How to convert many files from SVG to PDF at once

There are two ways to do it in Vectornation by Zaweba. From the command line, the --convert option converts files with no window open, using --format to choose PDF and --out-dir to say where the results go. Inside the app, File > Automate > Batch plays an action over a whole folder of drawings and saves or exports each one.

Converting one SVG to PDF is a matter of opening and exporting. Converting two hundred is a job for a machine, and both of these routes let you set it up once and walk away.

Using the command line

Headless convert is the quickest for a straight format change. Open a command prompt, run Vectornation with --convert and point it at your SVG files, add --format to set the output to PDF and --out-dir to name the folder for the results. No window appears; the files are read and written in the background.

Two more options help with larger jobs. --set passes settings for the output, and --report writes a record of what was converted, which is how you check that every file made it through without opening them all.

The command line is a good fit for anyone who already keeps files in folders by project, or who wants to run the same conversion again next month. Save the command in a small batch file and it is one double-click.

Using Batch inside the app

File > Automate > Batch is the friendlier route, and the more flexible one. It plays an action on a folder of drawings, and you choose whether each file is saved, exported or left open.

Actions are recorded steps. Record one that does whatever each file needs before export, and Batch will do the same to every file in the folder and then export it. A plain conversion is just an action with no steps before the export.

Testing before the full run

Test on a handful of files first. Copy five SVGs to a test folder, run the conversion and open the PDFs. Check that fonts, colours and sizes came through as you expected before you run the whole lot.

Keep the outputs in a separate folder. Pointing --out-dir at the same folder as the originals makes it harder to see what is new.

Mind the fonts. SVG files sometimes name fonts that are not on your PC. Install those fonts before converting, or the PDFs will use a substitute.

If the PDFs are going to a printer, think about whether a plain PDF is enough or whether they want PDF/X-4. Vectornation's PDF export can write PDF/X-4 in CMYK with the print profile embedded, and that is best done with settings you have checked on one file first.

Other conversions

The same tools work for other formats. Vectornation opens SVG, PDF, .ai, EPS and PostScript, DXF, EMF and WMF, HP-GL and XAML, and saves them back, and it exports PNG, JPEG, WebP, TIFF, BMP and GIF. A folder of old EPS logos can become SVGs for a website, or a set of drawings can become PNG previews, in the same way.

For a lot of small graphics inside one document, Asset export is the better tool, since it collects objects and writes each in several formats at once.

Vectornation by Zaweba is free software for Windows that works offline and needs no account, so your files are converted on your own PC.