SVG Animation — CSS, GSAP, and SMIL for Web SVG
Animate your SVG graphics for the web using CSS transitions, GSAP, and built-in SVG animation. Start by converting your image to SVG with our free tool.
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Three Ways to Animate SVG
SVG supports three animation approaches: CSS animations (easiest, best performance), GSAP JavaScript library (most powerful and cross-browser), and SMIL (SVG's built-in animation, being deprecated in some browsers). CSS animations handle simple transitions and transforms. GSAP handles complex sequences, path morphing, and scroll-triggered animations.
- CSS: transition, @keyframes on SVG properties (fill, stroke, transform)
- GSAP: gsap.to('.path', { drawSVG: '0%', duration: 1 })
- Framer Motion: <motion.path animate={{ pathLength: 1 }} /> in React
- Stroke dash animation: classic path draw-on effect with CSS
Path Draw-On Animation
The most popular SVG animation technique is the 'draw-on' effect where SVG paths appear as if being drawn in real time. This is achieved using stroke-dasharray and stroke-dashoffset CSS properties — animating dashoffset from the full path length to zero creates the drawing effect. Convert your logo or icon to SVG with our tool, then apply this CSS technique for an impressive entrance animation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I animate SVGs I converted with your tool?
Yes. SVGs from our converter are standard valid SVG with path elements. Apply CSS animations or GSAP to the path, circle, and group elements in the SVG markup.
What's the easiest SVG animation technique?
CSS transitions on SVG fill and stroke colors. Add transition: fill 0.3s ease to an SVG element and hover styles — instant interactive color animation.
How do I create a path draw-on animation?
Get the path length with path.getTotalLength() in JavaScript, set stroke-dasharray to that length, then animate stroke-dashoffset from the length to 0 with CSS @keyframes.
Is GSAP free for commercial SVG animation projects?
GSAP's core library (including DrawSVG basics) is free. The DrawSVG plugin requires GSAP Club membership for commercial projects.
Do SVG animations work on mobile browsers?
CSS SVG animations work on all modern mobile browsers. GSAP also has excellent mobile browser support. Avoid SMIL animations as they have inconsistent mobile support.
Related guides
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