My Situation:
I’m a designer learning React and trying to use my Figma designs in a React app. I’m pretty new to coding so this is challenging for me.
The Issue:
When I export SVGs from Figma and use them in React, they look terrible. The shapes get weird and stretched, and the colors are completely different from what I see in Figma.
What I’ve Done So Far:
Exported my designs as SVG files from Figma (tried different export settings)
Tried using them in React with img tags and as CSS backgrounds in divs
Messed around with CSS styles and SVG properties but nothing works
What Should Happen vs What Actually Happens:
I want the SVGs to look exactly like they do in Figma with proper colors and shapes. Instead I get distorted graphics with wrong colors that make my app look bad.
My Question:
How do I properly use Figma SVG exports in React so they keep the right colors and don’t get distorted? Any simple tutorials or step-by-step guides for beginners would be really helpful.
SVG exports from Figma are a nightmare - everyone deals with this. Don’t waste time fixing them manually.
I used to spend hours on SVG bugs until I automated everything. Now my workflow handles Figma exports and converts them for React automatically.
Here’s what’s breaking: Figma exports come with viewport settings and color formats that React hates. Your CSS fights with the SVG’s internal styling every time.
Skip the manual fixes and build an automated workflow that:
Pulls designs straight from Figma API
Converts colors to the right format
Fixes viewBox and sizing problems
Spits out clean React components
You’ll never do those same tedious fixes again when designs update. Plus no more human errors screwing up your styling.
I build these automations all the time - works way better than manual exports. Set it up once and SVG issues disappear.
Oh man, this drove me nuts for weeks when I switched from design to dev! It’s almost always conflicting CSS messing with your SVG properties. First, check if your CSS reset or framework is targeting SVG elements - lots of resets throw display: block or other stuff on there that breaks everything. Make a specific class for your SVGs and use display: inline-block with vertical-align: top. For colors, open your exported SVG in a code editor and hunt for fill="currentColor" - Figma loves doing this instead of actual hex values, so it just grabs whatever text color the parent has. Swap those out for real color values. Also look for opacity or fill-opacity attributes making everything look washed out. The stretching? Your SVG’s viewBox probably doesn’t match your container. Set width and height directly on the SVG element, not the container.
Had this exact problem when I started using React with my designs. Usually it’s the CSS width and height properties overriding the SVG’s natural dimensions. When you set width or height on an SVG without preserving aspect ratio, it stretches weirdly. Try adding preserveAspectRatio=“xMidYMid meet” to your SVG elements and use CSS max-width instead of fixed width. For colors, check if Figma’s exporting gradients or special fills that don’t translate well to SVG. Sometimes switching to simpler solid colors in Figma before export helps. Also make sure you’re not applying CSS filters or transforms that might mess with the colors. One trick that saved me - copy the SVG code directly from Figma and paste it inline in JSX instead of using img tags. Gives you way more control over styling.