Make a First Logo Draft With AI for €0 and Turn It Into a Vector

Updated: November 2026 · Prices checked: November 2026

A new business needs a logo on day one, for the website, invoices and social profiles. Most founders either pay too early or use a clip-art icon. AI gives you a usable first draft for €0, and free software turns it into a vector you can scale to any size. It is a draft, not a brand. Treat it that way and it saves you money.

What you save

The paid steps in a logo are concept work, clean vector files and legal protection. AI and free tools cover the first two well enough for a start. The legal part is not optional if the brand matters, and it has a fixed price.

The maths: ideas in Gemini cost €0. Tracing in Inkscape costs €0, or €8.99 for one month of Vectorizer.AI if you cancel after use. An EU trade mark at the EUIPO costs €850 for one class, or about €213 if your company gets the SME Fund’s 75% refund. The money you save on the draft is better spent on that check and filing.

Step 1: get logo ideas from AI

1. Write a short brief. What you sell, who buys, three words for the feel, colours to use and to avoid.
2. Open the Gemini app and go to Menu → Images, or just type in the chat. Image generation is in the free plan.
3. Ask for simple marks. Example: “Create a flat vector-style logo icon for a small bakery called Zora. One simple shape, two colours, no gradients, no text, white background.”
4. Generate variations. Ask for different directions: an initial letter, an abstract shape, a simple object. Save the 3–4 you like.
5. Simplify. “Make it simpler, thicker lines, works at 32 pixels.” A logo must still read as a tiny favicon.
6. Add the name later. Set the company name yourself in a free font in Inkscape or Canva. AI text often has wrong letters.

Better briefs give better drafts. Our guide to writing AI prompts has templates you can adapt. If you want to compare other image tools, see the AI image generators comparison with prices and rights.

Step 2: turn it into a vector

The AI gives you a PNG made of pixels. Printers, sign makers and embroidery shops want a vector file (SVG, PDF or EPS) that scales without blur.

1. Install Inkscape, the free, open-source vector editor, from inkscape.org.
2. Use File → Import to bring in the PNG, then select it.
3. Open Path → Trace Bitmap (Shift+Alt+B).
4. For a one-colour mark, choose Brightness cutoff. For several colours, use Color quantization or the multicolour options. Click Update to preview, then OK.
5. Move the original PNG away and delete it. Keep the traced shape.
6. Run Path → Simplify (Ctrl+L) to reduce extra nodes. Fix any odd curves with the node tool.
7. Add the company name with the text tool, then convert the text to a path so it looks the same on every computer.
8. Save as Inkscape SVG for editing, and export a plain SVG, a PDF and PNGs in a few sizes.

Inkscape’s own FAQ warns that Trace Bitmap is not designed to reproduce a raster image exactly. Simple, flat drafts trace well. Gradients and fine detail do not. If the trace looks rough, try Vectorizer.AI: you can upload and preview for free and pay €8.99 for a month only when you download.

Trademark and originality traps

• AI can copy without telling you. A generated mark can look close to an existing brand, especially for common ideas such as a leaf, a house or a coffee cup. Search before you use it.
• Check names and logos for free. TMview and the EUIPO search tools show registered EU and national trade marks. Search your name and look through the logos in your product class.
• Copyright is weak for AI output. The US Copyright Office’s 2025 report says copyright does not extend to purely AI-generated material, and that prompts alone do not give enough control. Your own changes and redrawing count. A copy-paste AI logo gives you little to defend.
• Trade marks protect brands, not drawings. A registered trade mark protects your logo as a sign in trade. At the EUIPO the basic online fee is €850 for one class, €50 for the second and €150 for each further class. EU-based SMEs can apply to the SME Fund first and get 75% back.
• Read the tool’s terms. Google asks Gemini users not to violate others’ copyright. Never ask for “a logo like Nike”.

When to hire a designer

• Before you print in volume. Signs, packaging and vehicle wraps are expensive to redo. A designer checks the logo in all sizes and colours.
• When the brand is the product. Fashion, cosmetics, food and drink live on recognition. Pay for a real identity.
• When you want to register. A designer who creates an original mark gives you something distinctive and fully yours, which is easier to protect.
• When you need a system. Fonts, colours, icon set and rules for use go beyond a single mark.

Even then, the AI drafts help. Show the designer what you like and what you do not, and the brief takes an hour instead of a week. For the bigger picture of marketing on a budget, read AI marketing on a small budget, and for your site, building a website with AI.

Read also: Clean Product Photos From Your Phone for €0 With Free AI Tools · Edit Photos by Describing the Change for €0 in Gemini · Your First No-Code AI Automation in 30 Minutes (Make or Zapier)

Sources: Google: images in Gemini Apps · Inkscape: tracing bitmaps · Inkscape FAQ · Vectorizer.AI pricing · EUIPO: trade mark fees · TMview · US Copyright Office: AI copyrightability report

II

About the author

Ivan Ivanov

Founder ofHawkValue

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