SVGimport gets your SVG files into AutoCAD or from AutoCAD

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If you’ve ever tried to feed an SVG file into your AutoCAD, you already know what happens: no native SVG support, and if you want to use a third-party add-on, you have to pay for it. However, many logos, industrial symbols, and other simple geometry are available only in SVG format.

So until recently, your options were:

• Convert SVG online and hope the geometry doesn’t melt
• Open Inkscape or CorelDRAW and export the SVG to DXF with all its extra nodes and approximations
• Or… use the free experimental utility SVGimport by ARKANCE

And that last one is where the magic happens.

Meet SVGimport

SVGimport is a lightweight VisualLISP utility you can download from the ARKANCE Community. Load it with APPLOAD, type SVGIMPORT, pick your .SVG file, and boom — AutoCAD suddenly learns an new graphic language. And you can export SVG files, too. And because it is LISP, it supports all AutoCAD releases, even older ones.

Behind the scenes, SVGimport reads the SVG’s XML, interprets paths, lines, arcs, fills and transforms, and converts them into native AutoCAD entities. It’s not perfect — some SVG features can be pretty tricky — but it works impressively well for most practical graphics.

And yes, it’s free.
And yes, it’s experimental.
And yes, it was developed with help from AI.

But before you imagine a robot writing LISP code for any tools you name, let’s clarify something important. AI helped, especially with XML parsing snippets and converting Bézier curves — but the programmer did the heavy lifting - definition, modularization, deciding geometry types, testing, debugging.

SVGimport is a great example of how AI can accelerate development without replacing the developer. An almost perfect partnership — like Iron Man and JARVIS, except with more parentheses and fewer explosions.

Why you would need SVG in your DWG drawings?

SVGs aren’t just for web designers and hipster illustrators. They’re incredibly useful in technical drawings:

1. Technical Symbols
   • Electrical icons
   • HVAC symbols
   • Safety pictograms
   • Process diagram elements
   • Control panel icons

   Manufacturers often publish these as SVG because they scale beautifully.

2. Logos and Branding
   • Company and product logos
   • Certification marks (CE, UL, TÜV)
   • QR codes

   Perfect for title blocks and documentation.

3. Geometric Patterns
   • Spirographs
   • Guilloches

   Ideal for decorative borders, security printing, or just showing off.

Modern design tools export SVG by default — so why not reuse them in DWG?

How to get SVGimport?

So if you want to read SVG files directly in your AutoCAD, simply download SVGimport from CADforum and drag it onto the briefcase icon in the AutoCAD APPLOAD dialog. No more external converters, no CorelDRAW, no messy intermediate DXF files.