Elements not exported as a vector

[Brodie]

Hello,
I'm very new to Affinity so apologies if this is a very basic question, but can anyone please explain why the heart shape in the attached file doesn't seem to be exported as a vector when I export to .svg or .eps?

With thanks in advance!

B

PipFit Heart 2.eps PipFit Heart2.svg PipFit Heart.afdesign

[BofG]

I'm not at a computer so I can't check, but look for the following:

Any layers using a blend mode

Any layers using layer effects (will have a small "fx" icon on the layer)

Vector brushes being used (most are actually bitmap based)

Those things can cause rasterisation and result in the svg just being basically a wrapper for a bitmap image.

[v_kyr]

Due to the applied mask! - If you hide the mask and apply a black rectangle instead as an alternative, all will be exported here as vectors without rasterization!

• PipFit_Heart_Fix.afdesign
• PipFit_Heart_Fix.svg

[Brodie]

Excellent! Thank you both for your replies, I'm very grateful! 😀

[lepr]

The rasterisation happens because the masking Curve object has a stroke.

If the stroke is removed from the mask then the export will be all vectors.

[v_kyr]

Yip @anon2 is right, there is an unnecessary 1 px stroke applied to that mask, which is the root of all evil here. 😄

[Brodie]

Oh brilliant, that's even better news! Thank you all!

[Brodie]

I wonder if there is any guidance or tips for spotting what is causing something to rasterize on export, that I could refer to in the future?

[v_kyr]

49 minutes ago, Brodie said:

I wonder if there is any guidance or tips for spotting what is causing something to rasterize on export, that I could refer to in the future?

Good question, I for example looked into the generated SVG code with an editor to determine which of your layers is rasterized. Afterwards looking into Designer why that layer is rasterized (the masking and stroke setting there). - All in all if you often find the cause you will know and remember for the future, or you have to debug (trace back) to find the cause.

[Brodie]

12 hours ago, v_kyr said:

Good question, I for example looked into the generated SVG code with an editor to determine which of your layers is rasterized. Afterwards looking into Designer why that layer is rasterized (the masking and stroke setting there). - All in all if you often find the cause you will know and remember for the future, or you have to debug (trace back) to find the cause.

Thanks for that! As with most things, there's no substitute for experience!

[Pšenda]

On 12/31/2020 at 11:46 AM, v_kyr said:

All in all if you often find the cause you will know and remember for the future, or you have to debug (trace back) to find the cause.

Or Serif could list operations that cause rasterization when exporting.

Alternatively, try searching the forum:

https://www.google.com/search?q=cause+rasterization+site%3Aforum.affinity.serif.com

[v_kyr]

48 minutes ago, Pšenda said:

Or Serif could list operations that cause rasterization when exporting.

Good point, ideally then as a precheck run option for exports, which then can list those elements/objects before exporting.

[Brodie]

Yes it's able to warn you that something will be rasterized, so it's a shame it doesn't tell us which element or layer.  I wonder if that would be possible?