Extract text from Microsoft Expression drawings (DESIGN)
To convert DESIGN drawings to another format, you need Affinity Designer or other Vector Image software.
To convert other file formats to the "Proprietary Project File" file type, you need software like Affinity Designer or a similar tool.
The .design file extension represents several completely different proprietary formats. Most commonly, it is a graphic design project file created by Affinity Designer, Xara Designer Pro, or Serif PagePlus. In industrial settings, it functions as a barcode label design file managed by Teklynx CODESOFT or Dibal scales. Other variations include CAD models from Ashlar-Vellum and AI-generated graphic projects from Microsoft Designer or Canva.
The main disadvantage of the .design format is its extreme fragmentation. A .design file created for a barcode printer will not open in a vector graphics editor. These files are closed, proprietary, and heavily software-dependent. You cannot open them natively in a web browser, and they usually require a specific, often paid, desktop software license to access.
Users frequently need to convert these files to standard formats like PDF, SVG, or PNG to share work with clients, send designs to commercial printers, or publish graphics online. Exporting to PDF or SVG preserves scalable vector paths, fonts, and layout structures. Converting to PNG or JPG creates a flat image, which drops layer editability but guarantees the file will display perfectly on any device.
Because the internal data structures are hidden and highly specific to the creating software, standard online converters often fail to process .design files reliably. Often, only the original authoring software can accurately read or export the layers and underlying data. Despite this, convert.guru acts as a practical workaround. Just drag and drop your file to identify the format, view it, and convert it when possible. We analyze the file signature to tell you exactly which program created it. Because some modern .design files are built on a compressed ZIP architecture, our deep inspection can often extract embedded preview images, raw text, or XML data, allowing you to recover assets even without the original software.
Convert.Guru analyzes your DESIGN file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted JPG, JPEG, AI, LBL, PNG, PDF, JET, NSF, DBX, CODE, 3D and HTML files.
If you want to convert DESIGN file to CODE, 3D, HTML, SVG, AI, EPS, PDF, JPG, CDR, WMF, EMF or SWF, you can use Affinity Designer or similar software from the "Graphic Design Project Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert AFPUB, EPS, FIG, VSD, SKETCH, VDX, AFPHOTO, PDF, AFDESIGN, SVG, VSDX or AI files to DESIGN, try Affinity Designer or another comparable tool in the "Graphic Design Project Storage" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our DESIGN converter.