Windows Metafile (WMF) to SVG converter

WMF → SVG gives old Windows clip-art a second life as scalable web graphics or as paths you can edit in Inkscape or Illustrator.

Converted with Office engine → Image engine · input deleted within 24 h
Free: 5 conversions a day · 5 MB each
Higher limits →

From real runs

What you get — and what changes

Element	Result	What happens
Vector paths	Kept	The window frame drawing became a 16,274-byte SVG of clean strokes that can be recoloured in any editor.
Text	Changed	Dimension numbers and labels become outline paths; they display everywhere but are not editable text.
View box	Kept	The SVG is trimmed to the drawing, so the block diagram SVG has the same 510 × 192 proportions as the picture itself.
Size compared with the source	Changed	The 13,801-byte block-diagram WMF grew to a 51,252-byte SVG, mostly from outlined text.
Background	Changed	A white rectangle is included behind the art.
Missing characters	Lost	Characters our fonts lack, like the Asian characters in one test caption, appear as empty box outlines in the SVG.

Vector paths Kept
The window frame drawing became a 16,274-byte SVG of clean strokes that can be recoloured in any editor.
Text Changed
Dimension numbers and labels become outline paths; they display everywhere but are not editable text.
View box Kept
The SVG is trimmed to the drawing, so the block diagram SVG has the same 510 × 192 proportions as the picture itself.
Size compared with the source Changed
The 13,801-byte block-diagram WMF grew to a 51,252-byte SVG, mostly from outlined text.
Background Changed
A white rectangle is included behind the art.
Missing characters Lost
Characters our fonts lack, like the Asian characters in one test caption, appear as empty box outlines in the SVG.

Sample conversions

Window frame drawing

Input: 1,268-byte plain WMF.
Output: 16,274-byte SVG in under 0.1 s after the layout step.

Block diagram exported from Visio

Input: 13,801-byte plain WMF with boxes, arrows and a caption.
Output: 51,252-byte SVG, 510 × 192 view box.

A real Windows Metafile (WMF) → SVG run

We converted our Windows Metafile (WMF) sample (50 KB) with Office engine → Image engine on 2026-10-20. It took 1.5 s and produced a 1 KB SVG file, 97% smaller than the input. The engine raised 1 warning, listed below.

Input · sample.wmf · 50 KB

51,590 bytes

Output · sample.svg · 1 KB

SVG viewBox 0 0 123.909 79.971988, 2 paths

viewBox: 0 0 123.909 79.971988
Paths: 2

Text was converted to outlines, so it is not selectable or editable in the SVG.

First lines of the output

svg

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:inkscape="http://www.inkscape.org/namespaces/inkscape" version="1.1" width="123.909" height="79.971988" viewBox="0 0 123.909 79.971988">
<defs>
<clipPath id="clip_1">
<path transform="matrix(1,0,0,-1,-235.669,460.97303)" d="M0 .028H595.247V841.88906H0Z" clip-rule="evenodd"/>
</clipPath>
</defs>
<g clip-path="url(#clip_1)">
<path transform="matrix(1,0,0,-1,-235.669,460.97303)" d="M0 841.889H595.247V.028H0V841.889Z" fill="#ffffff" fill-rule="evenodd"/>
<g transform="matrix(.9992155,0,0,.99961116,4,4.0000154)">
<image id="image_2" width="116" height="72" xlink:href="data:image/png;base64,
iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSU…

Do it yourself

Inkscape

bash

inkscape clipart.wmf --export-type=svg --export-filename=clipart.svg

Keeps text as text where it can; the result needs the same fonts to look right.

Windows Metafile (WMF) to SVG by API or MCP

The HTTP API and the MCP server run the exact engine this page uses (Office engine → Image engine); the response carries the same warnings the web converter shows. Check support first with GET /api/v1/pairs?from=wmf&to=svg.

curl

curl -X POST https://filetypeconverters.com/api/v1/convert \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FTC_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@input.wmf" -F "from=wmf" -F "to=svg" \
  -F 'options={"width":0}' \
  --output output.svg

Options this engine accepts for Windows Metafile (WMF) → SVG

Key	Applies to	Type	Default
width	Writing SVG	number	0
height	Writing SVG	number	0
fit	Writing SVG	contain · cover · fill	contain
quality	Writing SVG	number	90
background	Writing SVG	string	#ffffff
stripMetadata	Writing SVG	boolean	true

API reference

When this is the wrong conversion

If you just need to see or share the picture, WMF → PNG is smaller and universally supported.
If the text must stay selectable for print, WMF → PDF keeps it as text.

Windows Metafile (WMF) to SVG questions

Can I edit the SVG in Inkscape or Illustrator?

Yes. Every line and fill is a path; ungroup and recolour as you like. Text needs retyping because it is outlined.

Will this make blurry clip-art sharp?

Only if the WMF was drawn with vectors. Some old clip-art is a bitmap wrapped in a WMF, and that bitmap stays a bitmap in the SVG.

Is the SVG safe to put on a website?

It contains only paths and shapes, no scripts or links, so it can go in an img tag directly.