Scalable vector graphics (SVG) are the best one in the bunch right now as they are supported across all platforms including desktop and mobile browsers. An SVG editor is, therefore, one wonderful addition and is what can make life easier for you. Most people do not deter from comparing an SVG editor to a pain killer, as its inception has worked towards bringing down a lot of worries and pains people faced while developmental handovers as designers.
An SVG file is a blue square 250 pixel wide that is not bitmap-based like other files (JPEG, PNG, GIF). When a file is bitmap-based, it means, it operates within a fixed pixel amount but with SVG files, it is not the case.
Pixelated files would become blurry or create jagged lines when you increase or decrease the size of the image. But it is not the case with SVG files though, and when transferring even free vector icons in an SVG file format, using them in different ways & sizes becomes far more convenient.
If you consider WEBP images even they work better due to their reduced file sizes and picture clarity, they also reduce the significance of using different types of images on the web. Yet, WEBP is still to gain sufficient traction, given it does not work on the Safari browser.
Earlier, if you were to use icons in your product, it used to be a pain for the developers and the designers mostly. At least more than 15+ icons are always part of the products, and each one of them needed to be present in an active, inactive, and even other states like those that need to be present in the hover state.
As bitmap images cannot be edited through CSS files, each of these icon states required their files, and even the same was applicable for free vector icons if used in the product.
With the world advancing further, as pixel density became prominent there rose a need to generate @2x and @3x image versions.
Ideally, one SVG file is enough to create an image or icon in three or more states, which is not the case with their bitmap versions. Using such SVG files makes your use of icons and images an extremely lightweight process and that adds to the beauty of SVG files.
Now that we are aware, there might be reasons why the SVG image format must be superior to all others, we shall talk more about their benefits in detail.
Seven best reasons to shift to SVG file formats
Here are the reasons why you must shift to SVG file formats and use the SVG editor for your benefit.
- An SVG Editor is a must-have, in today’s times. Pictures in an SVG format can have pixel-perfect scaling. You can scale SVG graphics to indefinite proportions, and yet, there will be no compromise with the image sharpness and resolution. Even all free vector icons can be used in SVG format for better performance and picture quality.
The SVG editor helps you create SVG file formats with changes in styling of the files even in CSS. Even with a little experience, you can add a gradient of color or make your stroke thicker, even though they are XML-based.
They are extremely SEO-friendly, and even though SVG file formats are XML-based, they make way for keywords, links, and descriptions. These can be incorporated to make the file format more recognizable and readable.
You can also embed an SVG into the HTML code which means one can search for them and index them, thus making it amazingly accessible. If you use caches then it is going to cache your HTML file too.
- You can animate an SVG file directly using an SVG file editor or text editor. It makes the SVG file format a bit more interactive on your site. These images can either be simple or complicated and that way you can manipulate them. Since they are built-in document object models, you can manipulate them within JavaScript easily. Keeping the file size smaller is easy with an SVG file even after animating it and that is the best part of SVG file formats. Animating and even downloading animated free vector icons is easy as an SVG file.
- The DOM is navigable, and the browser usually treats an SVG file as a separate document within the browser. This separate document is assumed to be positioned within the normal DOM of a page. It is extremely essential for a View box property and so in this way, an image drawn on a canvas can be displayed within another browser without doing any update of properties within an SVG file. To interact with CSS and JavaScript elements, the separate navigable DOM file is how the interaction is carried forward.
- SVG images have small file sizes, and this is possible due to the vector attributes of an SVG image. There are several ways in which these vector image files are optimized and it starts from the use of command-line tools and extends up to the manual removal of various points and groups. The SVGOMG has a GUI (graphical user interface) and plenty of ways to tweak images to bring about visible changes in the optimization process. The SVG files can be used for posters, blog post images, free vector icons, and much more through the use of the simple SVG editor for creating an SVG image.
- W3C Document Object Model support is growing for SVG as the World Wide Web Consortium has always claimed that the internet cannot do survive with the use of vector images, and they are the ones who shaped the SVG image format. Their active support is making space for SVG file format faster.
- Editing opportunities are more with SVG file formats. SVG icon sizes can be edited using CSS and editing through a text editor and using them as well as, specially designed vector programs is also possible.
- They save time and most people love the time saver factor of SVG editors and SVG image and icon creation. Due to their scalability properties, images need not be converted into @2.png images. While making SVG images you will only need a single file for having all the icons together as opposed to many other file types.
Closing Lines
Here’s a bit about the SVG files and more about their benefits. If you are right now considering using an SVG editor, straightaway you must start using one of them without delay, now that you know how important they are in different ways.
It is the next generation, and some believe it is the future as its compatible with almost all browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari to name a few.
SVG images or even free vector icon files in SVG file format are not responsive to the resolution of the images and are independent of their influence.
Also, they are nothing that can be replaced by something better in the future so, start using the SVG file formats, be it for all free vector icons or even for your images.