sphinxcontrib-svg2pdfconverter
Sphinx SVG to PDF or PNG converter extension
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. This is a stable, actively maintained extension with low install friction and no known vulnerabilities. Install it if you use Sphinx with SVG images and target builders like LaTeX that don't natively support SVG. The main prerequisite—having one of three external converters available—is a reasonable trade-off for automatic image conversion. Choose the backend that fits your environment (Inkscape for full features, rsvg-convert for balance, CairoSVG for minimal dependencies).AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires one of Inkscape, rsvg-convert (from libRSVG), or CairoSVG installed and available in your system PATH; CairoSVG may require additional OS-level build tools during installation.
- Low install friction with a single runtime dependency on Sphinx.
- Actively maintained as of 2026-03-05 with a stable production status.
License · maintenance · safety
BSD-2-Clause (permissive) — Licensed under BSD-2-Clause (permissive), allowing use in both open-source and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions.
last release 2026-03-05 (162 days) · last repo commit 2026-03-05 · 30 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 377,822 downloads/mo, #7,120 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install sphinxcontrib-svg2pdfconverter
# In conf.py, add one of:
extensions = ['sphinxcontrib.inkscapeconverter']
# or
extensions = ['sphinxcontrib.rsvgconverter']
# or
extensions = ['sphinxcontrib.cairosvgconverter']- Whether all three converter backends (Inkscape, libRSVG, CairoSVG) are equally well-tested and maintained.
- Performance characteristics and output quality differences between the three converter options.
- Compatibility with recent Sphinx versions beyond the stated Python 3.6+ support.
What it is and what it does
This is a Sphinx extension that solves the problem of SVG image support in documentation builders that don't handle SVG natively—most commonly LaTeX, which is used to generate PDF documentation. When you include SVG images in a Sphinx project targeting a non-SVG-aware builder, this extension automatically converts them to PDF or PNG at build time, ensuring your documentation renders correctly.
The extension offers three pluggable backends for the actual conversion: Inkscape (full-featured but heavier), libRSVG's rsvg-convert (lighter weight), or CairoSVG (the lightest Python-based option). You choose which one to use by selecting the corresponding extension name in your Sphinx conf.py, and the tool must be installed separately on your system. Configuration is minimal—mostly just ensuring the converter binary is in your PATH, with optional tweaks to command-line arguments.
Use it for
- Generate PDF documentation from Sphinx projects that use SVG diagrams or vector graphics.
- Convert SVG images to PNG for LaTeX-based PDF builds when SVG support is unavailable.
- Automatically handle SVG-to-raster conversion during CI/CD documentation builds without manual pre-processing.
- Use lightweight CairoSVG backend in containerized or resource-constrained build environments.
- Maintain source SVG files in documentation while supporting multiple output formats (PDF, HTML, etc.).
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
This is a stable, actively maintained extension with low install friction and no known vulnerabilities. Install it if you use Sphinx with SVG images and target builders like LaTeX that don't natively support SVG. The main prerequisite—having one of three external converters available—is a reasonable trade-off for automatic image conversion. Choose the backend that fits your environment (Inkscape for full features, rsvg-convert for balance, CairoSVG for minimal dependencies).
Install
sphinxcontrib-svg2pdfconverter on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a single runtime dependency on Sphinx. Actively maintained as of 2026-03-05 with a stable production status. Requires one of three external system tools (Inkscape, rsvg-convert, or CairoSVG) to function; CairoSVG variant may need additional build dependencies depending on your OS.
Requires one of Inkscape, rsvg-convert (from libRSVG), or CairoSVG installed and available in your system PATH; CairoSVG may require additional OS-level build tools during installation.
License in practice
Licensed under BSD-2-Clause (permissive), allowing use in both open-source and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install sphinxcontrib-svg2pdfconverter
# In conf.py, add one of:
extensions = ['sphinxcontrib.inkscapeconverter']
# or
extensions = ['sphinxcontrib.rsvgconverter']
# or
extensions = ['sphinxcontrib.cairosvgconverter']Verify before relying
- Whether all three converter backends (Inkscape, libRSVG, CairoSVG) are equally well-tested and maintained.
- Performance characteristics and output quality differences between the three converter options.
- Compatibility with recent Sphinx versions beyond the stated Python 3.6+ support.
Package facts
| License | BSD-2-Clause permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.6 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 1 packageSphinx |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 162 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 377,822 / month, #7,120 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableEnvironment :: ConsoleEnvironment :: Web EnvironmentFramework :: Sphinx :: ExtensionIntended Audience :: DevelopersOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Topic :: DocumentationTopic :: Utilities |
Evidence: sphinxcontrib_svg2pdfconverter-2.1.0-py3-none-any.whl
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “sphinx svg to pdf converter”
- sphinxcontrib-svg2pdfconverterConverts SVG images to PDF or PNG for Sphinx documentation builders…
- CairoSVGCairoSVG converts SVG files to PDF, EPS, PS, and PNG formats using…
- sphinxcontrib-drawioA Sphinx extension that embeds draw.io diagrams into documentation by…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Utilities packages
Converts domain names between Unicode and ASCII-compatible encoding (Punycode) according to IDNA 2008 and Unicode Technical Standard 46, with security validation and broader script coverage than the standard library.
Install it if you work with internationalized domain names, need to validate domains, or use HTTP clients that depend on it transitively.
Detects and normalizes text encoding from unknown or ambiguous sources, supporting all IANA character sets that Python's core library provides codecs for, with the ability to register custom codecs.
Setuptools is a Python build backend and package management tool that handles building, distributing, and installing Python packages, including support for C/C++ extension modules.
Pluggy provides a plugin system that lets you define hook specifications and register implementations to be called in sequence, enabling extensible Python applications without tight coupling.
Install it if you're building an extensible application or framework.
Pygments is a syntax highlighter that colorizes source code and text in over 500 languages and formats, outputting to HTML, LaTeX, RTF, SVG, images, or ANSI terminal sequences.
Install it if you need to display or transform source code.
Six provides utility functions to write Python code that runs on both Python 2.7 and Python 3.3+, smoothing over language differences between the two versions.
See also CairoSVG · sphinx-simplepdf · typst · sphinxcontrib-drawio · sphinx-jupyterbook-latex · sphinxcontrib-plantuml · svgwrite · svgutils · svglib · ezdxf