Export the canvas as an SVG image
Task walkthrough: Create a workflow. This page is the full reference for what the exported image contains.
SVG Image downloads the workflow diagram — every job card and every dependency arrow — as a single SVG file. It is how the shape of a workflow leaves the editor for a change record, a runbook or a review pack, without anyone taking a screenshot.
The button is in Canvas Tools, the section docked at the bottom of the workflow editor's left panel, just below the minimap. Select it and the file downloads. There is no dialog and nothing to choose.
In earlier builds SVG Image was on screen but had no effect at all — no file, no message, no error. If that is what you remember of it, it works now.
What the image contains
| Framing | The whole graph at 1:1, with a 24-pixel margin on every side. Your current pan and zoom are ignored, so there is no need to fit the view before exporting. |
| Jobs | Every job card that is showing, including cards scrolled off screen on a large workflow. |
| Dependencies | Every arrow and every edge label, including a self-conflict's loop back onto its own card, which reaches well past the card itself. |
| Background | Opaque white, behind the margin as well as behind the graph. |
| Selection | A card or arrow left selected in the editor keeps its selection styling in the file. Deselect first for a clean diagram. |
Jobs hidden by a filter are left out
The image shows what the canvas shows. The Frequencies switches in the left panel hide the jobs of any frequency switched off, and a hidden job is not in the image — the frame closes around what remains rather than reserving blank space for it.
That makes the filters a deliberate way to export part of a large workflow: switch off the frequencies you do not want, then export what is left. It also means an export you expected to be complete will not be, if a switch was left off from earlier work.
The file name
<workflow name>.svg. The characters no common filesystem accepts in a name — \ / : * ? " < > |
— are each replaced with an underscore, and runs of spaces are collapsed to one. A workflow that has
no name yet exports as workflow.svg.
When an export is refused
Three messages, and in each case nothing downloads:
| Message | Cause |
|---|---|
| There is nothing to export — the workflow has no jobs. | The workflow is empty. |
| There is nothing to export — every job is hidden by the canvas filters. | Every Frequencies switch that would show a job is off. Switch one back on. |
| The SVG image could not be created. | The capture failed, or it outlasted its 30-second ceiling. The button is usable again straight away, so the first thing to try is exporting again. |
The first two conditions are checked when you select the button and again immediately before the image is captured, so changing a filter part-way through cannot produce a blank file.
While a capture is running the button shows busy and selecting it again does nothing — a large workflow takes a moment to serialise. The button is unavailable until the canvas has finished loading.
Limitations to know before relying on it
Job cards are HTML rather than vector shapes, so the export embeds them in the SVG as HTML. Any web browser renders the file exactly as the canvas looked, which also makes a browser the way to print it. A vector editor without HTML support — Adobe Illustrator and Inkscape among them — opens the file and shows nothing at all.
There is no workaround in this build. Use a browser to view or print the diagram; if you need to edit it as artwork, a screenshot is the only route today.
- The files are large. Around 1.2 MB for a four-job workflow, because the app's web fonts and the computed styling of every element are embedded in the file. It grows with the number of cards.
- SVG is the only format. There is no PNG or PDF export.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| SVG Image is unavailable | The canvas has not finished loading | Wait for the workflow to finish opening; the button enables itself. |
| Nothing seems to happen when I select it | An export is already running | The button shows busy while it works, and a second selection is ignored. Wait for the download. |
| The file downloads but opens blank | It was opened in a vector editor that cannot render embedded HTML | Open it in a web browser instead. This is expected, not a corrupt file. |
| Jobs are missing from the image | A Frequencies switch is off, so those jobs are hidden on the canvas too | Switch the frequencies you want back on and export again. |
| The image is much wider or taller than the jobs need | An arrow reaches beyond the cards — a self-conflict loop is the usual one | Expected. The frame covers everything drawn, arrows included, so nothing is clipped. |
| There is nothing to export on a workflow that clearly has jobs | Every job belongs to a frequency whose switch is off | Switch a frequency back on. The message distinguishes this case from a genuinely empty workflow. |
Related topics
- The workflow editor tool panel — the panel this button sits in, and the Frequencies switches that decide what the image contains
- Job dependencies — what the arrows on the canvas mean
- Create a workflow (Builder)