If you are in the situation where your file is originally saved in PDF but need to keep in SVG format for Cricut machines and apps, you are in luck. We will show you multiple options to convert PDF to SVG for Cricut on Mac and Windows, using or not using Adobe tools, free methods will be also covered.

What is SVG and Cricut?

SVG, short for Scalable Vector Graphic, is a vector image format stored in XML text file. It displays vector images on website for responsive purpose, no matter how it is resized, it will remain the original high quality. The file also can be searched, indexed and scripted. Due to its interactivity, provisions for rich graphics, needed information to place an image in chosen location, SVG is perfectly suitable for printouts.

Cricut is a printing and cutting machine to design cards, labels, stickers and a lot of projects. You just need to upload a design or choose one from the Cricut design library, the machine will print and cut every piece of the design with precision. And this is just the reason why Cricut machines love SVG format.

SVG VS PDF

Though both SVG and PDF are interactive and supported by most of browsers, they are quite different from each other.

SVG is a vector image, while PDF is a file format that includes texts, links, buttons, fields, media, 3D objects, fonts, raster images, vector graphics and so on. SVG is for simple-structured files, while PDF offers more and is good for complex files.

A SVG file is much smaller in size, because it is scalable and resolution-independent, while PDF is a visual and electronic document with larger file size to display details clearly and accurately.

SVG is often used to create icons with high pixel density for web, while PDF is used to present and exchange documents, create professional files or forms.

Best PDF to SVG Converter for Mac and Windows

Let’s start with the easiest way to convert a single or batch PDFs to SVG on your Mac or Windows PC—get yourself Pixillion.

Pixillion Image Converter is a bulk image converter changing 50+ types of images to 20+ popular formats, the input support includes common images like jpeg, png, bmp, etc, raw images like arw, cr2,nef, etc and others like tga, djvu, heic, webp, ico and so on, the output support includes all the common image formats like jpeg, png, pdf, gif, tga, tiff, etc. In addition, you can edit the images a little to have a wanted conversion, like rotate, flip, resize or watermark your images.

This program is recommended to have on your Mac or Windows, since it supports a host of images you are much likely to deal with in your work, it eliminates the compatibility issue, helping you view any kind of image on your device in original image quality. It handles conversion fast and offers advanced settings for customization.

Batch Convert PDF to SVG for Cricut on Mac or Windows

  1. Grab the Pixllion Image Converter installer, install and open it.
  2. Add all PDF files to the app, use its image reader to preview the PDF first.pdf to svg pixillion 1
  3. Hover to Effects, edit the PDF file if you need.pdf to svg pixillion 2
  4. Select output as SVG, click Convert to batch convert PDF to SVG format.pdf to svg pixillion 3

How to Convert PDF to SVG in Adobe Illustrator

Adobe offers different solutions to process a PDF file, but Illustrator is the only option to convert PDF to vector SVG format for Cricut. In spite that it doesn’t convert images as easily as Pixillion, if you have paid for it, don’t waste your money on it, because it has the best quality conversion.

  1. Get a free trial of Adobe Illustrator and install, launch Illustrator on your device.
  2. Open PDF in Illustrator.
  3. Hover to File > Export > SVG.pdf-to-svg-adobe
  4. Click on Export to save PDF as SVG in Adobe.

How to Convert PDF to SVG for Cricut and Free Offline?

Inkscape is a free alternative to Adobe Illustrator to edit vector graphics, it is an open source working on Linux, Windows and macOS. SVG is its main format, it can read PDF files, which makes it a good PDF to SVG converter.

  1. Grab a free copy of Inkscape installer from its official website, install and open the app.
  2. Import PDF to Inkscape.pdf to svg inkscape 1
  3. Hover to File > Save As.pdf to svg inkscape 2
  4. Select SVG format from the output menu.pdf to svg inkscape 3

How to Convert PDF to SVG for Cricut and Free Online?

pdftosvg

Pdftosvg from Media4x provides the easiest way to convert PDF to SVG, by drag and drop, you can convert multiple PDFs to SVG format. You can download SVG file one by one all download all in a Zip archive. But the conversion quality is not the best.

  1. Navigate to pdftosvg.com in your web browser.
  2. Drag and drop PDF files to the web tool.
  3. Wait for the uploading and processing, when ready, click Download button to save SVG files to your device.pdf to svg online 1

CloudConvert

CloudConvert is a popular online free file converter that supports a wide variety of formats, including photos, videos, audios, archives, documents and so on. You can load a local PDF file, from URL, or files stored in your cloud storage account (Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive). It provides 2 engine, mupdf and Inkscape, you can convert texts to paths or not, also you can convert specified pages if you need. You may need more patience when using this converter.

  1. Navigate to cloudconvert/pdf-to-svg in your web browser.
  2. Upload one or multiple PDF files to the online tool.pdf to svg online 2
  3. Click on Settings icon to fine tune settings for output SVG file.pdf to svg online 3
  4. Click Convert to change PDF to SVG format online free.

Wrapping up

Converting images is more common and necessary then we expect. There may be manual options with a tedious process, powerful image editor with limited conversion formats, we don’t recommend any of them, at least on the topic of PDF to SVG, you are assured to try Pixillion, illustrator or online free tools mentioned in our article.