Manipulating External SVG File Style Properties with CSS

Sandboxing Issue in SVG Files

When working with external SVG files, you may encounter limitations when trying to manipulate internal SVG properties, such as fill or stroke, using CSS. This is due to a feature in SVG files known as "sandboxing," which restricts direct access to the SVG's content from external sources.

Opacity vs. Other Properties

Opacity is a unique attribute because it affects the SVG object/frame as a whole, not just its contents. This allows CSS to modify opacity even though it cannot access the internal SVG content.

Solutions to Manipulation Limitations

While you cannot directly manipulate internal SVG properties from CSS, there are two main solutions you can explore:

1. Icon-System (Font-Face or SVG Sprites)

An icon-system involves converting your SVGs into a special "icon" font or SVG sprite format. This allows you to reference the icons using a font or background image and apply CSS styles to them.

2. Direct CSS Modification via Inline SVG

While this is not recommended for external SVG files, you can embed SVG code directly into your HTML and apply CSS styles using the style attribute within the SVG code itself.

Conclusion

Manipulating internal SVG properties from CSS is not straightforward due to the sandboxing mechanism. However, by employing icon-systems or, in exceptional cases, direct CSS modifications via inline SVG, you can achieve similar results to inline CSS manipulation.