SVG files on iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows and Mac: find and open them

Desktop: Windows and Mac

1. Your browser saves the SVG to the Downloads folder; its downloads list shows where.
2. Double-clicking the file opens it in the app your computer uses for .svg files, usually the browser. That only shows the picture.
3. To cut it, start your cutting software and use its upload or import command: in Design Space, Upload, then Upload Image, then Browse.
4. Silhouette Studio’s free Basic Edition doesn’t open SVG; Designer Edition and above do.

iPhone and iPad

1. Tap the download link, and choose Download if Safari asks. The file goes to the Files app: Browse, iCloud Drive, Downloads. Safari’s Downloads button, beside the search field, lists it too.
2. In Design Space, tap Upload on the bottom toolbar, then Browse files, and choose the SVG in iCloud Drive or another storage app.
3. Name the image and tap Upload. An SVG keeps its cut lines and layers. DXF can’t be uploaded on iOS, and neither can PDF or TIFF.

Android

1. The SVG goes to Downloads. Open your device’s Files app to find it; some phones have their maker’s own files app instead.
2. In Design Space, tap Upload on the bottom toolbar, then Select from Photo Library, which also lets you choose a file storage app, and pick the SVG.
3. Name the image and tap Upload. DXF can’t be uploaded on Android.

A worked example

On an iPhone, download our friendly ghost: the file goes to iCloud Drive > Downloads. In Design Space tap Upload, then Browse files, open Downloads and choose it, name it and tap Upload. The ghost arrives on the Canvas as one group holding its four layers, the shadow, the ghost, the cheeks and the face; ungroup it to move or hide a layer. Its cut size is 90 × 86 mm.

When the SVG opens in a browser

A browser tab showing the design means the file is a working SVG; your computer simply opens .svg files with the browser. Upload it from inside your cutting software, or choose another app for .svg files.

The converters, the checker and the size tools on this site work in your phone’s browser too, and your file stays on the phone: nothing is uploaded.

Change the app that opens .svg files →

The ghost from the example →

Upload an SVG to Design Space, step by step →