Affinity Designer SVG exporting wrong size

[tmorris9]

Just purchased Affinity Designer but have used many other programs like it.

I am going to be using it to create .svg files for use with Shapeoko CNC machine. Issue is that when I save as an SVG and open in Carbide Create (the cnc creation software) the opjects are much smaller. I had a perfect rectangle reference size and it turns out I have to scale it by exactly 65.837% to make it the proper size.

The CNC software uses inches and it looks like Affinity uses inches as well so it's not a conversion error (like one being metric) so not sure why it's doing this. I won't always have an exact size item so I can scale it and I hate to try and remember 65.837.

 

Any ideas?

[tmorris9]

Well turns out that with different sized objects the amount it needs to be scaled by is different. So no way this is going to work out unless this can be fixed.

[Dan C]

Hi tmorris9

Sorry to hear you're having trouble, could you please confirm the DPI you have your document set to currently?

[tmorris9]

It was on 300 I also tried 96 (due to another post on the subject) but it made no difference. dpi "should" not matter since this is a a pure vector image/file.

After posting here I came across 2 more threads on the exact same issue and both threads ended with no solution.

[Dan C]

Thanks for confirming that, could you please try going to File > Export > SVG > More and unchecking the option to set the View Box?

[tmorris9]

Tried this, it now imports bigger than it should be. Made a 2" box and it imported as 2.66"

[Palatino]

When I export a graphic as SVG, the size is irrelevant because I use it for the web. So I haven't noticed a bug in Designer yet.

Because I'm basically interested in SVG, I played around with the export options for a while and the only way to get back to the original size was an SVG export for the web.

[Palatino]

What also works: Document unit on px and export with "SVG (for export)".

[Dan C]

12 hours ago, tmorris9 said:

Tried this, it now imports bigger than it should be. Made a 2" box and it imported as 2.66"

Thanks for that, could you set your document to 72 DPI and export it again with this option left unchecked?

[tmorris9]

Dan C, that seems to work (with a few simple shapes anyway). Is there a way to make that my default? If I put the program away for a week I am unlikely to remember this.

[tmorris9]

So far so good

 

[Dan C]

My sincerest apologies for the delayed response. I'm very glad to hear this has resolved the issue for you. Unfortunately there's no way to force this as a default for all documents, however you can create a document preset with this DPI and each time you create a new document you can use the preset.  

[tmorris9]

Well they got rid of the "set the view" box and I am back to square one. All exports are wrong size again.

 

OK I found it again but now 96dpi works instead of 72 (go figure). At least I can save it as a preset now (now I just need to remember to switch to the preset before exporting).

 

 

[Russ71]

I'm opening svg files from another program in Affinity Designer. They are exported as 7.5"x10" on a 8.5"x11" layout at 300 dpi. They open in affinity at 2.84"x3.75" at 192 dpi for no conceivable reason. if I then export the same file to svg from Affinity Designer it opens in Adobe Illustrator as 11"x14" on a 11"x17"artboard. It's just all over the place. Can I set the default units somewhere?

[Dan C]

Hi @Russ71,

Welcome to the forums and I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble!

Can you please provide a copy of this SVG file before it was imported into Affinity, and a copy of the SVG that has been exported from Affinity?

What application did the SVG originate in please?

What SVG export settings did you use in Affinity?

Many thanks in advance

[Russ71]

The svg I used came from Arc GIS Pro. I exported it from Affinity Designer using the SVG (for export) preset and the whole document area.

Aquita Zarca.svg Aquita Zarca from Affinity.svg

[v_kyr]

When exporting from Affinity Designer (AD), on the SVG export "More..." options panel, disable the "Set viewBox" checkbox option (see here) ...

Quote

For SVG file format:

Set viewBox—when selected, the exported file includes coordinates and dimensions which define the view box of the image. If this option is off, no view box data is included in the exported file. The export area is used to define the view box.

Since then AD doesn't generate for your "Aquita Zarca from Affinity.svg" the width="100%" height="100%" entries together with a viewBox as default, which do the 100% size expand here. See the XML code from inside of a text editor of your actual "Aquita Zarca from Affinity.svg" SVG file here ...

Quote

...
<svg width="100%" height="100%" viewBox="0 0 721 541" version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" ...
...

... and what will then be generated instead if you uncheck that SVG "Set viewbox" option ...

Quote

...
<svg width="721px" height="541px" version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink=" ...
...

• Aquita Zarca_AD_no_set_viewbox.svg

Of course you could instead also just manually edit your "Aquita Zarca from Affinity.svg" file accordingly inside a text editor to the following ...

Quote

...
<svg width="721pt" height="541pt" viewBox="0 0 721 541" version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"...
...

... in order to get the same correct sized result as your initial "Aquita Zarca.svg" file has defined!

• Aquita Zarca from Affinity-edited.svg

 

[Cody Walsh]

I am struggling, simply put. I cannot manage to export any SVG at actual size. I have read on the forums for hours, executed multiple tests, and have not found any workflow resembling realistic, efficient, or precise. We need the ability to export SVGs on a chosen dimensional value, whether it be millimeters, inches, or what have you. I saw that some worked with code to achieve results for single documents. Are there any lines of code I can modify with an exported document to achieve this until Serif wakes up to our mass desire?

My work greatly relies upon precision, as I am outputting vectors for CNC programs and other applications, and naively completed a large body of work in Affinity before realizing they do not have this mastered. If Serif decided to fix this, they could open themselves up to a very large and lucrative market looking to manufacture items at home or elsewhere.

What can be done??

[tmorris9]

Cody, forget trying. What you do is make a box around your design of a known size (does not matter the size as long as you know exactly what it is). Then bring the design into the final use (cutter, laser, CNC, Printer....) and grab the entire design (box around it included) and set the size in that software, it will be the box around it since it's the largest part and when done just delete the box, now your design is exactly at the size you wanted.

[Cody Walsh]

tmorris9,

Thank you for your valuable input. That's an excellent idea; the foundation of a workflow rather than a workaround. I fortunately have other software that can participate, though I wish Serif would create options for others less fortunate, lest they have a third party misinterpret their design goals.

Thanks again.

Cody

[v_kyr]

17 minutes ago, tmorris9 said:

...What you do is make a box around your design of a known size (does not matter the size as long as you know exactly what it is). Then bring the design into the final use (cutter, laser, CNC, Printer....) and grab the entire design (box around it included) and set the size in that software...

That's what the SVG viewBox definition already does or is meant to be (so to say just a viewable box size your design is on), just alter that one and you usually don't need another box for setups then.

[Cody Walsh]

12 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

That's what the SVG viewBox definition already does or is meant to be (so to say just a viewable box size your design is on), just alter that one and you usually don't need another box for setups then.

I don't see this accounting for the level of precision tmorris9's method ensures through a separate program.

It's a nice idea, but Set Viewbox has been active for all of my problematic exports, and it has returned inflated pixel counts consistently.

Even if the viewbox changes size, the result is still in pixels, which is laughable when starting with a 0.0000 mm graduation.

How would we change the size of the viewbox to ensure that wouldn't happen?

[tmorris9]

BTW I got this idea from the company that makes my CNC machine, I told them of the issue and they suggested the box method and I never looked back because it just works.

[Cody Walsh]

28 minutes ago, tmorris9 said:

BTW I got this idea from the company that makes my CNC machine, I told them of the issue and they suggested the box method and I never looked back because it just works.

It does seem quite sensible, especially when taking inspiration from other less precise sources.

[v_kyr]

9 hours ago, tmorris9 said:

BTW I got this idea from the company that makes my CNC machine, I told them of the issue and they suggested the box method and I never looked back because it just works.

If this procedure always works well and gives finally the wanted results together in conjunction with other CNC software it's Ok. Just go that way if it makes less hassles then! - Usually the by the SVG spec defined format generation should be portable among software, which knows to deal with the SVG format. Affinity only just supports a (minimum) subset of the SVG spec here.