Convert SVG to PS (PostScript) Online
This tool writes a real PostScript file from your SVG through rsvg-convert, so paths, fills and strokes stay as vector drawing operators rather than a bitmap. Two things to know before you upload: text is converted to outlines, and an SVG that uses xlink attributes without declaring the namespace will be rejected.
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Why convert SVG to PostScript
SVG is an XML vector format built for browsers and design tools, and almost nothing in the print world ingests it directly. PostScript is the older page-description language that prepress RIPs, imagesetters, some plate workflows, LaTeX and dvips pipelines, and a long tail of in-house document systems still expect. When a printer or a toolchain asks for a .ps file and all you have is artwork exported from Figma, Inkscape or a web project, this is the gap you are closing.
The conversion runs on our servers with rsvg-convert, the librsvg renderer, writing through cairo's PostScript output surface. That matters for the result: your shapes are emitted as PostScript path and fill commands, not as a screenshot of the drawing. The page size is taken from the SVG's own width and height; when those attributes are missing, the viewBox units are used instead. There is no DPI or scale option, so set the dimensions you want inside the SVG before uploading.
What changes along the way is mostly typography and effects. Text is turned into outlines, and fonts are substituted at render time from what is installed on our server, so a typeface you have locally but we do not will be replaced before it is outlined. Convert type to paths in your editor if the lettering has to be exact. Group opacity and SVG filter effects are the other trap: cairo cannot express them in PostScript, so it falls back to embedding a 300 ppi raster image of the whole page. An image element pointing at an http URL is not downloaded, and leaves a gap where the picture should be.
If what you actually need is a file for Photoshop, this is not it; "PS" here means PostScript, not PSD. The same engine also produces EPS from SVG, which is the format most page-layout applications want for placing single-graphic artwork, while a plain .ps file is better suited to systems that print or interpret a full page.
How to convert SVG to PS
- Open the SVG in a text editor and look for xlink attributes, such as xlink:href on a use or image element. If any are present, declare the xlink namespace on the root svg tag by adding xmlns:xlink set to http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink, because this path does not repair a missing declaration and the job will stop with an SVG parse error.
- Set explicit width and height on the root svg tag if you care about the PostScript page size, and inline any referenced raster images as data URIs, since external http images are not fetched during rendering.
- Convert text to paths in Illustrator, Inkscape or Figma when the typeface matters, so font substitution on our side cannot change the letterforms.
- Upload the file here. Up to 10 SVGs go in one request as a guest or free user, 25 on Plus and 50 on Pro, with a 50 MB per-file cap without an account and 100 MB with one.
- Download the .ps result, which stays available for about four hours, and open it in a PostScript viewer such as Ghostscript, gv or Evince to confirm the page looks right before you send it on.
- If the page looks empty or the artwork is missing, go back to the SVG: styling that lives in external CSS, external fonts and remote images are the usual causes, and the fix is to embed them in the file.
What this converter does
- Writes genuine vector PostScript through cairo: paths, fills and strokes become drawing operators instead of pixels
- Outlines all text, so the receiving system does not need your fonts installed to image the page correctly
- Derives the page size from the SVG's own width and height attributes, falling back to the viewBox units when they are absent
- Handles SVG from any editor that writes standard markup, with no Illustrator or Inkscape install needed on your side, because rendering happens on our servers
- Shares the same engine as our SVG to EPS converter, so you can produce either container from the same artwork
- Deletes your uploaded SVG when the job ends and keeps the .ps download for about four hours
SVG to PS questions
I searched for SVG to PS but I meant Photoshop. Can you make a PSD?
No, this page outputs PostScript, and we do not write PSD files at all. For Photoshop, convert the SVG to PNG here, which keeps transparency, and place that in your document; or open the SVG directly in Illustrator and copy the paths into Photoshop as shape layers.
The conversion failed with "Namespace prefix xlink is not defined". How do I fix it?
Your SVG uses xlink attributes without declaring the namespace, and the PostScript path does not patch that for you. Add the declaration xmlns:xlink, set to http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink, on the opening svg tag and upload again. Editors like Inkscape sometimes write sodipodi or inkscape prefixes the same way, so declare those too, or save a plain SVG copy.
Is the output real vector, or a bitmap wrapped in PostScript?
Vector in the normal case. The exception is group opacity and filter effects such as blurs and drop shadows: cairo cannot describe them in PostScript, so it embeds a 300 ppi raster of the entire page instead. Flatten or remove those effects in your editor if you need the whole file to stay vector.
Can I still edit or search the text in the .ps file?
No. Glyphs are converted to outlines, so the words are no longer characters a program can select, search or re-typeset. Keep the SVG as your editable master and treat the PostScript file as output for printing or placement.
What about "SVG Tiny PS"?
That is a restricted profile of SVG itself, used for things like brand logos with a limited feature set, and it has nothing to do with PostScript. This tool does not produce SVG Tiny; it produces a .ps file.
Should I use PDF instead for sending artwork to a printer?
Often yes, PDF is what most print shops prefer today, but our SVG to PDF page goes through an image-merge path that rasterizes the artwork, so it is not a vector PDF. For vector handoff, use this PostScript output or SVG to EPS here, or export PDF straight from Illustrator or Inkscape.
My .ps file opens but looks blank. What went wrong?
Our blank-output check does not catch empty PostScript pages, so a file that rendered to nothing can still come back as a successful job. The usual reasons are styles defined in an external stylesheet, web fonts that are not embedded, or an image element pointing at a remote URL. Embed the styles and assets in the SVG, or re-export a self-contained copy from your editor, then convert again.
What happens to my file and who can download the result?
The upload goes to our servers over HTTPS, and the SVG is deleted as soon as the job finishes. The .ps output lives behind a random 64-character link for about four hours and is then deleted. The link is not tied to your account, so anyone holding it can download the file until it expires, and file names and outcomes appear in our logs.