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How to Edit an SVG File
If you want to just open an SVG image without editing it, you can do it in your web browser. Browsers can easily interpret and display SVGs. If you want to modify an SVG file, you can directly modify the SVG file in a text editor, but it’s not possible to change most things beyond colors. Hence, you can use certain free and paid software for editing vector art, which include:
- Adobe Illustrator: You can use Adobe Illustrator to create and edit vector graphics. Export adobe projects as SVGs.
- Microsoft Visio: It’s a flowchart, diagram, and infographic maker.
- You can also edit your SVG on the free graphics editor, CorelDraw.
- GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program): it’s a free, popular, and open-source image editing program.
- Google Docs: You can just create the drawings in Google docs and export them to SVG.
- Inkscape: It’s a free vector drawing and text tool. You can create a new design, click on Create and Edit Text Objects, then click anywhere on the canvas. You can fill the color and stroke. Then click on the path menu and then on the object to path. Make it a single path by clicking on the path menu and union. Click on a node to select and adjust handles. You can delete them if you find any stray nodes. Now you can save your design as an SVG by clicking on save as type.
If you want to create SVGs from scratch, there is no need to know about XML or programming. You can just draw your vectors in one of the programs listed above and export them in an SVG format.
What are the uses of SVG files?
SVG files can be used for images that do not contain as many details as a photograph. Now, let us discuss a few uses of SVG online.
You can translate most icons to vectors, as they have clearly defined borders. Icons need to be perfectly scalable to be responsive for page elements.
The SVG format perfectly suits logos, which appear in website headers, emails. They can be printed on anything from pamphlets to hoodies to billboards. Again, logos have simple designs, which lends nicely to the SVG format.
Vectors can be used as non-photo visual art. If you add decorative drawings on web pages as SVGs, they can both scale easily and conserve file space.
- Animations and Interface Elements
You can set SVGs to change their appearance dynamically, and be triggered automatically by using CSS and Javascript. Animated SVGs add visual flair to your pages, or you can use them to engage with user interface animations.
- Infographics and Data Visualizations
Informational displays, like an infographic or illustrated chart, are another useful application for SVGs. Your designs can scale seamlessly, and text within the SVG file is indexable.
SVGs are also used to design charts that help to update real-time data input. The other uses of SVGs are on the informational sites to visualize data and maps.
