SVG to PDF: check the saved file before you send it

Check what the PDF actually contains

Before exporting, put a distinctive label such as PROOF-729 next to a curved shape in a copy of your SVG. Search for the label in the saved PDF, then select it, copy it and paste it into plain text. Compare the pasted characters with the SVG label before approving the export.

Searchable text and editable text are different requirements. Try changing a character in the PDF editor you plan to use, since editing also depends on the editor and available font. Keep the original SVG for design changes.

In a command-line control test, I generated three PDFs directly with the site's bundled PDF library. The text control had one text-showing operation and no image objects. The path control had neither, while the mixed control had one text-showing operation and one image object. All three had a 144 × 96 pt page box. This check used synthetic PDFs, so it isolates file structure from the converter's SVG import behavior.

Run pdftotext output.pdf - to check the label, pdfimages -list output.pdf to list images and pdfinfo output.pdf to read the page size. A positive text check can coexist with a bitmap elsewhere on the same page. If the label is absent and there are no image entries, inspect for outlined lettering or a font encoding issue before concluding that the page was rasterized.

The saved vector-only sample is a comparison file. It contains paths and no image objects. The SVGtopix converter rejects live text, embedded images, filters, masks and patterns. For selectable labels, use a desktop exporter that keeps text and check the result.

Set page size, background and page order

Choose Original SVG size to follow the drawing canvas or A4 for a standard sheet. SVGtopix fits the artwork into portrait A4 with a 12 mm margin on each side. The PDF viewer may show white behind an unpainted page. To check whether white was actually painted, place the exported page over a colored rectangle in your layout editor. For a guaranteed white background, add an explicit white rectangle behind the SVG artwork.

To catch a scale mistake before printing, add a calibration line of a known length to your proof copy and measure it in the PDF. Check the page size separately. A page can have the right sheet dimensions while the artwork was scaled to fit. In a multipage file, check the first and last page dimensions and compare the page count with the input list.

Inspect the hardest artwork before batching

SVG filters can be lost or rasterized during export. A higher rasterization resolution can sharpen a rendered blur or shadow, at a file-size cost. Gradient appearance can also change in a vector export. Inspect a short gradient stop, a clipped curve and a shadow separately, using a saved PDF at the intended output size.

Make a two-page proof using the same difficult artwork on both pages. Compare the gradient and shadow on page two with page one. If the combined export fails the comparison, export each page independently, inspect each result and then merge the approved PDFs. A clean first page alone cannot validate the combined file.

Batch convert locally

Use the converter for a single file. It processes the SVG locally, has a 10 MB input limit as labeled in the interface and adds no watermark. For folders of files, run a desktop exporter. This PowerShell example assumes Inkscape is on PATH and writes separate PDFs to a new folder beside the inputs.

$out = New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path pdf-output
Get-ChildItem -File -Filter *.svg | Sort-Object Name | ForEach-Object {
  $pdf = Join-Path $out.FullName ($_.BaseName + '.pdf')
  inkscape $_.FullName --export-type=pdf "--export-filename=$pdf"
  if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0 -or !(Test-Path -LiteralPath $pdf)) {
    throw "Export failed for $($_.Name)"
  }
}

Use zero-padded input names to make the intended order explicit, and pass the approved PDFs to your merge tool in that order. Keep the separate outputs until the merged file passes the text and page-size checks. For confidential files, use a local workflow and check whether any linked fonts or artwork need to be embedded beforehand.