SVG software: which programs open, edit and make SVG
Which programs open SVG files, which can edit or create them, and what each does with the drawing: editors, cutting and laser software, office and 3D tools.
Published
There is no single SVG program, because SVG is an open standard and not one company’s format. Every web browser can show an SVG. Vector editors such as Inkscape, which is free, open one for editing and save their work as SVG. Beyond those, a long list of programs import SVG and each does something different with it: a cutting program reads the outlines as cut lines, a pixel editor turns the drawing into pixels, a 3D program turns it into curves or a sketch. Which program you want depends on what you mean to do with the file.
Most rows below link to a guide with the steps and the source for the claim. The others name their source.
To look at an SVG
| Program | What it does |
|---|---|
| Any web browser | Draws the file. Drag it into a browser window |
| SVG viewer | Draws it and lists its size, viewBox and contents. Runs in the browser, and the file is not uploaded |
| Windows File Explorer | Shows SVG thumbnails and previews once Microsoft PowerToys is installed and its SVG add-ons are switched on. See SVG thumbnails in File Explorer |
To create or edit an SVG
These are vector editors: programs whose own documents are made of shapes.
| Program | SVG support |
|---|---|
| Inkscape | Free and open source. Its site says it “uses the standardized SVG file format as its main format” |
| Adobe Illustrator | Opens SVG with File, Open as editable paths. See open an SVG in Illustrator and export SVG from Illustrator |
| Figma | Imports SVG as editable vector layers and exports it. See SVG in Figma |
| Affinity Designer, CorelDRAW | Both open SVG, as noted in What is an SVG file |
| A text editor | An SVG is text, so a colour or a size can be typed straight into the code. See how to edit an SVG |
If you ask what software is used to create SVG files, this table is the answer: they are drawn in a vector editor and saved or exported as SVG. The other ways are to write the file with code, which is how the files in our free SVG library are made, or to trace a picture.
Without installing anything, the SVG editor on this site changes an SVG in the browser, and smaller tools do single jobs: change colours, resize, crop, rotate or flip. How to make an SVG file covers making one from nothing.
Pixel editors: they open SVG, but as a picture
Painting and photo programs work in pixels. They accept an SVG, and most turn it into pixels on the way in.
| Program | What happens to the SVG |
|---|---|
| Adobe Photoshop | File, Open turns it into pixels at a size you choose. Place Embedded keeps it as a Smart Object that can be resized. Neither edits the shapes. See open an SVG in Photoshop |
| GIMP | Opens it as pixels. Can bring the outlines in as paths, and export paths as SVG. See GIMP and SVG |
| Krita | Free and open source. Opens an SVG onto a vector layer, and saves vector layers as SVG. Brush strokes are pixels and are not saved. See Krita and SVG |
To go from pixels to an SVG, the picture has to be traced. Image to SVG does that in the browser, and convert a picture to SVG explains what traces well.
Cutting machines and lasers
For these, the paths in the file are the lines the blade or beam follows.
| Program | SVG support |
|---|---|
| Cricut Design Space | Uploads SVG with its cut lines intact. See upload an SVG to Cricut Design Space |
| Silhouette Studio | Opens SVG in Designer Edition and above. The free Basic Edition does not. See open an SVG in Silhouette Studio |
| LightBurn, xTool Creative Space, the Glowforge app | Import SVG for cutting and engraving, as noted in What is an SVG file |
Programs that do not read SVG often read DXF. SVG to DXF converts the outlines at real size, and SVG vs DXF explains the difference.
Office programs
| Program | SVG support |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Word | Insert, Pictures, This Device, in Microsoft 365 and Word 2019, 2021 and 2024. See SVG in Word |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | The same menu, and Convert to Shape breaks the drawing into PowerPoint shapes. See SVG in PowerPoint |
| Older versions of Office | Not listed by Microsoft. Convert a copy with SVG to PNG |
3D and CAD programs
These read the outlines and ignore most of the styling. Text, line widths and gradients are commonly dropped, so convert text to paths first.
| Program | What it makes of an SVG |
|---|---|
| Blender | Curve objects, through File, Import, SVG as Curves, which can then be converted to a mesh. See Blender: SVG to mesh |
| Autodesk Fusion (Fusion 360) | Sketch geometry, through Insert, Insert SVG. See Fusion 360: import an SVG |
| Unity | A vector image, texture or sprite. Built in from Unity 6.3, and through the Vector Graphics package before that. See SVG in Unity |
| SketchUp | Nothing: SVG is not among the file types it lists. Convert to DXF or STL first. See SketchUp and SVG |
For a 3D printer’s slicer, which wants a solid and not a drawing, SVG to STL raises the filled shapes of an SVG to a thickness.
Documents and the web
| Where | SVG support |
|---|---|
| A web page | Native, in every modern browser. See SVG in HTML |
| WordPress | Refuses SVG uploads by default, because an SVG can contain a script. See upload SVG to WordPress |
| LaTeX | \includegraphics does not read SVG. Convert to PDF, or use the svg package with Inkscape. See SVG in LaTeX |
Free SVG software
Putting the free options together:
- To view: any browser, or the SVG viewer. On Windows, Microsoft describes PowerToys as “a set of free, open-source utilities”, and it adds thumbnails to File Explorer.
- To draw and edit: Inkscape. Its site describes it as “a Free and open source vector graphics editor for GNU/Linux, Windows and macOS”.
- To paint, with some vector layers: Krita, which its manual calls “a free and open source cross-platform application”.
- To cut: check the edition. Silhouette Studio’s free Basic Edition does not open SVG; Designer Edition and above do.
- To convert, resize, recolour or check a file: the tools on this site, which run in the browser and do not upload the file.
When a program will not open your SVG
The cause is usually one of three things.
- The program does not read SVG. Convert a copy to what it does read: PNG for anything that takes pictures, PDF for print and LaTeX, DXF for CAD and older cutting software.
- The file uses something the program skips. Text, filters, masks, gradients and embedded pictures are the usual casualties. Convert text to paths in a vector editor and simplify the rest. The SVG viewer counts the text elements and images in a file.
- The file is not really a drawing. An SVG can hold nothing but a photo in a wrapper. If the viewer shows one image and no paths, trace it with image to SVG.
Sizes are the other common surprise: the same file can arrive at different sizes in different programs, because they disagree about how big a pixel is. SVG size and What is an SVG file explain why, and Resize SVG sets a real size in millimetres or inches.