How to Export SVG from Krita

The short answer

Krita does not turn a whole document into an SVG through the standard export dialog. It can save the contents of a single vector layer as an SVG file. In recent versions the command is under the Layer menu, in the Import/Export submenu, as Save Vector Layer as SVG. Only shapes, paths and text that already sit on a vector layer are written as vector data. Brush strokes on paint layers stay raster, and Krita has no automatic tracing to convert them into paths.

A few terms set the scope here. SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is a text-based format that describes artwork as geometric instructions. Those instructions are paths, which are outlines built from anchor points and curve segments, plus fills, strokes and text. A raster or paint layer stores a grid of pixels instead. A vector layer in Krita stores shapes internally as SVG, which is why only that layer type can be saved this way.

Krita is mainly a painting application. It can handle a simple logo built from shapes and text, but complex path editing, typography control and print preparation are usually done in a dedicated vector editor. Saving the SVG from Krita and refining it elsewhere is a common route.

Before you start

• Use a current Krita release, and check the menu names below against your version. Command locations and the text tool have changed between major releases, and no version-specific documentation was supplied for this guide.
• Put the logo on one or more vector layers. In the Layers docker, vector layers have their own icon and are created with the Add Layer menu (Vector Layer).
• Build the artwork with Krita's vector tools: rectangle, ellipse, polygon, polyline, Bezier curve and freehand path tools, plus the text tool. Shapes made with these tools on a vector layer stay vector.
• Decide whether text should remain editable text or become outlines, which means converting letterforms into plain paths. Editable text depends on the font being available wherever the file is opened. Outlines look the same everywhere but can no longer be retyped.
• Confirm you have the right to use and distribute the logo and any fonts in it. A file format says nothing about permission to reuse the artwork.

Step by step: saving a vector layer as SVG

• 1. Open the document and find the vector layer that holds the logo. If parts of the logo are spread across several vector layers, move all of the shapes onto one vector layer. The command saves one layer at a time.
• 2. Check that nothing essential lives on a paint layer. Painted texture, brush lettering or imported bitmaps will not appear as vector paths in the SVG.
• 3. Select the vector layer in the Layers docker so it is the active layer.
• 4. Open the Layer menu, go to Import/Export, and choose Save Vector Layer as SVG. Some versions also offer this command from the right-click menu in the Layers docker.
• 5. Choose a location and file name, keep the .svg extension, and save.
• 6. Repeat for any other vector layer you need as a separate file, such as an icon-only mark or a wordmark variant.

Handling paths and typography before export

Clean geometry makes the SVG easier to use later. Select the shapes with the shape selection tool and check for stray objects, hidden shapes and duplicate outlines stacked on top of one another. Use the edit shapes tool to remove unneeded anchor points so curves stay smooth and easy to edit. Make sure fills and strokes use the intended colours.

Pay particular attention to strokes. A stroke is drawn at a fixed width around a path. If the logo is later scaled up or down in another application, the stroke weight may behave differently than the filled shapes. Delivery files are often expected to contain filled outlines rather than stroked lines. Krita's vector tools are limited for converting strokes to fills, so this conversion is often done in a dedicated vector editor.

For text, Krita writes text on a vector layer as SVG text elements. Editable text in the output only displays correctly if the same font is installed where the file is opened. Some Krita versions provide a convert-to-path command for text shapes, but check whether yours does. If it does not, open the SVG in a dedicated vector editor and convert the text to outlines there before delivering a final logo.

How to confirm the export worked

• Open the SVG in a web browser. The logo should appear complete, with the correct colours and no missing shapes.
• Zoom in heavily in the browser or a vector editor. Vector edges stay sharp at any zoom level. Blocky or blurred edges suggest raster content.
• Open the file in a plain-text editor and search for image elements. An image tag, especially one containing embedded base64 data, means raster content is inside the file, even though the extension is .svg.
• In the same text view, check whether lettering appears as text elements or as path elements. This tells you whether the type is still live text or has been outlined.
• Check the width, height and viewBox attributes on the root svg element. Confirm that the artwork is positioned and sized as expected and is not cropped or surrounded by unexpected empty space.
• Import the file into a dedicated vector editor and confirm that individual shapes can be selected and their anchor points edited.

Krita may add its own namespace attributes to the SVG. Most applications ignore these, but if another program shows unexpected results, re-saving the file from a dedicated vector editor usually produces a cleaner, more widely compatible SVG.

Gaps to be aware of

No version-specific documentation or test results were supplied for this guide. The menu path, the right-click option and any text-to-path command should be checked against the Krita version you are using. This guide also makes no claims about specific compatibility results with particular browsers, editors or print workflows. Test the exported file in the applications where the logo will actually be used.