SVG to DXF Converter
Open an SVG and this converter writes its actual paths as DXF polylines, with no tracing step: closed shapes become closed polylines, open strokes stay open, and transforms are applied. Choose millimetres or inches, check the size, pick one layer per colour or a single layer, and download the DXF. It runs in your browser, so the file is never uploaded.
How to convert an SVG to DXF
- 1
Open your SVG
Drop the file or press the sample gear button. Text must be converted to paths first; the tool warns you if it finds any.
- 2
Check the units and size
The panel shows the size the SVG declares. If it has none, choose how many px make an inch, or switch to Set a width and type the size you want.
- 3
Choose layers and accuracy
Pick one layer per colour or everything on layer 0, set the curve accuracy, and look at the preview. Amber dots mark the ends of open lines.
- 4
Download and verify
Press Download DXF, open it in your CAD or laser software and measure one known dimension before you cut.
How each SVG feature becomes DXF
SVG describes shapes as paths, rectangles, circles and lines. DXF stores outlines as polylines on layers. This is what the converter does with each part of your file.
| Filled shape | Written as a closed polyline. A path with holes becomes one closed polyline for the outside and one for each hole. |
|---|---|
| Stroked line, no fill | Written as an open polyline along the centre of the stroke, or closed if it ends where it started or uses Z. |
| Fill and stroke on one path | Written once, as a closed outline. The stroke width itself is not written. |
| Curves and arcs | Cut into short straight segments no further than the curve accuracy (0.1, 0.02 or 0.005 mm) from the true curve. |
| Transforms | translate, rotate, scale, skew and matrix, on a shape or any group around it, are applied before writing. |
| Colours | Each fill colour (or stroke colour for lines) becomes its own layer, named for its hex value, with the nearest basic CAD colour. |
| Units | Written to the DXF header: millimetres or inches. Y is flipped so the drawing is upright in CAD. |
| Not converted | Text, embedded bitmaps, clip paths and masks. The tool lists them so you can fix the SVG first. |
Vector in, vector out: no tracing
An SVG already is geometry: a list of points, lines and curves. A PNG or JPG is a grid of coloured dots that a tracer has to guess outlines from. That is why a true SVG to DXF conversion keeps every corner exactly where the artist put it, while a bitmap tracer rounds and drifts. If your file is a picture inside an SVG wrapper, there are no paths to read, and the PNG to DXF tracer is the right tool.
There is one translation to make. SVG has Bezier curves and arcs; the plain DXF written here has only straight-line polylines. Each curve is therefore cut into very short straight pieces, none further from the real curve than the accuracy you pick. At Normal that is 0.02 mm, far finer than a laser or router can follow, and at Fine it is 0.005 mm. A larger part with many curves will have more points, which the stats panel shows.
Why the size comes out wrong
SVG does not have to say how big it is. Many files only hold numbers in "user units" and let the viewer pick a scale. Browsers take a user unit as one CSS pixel, which is 1/96 of an inch or 0.2646 mm, so a 100 px square is 26.458 mm. Some programs assume 72 px per inch and others, mostly older vector editors, assume 90. The same file can therefore be off by a quarter or a third in your CAD program.
This converter follows the SVG rules. When the file gives a width and height in mm, cm or inches along with a viewBox, the viewBox is scaled to that real size, which is what a file saved from a vector editor with a page size does. When it does not, the px setting decides, and the line under the upload tells you which case you are in. If the number still does not match what you expect, use Set a width and type the size you want. Then open the DXF and measure one edge before you cut.
Fills, strokes, hairlines and layers for cutting
On a laser, a cut line is usually a thin line and an engraving is a filled area. In a DXF there are only lines, so the usual habit is to separate the jobs by layer or colour and let the laser software assign one to cut and the other to engrave. That is why this tool can put every fill colour on its own layer, with a basic CAD colour close to the original. Choose a single layer if your software wants everything together.
Stroke width does not exist in a DXF polyline, so a thick stroke becomes its centre line. If the width matters, for example a slot that is 3 mm wide, expand the stroke to a path in your vector editor first (the command is usually called Stroke to Path or Outline Stroke) and convert again. Hairline strokes such as 0.001 mm work fine here, because only the geometry is used; a stroke width of exactly 0 counts as no stroke and the line is skipped, as are hidden and fully transparent shapes.
Text is not a path until you convert it. In most vector editors the command is called Object to Path, Create Outlines or Convert to Curves; run it on every text object, then save the SVG again. Finally, try Outer outlines only when you want just the silhouette: it drops every closed outline that sits inside another one, while open lines stay.
Need the design in 3D?
The drawing you converted can also become a 3D model. Turn a photo into a model with AI, make a printable STL from a picture, or describe a model in words.
More free DXF, SVG and laser tools
SVG to DXF: frequently asked questions
Open the DXF in your CAD or laser software and measure one known dimension before cutting material.