trace-to-svglisted

# Trace a drawing into an SVG path Turns a bitmap drawing into one `<path>` you can drop into a component and tint with `currentColor`. Stdlib Python plus macOS `sips` — nothing to install, no `potrace`, no PIL. **Use this instead of hand-authoring path data.** Writing bezier coordinates from imagination, rendering, and squinting at the result has a low ceiling for anything representational: the output reads as generic no matter how many rounds you spend. If a reference image exists, trace it. ## How it works 1. Threshold the image to its ink. 2. Dilate to close gaps in the linework, so the outline is watertight. 3. Flood-fill the background inward from the border; everything unreached is the figure. (This is why a *line drawing* with a white interior still yields a filled silhouette.) 4. Walk the figure's boundary, then simplify with Douglas–Peucker. 5. Enclosed light regions — eyes, mouths, gaps between shapes — come out as extra rings, so fill with **`fill-rule="evenodd"`**. ## Usage ```sh python3 ~/.claude/skills/trace-to-svg/trace.py IMAGE [options] ``` Prints the path data to stdout; diagnostics go to stderr. | Option | Default | What it does | | --- | --- | --- | | `--size` | 720 | Trace resolution, longest side. **The highest-leverage knob.** | | `--threshold` | 215 | Ink cutoff 0–255; raise it to catch lighter strokes | | `--close` | 2 | Dilate radius that closes gaps in the outline | | `--simplify` | 2.4 | Douglas–Peucker tolerance, in source pixels