angusware

I have found a workaround, of sorts: 1. Set up the document units to pixels, and use pixel measurements in place of millimetres, e.g. if desired size is 100mm, make object 100px. 2. Export the document using the export option in the file menu, select 'SVG (for web)'. Click 'More' for extra options. 3. Deselect 'Set viewBox' and select 'Add line breaks'. Export the file. 4. Open the SVG file in a text/code editor and locate this line: <svg width="100px" height="100px" version="1.1" 5. Change the 'px' units to 'mm'. Save the document. 6. Open the modified document in your desired software. This works with the software I have tested it with.

I have found a workaround, of sorts: 1. Set up the document units to pixels, and use pixel measurements in place of millimetres, e.g. if desired size is 100mm, make object 100px. 2. Export the document using the export option in the file menu, select 'SVG (for web)'. Click 'More' for extra options. 3. Deselect 'Set viewBox' and select 'Add line breaks'. Export the file. 4. Open the SVG file in a text/code editor and locate this line: <svg width="100px" height="100px" version="1.1" 5. Change the 'px' units to 'mm'. Save the document. 6. Open the modified document in your desired software. This works with the software I have tested it with.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am still investigating this. Unfortunately going through the export menu rather than persona doesn't change things. For example, I am unable to get anything to work with this web app, which I use all the time with Illustrator and Inkscape files: https://clementzheng.github.io/joinery/ The app imports the file with pixels, rather than mm as the units. I think the problem is that, regardless of the document units, Affinity Designer exports SVG with pixels as the units. Regarding DPI - the DPI used when exporting changes the scale this web app interprets the SVG at, meaning that the DPI is affecting non-raster objects within an SVG. The same issues apply with every piece of vector-based laser cutting software I have thrown Affinity designer-exported files at. Again, AI, Inkscape etc. files handle this just fine. Is this a bug? A missing feature? I have never encountered these issues with other vector illustration software before, and it seems other users have had trouble too: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/46934-preserve-document-units-in-svg-export/

I am trying to export SVG files from Affinity Designer and bring them into a range of programs for generating tabs / notches and then outputting for laser cutting. In Adobe Illustrator it is very simple - you set the document units to mm, design something with specific dimensions, and export your SVG. What comes out will be interpreted by other software, and by the laser cutter at the exact dimensions. With Affinity Designer, I've spent hours troubleshooting and digging through the forums and no matter what I do dimensions seem to vary depending on the DPI and all sorts of other options, and even slices of objects with the same height will export at different dimensions. It makes it practically impossible to predict what size your object will be. (as an aside, I thought DPI was completely irrelevant to vector - why is it even an option in a vector format?!) So is reliable scale something Affinity Designer just can't do? How are people delivering documents for print if they don't know how the printer will interpret the dimensions of their final files? I dumped Creative Cloud, bought the Affinity hoping to replace AI and now am faced with going back to Creative Cloud and getting stung with higher fees as a result of leaving. For my line of work this seems like really simple stuff...