Gerber, a 1:1 etch mask PDF, an SVG or a DXF in millimetres. Tracks and pads drawn in the picture stay where they are drawn; the page does not work out nets or route anything. To add the layer to a board you are designing, import the SVG or DXF in KiCad (File > Import > Graphics) on the layer you want, or send the Gerber with the rest of the board's files.
A photo on the board, in shades
Choose Picture as: Photo shading for a face, a pet or a shaded logo. A board has no grey, so the photo is made into halftone: small dots in the light tones, solid with round holes in the dark ones, sized so the eye sees the shades. Every dot, hole, gap and bridge of ink is held to the Smallest feature you set, so nothing is too small for the board house to make; the page reports the smallest it made and the closest gap. On silkscreen and solder mask the light parts of the photo get the ink (white print, bright copper), so the board looks like the photo; Invert swaps it. For PCB image reproduction of this kind, 0.15 mm is a common board-house silkscreen limit; check yours.
How to convert an image to a PCB layer
- Draw or prepare the artwork: dark shapes on a light background, or tick Invert.
- Drop the JPG or PNG above and set the board width in millimetres.
- Check the narrowest line the page reports; thicken lines under 0.3 mm if you will etch at home.
- Choose copper, silkscreen or solder mask and the side.
- Download the Gerber for a board house, or the etch mask PDF to print.
People also search for
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Why it matters
Nothing uploaded
Unreleased boards and client work stay on your computer. Everything runs in this tab.
Real size, always
Every output is in millimetres at 1:1. Printed masks carry a 50 mm bar so you can check the printer.
Checked for etching
The narrowest line is measured and compared with toner transfer (0.4 mm), photoresist and board-house limits (0.15 mm).
Questions
Can I turn a photo of a circuit board into Gerber files?
Yes, one layer at a time: photograph each side flat, straight on, in even light, and set the board width. A flatbed scanner at 600 dpi is better still: no lens distortion. Holes have to be added as a drill file in your CAD program.
Will JLCPCB or PCBWay accept the file?
Yes. It is standard RS-274X with the layer named in X2 attributes. Add a board outline and a drill file in the same zip, or merge the layer into a board you designed in KiCad or EasyEDA.
Is it free?
Yes: preview and convert free, in your browser, no account.
Can I put a photo on a PCB?
Yes, as halftone dots: choose Photo shading under Picture as. Set Smallest feature to your board house's limit for that layer; dot spacing is chosen as four times that, which keeps every shade. A larger board width gives more dots and more detail.
Can I get the artwork as a KiCad footprint?
Yes: Format > KiCad footprint (.kicad_mod). Put the file in a folder ending in .pretty, add that folder in Preferences > Manage Footprint Libraries, and place it like any part. It opens in KiCad 7 and later. For the bottom, place it and press F to flip it.
Will adding a logo to my Gerbers change anything else?
No. Every other file in the zip comes back byte for byte as it was, and the layer the logo goes on keeps everything it had: the logo is added at the end of that file, in its own units and number format, drawn without any clear (erasing) shapes.
Which files can I open?
Gerber RS-274X (with or without X2 attributes) from KiCad, EasyEDA, Eagle, Altium, OrCAD, DipTrace and gEDA, and Excellon drill files. A zip of all of them works.
Is my board uploaded?
No. The files are read in this browser tab.