SVG to PNG

When SVG needs to become PNG

SVG is a vector format - it scales to any size with perfect crispness, and file sizes for simple graphics are very small. But many contexts do not support SVG. Social media platforms do not accept SVG uploads. Email clients do not render SVG images. Many content management systems and document editors only accept raster formats. Presentation software, image editing applications, and messaging apps all expect PNG or JPG. Converting to PNG produces a raster image that works everywhere SVG cannot.

Open Graph images and Twitter card images must be raster formats served from a static URL. A company logo or icon in SVG format needs to be rasterised before it can be used as a social media preview image. The same applies to favicons in contexts that require PNG, app store icons, email header graphics, and any other placement where the downstream environment controls the format. For browser favicons, the ICO converter packages the rasterised PNG into a multi-size favicon file.

Choosing the right scale

SVG is resolution-independent, so the rasterisation scale determines the output pixel dimensions. The SVG's natural size - defined by its width and height attributes, or viewBox - forms the baseline at 1x. Rendering at 2x doubles the output dimensions, which is the correct choice for retina and HiDPI displays where CSS pixels are rendered at twice the physical pixel density. For a logo that appears at 300x100 pixels on screen, a 2x render produces a 600x200 PNG that displays without any scaling blur on high-density screens. Use 4x when producing very large rasterisations for print or for use as the source for further image editing. Once rasterised, compressing the PNG reduces file size without changing any pixels.