Help:SVG

SVG (scalable vector graphics) is a vectror-graphics file format for non-photographic images. Instead of pixels in case of bitmap graphics SVG graphics use shapes. If an image is resized no artefacts will occur for SVG files. SVG is now supported by all main vector-gtraphics processing programs and browsers.

Creating SVG images
As SVG is defined as an XML specification, it is possible to edit SVG files in a text editor. Syntax highlighting should be useful.

But usually graphics-processing software is used like:


 * Inkscape — Open source graphics editor resulting from the SodiPodi engine. Available on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
 * SodiPodi — Open source graphics editor but is no longer under development. Available on Windows, Solaris, and Linux.
 * Dia — Open source graphics editor for diagrams. Exports to SVG possible. Available on Windows, Mac OS X, and Unix systems.
 * OpenOffice.org Draw — Open source graphics editor, part of the OpenOffice suite.
 * Adobe Illustrator — Commercial software available on Windows and Mac OS.
 * CorelDraw — Commercial software available on Windows.

If you modify SVG images with a text editor, an SVG validator should be helpful:


 * SVG Validator by W3C

Conversion from bitmap to vector graphics is performed by the following tools:


 * Delineate — Open source tracer. Java-based interface for Potrace and Autotrace.
 * Potrace is also part of Inkscape.
 * Vector Magic — Free online conversion tool.

SVG to PNG conversion
For SVG images uploaded PNG thumbnails will be produced automatically. Wikivoyage uses Inkscape to convert SVGs to PNGs for display. Scaling is performed by defining the width of interest with a Wiki syntax like.

Fonts
Using the tag with SVG you can directly enter or modify texts. The texts will be rendered correctly only in case of the usage of TTF fonts supported by Wikivoyage.

If you don’t convert text to paths it will be easily possible to create localized version and the file sizes are considerable smaller. Use the conversion to paths only in case of unsupported fonts.

Please prevent using Flowed Text. Convert it to “normal” text

Free sources
Free SVG sources can be found at:


 * openclipart.org.