Sketch to DXF
Turn a hand-drawn part into a DXF with real millimetres, ready for a laser, router or plasma table. Draw it on paper, photograph it, cut it.
Works with: LightBurn · Fusion 360 · AutoCAD · LibreCAD · Inkscape
Drop several files at once to convert the whole folder in one pass. Got a different format? A PNG, JPG, HEIC, PDF, SVG or DXF still comes out as DXF.
Or draw here with a mouse, a finger or a pen
× removes a colour and its shapes; click a swatch to change it. Every format follows.
- Runs in this tab
- No sign-up
- Full resolution out
Batch
Every file is traced on its own at its own resolution, with the settings in the panel. A file converted here comes out identical to the same file converted by itself.
Every format
Conversion settings
Trace settings
Full-colour trace for print and web.
Fine-tune
Raise it to clear dust, grain and stray dots; 0 keeps every mark.
Untick for pixel art: the outline then follows every pixel edge.
With Remove background: how close a colour must be to the background to go with it.
Machine output
Height follows the source aspect ratio.
Laser and Router follow the traced outlines. Engrave photo burns the picture itself, line by line, for photos and portraits.
Heat transfer vinyl is pressed face down, so it has to be cut mirrored. The second box is the overcut in millimetres: a drag knife starts each shape pointing the wrong way, and running past the start covers that stretch properly so the piece weeds out clean.
Beam or bit width. Left at zero the tool runs down the centre of the line, so a part finishes one tool width undersize. Set it and the path is offset by half, with holes offset the opposite way.
Holes before the part that holds them, so nothing comes loose while there is still cutting to do. Also shortens the travel between cuts.
See it on your product
Put this artwork on a 3D mug, tumbler, sign, phone case or canvas, turn it all the way round, or drop it onto a photograph of your own blank. The preview page has the product picker, the colours and the placement controls.
Open the preview and renderHow it works
Upload your artwork
Mono mode is preset, a single cut outline is what a machine wants, not colour layers.
Set your real size
Choose millimetres or inches and the finished width. The file carries physical units, not pixels.
Check the preview, then cut
Inspect the toolpath before you download. Cuts draw solid, rapids dashed.
Sketch to DXF converter online: a hand drawing to a DXF in real millimetres
Sketch to dxf online: photograph a pencil or pen drawing, drop it here and download a DXF whose lines are real CAD geometry, sized in millimetres or inches you set. This sketch to dxf converter online straightens the shaky bits, closes the loops a cutter needs, and keeps holes as holes.
It is a sketch to dxf converter free to use, in your browser, with no upload. The DXF opens in LightBurn, Fusion 360, AutoCAD, LibreCAD, SheetCAM and Inkscape.
Have the drawing as a PDF instead? The PDF to DXF converter reads vector PDFs directly. Want to check a DXF before cutting? Open it in the DXF file viewer, which shows its units and real size.
To convert a hand drawn sketch to DXF for laser cutting online, photograph or scan the drawing and drop it here: the paper and its shadow are read as background, each pen line is traced down its middle as one stroke (so the laser cuts it once, not twice round the outside), and the DXF is written in millimetres at the size you set. It is free, needs no install, and works the same on a Mac, Windows or a phone, in the browser.
Word to DXF
A Word document is text and pictures, not CAD geometry. Save or print it to PDF, then use PDF to DXF; or screenshot the drawing inside it and trace it here.
Fusion 360: export DXF for free
In Fusion 360, right-click a sketch in the browser tree and choose Save As DXF. That is free on the personal licence. To go the other way, from a paper sketch to a DXF you can insert into Fusion 360, trace it here and use Insert > Insert DXF.
SolidWorks: save a sketch as DXF
In SolidWorks, select the sketch or a planar face, then File > Save As and pick DXF (*.dxf). For a drawing that only exists on paper, make the DXF here and open it in SolidWorks as a sketch.
People also search for
- drawing to dxf
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- hand drawing to cad
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Why it matters
Correct units, stated in the file
DXF exports write $INSUNITS. Without it a part imports at 25.4x the intended size, which is the single most common cause of a ruined first cut.
Y axis the right way up
SVG puts +Y down the screen; CAD and CAM put it up. We flip it. Exporting without that correction gives a part mirrored about the X axis, it cuts, but backwards.
Closed contours
A cutter following an open outline leaves the part attached. Outlines are closed, and anything that is not is flagged before you download.
Conservative G-code
The tool is disengaged before every reposition, retracted before every rapid, and the program always ends tool-off and clear.
Is Sketch to DXF worth paying for?
A DXF is the file a shop actually runs. Walk through the artwork requirements a laser cutter, a CNC shop or a sign maker publishes and the same request appears: send something a machine can follow. What turns up instead is a screenshot or a logo pulled off a website at 600 pixels, and somebody redraws it by hand — twenty-five to forty minutes — or sends it to an art service at $25 to $60 a file.
The conversion here is free and unlimited and stays that way. The paid plan is what unlocks the machine formats, which are never watermarked at any tier because a mark in a cut file is extra cut paths a machine would run.
Questions
How do I turn a hand sketch into a DXF?
Draw with a dark pen on white paper, photograph it straight on in good light, upload it here, set the real width in millimetres, and download the DXF.
Will the DXF be the right size?
Yes, if you give it the real width of one known feature or the whole drawing. The DXF is written in millimetres or inches with its units declared.
Can I open the DXF in Fusion 360 or SolidWorks?
Yes. It is a standard R2000 DXF of lines and polylines; both import it as a sketch.
Will my sketch come out as single lines or outlines?
Single lines down the middle of each stroke by default, which is what a laser or plotter follows. Choose the outline mode if you want the filled shape of each line instead.
What units does the file use?
Whichever you pick, millimetres or inches, and the choice is written into the file header so the receiving software does not have to guess.
Will this work with my laser?
DXF is written as R2000 by default, which LightBurn, Fusion, AutoCAD and current CAM packages all read. There is an R12 option for older controllers that predate LWPOLYLINE.
Can I trust the G-code?
Preview the toolpath first, and dry-run any new program above the material. The generated code assumes you have set your own work origin, and it homes nothing.
Reading on DXF and machine files
Sketch to DXF: here, by hand, or on a server
| Veconvert | Illustrator, by hand | A paid vectorizer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it costs | Free preview; one file for $3.49 as a guest ($3.99 for technical files), $6.50 in bulk | $23 a month | $8–15 a month |
| How long it takes | Seconds | 30–60 minutes by hand | Seconds |
| Skill needed | None. Drop the file | You have to be able to draw | None |
| Where your file goes | Nowhere. It stays in this tab | Stays on your machine | Uploaded to a server |
| DXF with real units | Yes | Yes, with setup | Usually pixels |
| Machine files too | DXF, G-code, PLT, STL from the same trace | Separate export each time | Rarely |
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