Signature example: from a phone to a two-shape SVG

A felt-tip signature on printer paper, captured with a phone. Traced straight from the camera photo, the paper's shading came back as hundreds of light shapes. Traced from a document scan of the same page, it came back as exactly two: paper and ink.

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Updated October 21, 2026

What we found

The scan made all the difference

A camera photo records everything on the page: the slight gray of the paper, soft shading across it, and the sheen of the ink. Traced faithfully, those become shapes too. The photo produced 458 colors and a 247 KB file. It looks right from a distance, but there is no single background shape to delete.

A phone's document scanner whitens the paper and darkens the ink before you ever upload. Traced from that scan, the same signature came back as two paths, white paper and black ink, in a 54 KB file.

From the photo
458 colors, 247 KB
From the scan
2 colors, 54 KB
The same stroke traced both ways. From the photo, the paper's shading and the ink's sheen become extra shapes. From the scan, there is only paper and ink.

Step by step

Doing it with your own signature

  1. Sign with a dark pen

    A felt-tip or gel pen gives a solid, even line. Sign a little larger than usual.

  2. Scan the page with your phone

    Use Scan Documents in the iPhone Notes app or Scan in the Google Drive app, and crop close to the signature.

  3. Upload the scan

    Drop it into the converter and zoom in on loops and the thin ends of strokes.

  4. Remove the background when downloading

    Turn on Remove background under Download options before saving. Enclosed white areas are kept as shapes; remove those pieces in your editor if they should be transparent too.

What to check

Details we looked at

  • Loops stayed open and round where the pen crossed itself.
  • The tapered ends of strokes kept their taper.
  • Where the felt-tip ran dry on the long underline, the scan kept a few small breaks in the ink. They are true to the original; fill them in your editor if you want a solid line.

FAQ

Questions people ask us

Can a handwritten signature be converted to SVG?

Yes. A dark-ink signature on white paper traces cleanly, especially from a document scan.

Why did my signature come back with a gray, blotchy background?

It was traced from a camera photo, which keeps the paper's shading. Scan the page with your phone's document scanner instead, and the paper comes back as one white shape.

How do I get a transparent signature?

Turn on Remove background under Download options and save the SVG. Check enclosed white areas in your editor and remove any that should be empty. Export a PNG from the SVG if a tool needs a raster image.

Helpful next pages

Signature to SVGTurn a photo or scan of your handwritten signature into a clean SVG. Remove the paper for a transparent background and use it in documents, websites and print.Sketch to SVGAn ink sketch on paper traced into a two-color SVG: what the lines look like up close, and how to get the cleanest result from your own drawings.Remove a logo backgroundConvert a logo to SVG and use Remove background when downloading. Keep editable vector paths and export transparent PNGs from your editor when you need them.PNG to SVGConvert a PNG to SVG with real, editable vector paths. Transparent backgrounds stay transparent, gradients stay smooth, and you can preview the result before you download.

Digitize your own signature

Scan it with your phone, upload it, and check the strokes before you download.

Upload an image