A step-by-step workflow for designers to turn hand-lettered SVG designs into animated Framer components using AI — no coding required.
Start with your lettering design in Adobe Illustrator. This works with any custom typography — hand-lettered, script, display, or experimental. The design should be composed of solid filled shapes, one per letter.
****On a new layer above the fill shapes, draw a single center-line path over each letter. Follow the natural direction you would write that letter by hand. The path doesn't need to be perfect — it just needs to run through the middle of each letterform and be thick enough to fully cover the fill shape beneath it when stroked.
****In the Illustrator layer panel, name every path clearly. Name the fill shapes (e.g. Fill - A, Fill - L) and the stroke paths (e.g. Path - A, Path - L). Proper naming is essential — it helps the AI read and understand the file structure correctly when generating the code.
Export the entire file as a single SVG. Make sure both the fill shapes and the stroke paths are included in the export. Do not flatten or outline the strokes before exporting — keep them as live paths with their stroke width values intact.
Drag and drop the exported SVG file directly into ChatGPT. Paste the prompt below the file. ChatGPT will read the file, extract the path data, and generate a complete Framer code component. This may take a moment. Once it's done, copy all of the generated code.
Prompt:
This is an SVG file containing a custom vector typography design. I need you to convert it into a working Framer code component that animates the letters like a handwriting reveal — as if someone is physically drawing each letter one by one with a pen.
What is inside the SVG file:
The file contains two sets of paths:
Fill shapes: the solid filled letterforms for each letter
Stroke paths: center-line paths drawn over each letter following the natural handwriting direction. Some letters have more than one stroke path. The strokeWidth values are defined in CSS classes inside the SVG style block — read those class definitions carefully and map each class name to its correct numeric strokeWidth value.
TECHNIQUE — follow this exactly, do not deviate:
Use motion.svg from Framer Motion as the root element with initial="hidden" and animate="visible". This propagates the animation state to all child motion.path elements automatically. Do not use useAnimation. Do not use animation controls. Do not use useEffect to sequence the animation. Do not use useState to track which letter is active.
Use the Framer Motion variants pattern on every motion.path inside the masks. Each motion.path must have a variants object with two states: hidden and visible. The hidden state must set pathLength to 0 and opacity to 0. The visible state must set pathLength to 1 and opacity to 1. The transition for pathLength must include a delay value that staggers each letter and each stroke in sequence. The transition for opacity must have a duration of 0.01 seconds so paths start invisible immediately. Do not animate strokeDashoffset. Do not animate strokeDasharray. Do not use strokeDashoffset or strokeDasharray anywhere in the code.
MASKS — follow this exactly:
Use SVG <mask> elements. Do not use <clipPath> anywhere. Do not use clipPath anywhere.
Inside each mask, place a <rect> that covers the entire viewBox filled with black. Black in a mask means fully hidden. Then place the animated stroke paths inside the mask with stroke="white". White in a mask means revealed. Do not render stroke paths anywhere outside of <defs>. Do not give stroke paths any fill. Do not make stroke paths visible on screen under any circumstances.
Apply each mask to its corresponding fill path using the mask="url(#mask-id)" attribute. The fill paths must always have opacity of 1. Do not animate fill path opacity. Do not fade fill paths in or out.
PATH DATA — follow this exactly:
Use the exact d attribute path data from the SVG file for every fill path and every stroke path. Do not generate new paths. Do not approximate paths. Do not simplify paths. Do not modify any path data in any way. Copy them exactly character for character.
Use the exact strokeWidth value from each stroke path's CSS class in the SVG for its mask stroke. Do not use a uniform strokeWidth for all paths. Do not reduce strokeWidth values. Do not increase strokeWidth values. These values are precisely sized to fully cover each filled letterform — changing them will break the reveal effect.
ANIMATION SEQUENCING:
Calculate the delay for each motion.path inside a mask using this formula: startDelay + (letterIndex * letterGap). For letters with two stroke paths, the second stroke of the same letter gets a slightly higher delay than the first. Do not use setTimeout. Do not use setInterval. Do not use requestAnimationFrame. All sequencing must be handled purely through the delay property inside the Framer Motion transition object.
FRAMER COMPONENT:
Export a default Framer component. Use addPropertyControls from Framer to expose these controls in the property panel: color (color picker), animation duration per letter (number), delay between letters (number), and start delay (number). Use ControlType.Color and ControlType.Number. The component must have width: 100% and height: 100%. Use the exact viewBox from the SVG file.
Do not import anything that is not available in Framer. Only import from framer, framer-motion, and React hooks if needed.
Do not add any click handlers. Do not add loop functionality. Do not add replay buttons. Keep the component simple and focused only on the one-time reveal animation on load.
Generate the complete component code now.
6. Adding the Component to Framer
In Framer, open the Assets panel on the left. Click the Code tab. Hit the + icon and select New Code File. Give it a name and click OK. Delete all the default placeholder code in the editor. Paste in the code you copied from ChatGPT. The component will appear in your assets panel ready to drag onto the canvas — with adjustable color, speed, and delay controls built in.
