diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 964b706..79f4e93 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -118,6 +118,16 @@ svgsmith convert input.png \
 > *"crisp logo"* → `--mode binary`; *"keep the raw look"* → `--no-smooth`. The
 > [`vectorize` skill](skills/vectorize/SKILL.md) encodes this mapping.
 
+### Rasterize (SVG → PNG)
+
+The inverse command renders an SVG back to a PNG (preview, thumbnail, round-trip):
+
+```bash
+svgsmith rasterize input.svg --out out.png        # intrinsic (viewBox) size
+svgsmith rasterize input.svg --width 512           # fixed width
+svgsmith rasterize input.svg --scale 2 --background white
+```
+
 ### Output
 
 The SVG is **responsive and scalable**: it carries a `viewBox` and no fixed pixel
diff --git a/src/svgsmith/cli.py b/src/svgsmith/cli.py
index 4974c6e..fac7be1 100644
--- a/src/svgsmith/cli.py
+++ b/src/svgsmith/cli.py
@@ -90,6 +90,35 @@ def _convert(args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
     return EXIT_OK if report.passed_threshold else EXIT_BELOW_THRESHOLD
 
 
+def _rasterize(args: argparse.Namespace) -> int:
+    """Handle ``svgsmith rasterize`` — render an SVG to PNG."""
+    if not args.input:
+        _log("error: an input SVG path is required")
+        return EXIT_ERROR
+    from pathlib import Path
+
+    from svgsmith.render import rasterize as render_png
+
+    out = args.out or str(Path(args.input).with_suffix(".png"))
+    try:
+        render_png(
+            args.input,
+            out,
+            width=args.width,
+            height=args.height,
+            scale=args.scale,
+            background=args.background,
+        )
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        _log(f"error: input not found: {args.input}")
+        return EXIT_ERROR
+    except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001 - surface any failure as a hard error
+        _log(f"error: rasterize failed: {exc}")
+        return EXIT_ERROR
+    _log(f"wrote {out}")
+    return EXIT_OK
+
+
 def build_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
     """Build the top-level argument parser and its subcommands."""
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
@@ -196,6 +225,27 @@ def build_parser() -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
     )
     convert.set_defaults(func=_convert)
 
+    rasterize = subparsers.add_parser(
+        "rasterize",
+        help="Render an SVG back to a PNG bitmap.",
+        description="Rasterize an SVG to PNG (preview, thumbnail, round-trip).",
+    )
+    rasterize.add_argument("input", nargs="?", help="Path to the input SVG file.")
+    rasterize.add_argument(
+        "--out", default=None, help="Output PNG path (default: input with a .png extension)."
+    )
+    rasterize.add_argument("--width", type=int, default=None, help="Output width in px.")
+    rasterize.add_argument("--height", type=int, default=None, help="Output height in px.")
+    rasterize.add_argument(
+        "--scale", type=float, default=None, help="Scale factor over the intrinsic size."
+    )
+    rasterize.add_argument(
+        "--background",
+        default=None,
+        help="Background color (e.g. white, #ffffff). Default: transparent.",
+    )
+    rasterize.set_defaults(func=_rasterize)
+
     return parser
 
 
diff --git a/src/svgsmith/render.py b/src/svgsmith/render.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8f5a071
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/svgsmith/render.py
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+"""Rasterize SVG back to PNG.
+
+The inverse of the vectorizer: render an SVG to a PNG bitmap via CairoSVG (already
+a dependency, used by the verify loop). Useful for previews, thumbnails, and
+round-tripping. Sizing precedence: explicit ``--scale`` or ``--width``/``--height``,
+otherwise the SVG's intrinsic size (its ``viewBox`` extents when present).
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import re
+
+import cairosvg
+
+# The input SVG may be arbitrary/user-supplied, so we do NOT run a full XML parse
+# over it (XXE / entity-expansion surface). We only scrape the root <svg> tag's
+# size attributes with a regex; CairoSVG handles the actual (safe) rendering.
+_SVG_TAG = re.compile(r"<svg\b[^>]*>", re.IGNORECASE | re.DOTALL)
+_ATTR = lambda name: re.compile(rf'{name}\s*=\s*"([^"]*)"', re.IGNORECASE)  # noqa: E731
+
+
+def _viewbox_size(svg: str) -> tuple[int, int] | None:
+    """Intrinsic pixel size from the root viewBox (or width/height), if any."""
+    tag_match = _SVG_TAG.search(svg)
+    if not tag_match:
+        return None
+    tag = tag_match.group(0)
+
+    vb = _ATTR("viewBox").search(tag)
+    if vb:
+        parts = [p for p in re.split(r"[,\s]+", vb.group(1).strip()) if p]
+        if len(parts) == 4:
+            try:
+                return round(float(parts[2])), round(float(parts[3]))
+            except ValueError:
+                pass
+
+    def _len(name: str) -> float:
+        m = _ATTR(name).search(tag)
+        if not m:
+            return 0.0
+        num = re.match(r"[-+]?(?:\d*\.\d+|\d+\.?)", m.group(1).strip())
+        return float(num.group()) if num else 0.0
+
+    w, h = _len("width"), _len("height")
+    return (round(w), round(h)) if w and h else None
+
+
+def rasterize(
+    svg_path: str,
+    out_path: str,
+    *,
+    width: int | None = None,
+    height: int | None = None,
+    scale: float | None = None,
+    background: str | None = None,
+) -> str:
+    """Render the SVG at ``svg_path`` to a PNG at ``out_path``; return ``out_path``."""
+    with open(svg_path, encoding="utf-8") as handle:
+        svg = handle.read()
+
+    kwargs: dict = {}
+    if scale is not None:
+        kwargs["scale"] = scale
+    if width is not None:
+        kwargs["output_width"] = width
+    if height is not None:
+        kwargs["output_height"] = height
+    if background is not None:
+        kwargs["background_color"] = background
+    # Give CairoSVG an explicit size when none was requested — a responsive SVG
+    # (viewBox, no fixed width/height) would otherwise rasterize at a default size.
+    if not kwargs.get("scale") and "output_width" not in kwargs and "output_height" not in kwargs:
+        size = _viewbox_size(svg)
+        if size:
+            kwargs["output_width"], kwargs["output_height"] = size
+
+    cairosvg.svg2png(bytestring=svg.encode("utf-8"), write_to=out_path, **kwargs)
+    return out_path
diff --git a/tests/test_render.py b/tests/test_render.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3a1df10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_render.py
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+"""Tests for SVG -> PNG rasterization (the `rasterize` subcommand)."""
+
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from PIL import Image
+
+from svgsmith.render import _viewbox_size, rasterize
+
+_SVG = (
+    '<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 40 20" '
+    'style="width:100%;height:100%"><path d="M0 0 L40 0 L40 20 L0 20 Z" fill="#3366cc"/></svg>'
+)
+
+
+def _write(tmp_path: Path) -> Path:
+    p = tmp_path / "in.svg"
+    p.write_text(_SVG, encoding="utf-8")
+    return p
+
+
+def test_viewbox_size_from_regex():
+    assert _viewbox_size(_SVG) == (40, 20)
+
+
+def test_rasterize_defaults_to_viewbox_size(tmp_path):
+    out = rasterize(str(_write(tmp_path)), str(tmp_path / "out.png"))
+    assert Image.open(out).size == (40, 20)
+
+
+def test_rasterize_explicit_width(tmp_path):
+    out = rasterize(str(_write(tmp_path)), str(tmp_path / "out.png"), width=200)
+    assert Image.open(out).size[0] == 200
+
+
+def test_rasterize_does_not_full_parse_untrusted_svg():
+    # _viewbox_size must not choke on (or expand) entity/DTD content — it only
+    # regex-scrapes the root tag, never a full XML parse.
+    hostile = '<!DOCTYPE svg [<!ENTITY x "y">]>' + _SVG
+    assert _viewbox_size(hostile) == (40, 20)