Does BIMI support animated SVG files?

The short answer is no, BIMI does not support animated SVG files. While the idea of having a dynamic, eye-catching logo in your recipient's inbox is appealing, the current BIMI specification has very strict requirements for the logo file to ensure security, consistency, and scalability across different email clients.

The entire purpose of BIMI is to create a standardized way for brands to display their logos. Animation introduces a level of complexity and potential security risks that the standard is designed to avoid. Let's dig into the specifics of why this is the case.

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BIMI requires that your logo be in a very specific format: SVG Tiny Portable/Secure (SVG P/S). This is a restricted profile of the standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format. As the BIMI Group, the standard's creators, explains, this format is designed to be simple and secure.

BIMI Group says:

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The brand image to be displayed must be in Scaled Vector Graphics (SVG) format. The specific SVG profile used by BIMI is defined as SVG Portable/Secure (SVG P/S), which is a subset of the SVG Tiny 1.2 profile.

This SVG P/S profile is a very lean version of SVG. Its primary goal is to ensure the logo file is safe and renders predictably everywhere. This means it explicitly forbids elements that could introduce inconsistencies or security vulnerabilities, such as animations, scripts, or external file links.

The restrictions are in place for a few critical reasons. First and foremost is security. An SVG file is essentially an XML text file, which means it can potentially contain scripts or links to external resources. Allowing these could open up attack vectors for phishing or malware. By disallowing them, BIMI ensures the logo is just a logo, and nothing more.

Second is rendering consistency. The goal of BIMI is for your logo to look the same in Gmail, Apple Mail, Yahoo, and any other participating mailbox provider. Animations, embedded fonts, and other dynamic features can behave differently across platforms, defeating the purpose of a unified standard.

AWeber says:

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Specifically, you need your logo in a format known as SVG Tiny PS. This process is surprisingly tricky, because you can't just create an SVG...

Because of these strict requirements, you cannot include the following in your BIMI logo file:

• Animations or scripting: Any form of interactivity or movement is disallowed.
• External links: The SVG must be self-contained and cannot reference external images, stylesheets, or fonts.
• Bitmaps or raster images: You cannot embed <image> elements like JPEGs or PNGs within the SVG.
• Live text: Any text in your logo must be converted into vector paths (or curves) so it doesn't rely on fonts that may not be installed on the end user's system.

Creating a compliant BIMI logo often requires specific tools and a careful export process. You typically need to start with a vector version of your logo (often an .ai or .eps file) and use a vector graphics editor like Adobe Illustrator to prepare it.

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Ensure the image does not contain bitmaps, linked files, text, or extraneous groups before you save or export your vector image as an SVG file.

During the export process, you have to save the file ensuring it adheres to the SVG P/S profile. The BIMI Group provides some tools and guidance to help with this conversion, but as many have found, the process can still be tricky.

In summary, while you can't use an animated logo for BIMI, the static logo you can display is a powerful tool for brand recognition and trust. By adhering to the strict SVG P/S format, you ensure your logo appears correctly and securely in every inbox, which is the ultimate goal of the BIMI standard.