How to open SVG Files – 10 Ways

If you work in the field of graphic design, then you often come across files in the SVG format, and for ordinary users this image file format is not always incomprehensible. Therefore, many users who encounter this format have a question about how to open SVG files.

Most often, when you try to open an SVG file, this image does not immediately open in the Windows operating system using the built-in graphics applications.

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is an abbreviation for Scalable Vector Graphics and is an XML-based markup language that describes what a 2D vector image will look like. This format was developed by the World Wide Web Consortium – Word Wide Web (W3C) and has the file name extensions “*.svg” and “*.svgz”.

The vector SVG format has an advantage over raster image formats such as JPG, PNG, TIFF or GIF because the SVG file can be scaled as much as you need without losing quality.

Raster images contain individual dots known as pixels. These images are great for photographs, but distortion may appear when zoomed in.

Scalable vector graphics are not composed of individual pixels, but of vectors. In SVG markup, mathematical formulas describe path elements that communicate the shape and color of an image, regardless of the number of pixels on the screen.

This means that SVG files will always have sharp lines no matter how much you scale them, unlike bitmaps where you will start to see individual squares at high magnification. In addition, this format has a small file size compared to other bitmap formats such as JPEG and can be adapted to different screen sizes.

With all that said, you’re probably wondering how to open the SVG format for viewing or editing. Depending on what you want to do with the file, you can use several methods:

• View and edit SVG in a graphics editor.
• Open the SVG with an internet browser (browser).
• Open the SVG file in a text editor.
• Open SVG online with a web application on the web.

In this guide, we will show you how to open an SVG file on a computer in the Windows operating system. From the instructions, you will learn which programs open SVG, in which applications you can edit files of this format, and how to open an SVG image online using a specialized service.

How to open SVG Files in a web browser

Most modern browsers, including even the outdated Internet Explorer, support the SVG file format by default. You can view online SVG files without additional steps on the Internet, because such images are used on some websites.

Apart from the worldwide web, your web browser is suitable as a standalone SVG viewer on your device. The browser recognizes SVG as an XML file, so this format is automatically opened there.

1 way how to open SVG files in browser:

1. Browse to the SVG file on your computer. The file may appear with the default browser icon on your PC, or it may simply be empty.
2. Right-click on the file, in the context menu, first select “Open With”, and then select one of the suggested browsers installed on your computer.
3. The SVG image will open in your browser. You can see that the address bar of the URL points to a file in your local location, not a web page.

2 way:

Just drag and drop the SVG file into a browser window to see this image in a web browser (Google Chrome, Yandex Browser, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Vivaldi, and so on).

How to open SVG Files in Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is a program for creating vector graphics. This professional program is suitable for working with SVG files.

Do the following:

1. In the Adobe Illustrator window, go to the File menu.
2. Click “Open…”.
3. Select a picture in SVG format on PC.

How to open SVG Files in CorelDRAW

CorelDRAW Graphics Suite is a professional software suite that includes CorelDRAW vector illustration software. This application supports working with SVG files.

Go through a few steps:

1. In the CorelDRAW program window, go to the “File” menu.
2. In the menu that opens, select “Open …”.
3. In the Explorer window, select the desired file on your device.

How to open SVG Files in Inkscape

Inkscape is a free vector graphics editor. In the program, you can view and edit SVG files, as well as convert them to other graphic formats.

Do the following:

1. From the main Inkscape window, go to the File menu.
2. Click on “Open…”.
3. In the “Select file to open” window, open the SVG image.

How to open SVG Files in GIMP

GIMP is a free raster graphics editor. Along with raster graphics, the program supports vector graphics. GIMP can save an image in SVG format.

Go through the steps:

1. In the GNU Image Manipulation Program window, select the File menu.
2. In the context menu, select the “Open …” item.
3. In the Open Image window, select the SVG file.
4. In the window that opens with the properties of this image, click the “OK” button.
5. An SVG file is open in the GIMP window.

How to open SVG Files in Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is a popular raster graphics editor. Modern versions of Photoshop support the SVG format, so you can open the file in this program.

If you just open the SVG in Photoshop, you will be prompted to rasterize the format. To use a vector image in your application, you must do the following:

1. In the Adobe Photoshop window, open the File menu.
2. Select “Create…”.
3. In the New window, accept or set your own empty background properties.
4. Go back to the “File” menu and select “Place Embedded…” or “Place Linked…” from the context menu.
5. Select the SVG file on your computer.
6. A vector layer will appear in the program window, with which you can continue to work.

How to open SVG Files in Word, PowerPoint, Publisher

If the question arises, how to open the SVG extension, then you can use popular applications from the Microsoft Office suite as a viewer. You can open this vector format file in Word, PowerPoint, or Publisher.

The SVG viewer on the example of Microsoft Word is launched as follows:

1. Open a Word document on your computer.
2. Move the mouse cursor to the desired location where you want to paste the image.
3. Go to the “Insert” tab.
4. In the “Illustrations” group, click the “Pictures” button.
5. In the drop-down menu, click “This device …”.
6. In the Insert Picture window, select the SVG file on your PC.
7. After that, the picture will appear in the application window.

How to open SVG Files in a text editor

SVG files can be opened with any text or XML editor. But in this case, you will see the code, not the image. In a text editor, you can change some properties of the SVG image.

Viewing an SVG file in a text editor using the Notepad application as an example:

1. Open Notepad.
2. Enter the “File” menu, select “Open …”.
3. In the “Open” window, select the file type – “all files”, and then open the SVG file.

How to open SVG files online on fviewer service

When a user thinks about how to open an SVG image, he can use the services of a web application located on the Internet. An online cloud file viewer on the fviewer.com service is suitable for this.

To open SVG online, follow the steps:

1. Open the link to the fviewer website page in your browser: https://www.fviewer.com/en/view-svg .
2. Select a file from your computer or drag and drop it into the dedicated area. This resource has the ability to view the file via a link from the Internet.

The vector graphics will open for viewing on a computer screen. The image can be expanded to full screen, reduced or enlarged.

How to open SVG Files online on Aspose

Aspose.com is an online service for working with text, graphic and multimedia file formats. This site can be used to view some file formats.

You can open an SVG file online for free in the following way:

1. Go to the Aspose website webpage: https://products.aspose.app/imaging/en/image-view/svg .
2. On the “View and print SVG images” page, select a file, drag it from your PC to a special form, enter the URL for the file, add a file from Google Drive or Dropbox cloud storage.
3. After processing is completed, you will see the image on the online viewer page, the scale of which can be increased or decreased.
4. An open file can be sent for printing, downloaded to a computer, saved to Dropbox or Google Drive.

Using this service with an open SVG file, you can perform other useful operations.

Article Conclusions

Many users are faced with the SVG format – scalable vector graphics, which at first glance is not clear how to open it. This is an image format described by XML. To view SVG files, you can use different applications that support this format, or open the image on an online service. Some graphics programs support creating, opening, and editing SVG files.