The SVG format has been pretty popular now for years. I'd say about 25% of my customers send me SVG files instead of some other vector format these days. Pretty much all online design software (online product designers) require SVG format. Heck, even our web browsers support SVG so not sure what the hold up is with Flexi?
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Is SVG ever going to be supported?
- Thread starter IsItFasst
- Start date
bannertime
Active Member
It's popular with web design. That's literally the only time I see it. I really like it because now when the customer says "just grab the logo from the website!" It could actually be a good copy. In those cases, I typically convert in Illustrator. If SAI doesn't get it together in this next release we may be looking elsewhere.
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
Inkscape is actually better for SVG support. I can keep embroidery tags in an SVG with Inkscape, lost in other programs that I've used so far. Now granted my DRAW use is limited to X5 only, although I do have copies of X6 and X8. So that may have changed.
It's really popular in the apparel world as well. Popular in embroidery as a source file (not necessarily for the reason that I use it with the open source extension project that I'm apart of) and with cut vinyl projects (which are still fairly big for what we do).
Yeah, I have an Adobe subscription and Draw too. But I normally just open the file in Inkscape as it seems to render more reliably. Then export as eps or pdf depending on the design. It's just an extra step that is becoming more "needless" since the format has gotten so popular. Of coarse it is 2018 and we still don't have GIF support so I'm not holding my breath.
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
I doubt it'll ever be "needless", just because Ai and DRAW don't even support information that you see in the screen shot. Especially the embroidery info (right side info about the selected path), that will just be lost when bringing it into other programs. I use embroidery just as an example, there are other things that can be back into a SVG file in Inkscape that won't translate to Ai, DRAW and certainly not Flexi.
It's not the default format of those programs, that's also why rendering is a little wonky at times. Especially if it was created in Inkscape.
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Yeah, I get it. I constantly have problems with .ai, .pdf, or .eps files not working as they should in Flexi. But they usually do which is what I'd like to see. I understand that sometimes I'd still need to use another program as I do with those more common files/programs but it would be nice if it was like those files where they "normally" open just fine in Flexi.
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
My first thinking would be is the ones that don't come out right are they fairly complex? Especially in terms of effects etc? Even with Corel, it tends to be a generation behind with reading all the effects that an Ai file can render.
I totally understand, I just don't see them really pushing it. Some files they have to strive for because they are "industry standard files". SVGs really haven't reached that point yet.
Yes, normally the files I have issues with are fairly complex or simply have been drawn in an inefficient way by the designer. You know the files...crazy masking or gradients, a vector covering something up instead of just making the layer underneath is correct, etc.
And I do feel like the format is becoming "industry standard" or at least "consumer standard". As I stated I do a lot of custom work and when several times a week customers are sending me that format it makes me realize that people are using it almost as much as what is considered "standard formats". These may not be people in the industry but they are at least smart enough to understand the quality of a vector compared to a poor raster image (maybe our website explaining this helps get more vectors in SVG). And if you look at online design software for websites, I would say at least 90% of them require you to upload your vector art in SVG format. And that online design software is made pretty much for the print industry. It's just crazy to me that Flexi supports all these different file type that no one EVER sends me but a format I get sent all the time is not supported....obviously the reason I started this thread.
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
Oh yea, the "fun" stuff.
I'm right there with you. In fact, I've even started using SVG more myself (for a slightly different reason). However, that's really what I do for myself. Most of what I get is plan ole JPG. Maybe a PNG or an image embedded into a PDF.
I'm right there with you. In fact, going with a format that is more open to see what's going on, could in one way make things easier for a person export SVG in one program taking it to someone that is using another program to read it. The only downside is how each program using that open standard. Even if they did accept it, it could still be somewhat messed up depending on how one's software handles that format versus another. They really need to clean that up as well. But I digress.
I'm not sure what to think about the SVG format. It's great for web page graphics. But as a general file exchange format for graphics purposes it has some serious hang-ups.
The SVG format was initially released by the W3C in September of 2001, nearly 17 years ago. It took roughly a decade for SVG to get at least some basic support in the major desktop web browsers. It has taken longer for the full standard to be properly implemented in desktop browsers and mobile device web browsers.
Our shop rarely receives customer-supplied artwork in the form of SVG files. On those occasions when we do the files often do not open properly in Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW. One would think Adobe Illustrator would be pretty dependable at opening SVG files since Adobe was involved in creating SVG standards starting back in 1998. Corel has only lately started taking SVG files seriously. The SVG import filter in CorelDRAW 2018 is much improved over the one in CorelDRAW X8, but it still has problems. To be fair, CorelDRAW and Adobe Illustrator aren't even very good at exchanging files between each other in AI, EPS or CDR formats.
I think some of the glitches have to do with how the SVG file is generated. If the file is saved in standard SVG format it has a better chance of opening properly in Illustrator. If the file is saved in the more mobile device friendly SVG Tiny format then the file will have issues being imported into a drawing program. It's a bit like saving Illustrator artwork in PDF format without checking the "preserve Illustrator editing capability" option in the file save dialog box.
I wouldn't mind seeing Flexi support SVG file import. But like CorelDRAW and Adobe Illustrator, it's going to take more than just throwing together a basic import filter. Some quality control with the import process is badly needed.
The SVG format was initially released by the W3C in September of 2001, nearly 17 years ago. It took roughly a decade for SVG to get at least some basic support in the major desktop web browsers. It has taken longer for the full standard to be properly implemented in desktop browsers and mobile device web browsers.
Our shop rarely receives customer-supplied artwork in the form of SVG files. On those occasions when we do the files often do not open properly in Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW. One would think Adobe Illustrator would be pretty dependable at opening SVG files since Adobe was involved in creating SVG standards starting back in 1998. Corel has only lately started taking SVG files seriously. The SVG import filter in CorelDRAW 2018 is much improved over the one in CorelDRAW X8, but it still has problems. To be fair, CorelDRAW and Adobe Illustrator aren't even very good at exchanging files between each other in AI, EPS or CDR formats.
I think some of the glitches have to do with how the SVG file is generated. If the file is saved in standard SVG format it has a better chance of opening properly in Illustrator. If the file is saved in the more mobile device friendly SVG Tiny format then the file will have issues being imported into a drawing program. It's a bit like saving Illustrator artwork in PDF format without checking the "preserve Illustrator editing capability" option in the file save dialog box.
I wouldn't mind seeing Flexi support SVG file import. But like CorelDRAW and Adobe Illustrator, it's going to take more than just throwing together a basic import filter. Some quality control with the import process is badly needed.
WildWestDesigns
Active Member
Any file format that is used for exchange purposes is going to have hangups unless all software vendors are willing to translate everything the same across all of them.
Until they are able to apply all abilities of a format that translates to all programs, any file format is going to have it's hangups. It has to be cohesive amount all the programs and there really isn't any incentive to do so for them.
For instance, I'm a part of an open source digitizing extension for Inkscape. In SVGs generated by Inkscape, they are able to have XML attributes that Inkscape will save, but just ignores for it's own operations. But it still saves them.
If you were to take the same SVG and run it in Ai and/or DRAW, it's lost.
That's just one example and it may not apply to everyone here, but I'm sure that there are examples that would affect people along the same lines.
