5 Best Free Open Source SVG Editor Software for Windows

Here is a list of Best Free Open Source SVG Editor Software for Windows. These are the standard SVG editing software that come with open source license, which means you can access and modify source code of these software without any restriction.

You can find a set of drawing tools in these software including 2D/ 3D shapes, line, curves, freehand drawing, sculpting, calligraphic, gradients, fill color, add text, and more. Additionally, transformation tools (rotate, resize, flip, skew, etc.), layer management options, object properties, pattern, color changer, and more features are also provided in these software. A lot of filters are also present in many software that help you enhance SVG designs, such as blur, distort, color adjustment, noise, overlay, and more. Other than that, bitmap tracing options are also present in these freeware.

Most of these editing software are capable of handling a lot more input formats apart from SVG, such as EPS, PS, AI, CDR, PSD, etc. As for output, these software support more image formats, so you can also convert edited SVG images to PNG, BMP, GIF, PDF, and other supported formats.

My Favorite Open Source SVG Editor Software for Windows:

Inkscape is my favorite software to edit SVG images as you can find all required tools to edit vector files in it. It also lets you convert SVG to various other graphics formats.

You may also like to check out lists of some best free open source PDF editor, open source audio editor, and open source code editor for Windows.

Inkscape

Inkscape is a featured open source SVG editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is basically a drawing and graphics editing software that lets you create drawings and edit graphics. Other than SVG, you can also open, view, and edit other graphics files in it including Adobe PDF, AI, DXF, CDR, TGA, and more.

Main Editing Features:

• An advanced set of drawing features is provided in it to manually create a design or make a drawing, such as 2D shapes, 3D boxes, freehand drawing, curves, straight lines, sculpting, calligraphic, gradients, fill color, eraser, etc.
• You can add multiple layers to an SVG design and use various layer management options including raise layer, lower layer, duplicate layer, etc.
• It also provides various features to manipulate individual objects of an SVG graphic, e.g., fill and stroke, object properties, clip, mask, pattern, flip, transform, align and distribute, arrange, etc.
• You can find a lot of text related tools to write on SVG image, such as SVG Font Editor, Text and Font, Glyphs, Put on Path, etc.
• To enhance look & feel of SVG design or an object in SVG, it offers a wide number of filters including bevels, blurs, bumps, color, distort, overlays, shadow and glows, noise, etc.

Additional Features:

• It supports different types of SVG file including Inkscape SVG, Plain SVG, Optimized SVG, Compressed Inkscape SVG, Compressed Plain SVG, etc
• You can save edited SVG file in its original format or convert it to another format like PDF, PS, EPS, EMF, WMF, etc.

Conclusion:

Inkscape is one of the best open source SVG editor which provides essential as well as advanced tools to create vector designs and edit existing ones.

sK1

sK1 is another free open source SVG editor for Windows and other operating systems. You can easily open, view, edit, and save SVG files using it. It even lets you create a new SVG graphic from scratch. Apart from SVG, it supports a lot more other graphics formats as input and output such as CDR, PSD, BMP, GIF, PCX, XCF, WebP, JPEG, etc. It lets you open and edit multiple SVG images in multiple tabs at once.

Main SVG Editing Features:

• Drawing Tools: It provides various tools like selection tools, create polyline, create curve, create rectangle, create text, edit gradient, fill, stroke, and more to manually draw over imported SVG image.
• Arrange: It lets you select objects in an SVG file and arrange them using features like transform (position, resizing, scale & mirror, rotation, etc.), align and distribute, order, inline transformations, shaping (trim, intersection, exclusion, fusion), combine, break apart, group, ungroup, etc.
• Paths: You can edit elements of an SVG image with the help of this menu and options like select all nodes, reverse all paths, delete subpaths, add nodes, delete nodes, join nodes, split nodes, convert segments to line, make nodes cusp, etc.
• Bitmaps: It is a menu with bitmap tracing tools including invert bitmap, convert to CMYK, convert to RGB, extract embedded bitmap, etc.
• Text: It lets you add text using options like add text on path, add text on circle, straighten text, clear text markup, etc.

Additional Features:

• It lets you view SVG document statistics and also add a few document metadata.
• You can use its viewing features to view and analyze SVG design such as stroke view, draft view, zoom, etc.
• It lets you export SVG to other supported output formats such as PDF, CDR, FIG, PNG, CPL, etc.

Conclusion:

It is a great open source SVG editor that helps you edit SVG images with the help of various advanced features.

GLIPS Graffiti Editor

GLIPS Graffiti Editor is yet another free open source SVG editor software for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is a Java based software that comes in a portable package that can be used without installation. You don’t need to install it on your system; just run its GLIPSGraffiti Jar file to edit SVG or SVGZ files.

It is a dedicated software that lets you open, view, and edit only SVG files. You can draw over the image and transform existing objects in the SVG file and then simply save all the changes in the input file. If you want, you can save edited SVG to another format including PNG, JPG, BMP, and PDF.

Key Features:

• Drawing Features: To draw over SVG image or create a new design over it, you can use tools like rectangle, ellipse, insert a segment, path operations, add image, add text, etc.
• Transformation Options: It provides transformation tools including flip, rotate, align, distribute, order, etc.

Conclusion:

It is a nice free open source software that provides all standard tools to edit SVG images.

Scribus

Scribus is an open source desktop publishing software for Windows and Mac. It can be your another alternative to an open source SVG editor. It supports some more vector image formats other than SVG, such as ODG, PS, EPS, WMF, AI, etc. You can open and edit any of these files using this software.

Main Features:

• It provides dedicated options to insert text frame, image frame, table, shape, line, polygon, freehand line, etc.
• It offers transformation features too including scale, rotate, translate, and skew.
• You can edit individual object using options from Items menu, such as duplicate, transform, combine polygons, image effects, and more.
• Some more handy editing features including Replace Color, Patterns, Color Selector, etc.

Additional Features:

Apart from SVG editing, this software is used for generating brochures, business cards, menu card, newsletters, book cover, PDF presentations, etc.

Conclusion:

It is a good free open source alternative to an SVG editor which provides sufficient number of tools to edit SVG designs.

LibreOffice Draw

LibreOffice Draw is an open source drawing software that can also be used as an SVG editor. You can simply import an SVG file, edit it accordingly, and then save changes in its native format. This software is basically a part of the LibreOffice suite. You can find document processor, spreadsheet makers, presentation creator, and more software in this office package.

Main Features:

• You can draw and create designs over imported SVG image using tools like shapes, arrows, line, flowchart symbols, etc.
• It lets you insert image, chart, table, objects, and more elements to an SVG image.
• You can flip, transform (rotate, flip, distort, etc.), align, arrange, and group elements in an SVG design.
• An Image Map Generator is also provided in this software.
• Apart from SVG, it supports formats like TGA, TIFF, PSD, JPEG, PNG, etc.

Conclusion:

It is a nice drawing software that can also be used as an SVG editor.