diff --git a/IPython/frontend/qt/console/rich_ipython_widget.py b/IPython/frontend/qt/console/rich_ipython_widget.py
index 9570f01..06172d9 100644
--- a/IPython/frontend/qt/console/rich_ipython_widget.py
+++ b/IPython/frontend/qt/console/rich_ipython_widget.py
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ class RichIPythonWidget(IPythonWidget):
     # RichIPythonWidget protected class variables.
     _payload_source_plot = 'IPython.zmq.pylab.backend_payload.add_plot_payload'
     _jpg_supported = Bool(False)
+
+    # Used to determine whether a given html export attempt has already
+    # displayed a warning about being unable to convert a png to svg.
+    _svg_warning_displayed = False
+
     #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     # 'object' interface
     #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -53,6 +58,20 @@ class RichIPythonWidget(IPythonWidget):
 
 
     #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    # 'ConsoleWidget' public interface overides
+    #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    def export_html(self):
+        """ Shows a dialog to export HTML/XML in various formats.
+
+        Overridden in order to reset the _svg_warning_displayed flag prior
+        to the export running.
+        """
+        self._svg_warning_displayed = False
+        super(RichIPythonWidget, self).export_html()
+
+
+    #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
     # 'ConsoleWidget' protected interface
     #---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -231,7 +250,18 @@ class RichIPythonWidget(IPythonWidget):
             try:
                 svg = str(self._name_to_svg_map[match.group("name")])
             except KeyError:
-                return "<b>Couldn't find image %s</b>" % match.group("name")
+                if not self._svg_warning_displayed:
+                    QtGui.QMessageBox.warning(self, 'Error converting PNG to SVG.',
+                        'Cannot convert a PNG to SVG.  To fix this, add this '
+                        'to your ipython config:\n\n'
+                        '\tc.InlineBackendConfig.figure_format = \'svg\'\n\n'
+                        'And regenerate the figures.',
+                                              QtGui.QMessageBox.Ok)
+                    self._svg_warning_displayed = True
+                return ("<b>Cannot convert a PNG to SVG.</b>  "
+                        "To fix this, add this to your config: "
+                        "<span>c.InlineBackendConfig.figure_format = 'svg'</span> "
+                        "and regenerate the figures.")
 
             # Not currently checking path, because it's tricky to find a
             # cross-browser way to embed external SVG images (e.g., via