How do I stop AD from chopping .eps & .svg graphics into Squares?

[edee]

Does anyone know how to fix this issue? 
.eps and .svg files created in other programs don’t always open correctly in Affinity Designer (AD). The graphics open and the art is in squares even though the artist isn’t chopping the graphics up into squares, it’s something happening in AD.
 
Here is an example: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10IMYpvS73TuOnvxi27b6ZHOY3tNFxgRV?usp=sharing

That's supposed to be a vector file, it's not vector any more. 
 
This isn’t ideal, the point of .eps and .svg files is so they can be shared across platforms.
Months ago a nice gentleman fixed one for me using an Adobe program, but he wasn’t able to explain why it’s happening or if it could be fixed without Adobe. 
 
Does anyone know:
1. Why it happens?
2. How we can fix it without using Adobe (PS, AI or others)
3. What can we tell the artist who created the graphic so they can fix it if that's the only option? 
 
Thank you. 
 
Free Graphic found at: https://www.vecteezy.com/vector-art/2566096-free-fast-food-roll-up-banner-design-idea-for-restaurant
 

[v_kyr]

1 hour ago, edee said:

1. Why it happens?
2. How we can fix it without using Adobe (PS, AI or others)
3. What can we tell the artist who created the graphic so they can fix it if that's the only option? 

1. The image looks like this in AD, combined together of several parts ...

 

2. If I look into the huge EPS code I can see the same, aka that EPS contains several seperated image parts fit together.

3. Tell the author to not split it up into individual parts, though he/she may had good reasons to do so for this 2000 px x 2000 px in EPS embedded image.

[Old Bruce]

It may have the extension for an EPS file and it may be an EPS file but it has no vectors in it other than the masking crops. Is it a preview? You are going to have to build the whole thing yourself.

I guess I am saying I am glad you didn't pay money for this as it is pretty much useless. There is no point in using this unless your client is "Your Restaurant Name" at 1234 st.

[DWright]

This can occur when the .EPS file contains embedded Adobe Illustrator data that Affinity can't read. This is because the .EPS format doesn't support features such as blend effects, transparency, mesh fills etc. Unfortunately, there's little we can do and we would suggest that you get a .PDF copy of the file to use in Affinity

[edee]

@DWright

Thank you for your reply. 

You stated ".EPS format doesn't support features such as blend effects, transparency, mesh fills etc"

Does that mean that even if I could open it in AI I would have the same issue - with that file? If .eps doesn't support the features than even AI would have the same issue, yes? 

As for the .pdf copy.  I know I can open the .pdf in AD, but how would it be a vector image? Or will it be something different? 

Is there any kind of program (online or otherwise) that can convert it to a usable file? Preferably free or low cost? If this is an issue across platforms is anyone working on a solution? 

Thank you. 

[R C-R]

5 hours ago, edee said:

Does that mean that even if I could open it in AI I would have the same issue - with that file? If .eps doesn't support the features than even AI would have the same issue, yes? 

As I understand it, like @DWright said, eps files can contain embedded data that AI can read but (most) other apps cannot. So it is possible AI can open the file & use that data for transparencies & other things that eps cannot 'natively' support.

[Wosven]

Usually, a work around is to use another app able to read the files produced by Illy, like the site Photopea, and export to SVG or PSD.

Gradients will need to be corrected, but usually the result is not so bad, but in this case:

 

The group containing the gradients are set to "passthrough", and the gradient are in mode "normal". In the 2 files. But the result is different. Perhaps there's another option I didn't find, but I can't explain the difference.

Here, the Photopea file: 47_Layer_1.svg and the extracts: passthrough_difference.afdesign (the "good" cloves are from @anto's post).

[edee]

@Wosven, DUD!!!! You Are A Genius!! 

That is Brilliant! I have tried, GIMP and a few others, but who would have thought Photopea would convert that into a useable file. We need to plaster that information all over the place! New posts. Old posts. The FaceBook Page. 

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!!! 

 

...... but now I think about it, if crappy little Photopea can do that, why can't Affinity? 

Oh I don't care! I am so happy. Thank you! 

[Wosven]

More about the problem and layers not properly displaying the blend mode they use:

 

[Wosven]

45 minutes ago, edee said:

but who would have thought Photopea would convert that into a useable file

That's not the perfect solution.

If you export to SVG, blend mode are lost, but the gradient (elliptic) are correct.

If you export to PSD, blend mode are corrects, but gradients are symply radial ones, so incorrect...

😫 We can play with the 2 types of files to get a mix and a usable file, but it'll take a little bit of time to check all elements.

[edee]

@Wosven

The work I do is mostly websites and mobile apps, so a little off blending here and there isn't an issue - most people don't have the attention span to notice. I just need it to come apart so I can remove bits and replace stuff with other bits. 

A few weeks ago I purchased a beautiful UI for a mobile game, but when I opened the file the artwork was 100 little squares. I couldn't do anything with it. The designer was great, but we were communicating via Google Translate ..... it was maddening. I don't mind spending some time fixing small bits, that I can do, but I don't have the talent to recreate stuff - that's way beyond me. 

Thanks again. 

[CuriousPuffin]

@Wosven BRILJANT! I had the same issue as @edee, and now I finally can open EPS files with AD, due to the work around with Photopea and saving it to svg! Thank you