David in MA Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 When I import files from Adobe Illustrator, text on a curve is imported with each character in an individual text box with no connection to the rest of the text. The curve is not imported. This makes editing the text on the curve a nightmare. Please import text on a curve as text on a curve, or at least import the curve so text can be attached and positioned correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted March 25, 2021 Staff Share Posted March 25, 2021 Hi @David in MA, Welcome to Affinity Forums We are only able to read the PDF stream included in the Ai file (which must be saved with PDF compatible file checked). Since the text is flattened there it's no longer editable as a text-on-a-path. The Ai data is proprietary - we can't access it. Quote A Guide to Learning Affinity Software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fde101 Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 I wonder how feasible it would be to create an "extrapolate curve" feature that would try to estimate the curve when the individual letters are selected? In other words, you select the letters and invoke a menu item, and Designer synthesizes a curve that matches the positions of the letters then places them on it? Just a thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loukash Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 Recently I have transferred an almost 20 years old Freehand 9 graphic into Designer that included text on path. Illustrator CS5 still can read FH9 documents, so that part was easy. ADe can also relatively easily interpret AI's PDF stream, be it file or via pasteboard, so all the curves imported more or less correctly as well. As for text on curves, in the end I simply rebuilt them by duplicating the curves the text should be on copying the text from Illustrator as rich text with all attributes intact pasting it on the paths in ADe and aligning the text handles so that the position on path matches the imported flattened individual text frames deleting the imported flattened text It was only about 5 curves to rebuild, so that went pretty quick'n'smooth. Quote MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David in MA Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 Loukash - I use a similar technique to transfer text on a curve from AI to Ade. However, I also have many years of work with hundreds, perhaps thousands of text on a curve items, so having part or all of the process automated would be a big help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loukash Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, David in MA said: having part or all of the process automated would be a big help I wanted to try SVG export from AI CS5 as it should be less flattened than PDF, but export always fails with an error. Being happy that I made AI run on El Capitan at all, I never had the nerves to investigate these errors any further, and I've never actually used SVG with AI, so I don't have any idea if it even works. It could, theoretically. For more complex documents with lots of text on paths (oh, I should have many of those!), convert the *.ai to plain PDF if necessary and then via an online converter (or Acrobat export) to RTF, *.doc etc. where you can select the text as a whole. Edited March 26, 2021 by loukash actually I already posted it… Quote MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loukash Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 By the way, IDML import from InDesign will keep text on path intact and editable, although I have noticed a few issues as well. But that affects mainly the actual path, not the text on it. Quote MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David in MA Posted November 11, 2022 Author Share Posted November 11, 2022 Is Designer V2 able to import text on path from Adobe Illustrator? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loukash Posted November 11, 2022 Share Posted November 11, 2022 Designer will always only open the PDF stream saved within an *.ai file, if any. Quote MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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