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/PhotoCAD for Heritage & Archaeology

PhotoCAD for Heritage & Archaeological Illustration

Original photo of Mesoamerican Glyph Relief Medallion
Mesoamerican glyph medallion vector line drawing, central deity face with bared teeth and circular nose, scrollwork cartouches and segmented collar border.

AI illustration for archaeological finds and heritage objects — convert photos into clean, publication-ready line drawings for site reports, conservation records, catalogs and journal figures.

Start Drawing for Free
Original photo of Mesoamerican Glyph Relief Medallion
Mesoamerican glyph medallion vector line drawing, central deity face with bared teeth and circular nose, scrollwork cartouches and segmented collar border.
Start Drawing for Free
Original photo of Persian Gabbeh Animal Rug
Persian Gabbeh animal rug vector line drawing, stylized deer with antlers, horses, camels and geometric border motifs.

Document textile heritage — weave patterns and motifs preserved as editable line work.

Original photo of Mesoamerican Ceramic Deity Figure
Mesoamerican ceramic deity figure vector line drawing, crouching posture, elaborate headdress, open-mouthed mask and glyph-covered limbs.

Document sculptural artifacts — every modeled detail preserved as clean line work.

Original photo of Khmer Temple Elephant Relief
Khmer temple elephant relief vector line drawing, ornamental saddle cloth, scroll flourishes, and raised trunk on pedestal.

Document carved relief from a single photograph.

Original photo of Decorative Teapot Collection
Decorative teapot collection vector line drawing, thirty-two varied forms with spout profiles, lid knobs, and surface pattern details.

Catalog collections in a single pass — every form captured.

Original photo of African Tribal Mask with Horns
African tribal mask vector line drawing, oval face with geometric markings, paired animal horns and raffia fiber fringe surround.

Record ethnographic artifacts — every carved feature preserved as clean line work.

Original photo of Antique Brass Engraved Charger Plate
Antique brass charger plate vector line drawing, scalloped petal rim, floral scroll border and central peacock medallion.

Catalog embossed metalwork — every detail captured.

How it works

1

Photograph

Shoot orthographically with a scale bar in frame. PhotoCAD's Remove Background mode isolates the artifact from any setting.

2

Convert

PhotoCAD interprets the artifact semantically — mapping the underlying form, not tracing pixels — and generates clean single-weight linework on white. No shading, no fills.

3

Compose

Open the SVG in Illustrator or InDesign, match dimensions to the scale bar, add figure number and caption, then place into your report or catalog.

Discover more in the Gallery

Browse and download free vector files — every one generated by PhotoCAD.

Luba Lukwakongo mask vector line drawing, spherical disc form with concentric banding, vertical nose ridge and almond eye apertures.

Luba Lukwakongo Mask

African tribal masks collection vector line drawing, thirty cultural groups with facial geometry, scarification markings and headdress profiles.

African Tribal Masks Collection

Tibetan Buddhist mandala vector line drawing, square palace with T-shaped gateways, double vajra center and flame border.

Tibetan Buddhist Mandala

Islamic arabesque floral pattern vector line drawing, interlocking scrollwork, lotus blooms and teardrop seed motifs in a repeating lattice.

Islamic Arabesque Floral Pattern

Celtic Tree of Life vector line drawing, interlaced knotwork roots, symmetrical leafy canopy and circular branch border.

Celtic Tree of Life

William Morris Golden Lily vector line drawing, central spider lily bloom, acanthus scrollwork, tulip heads and daisy flowers.

William Morris Golden Lily Pattern

Browse the full collection

Archaeological and heritage object illustration is a publication standard with strict conventions — clean single-weight linework on white, no shading, no fills. Cultural Resource Management (CRM) units producing site reports, museums building decorative arts catalogs, conservators recording object condition, and journals printing figured finds all need it. An experienced illustrator produces a few drawings a day; a medium excavation or large collection needs hundreds.

PhotoCAD reads photographs with semantic understanding — carefully mapping the underlying form and details of an artifact rather than tracing pixel contrast. The result is clean lines from messy source photographs. The AI is lighting- and resolution-tolerant, and isolates the subject from background or surface noise. Commodity raster-to-vector tools fail at exactly the conditions archaeological and heritage photography produces.

Scale is preserved by your photography, not the AI. Shoot orthographically with a scale bar in frame. Open the vectorized SVG in Adobe Illustrator, InDesign or AutoCAD, match dimensions to the bar, add the figure number and caption, then place into your site report, catalog or condition record.

Best for

Finds specialists, Cultural Resource Management (CRM) units producing gray literature, post-excavation supervisors, museum curators digitizing collections, conservators producing condition records, decorative arts scholars, archaeological illustrators, antiquarians, auction-house catalogers, and academic publishers preparing journal figures. Output integrates with Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, CorelDRAW, Inkscape, AutoCAD and ArcGIS Pro.

Ready to try it?

Upload any photo and get a clean vector file in under two minutes. Your first 3 conversions are free.

Convert a Photo

Frequently Asked Questions

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Patent DrawingsIndustrial DesignArchitecture

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Raster to VectorTrace Photo to VectorImage to DXF