I'm trying to export the attached file, in png, svg and pdf formats. The problem is the colors become messed up.

[Luscious Tuba]

I believe the problem is in the curves, present inside the logo. The logo was taken from a file created in Illustrator. Can anyone help me export the file in svg, png and pdf. Without losing color?

Artelac Complete.afdesign

[Affinity Rat]

I’m no expert here, but this looks very similar. How did you determine the colours were wrong.

Looks pretty close to me.

[walt.farrell]

It also looks good to me. Is there one specific format that looks wrong to you? Or can you show us some screenshots and give an indication of the Export settings you used?

[Affinity Rat]

Your little “drop” design quite complex >26 layers, could try grouping and rasterizing to a single layer, prior to export.

[Luscious Tuba]

@Affinity Rat@walt.farrell, thank you for the replies. In the one you shared, don't you think the drop looks a bit pixelated?. I did enlarge the shapes, group and rasterize, but the logo becomes a bit pixelated. Will it look bad on printed material? Is there a way to improve it?

Artelac Complete.svg

[Affinity Rat]

I’m no expert here, but this looks very similar. How did you determine the colours were wrong.

If it looks pixelated, can increase size of doc, and pixelation will be less significant. Will relook tho.

Any pixel image will look pixelated if zoomed it, but not the way this kind of design is normally viewed.

[Luscious Tuba]

If you export the same file in pdf (print) format, the white part in the drop becomes blue

 

[Affinity Rat]

Yes I noticed this too, why I thot rasterizing may simplify.

[Affinity Rat]

Seems to me the problem may be because of gradient on the drop.
How did that gradient get there?

 

 

[Luscious Tuba]

I think I fixed it, by inserting white in those curve gradients. But when I export the same in svg, it doesn't work.

Untitled.pdf

Edited January 7 by Luscious Tuba

[Affinity Rat]

Did you import this gradient somehow, doesnt seem to be using Fx.

Duplicate the gradient using Fx.

[Luscious Tuba]

@Affinity Rat@walt.farrell, here is the Illustrator file I took the drop logo from. Any help in solving this properly would be helpful. As the solution I came up with, is not very reliable.

Artelac_Ectoin_GR_logotype.ai

[Affinity Rat]

Ahaaaaa, so a Frankendesign file AKA Frankenlayer, so try to eliminate the imported elements resulting in the ugliness. Simple curves are one thing, but gradients  can put bolts poking out of your neck! The way Adobe may implement a gradient maybe incompatible with Affinity export algorithm.

Any attempt to adjust a Frankendesign file maybe fraught with frustration.

[lacerto]

I tried to simplify the design by saving it as PDF/X-1a:2003 from Illustrator CS6 (the design itself was created with a later version of Illustrator). This flattens transparencies and makes sure everything is in CMYK color space (+ the two PANTONE inks included):

Artelac_Ectoin_GR_logotype_pdfx1.pdf

But Affinity apps do not support the full range of PDF-objects (e.g. Smooth Shaders) so this does not help. Perhaps there is some use of the produced PDF/X-1a file, even if it basically makes the design less truthful to the original (making it possibly easier to make fixes in Designer).

I wonder if VectorFirstAid (by AstuteGraphics) would be able to simplify the design, but unfortunately it is quite a pricey package nowadays (and I am not sure if it even supports older CS based AI formats anymore), but if that cannot do it, I do not know what could...

UPDATE:

Here is a quick effort to fix this based on the above PDF/X-1a file. I applied Multiply blend mode to the logo guy to have the PANTONE tones blended with underlying blue. If exported further to a PDF format that allows live transparencies, the colors stay pretty much as viewed on the canvas (if transparencies are flattened, Affinity apps only support rasterization and the edges will get terribly jagged). There are all kinds of flaws but perhaps the design could be used (without rasterization) based on the PDF/X-1 version.

Artelac_Ectoin_GR_logotype_kindoffix.afdesign 

[lacerto]

It seems the major issue was after all related to PANTONE inks behaving unexpectedly when rendered with complex gradients (and when flattening transparencies), so I noticed that Illustrator, too, distorts the colors when the PDF/X-1a export with PANTONE inks is opened back.

Converting the PANTONE inks to global CMYK colors appears to have fixed the color issue, so the attached transparency flattened and CMYK-only PDF could probably be used as an acceptable base for .afdesign conversion:

Artelac_Ectoin_GR_logotype_pdfx1_fixed_ai.pdf

More generally: using PANTONE inks in these kinds of designs is often problematic since rendering on screen is at best only a kind of a guess.

[Luscious Tuba]

@lacertoThank you so much, this is brilliant. You made me understand the problem and also gave me a solution. Thanks a ton!

[lacerto]

8 hours ago, Luscious Tuba said:

Thanks a ton!

You're welcome. Note that the PANTONE color representations were initially defined in Lab, but I used their CMYK conversions in Coated Fogra 39 color space, because the AI file itself was in CMYK color mode. Also, the specific PANTONE colors that were used in the file do not look noticeably brighter even if the document color mode were changed to RGB (specifically sRGB), so there is no significant loss in color fidelity. Also, if logo(type)s with brand (spot) colors are printed without using special inks, it is often meaningful to use CMYK representations of them to have as much as possible identical visual appearance in printed (CMYK) and digital outputs (PNG and SVG) (provided, though, that correct color profiles are used). 

Note, too, that transparency flattening done by Illustrator (when converting to PDF/X-1a) did rasterize part of the gradients that were used in the logo. Adobe apps can often flatten transparencies using pure vectors, but not necessarily in complex cases like this. I tried selective transparency flattening on the canvas (where it is possible to define to what extent rasterization is used, if at all), but results when exporting were clearly poorer than when using automated conversion (rasterizations were much coarser). It might be possible to get a pure vector design without transparencies and color rendering issues, but it would probably take pretty much time and lots of testing.