Why most SVG to PNG converters are overkill (and what I actually needed)

#frontend #webdev #tooling

I work a lot with small UI assets — icons, simple illustrations, and design system components — and SVG is usually the starting point.

At some point, though, you almost always need PNGs: previews, exports for mobile, different scales, quick handoff, etc.

That’s when I started noticing how frustrating most SVG to PNG converters are.

Common issues I kept running into:

usage limits or queues
mandatory signups
uploading files to a server for a very simple task
bloated interfaces for something that should be quick

None of this is inherently bad, but it felt unnecessary for my day-to-day workflow.

What I actually needed

My requirements were intentionally simple:

convert SVG to PNG
export at different scales (1x, 2x, 3x)
no limits
no account
files never leave my machine

Basically: drop the file, export, move on.

After trying a few tools, I realized it would be faster to just build a small one myself.

A browser-based approach

The tool I ended up building runs entirely in the browser. There’s no backend involved — everything happens client-side using standard web APIs.

That comes with a few nice side effects:

unlimited usage by default
works offline once it’s loaded
no privacy concerns
very fast for small assets

It started as something I built purely for my own use, but after a while I cleaned it up and made it public.

Keeping it intentionally simple

I deliberately avoided adding features “just because”.

No batch processing (for now), no presets, no advanced options panel.

The goal is for it to feel closer to a small utility than a full-blown web app.

If you work with SVGs regularly, you probably already have heavier tools in your stack. This is meant to cover the opposite end of that spectrum.