Supported Formats in Vectornator
What can I import into Vectornator? And what are the formats that I can save my file to? We collected all these infos below.
If you’re wondering what file formats Vectornator can support, look no further.
Our ethos is to offer designers complete freedom in their creative process. That is why you can open almost any file format you can think of in our platform. Plus, you can export your project in a myriad of ways too! Vectornator is your one-stop shop to bring all your ideas to life.
Open Sesame
Vectornator is a vector graphic design tool which can be used for many projects; either artistic in nature, for precise designs used in real-life applications like architecture sketches, or for professional work like logo designs.
Normally you would think that a program like Vectornator would only support the standard file formats like .PDF, .JPG, .PNG, and so on. But that couldn’t be further from the truth! Our list of supported file formats goes way beyond that!
Since we understand that you might use different tools for different applications, we allow our users to open specific file formats from most design softwares out there, including .sketch, .fig, .ai, and more! Whatever your workflow is, we want to make your life easier.
Let’s dive deeper into it, shall we?
Non-vector File Formats
You can both import and export these formats into Vectonator:
JPG – The file format for photography, web images and everything in between.
PNG – Great for images with transparency. Remember that to export an image with transparency you have to remove the background layer. In Vectornator you can do that easily from the Export Preview Window by switching the Transparency toggle on and off.
TIFF – TIFF is the abbreviation for Tag Image File Format. The format stores raster graphics with the file extensions .tiff or .tif. The large-sized format compresses images without quality losses. The TIFF format mainly stores high-quality photographs, high-resolution scans, or container files.
HEIC – The HEIC file format introduced by Apple is the default image format on iOS devices. The abbreviation HEIC signifies High-Efficiency Image Format (HEIF), a format compressed with HEVC - a High-Efficiency Video Compression codec. The HEIC format has only half of a JPG/JPEG image size but provides the same image quality. The format is incompatible with Windows or Android devices.
To give you one extra design tip, raster images like .jpeg and .png can be turned into vector shapes using the Auto Trace feature.
Learn more on our Learning Hub:
How to import Images in Vectornator on your iPad ->
How to import images in Vectornator on your Mac ->
How to Import your .jpegs and .pngs
There are four ways that you can work with the above file formats in Vectornator:
- On Mac, right-click (or long press on iPad / iPhone) the file and select ‘Open with Vectornator.’
- If you’re already working inside a document, then you can simply place your files by dragging and dropping them straight into the canvas.
- You can access any image (jpeg, png, heic) from the Library Tab inside the Inspector. Here you can have direct access to the Photos App or our Unsplash integration. Tap or drag and drop the image to your board.
- And last but not least, you can easily drag and drop an file into the Import Tab.
How to Export your .jpegs and .pngs
To export your document there is only one step for you to do:
On iPhone or iPad, simply open the Export Popover and tap on the button JPG ~ic-jpeg~~ic-jpeg~ or PNG ~ic-png~~ic-png~ depending what is the format you want.
On Mac, you can navigate to File > Export or use the <key>⌘ E<key> key. Once you are in the Export Preview, you can still change the format in which you want to save your file.
Editable Vector File Formats:
Unlike non-vector file formats, these files will allow you to continue editing the document until the job is done! You can open these formats in Vectornator. But you can also export them:
~ic-vn-format~~ic-vn-format~ vectornator - Vectornator's standard file format.
~ic-svg~~ic-svg~ SVG (.svg) - Short for scalable vector graphic file. Unlike other popular image file formats, the SVG format stores images as vectors. So it’s great for vector files, designs with separate layers, icons, and logos, and they’re especially useful for webpages.
~ic-pdf~~ic-pdf~ PDF - or Portable Document Format. This file format promises documents will be displayed the same way, on every device. An indispensable format for designers. Great for fillable forms, posters, or other print materials.
~ic-ai~~ic-ai~ AI - this is the native file format for Adobe Illustrator, and when opened, you can continue changing all the editable parts of the document. You can also use the Send to Adobe Illustrator function to directly send your document to your Adobe Illustrator software.
Other softwares
We also support some other software’s specific formats that can easily be open and edited:
- Sketch (.sketch) – Native to Sketch, the UI-focused software that disrupted the interface design industry.
- Figma (.fig) – This is the UI-focused software that disrupted the market even more! Figma is the first cloud-based UX design tool to grace the industry, and it revolutionized the way multidisciplinary teams work together.
- Wacom – This is the file format generated by the Bamboo Slate. It allows you to turn your doodles into vectors in no time!
To open a file created with one of the mentioned software you can use the Import Tab.
Conclusion
All in all, Vectornator supports the most common formats designers work with. If you don’t see the file format you are looking for, please drop us a note in the feedback section. We’d love to improve your experience even more!
If you’d like to know more about all our integrations, check out the left menu for the full details.
