diff --git a/src/main/java/de/neemann/digital/draw/graphics/GraphicSVGIndex.java b/src/main/java/de/neemann/digital/draw/graphics/GraphicSVGIndex.java
index 73b13a2dd..ccf491abf 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/neemann/digital/draw/graphics/GraphicSVGIndex.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/neemann/digital/draw/graphics/GraphicSVGIndex.java
@@ -1,11 +1,16 @@
 package de.neemann.digital.draw.graphics;
 
+import de.neemann.digital.draw.graphics.text.ParseException;
+import de.neemann.digital.draw.graphics.text.Parser;
+import de.neemann.digital.draw.graphics.text.formatter.SVGFormatter;
+import de.neemann.digital.draw.graphics.text.text.Decorate;
+import de.neemann.digital.draw.graphics.text.text.Text;
+
+import java.awt.*;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
 
-import static de.neemann.digital.core.element.ElementAttributes.cleanLabel;
-
 /**
  * Subclass of {@link GraphicSVG} which creates the correct SVG representation
  * of an index if used like "x_0".
@@ -38,39 +43,15 @@ public class GraphicSVGIndex extends GraphicSVG {
 
     @Override
     public String formatText(String text, Style style) {
-        text = text.replace('~', '\u00ac');
-        return formatSVGIndex(escapeXML(formatIndex(cleanLabel(text))));
-    }
-
-    private String formatIndex(String text) {
-        int p = text.lastIndexOf("_");
-        if (p > 0) {
-            text = text.substring(0, p) + "_{" + text.substring(p + 1) + "}";
+        try {
+            Text t = new Parser(text).parse();
+            if (style.getFontStyle() == Font.ITALIC)
+                t = new Decorate(t, Decorate.Style.MATH);
+            return SVGFormatter.format(t);
+        } catch (ParseException e) {
+            e.printStackTrace();
         }
         return text;
     }
 
-
-    private String formatSVGIndex(String text) {
-        int p1;
-        while ((p1 = text.indexOf("_{")) >= 0) {
-            int p2 = text.indexOf('}', p1);
-            if (p2 >= 0) {
-                String ind = text.substring(p1 + 2, p2);
-                if (ind.length() > 0)
-                    ind = "<tspan style=\"font-size:80%;baseline-shift:sub\">" + ind + "</tspan>";
-                text = text.substring(0, p1) + ind + text.substring(p2 + 1);
-            }
-        }
-        while ((p1 = text.indexOf("^{")) >= 0) {
-            int p2 = text.indexOf('}', p1);
-            if (p2 >= 0) {
-                String ind = text.substring(p1 + 2, p2);
-                if (ind.length() > 0)
-                    ind = "<tspan style=\"font-size:80%;baseline-shift:super\">" + ind + "</tspan>";
-                text = text.substring(0, p1) + ind + text.substring(p2 + 1);
-            }
-        }
-        return text;
-    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/neemann/digital/draw/graphics/text/formatter/SVGFormatter.java b/src/main/java/de/neemann/digital/draw/graphics/text/formatter/SVGFormatter.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2ae68973a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/de/neemann/digital/draw/graphics/text/formatter/SVGFormatter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+package de.neemann.digital.draw.graphics.text.formatter;
+
+import de.neemann.digital.draw.graphics.text.text.*;
+import de.neemann.digital.draw.graphics.text.text.Character;
+
+/**
+ * The SVG text formatter
+ */
+public final class SVGFormatter {
+
+    private SVGFormatter() {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Formats the given text
+     *
+     * @param text the text to format
+     * @return the formatted string
+     */
+    public static String format(Text text) {
+        return format(text, false);
+    }
+
+    private static String format(Text text, boolean mathMode) {
+        if (text instanceof Simple) {
+            return ((Simple) text).getText();
+        } else if (text instanceof Blank) {
+            return " ";
+        } else if (text instanceof Character) {
+            return character(((Character) text).getChar());
+        } else if (text instanceof Decorate) {
+            Decorate d = (Decorate) text;
+            switch (d.getStyle()) {
+                case MATH:
+                    return "<tspan style=\"font-style:italic\">" + format(d.getContent(), true) + "</tspan>";
+                case OVERLINE:
+                    return "<tspan style=\"text-decoration: overline\">" + format(d.getContent(), mathMode) + "</tspan>";
+                default:
+                    return format(d.getContent(), mathMode);
+            }
+        } else if (text instanceof Index) {
+            Index i = (Index) text;
+            String str = format(i.getVar(), true);
+            if (i.getSubScript() != null)
+                str += "<tspan style=\"font-size:80%;baseline-shift:sub\">" + format(i.getSubScript(), mathMode) + "</tspan>";
+            if (i.getSuperScript() != null)
+                str += "<tspan style=\"font-size:80%;baseline-shift:super\">" + format(i.getSuperScript(), mathMode) + "</tspan>";
+            return str;
+        } else if (text instanceof Sentence) {
+            Sentence s = (Sentence) text;
+            StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+            for (Text t : s)
+                sb.append(format(t, mathMode));
+            return sb.toString();
+        } else return "";
+    }
+
+    private static String character(char aChar) {
+        switch (aChar) {
+            case '&':
+                return "&amp;";
+            case '<':
+                return "&lt;";
+            case '>':
+                return "&gt;";
+            case '"':
+                return "&quot;";
+            default:
+                return "" + aChar;
+        }
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/de/neemann/digital/draw/graphics/GraphicSVGIndexTest.java b/src/test/java/de/neemann/digital/draw/graphics/GraphicSVGIndexTest.java
index 7b93c0ee4..7d3faf671 100644
--- a/src/test/java/de/neemann/digital/draw/graphics/GraphicSVGIndexTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/de/neemann/digital/draw/graphics/GraphicSVGIndexTest.java
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ public class GraphicSVGIndexTest extends TestCase {
 
         assertEquals("Z<tspan style=\"font-size:80%;baseline-shift:sub\">0</tspan>", gs.formatText("Z_0", Style.NORMAL));
         assertEquals("&lt;a&gt;", gs.formatText("<a>", Style.NORMAL));
-        assertEquals("¬Z", gs.formatText("~Z", Style.NORMAL));
+        assertEquals("<tspan style=\"text-decoration: overline\">Z</tspan>", gs.formatText("~Z", Style.NORMAL));
     }
 
 }
\ No newline at end of file