SVG is a great format for logos, badges, and other graphics in your templates — it stays sharp at any size. But an SVG that contains live text in a specific font is a problem, and Studio will ask you to fix the file before it accepts the upload.
Why Studio rejects these files#
When a design tool like Adobe Illustrator exports an SVG, any text you typed is saved as live text by default: the file stores the words plus the name of the font they should be drawn in — not the letter shapes themselves. The font file is not included.
When that SVG is shown in your template, the font almost certainly isn't available, so the text is drawn in a generic substitute font instead. The result is text that looks different from your design: a different typeface, wider or narrower letters, and text that can overflow the shape it was designed to sit inside.
Because there is no way to render such a file faithfully, Studio rejects the upload and points you here.
The fix: convert text to outlines#
Converting text to outlines replaces the live text with the actual letter shapes, drawn as vector curves. The file then looks identical everywhere, in exactly the font you designed with — no font needed.
In Adobe Illustrator:
- Open your design and select the text (or press
Ctrl/Cmd + Ato select everything). - Choose Type → Create Outlines (
Shift + Ctrl/Cmd + O). - Export the SVG again (File → Export → Export As… → SVG).
Alternatively, in Illustrator's SVG export options you can set Fonts to Convert to outlines, which does the same thing at export time and leaves your working file editable.
Other tools have the same option under a similar name: Figma flattens text automatically when you export a frame as SVG with "Outline text" enabled; in Inkscape it's Path → Object to Path; in Sketch it's Convert to Outlines.
Then upload the new file — it will pass the check and render identically in the editor and in your ads.
Keep a copy of the original file with editable text: once text is outlined it can't be edited as text anymore.
Tips#
- Text that only uses generic font styles (like
sans-serif) is accepted, but outlining is still the safest choice — it guarantees your exact typeface. - This only applies to text inside SVG files. For text in your ad itself, use a Studio text element — those render with the template's fonts everywhere, including custom fonts you upload.
- If the text in the graphic should change per product (a price, a discount code), don't bake it into the SVG at all: put a text element on top of the graphic and bind it with a placeholder.
Next steps#
- Custom fonts — use your brand font for text elements
- Elements — images, shapes, and text in Studio