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pdfconversionapi

SVG to PNM API

POST an SVG to /v2/convert/svg/to/pnm and get its rendering as raw RGB samples behind a P6 (binary PPM) header. The sample at ImageWidth=150 is 67,515 bytes: a 15-byte header, then 150 × 150 × 3 bytes of pixels.

Endpoint
POST /v2/convert/svg/to/pnm
Accepts
svg
Sample timing
3 ms median of 5 runsHow we measure
Request size
Up to 10 MB on the Free plan or 100 MB on paid plans, all files together

Request and response

Every sample below ran against the API before this page was published. Set PDFCONVERSIONAPI_KEY to your key and run it as is.

curl -sS -X POST \
  https://api.pdfconversionapi.com/v2/convert/svg/to/pnm \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PDFCONVERSIONAPI_KEY" \
  -F File=@water-day-icon.svg \
  --form-string ImageWidth=150 \
  -o response.json

# FileData is base64. Save the first file in converted/,
# or print the JSON error.
if jq -e '.Files' response.json > /dev/null; then
  mkdir -p converted
  name=$(jq -r '.Files[0].FileName' response.json)
  jq -r '.Files[0].FileData' response.json \
    | base64 --decode > "converted/$name"
else
  cat response.json
fi
200 OK3 ms median1 file, 66 KB
{
  "ConversionCost": 1,
  "ConversionTime": 0.003,
  "Files": [
    {
      "FileName": "water-day-icon.pnm",
      "FileExt": "pnm",
      "FileSize": 67515,
      "FileData": "UDYKMTUwIDE1MCAyNTUK////…"
    }
  ]
}

Response from our test run on 2026-11-03. ConversionTime shows the median of 5 runs. FileData is shortened here; the real response carries the whole file as base64.

The sample, converted

The same file the code sends. Download the input and the output and compare them yourself.

First page of water-day-icon.pnm, rendered by the API
Input
water-day-icon.svg (2.1 KB)
Output
water-day-icon.pnm (66 KB)
Source
An app icon for a fictional plant-watering reminder, with two gradients, a soft drop shadow and a text label, which we drew by hand. (CC0-1.0). How it was made
Made by
2026-11-04, API build 9eeeb0640aba

Parameters

Send these as form fields next to the file. Names are case-insensitive. If you set one of the documented options below that we don't support yet, the request fails with a 400 that names it instead of returning a file made without it.

ParameterWhat it does
ImageWidthintegerPixel width of the render; the sample halves the 300 px icon to 150.Values: 1–20000
ImageHeightintegerPixel height of the render, alone or as part of a box with ImageWidth.Values: 1–20000
ScaleProportionsboolean, default truefalse distorts the drawing to the exact width and height.
ScaleIfLargerboolean, default falsetrue ignores sizes larger than the SVG's own.
ScaleImageboolean, default truefalse takes a top-left crop of an unscaled render.
AlphaColorstring, default whiteThe color transparent parts are blended onto, because the file has no alpha. #F3EFE6 gave (243, 239, 230) corners.Values: Color names (white, black, red, green, blue, gray), #RRGGBB or R,G,B
BackgroundColorstring, default whiteBlending color when AlphaColor is not sent; black turned the corners to (0, 0, 0).Values: Same as AlphaColor
ColorSpaceenum, default defaultgray and monochrome write a one-channel PGM (P5) instead: 22,515 bytes at the sample's 150 px. monochrome thresholds after transparency is blended, so every pixel is 0 or 255, the shadow included (8,928 black and 13,572 white at 150 px). cmyk returns 400.Values: default, rgb, gray, monochrome
FileNamestringName of the .pnm without extension.
StoreFileboolean, default falseReturn a URL valid for 3 hours.

What carries over, and what doesn't

Kept

  • The rendered pixels, blended on white: the sample equals the 150 px PNG render composited on white, with no difference at all
  • The shadow as blended color: under the tile the sample reads (230, 235, 235)
  • Plain 8-bit values, three bytes per pixel, rows from the top

Lost or not yet supported

  • Transparency: the alpha channel is blended away.
  • Bit-packed output: monochrome still spends one byte per pixel, as there is no PBM option.
  • Size: 67,515 bytes against 11,895 for a PNG of the same render.
  • Physical size; Netpbm has no DPI field.
  • Text in fonts not installed on our servers.

Limits

  • One SVG per request.
  • Requests up to 10 MB on the Free plan or 100 MB on paid plans, all files and fields together.
  • Renders over 100,000,000 pixels return 413.
  • Sizes from 1 to 20,000 px per side.
  • 504 after 120 seconds of conversion.

Where teams use it

Feeding drawings to code that reads raw RGB

LED matrix drivers, e-paper tools and vision tests can read the pixels straight after the header without an image decoder. Render the SVG at the device's pixel size.

Golden images for rendering tests

Keep the PPM of a known SVG in your test suite and compare bytes on every run. Any change in how the drawing renders shows up as a byte difference.

Questions

What exactly is in the header?

Two short text lines: P6, then width, height and maximum value (150 150 255), 15 bytes for the sample. The pixel data follows directly, red, green and blue for each pixel.

How do I keep the transparent area dark?

Send AlphaColor=black (or any color). Partly transparent pixels are blended with it too, so a shadow fades into that color instead of white.

Does ColorSpace=gray give me a PGM file?

Yes. gray and monochrome both write P5 with one byte per pixel: at 300 px the file is 90,015 bytes, against 270,015 for the color P6.

Convert your first SVG file in a minute.