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Loading SVG, SvgDocument, and VectorDrawable

SKSvg exposes several load surfaces because the repository supports both "parse from source" and "render an already-owned document" workflows.

Choose the right load API

  • Use Load(path) when the source is a file or resource path and you want auto-detection for .svg, .svgz, and Android VectorDrawable XML.
  • Use Load(stream, parameters, baseUri) when the input already lives in memory or when external assets need a base URI for resolution.
  • Use Load(XmlReader) when an upstream XML pipeline is already creating readers.
  • Use FromSvg(string) when raw markup is already in memory.
  • Use FromSvgDocument(SvgDocument) when your code already parsed or generated a SvgDocument.
  • Use LoadVectorDrawable(...) or FromVectorDrawable(...) when the source is explicitly Android drawable XML.

Files, streams, base URIs, and XML readers

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Xml;
using Svg.Skia;

using var svgFromFile = new SKSvg();
svgFromFile.Load("image.svg");

using var stream = File.OpenRead("image.svg");
using var svgFromStream = new SKSvg();
svgFromStream.Load(stream, parameters: null, baseUri: new Uri("file:///Users/me/Assets/"));

using var reader = XmlReader.Create(new StringReader("<svg width=\"16\" height=\"16\" />"));
using var svgFromReader = new SKSvg();
svgFromReader.Load(reader);

Reusable factory helpers

If you prefer one-shot helpers, SKSvg exposes factory methods:

  • CreateFromFile(...)
  • CreateFromStream(...)
  • CreateFromSvg(...)
  • CreateFromSvgDocument(...)
  • CreateFromVectorDrawable(...)

Raw SVG strings and parsed documents

When parsing is already done elsewhere, loading from a SvgDocument avoids reparsing text and makes the document available immediately through SKSvg.SourceDocument.

using Svg;
using Svg.Model.Services;
using Svg.Skia;

var svgText = "<svg width=\"16\" height=\"16\"><circle cx=\"8\" cy=\"8\" r=\"8\" fill=\"red\" /></svg>";

using var svgFromText = new SKSvg();
svgFromText.FromSvg(svgText);

var document = SvgService.FromSvg(svgText);
using var svgFromDocument = new SKSvg();
svgFromDocument.FromSvgDocument(document);

If you plan to mutate the DOM later, FromSvgDocument(...) is the most direct starting point because your code already owns the document instance.

Reloading with different CSS or entity parameters

ReLoad(...) reparses the original input using a new SvgParameters value. This is useful when the source stays the same but the CSS or XML entities change.

using Svg.Model;
using Svg.Skia;

SKSvg.CacheOriginalStream = true;

using var svg = new SKSvg();
svg.Load("image.svg", new SvgParameters(null, ".accent { fill: red; }"));

svg.ReLoad(new SvgParameters(null, ".accent { fill: blue; }"));

ReLoad(...) requires SKSvg.CacheOriginalStream = true when the original source came from a stream.

Avalonia resource and document loading

The Skia-backed Avalonia package exposes both path-based loading and document-based loading:

using Avalonia.Svg.Skia;
using Svg;

var source = SvgSource.Load("avares://MyAssembly/Assets/Icon.svg", baseUri: null);
var documentSource = SvgSource.LoadFromSvgDocument(new SvgDocument());

Use SvgSource.LoadFromSvgDocument(...) when an editor or tool already owns a SvgDocument and the control should render that DOM directly.

VectorDrawable handling

Use these APIs when the source is Android XML:

using Svg.Skia;

using var svg = new SKSvg();
svg.LoadVectorDrawable("icon.xml");

Or convert raw XML directly:

using Svg.Skia;

using var svg = new SKSvg();
svg.FromVectorDrawable(vectorDrawableXml);

Load(path) also auto-detects VectorDrawable XML from the file contents, so the explicit methods are mainly for callers that want a fixed code path.

The repository tests cover:

  • width and viewport validation,
  • clip-path behavior,
  • group transforms,
  • supported and unsupported Android attributes,
  • equivalence between representative VectorDrawable and SVG examples.