Practical guide
Gradient artwork without banding
Increase gradient sampling and color precision for shaded icons and illustrations.
Problem
Default settings favor compact output. On a small soft-shaded icon, that tradeoff can show as visible bands because neighboring colors are grouped too aggressively. A smaller gradient step and full color precision retain more of the ramp.
Command
npx kurviq --input gradient-icon.png --output gradient-icon.svg \
--upscale 2 --mode spline --filter_speckle 4 \
--path_precision 1 --segment_length 8 \
--gradient_step 8 --color_precision 8Before and after
SVG PNG Air freight — gradient icon
Layered objects, attached shadows, and gentle gradients.
The traced plane keeps the layered blue shading and rounded contours. The tradeoff is visible in the file sizes: this 19 KB raster becomes a 96 KB SVG because preserving a gradient needs more colored paths.
Workflow
1. Identify a real gradient
Use this recipe when shading carries shape or depth. If the source is supposed to use a handful of flat colors, the sharpen recipe will usually be smaller and crisper.
2. Preserve the ramp
Gradient step 8 samples changes more frequently than the default 16. Color precision 8 retains the full available channel precision instead of the default 6.
3. Accept the size tradeoff deliberately
More color layers mean more paths and bytes. Compare at the final display size and return to the defaults if the visual difference is not perceptible.
Flag reference
| Flag | Value | Why it is here |
|---|---|---|
--gradient_step | 8 | Uses smaller steps between sampled gradient layers. |
--color_precision | 8 | Keeps full color-channel precision. |
--upscale | 2 | Provides more samples for small shaded edges. |
--mode | spline | Fits rounded illustrated forms. |
--filter_speckle | 4 | Removes isolated color islands. |
--path_precision | 1 | Keeps small curves accurate. |
--segment_length | 8 | Smooths contour segmentation. |