Insert SVG directly into Microsoft Publisher without converting file format
It appears there is no native way to import SVG to Office programs. I did figure out what vector graphic format Microsoft Office products use natively: Windows Metafiles. This led me to figure out how to convert an SVG to WMF.
It turns out that Microsoft Office Visio can natively import and export both SVG and WMF. It appears that Visio sometimes loses a bit of data - particularly certain gradients and text shaping - when importing SVG, but enough data is copied to be able to touch it up, then export.
If you don't have Visio, Inkscape and Open Office Draw both list SVG and WMF as supported file types, and are both free, open-source software, so you could try using one of those.
The Inkscape approach is so far the quickest way I found for importing an SVG that generally works well in Publisher. Inkscape is also freeware and open source.
With Inkscape installed:
- Right-click the SVG file and select 'Inkscape'.
- Once Inkscape opens with the image, select all (CTRL + A) and copy (CTRL + C).
- In Publisher, paste the image (CTRL + V).
This approach usually works for importing PDF images also, such as a company logo provided as a PDF file.