Vector export layer for Photoshop smart objects

A UI designer or brand production artist is finishing an asset in Photoshop — they have shape layers, smart objects, text — and they need a clean SVG for a developer handoff or a print-ready EPS for a vendor. Photoshop flattens or rasterizes on export. The complaint is precise: 'limited by the inability to edit vectors,' 'lack of ability to vectorize layers within the program,' 'not being able to output vector artwork.' These aren't people who want to switch tools — they're people who are already 80% done in Photoshop and need the last mile to be vector.

Adobe has no incentive to fix this cleanly inside Photoshop because the answer they want to sell is 'open it in Illustrator.' But the handoff between the two applications is notoriously lossy — smart objects break, linked library assets show missing-link errors (one specific complaint: 'the vector library feature causes issues with missing links when designers paste smart objects and check the default add to library option'), and layer structures don't translate. The cost of switching mid-project is high enough that designers stay stuck in Photoshop and accept rasterized output.

A plugin that reads Photoshop's shape layer and smart object data directly — without round-tripping through Illustrator — and exports a structured SVG with preserved groups, correctly named layers, and editable paths fills a gap that Adobe is structurally motivated to leave open. Adobe wants upsell; this product wants the handoff to actually work.

This recurs every time a file goes from design to dev or design to print. In agencies and in-house teams, that's a daily event. A team that does it wrong once — rasterized SVG to a developer, wrong resolution to a printer — pays for it in revision time that can easily exceed a year's subscription cost.

What to build

Build a Photoshop plugin (UXP-based) that reads shape layers, vector masks, and smart objects in the open document and exports a structured SVG with named groups, preserved stroke/fill attributes, and correct path closure — without requiring Illustrator.

Where to start

Target freelancers doing web design handoffs first, because they feel the pain solo with no internal workaround — agencies have someone who 'just opens it in Illustrator,' but a solo freelancer can't afford that friction.

The hard part

Adobe's UXP plugin API exposes only a subset of Photoshop's internal document model — accessing smart object vector data programmatically may require reverse-engineering workarounds that break when Adobe updates the host app.

How it makes money

One-time purchase on Adobe Exchange with an optional annual support/update subscription for teams needing license management.