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The Svija Blog

Svija helps you build amazing websites using Adobe Illustrator.

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Enjoy yourself, and don’t forget to leave a comment with your thoughts!


  • So You’re a New User?

    So You’re a New User?

    Recently, we radically changed the default website you get with Svija. Previously, we provided a full website, but we’ve just introduced a new minimalist design.


  • Upscayl for Upscaling

    Upscayl for Upscaling

    We’ve always used Photoshop to upscale images, but Pixelmator Pro produces much better results.Upscayl is a new Mac app that’s even better (and free).


  • Maximize a Mac Window

    Maximize a Mac Window

    Option double-click the corner of a Mac window to maximize it without going into full-screen mode. Double-clicking any window edge will extend it fill the screen; option will…


  • Svija is Tiny

    Svija is Tiny

    I started out to write an elaborate post about all the cool stuff you can do with Svija. As part of the process, turned this coffee infographic into a web page…


  • Hacker News

    Hacker News

    We were on Hacker News in December: “It could work for 90% of sites… theoretically you could even have a graphic designer build a site without much code knowledge…”


  • A Folder Called Links

    A Folder Called Links

    Have you seen the the message Could not find the linked file…? To make sure that Illustrator can always find placed images, put them in a folder called links in the same parent folder.


  • A Nicer Background Color

    A Nicer Background Color

    By default, Illustrator draws a harsh white background behind each artboard. For a much nicer experience, enable the Transparency Grid and set the two colors to be the same.


  • Unlock More Preferences

    Unlock More Preferences

    Many of Illustrator’s most useful preferences are set on a per-document basis. By using New from Template… rather than New… you can make these preferences persistent.


  • Use Swatches Instead of the Color Panel

    Use Swatches Instead of the Color Panel

    Replace the Color Panel to increase your creativity. These swatches provide a complete spectrum and change colors without getting brighter or darker.


  • Reduce Clutter by Combining Panels

    Reduce Clutter by Combining Panels

    Often, your workspace becomes cluttered with unused panels. By grouping all the panels together, opening a panel closes the previous panel.


  • A Gaussian Blur with Vectors

    A Gaussian Blur with Vectors

    Illustrator Blends result in an a fade that is too abrupt. You can redistributes the opacity values of a Blend to make it look much smoother.


  • It’s not the Traffic Lights

    It’s not the Traffic Lights

    In response to speculation that Safari 15, chrome colors were not permitted to match the window close buttons, I did a test.


  • Safari 15 Header Color

    Safari 15 Header Color

    Safari 15, shipped with macOS Monterey, enables changing the color of the browser chrome. This program rapidly cycles through all the colors.