Exporting your work
SVG for other editors
SVG is the format for handing your design to another editor. It's scalable vector artwork that opens cleanly in Figma, Illustrator and Inkscape — and you get to decide whether the type stays editable or is locked to shapes.
In the Export dialog, the SVG hint says it plainly: "Scalable vector SVG per canvas. Editable in Figma, Illustrator and Inkscape." You get one SVG file per canvas, zipped together when you export several at once.
Exporting an SVG
- Open File → Download to bring up the Export design dialog.
- Set Output Format to SVG.
- Under Text, choose how type is handled — Embedded fonts or Outlines (see below).
- Click Download.
The file lands in your browser's downloads folder. Nothing is uploaded — the SVG is built right in your browser.
The Text choice: Embedded fonts vs Outlines
This is the one decision that matters for SVG, and it's under the Text control:
| Option | What it does | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| Embedded fonts | Keeps text as real, re-typeable text; the fonts ride along in the file (via @font-face) |
The person opening the file will keep editing the copy |
| Outlines | Converts every glyph to vector paths — text looks identical everywhere but is no longer editable as text | You want pixel-perfect fidelity no matter what fonts are installed |
When to embed fonts
Choose Embedded fonts when whoever opens the file needs to keep editing the words — fixing a typo, swapping a headline, restyling a paragraph. The catch is that the target app has to honor the embedded font. Most modern editors do, but rendering can vary, so embed fonts when editability matters more than a guaranteed identical look.
When to outline
Choose Outlines when the design must look exactly like this everywhere, regardless of which fonts the recipient has. Because every letter becomes a shape, there's nothing to substitute and nothing to go wrong — but there's also no text left to edit. It's the safest choice for a final handoff, or for anyone who shouldn't be retyping your copy.
Tip: unsure? Outlines never surprises you visually. Reach for Embedded fonts only when live text editing is genuinely needed on the other end.
Opening in other apps
Once you've got the .svg, here's what to expect in the usual destinations:
- Figma — drag the file onto the canvas, or use Import. Embedded text may come in as outlines depending on the font, so if editable text is essential, confirm it after import.
- Illustrator — File → Open. Vector shapes, strokes and fills arrive as native Illustrator paths.
- Inkscape — opens SVG natively; it's the most faithful reader of the format.
Effects, gradients and strokes travel as vector wherever the format allows, so your artwork stays scalable rather than flattening to pixels. If you used custom fonts, keeping those fonts installed on the opener's machine helps everything render exactly as designed — the Font Book explains how fonts are managed here.
Multiple canvases
Select more than one canvas and SVG export gives you a ZIP with one SVG per canvas, named after each canvas. The canvas picker lets you choose exactly which ones to include — handy when a document holds several sizes or a front/back pair.
SVG or PDF?
Both are vector, but they're for different jobs:
- SVG is for artwork that's still being worked on in another design app — an editable vector handoff to a designer or teammate.
- PDF is for a finished document: a proof to review, a file to share, or print-ready output for a printer.
If someone is going to keep designing with your file, send SVG. If they just need to view, approve or print it, send PDF.
Where to go next
- The Export dialog — every format, scale and quality option in one place.
- Exporting multiple canvases — how bundling and ZIPs work when you export a set.