How do I convert a PDF to SVG?

Drop your .pdf file on the converter above. The PDF is parsed with @polotno/pdf-import (which uses Mozilla's pdf.js under the hood), every page is converted to a Polotno design, and each design is rendered to an SVG. Single-page PDFs return a single .svg; multi-page PDFs return a .zip containing one SVG per page.

Why a ZIP for multi-page PDFs?

SVG is a single-page format — it has no concept of page 1, page 2, etc. So when your PDF has more than one page, the converter packages each page as a separate SVG file and returns them in a ZIP archive named pageN.svg. Open the ZIP, you'll see one SVG per page.

Is the SVG vector or rasterized?

Vector wherever the source allows it. Text comes out as (selectable and re-stylable), shapes come out as s, embedded images stay as elements. Scanned PDFs are image-only by definition — there's no vector data to recover, so those convert to SVGs that wrap the embedded bitmap.

Can I edit the PDF before downloading the SVG?

Yes — that's the default flow. As soon as the PDF is parsed, the design opens in the embedded Polotno editor where you can change text, colors, layout, add new elements, delete pages you don't need, etc. Click "Download as SVG" in the editor toolbar when you're ready. Single-page exports are .svg, multi-page exports are a .zip.

Does it work for Adobe Illustrator (.ai) files?

Some .ai files are PDF-compatible, so the same parser may handle them if the file contains a PDF stream. This tool accepts .pdf for clarity; if you have an Illustrator file, export or save a PDF copy first.

What about complex PDFs from InDesign or scanned documents?

Vector PDFs from design tools usually convert best. Highly stylized PDFs with custom fonts may need font fallback. Scanned PDFs (just images, no vector data) will convert to SVGs that wrap the embedded image — useful, but not true vectorization. For OCR or image tracing, use a dedicated OCR/vectorization tool first.

PDF to SVG converter — free, multi-page, browser-only

Quick answer

Drop a PDF, get one SVG per page (single PDF → single SVG; multi-page → ZIP). Edit in the live editor first if you want.

Formula: PDF → Polotno JSON (per page) → SVG (vector, browser-only)

Drop a PDF file here to convert it to SVG

or

Runs entirely in your browser. Your file never leaves your device.

PDFs are everywhere; SVGs are what designers and developers actually want to work with — editable, scalable, web-friendly. This converter parses your PDF in the browser and gives you back clean per-page SVGs, with the option to edit the design in a full editor before you download.

Per-page SVGs, packaged sensibly

SVG has no notion of multi-page documents, so we split: one SVG per page, named page-01.svg, page-02.svg, and so on, all in a single ZIP. If your PDF is a single page, you skip the ZIP and download the SVG directly. If you want to grab only a specific page, opt to edit, delete the pages you don't need, then export.

Vector preserved where possible

The conversion uses Mozilla's pdf.js via the @polotno/pdf-import package, which we built for SDK customers who needed to import existing PDF assets into Polotno editors. It walks the PDF operator stream, recovering text as text, shapes as paths, embedded images as images. The output isn't a screenshot wrapped in SVG — it's a real vector reconstruction.

Edit during conversion

As soon as the PDF parses, the design opens in the live Polotno editor. Move things, retype text, swap colors, drop in new images, delete pages you don't need — then click Download as SVG in the editor toolbar. Single pages export as .svg, multi-page designs as a .zip. No round-trip through Illustrator, no upload to a third-party service.

The same conversion in code

The Polotno SDK exposes the same primitives this page is built on. To do the conversion in your own browser or Node.js code:

import { pdfToJson } from "@polotno/pdf-import";
import { createStore } from "polotno/model/store";

const buffer = await file.arrayBuffer();
const json = await pdfToJson({ pdf: buffer });

const store = createStore({ key: "YOUR_KEY" });
store.loadJSON(json);

// Single-page: trigger a browser download
await store.saveAsSVG({ fileName: "design.svg" });

// Or per page, returning the SVG as a string
const svg = await store.toSVG({ pageId: store.pages[0].id });

Full API reference: PDF Import and the Import & Export overview.