What is a SVG file?

SVG — vector image

What is it?

SVG doesn't store pixels but instructions: "draw a circle here, this line there, fill this shape with this colour." It's an image described mathematically.

The consequence is striking: an SVG scales infinitely without ever becoming blurry. The same 3 KB file renders a logo just as crisply on a 16-pixel icon as on a four-metre poster.

History & origin

The W3C published SVG in 2001, after weighing several competing proposals for vector graphics on the web.

Long overlooked, it gained traction as high-density screens became widespread: these are what made pixelated logos unbearable, and vector graphics indispensable.

Why it is useful

Perfect sharpness at any size, a tiny file size for simple shapes, and text that's genuinely selectable and indexable by search engines.

It's text: an SVG can be opened in an editor, edited by hand, diffed, and version-controlled. It can even be animated and styled with CSS.

Limits & drawbacks

It's completely unsuited to photography: describing a face mathematically would produce a file that's both enormous and ugly.

A very complex drawing can slow down rendering. And since an SVG can contain code, you should never open one from an unknown source without caution.

Practical tips

SVG is the format to insist on for a logo, an icon, a pictogram, or a chart. Ask your designer for it as a matter of course.

Converting an SVG to PNG is simple and reliable. The reverse isn't: vectorising a raster image remains an approximation—decent for a clean, two-colour logo, disappointing for a photo.

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