FreeSVG.org Inkscape Extension

FreeSVG.org Library lets Inkscape users search FreeSVG.org and insert SVG files as editable vector elements.

Install

1. Copy freesvg.inx and freesvg.py to your Inkscape extensions folder.
   • Windows: %AppData%\Inkscape\extensions
   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/org.inkscape.Inkscape/config/inkscape/extensions
   • Linux: ~/.config/inkscape/extensions
2. Restart Inkscape.
3. Open the extension from Extensions > FreeSVG.org > FreeSVG.org Library.

Usage

• Sign in with your FreeSVG.org email/password.
• Search or load latest, select a vector, and click Insert SVG.
• The SVG is inserted as editable vector elements (not an embedded image).
• Use Ctrl/Shift selection to insert multiple SVG files in one run.

Configuration

• Optional API base override: set FREESVG_API_BASE in your environment.
• Optional result limit: set FREESVG_RESULTS_LIMIT (default 15).
• Optional thumbnail size: set FREESVG_THUMB_SIZE (default 48).
• Optional CA bundle override: set FREESVG_CA_BUNDLE to a local PEM bundle path.

The extension does not write token, cache, log, or update files into the Inkscape profile/config directory. Login tokens are kept only in memory for the current extension run.

Internet Access

This extension requires internet access because its only purpose is to search FreeSVG.org and download selected SVG files from the FreeSVG.org API.

Network requests:

• POST https://freesvg.org/api/v1/auth/login to authenticate with the email/password entered by the user.
• GET https://freesvg.org/api/v1/search and GET https://freesvg.org/api/v1/svgs to list vectors.
• GET selected thumbnail and SVG URLs returned by the API.
• https://freesvg.org/register may be opened in the default browser when the user clicks Register.

Troubleshooting

• If the menu item opens but nothing happens, check the Inkscape extension error log.
• Windows log: %AppData%\\inkscape\\extensions-errors.log
• macOS log: ~/Library/Application Support/org.inkscape.Inkscape/config/inkscape/extensions-errors.log
• Linux log: ~/.config/inkscape/extensions-errors.log
• SSL certificate error on Windows:
  • Download a CA bundle (cacert.pem) and place it next to freesvg.py in the extensions folder, or set FREESVG_CA_BUNDLE to the file path.
• Cloudflare blocked / HTML response:
  • Add a Cloudflare WAF rule to allow or skip managed challenge for /api/v1/*.
  • Or create api.freesvg.org (DNS-only, no Cloudflare proxy) and set FREESVG_API_BASE to https://api.freesvg.org/api/v1.

Requirements

• Inkscape with Python extension support.
• Python 3.8 or later.
• GTK 3 / PyGObject as shipped with standard Inkscape builds.
• No bundled third-party Python dependencies.

Packaging for Inkscape.org

Create a ZIP with one copy of the extension files at the ZIP root:

• freesvg.inx
• freesvg.py
• README.md
• LICENSE
• SUBMISSION.md
• CHANGELOG.md

Test the ZIP by installing it through Inkscape Extension Manager before uploading.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.