CADverter

Vector art → CAD/CAM · real splines · nothing uploaded

Convert SVG to DXF for CAD and CAM

Drop an .svg from Inkscape, Illustrator, Figma or a browser and download an AutoCAD 2000 .dxf with curves kept as splines and Inkscape layers kept as DXF layers, at the physical size the SVG declares. Converted in the page, never uploaded.

Drop an SVG here to convert it to DXF
one file or many — or
no file handy?

🔒 File contents stay on this device — the CAD kernel and every file writer run in this browser tab.

Béziers become SPLINE entities, not polylines

SVG paths are built from cubic and quadratic Bézier segments. CADverter reads them as real curves and writes them as DXF SPLINE entities, so a logo’s curves arrive in CAD as editable splines rather than as thousands of tiny line segments that a CAM tool then has to smooth. Circles and ellipses — including those transformed by a rotation or skew, which are still exact conics — become CIRCLE and ELLIPSE. That is why the writer emits AC1015 (AutoCAD 2000): R12 has no spline or ellipse entity, so an R12 target would force every curve flat.

Groups become layers

Each top-level becomes a DXF layer, named by its Inkscape layer label when there is one and its id otherwise, so a file organised into cut and engrave layers arrives in the CAM software with that organisation intact. Stroke colours are carried to the nearest AutoCAD Color Index. Nested transforms are flattened exactly, including shear, so nothing moves.

Real size from width, height and viewBox

An SVG’s numbers are user units; its physical size comes from width/height with a unit against the viewBox. CADverter resolves that the way CSS does — one user unit is one px is 1/96 inch unless the root says mm, cm, in or pt — so a width="50mm" document 100 units wide converts at 0.5 mm per unit and a 50 mm part is a 50 mm DXF. The DXF’s $INSUNITS is set to millimetres. If the SVG declares no size at all it is read at 96 px per inch, which is also what Inkscape assumes.

Text and images are not geometry

Live is carried as DXF text at the right place and size, but it is not outlined: a laser that must cut the letters needs paths. Convert text to paths before exporting — Inkscape Path → Object to Path, Illustrator Type → Create Outlines. Embedded raster elements have no vector content and are skipped; they are counted in the panel’s report so a missing element is never a surprise. Gradients, filters and masks are presentation, not geometry, and are dropped.

From Inkscape, Illustrator, Figma, browsers and plotters

Any SVG 1.1 document: exports from Inkscape and Illustrator, Figma and Sketch, browser-rendered charts, plotter art. Paths with relative and absolute commands, arcs (A), polygons, polylines, rectangles with rounded corners (which become arcs), circles and ellipses are all read. references are expanded in place.

From DXF into a solid

Once the drawing is open, Make 3D finds the closed contours and extrudes or revolves them into a real solid — the route from an SVG logo to a printable STL or a STEP part. If a contour does not close, the panel names the open chain, the size of the gap and where it is.

Converted in the tab

The SVG parser and DXF writer are plain JavaScript in the page; no engine is downloaded and no request is made. Keep the Network panel open to confirm it. The production build is tested to make zero external requests across an open, convert and download.

SVG to DXF questions

Why does my DXF come out at the wrong size?

The SVG did not declare a physical size, so it was read at 96 px per inch. Set the document size in millimetres in Inkscape (Document Properties) before exporting, or scale the DXF in CAD.

Will my Inkscape layers be DXF layers?

Yes — Inkscape layers are groups with a label, and each becomes a DXF layer of that name.

Do the curves stay smooth in Fusion 360 or AutoCAD?

Yes. Bézier segments are written as SPLINE entities, which both open as true splines.

Can I convert the SVG directly to STL?

Yes: open it, press Make 3D, set a thickness, and download STL or STEP from the same panel.

See also: DXF to SVG, the other direction · extrude a drawing into STL · PDF to DXF — or the CADverter home page for every format.