Iâve been having a significant issue with scaling measurements using Adobe Illustrator âŚ
Did some designing early on and didnât really know about any differences in how the SVG would be interpreted by GFUI - but, clearly the measurements from Illustratorâs on screen measures were not what they were on the printed itemsâŚ
So I did some experimenting - and found what was, for me, the key problem:
The RESPONSIVE option on EXPORTING SVG scales the objects to 75% (or another non-original value) when imported to GFUI.
Experiment: I used a simple 10mm X 10mm square in AI as the only object - centered on a 200mm X 200mm canvas. No Artboard options were used in save or exportâŚ
SAVE AS - NON-RESPONSIVE - measurements are correct. positioning same as original.
SAVE AS - RESPONSIVE - measurements are correct. positioning same as original.
EXPORT - NON-RESPONSIVE - measurements are correct, item aligned Top-Left Corner.
EXPORT - RESPONSIVE - measurements INCORRECT, 75% of original, item aligned Top-Left Corner.
Moral of the story - donât use RESPONSIVE, and you should be safeâŚ
One more point - When trying to âEXPORT SELECTIONâŚâ in Adobe Illustrator CC , I donât see the option to turn OFF Responsive option⌠so the item came out at 75% of the size.
Easy to get around by saving the whole file and selectively cutting in GFUI - but annoying
It depends on your definition of safe. All of the advice here is trying to protect from one issue or another. Responsive is just one piece of the puzzle.
Fonts - Type - Convert to Outline: If set to SVG, the Glowforge server may be unable to render your text in the correct font.
Images - Embed: If set to Link, you may need to upload missing images (or it may just fail).
CSS Properties: - Embedded style sheets will be stripped out if theyâre uploaded to this forum.
Decimal Places: Anything less than 3 (for a file in inches) causes a serious loss of precision that can lead to mangled output
Responsive - off: When turned on, produces unit-less files where the size can only be assumed (and assumptions are often wrong).
Save As vs Export: Some versions of Illustrator have bugs in the Export function that produce files of death that wonât render in the GFUI, where Save As works.
If youâre exporting (which is not recommended by Glowforge Support [but I do it all the time]), you need to go into (IIRC) the gear settings and set the Export Settings for SVG, which includes the responsive box off, decimal places, etc.
Responsive is designed for a web interface where it will scale the design, which is what you donât want.
Decimal places is the precision of the coordinate locations. You can see how it could be be a huge issue saving at 1 decimal place and each coordinate is being rounded up or down.
Hey there! I updated Illustrator this weekend and now my SVGs are not saving properly. They wonât upload in the glow forge app. Here are the settings Iâm using:
I think I may have figured it out. If I create a file from scratch in illustrator then save it as an sag with those settings it works.
But if I try to PLACE an existing svg graphic into my illustrator file, then save the entire thing as an SVG it doesnât work. I get an error every time.
you can open the SVG in Illustrator and then copy/paste that design into your illustrator file. then you wonât have a linked SVG (which could be a potential issue).
Yep⌠If that SVG file that you are placing inside your Illustrator file was created in another program, it can indeed mess up your SVG settings. (Iâve done it with Inkscape SVG files in Illustrator.)
the decimal places can go all the way up to 7. iâve got some small and detailed designs, and to keep them from getting even the slightest bit wonky, i crank it all the way to 7 when i save. The files are still small, and the details donât get distorted at all in the save. Havenât had any problems with the GF UI accepting them, either.
@Jules - I have a question based on other threads by you, we use the same version of AI CS5 (v. 15.0.2). When I save my files I always save my original AI just for posterity, and then save an SVG. When I save the SVG I do not have an option regarding âresponsiveâ. Also have you had to make any changes to your artboards or create a GFUI standard artboard size for creating files? I havenât run into any issues thus far with any of my files but I also end up resizing them in the GFUI because I need them to fit my scraps. I would just like to know for real projects rather than tinkering.
Ours is listed as Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilites i thinkâŚanyway that shouldnât be checked when we do a Save As SVG.
And I just work off of a 20" by 12" artboard. Itâs easy to set one up and then all new ones open that size automatically. (Until you open someone elseâs work that isnât that size, then you might need to reset it.) And the advantage is you can easily see how much you can fit in the bed of the Glowforge.
I am working in SCAL 5, I am having a problem with scaling coming from SCAL to GF.
I have saved as, then exported, and I am coming in about 3/4" to the inch. Do we have any info with SCAL 5?
No, unfortunately, I did not have SCAL to test. Pay attention to the import and export DPI valuesâŚfor SVGs, the Glowforge interface expects an input of 96 DPI, so you would need to make sure your export resolution is 96 DPI.
If you always create your designs on a 20" x 12" artboard, there is a workaround to compensate for different values. Or you can just save your file as a PDFâŚthat should maintain the scaling.
Dude! I lived just up the street in U.S. Embassy housing! Roppongi rocked. But now all the bars are gone and itâs been made upscale. Good times. Me and the other English teachers would go sometimes for drinks. Remember Gas Panic? Gone
I took a Street View maps walk through my old neighborhood and very little was familiar in the shopping/dining area except for the streets themselves. Of course, that would probably be true in a lot of cities. Our apartment was still there.
Random late add on ⌠I just upgraded to CorelDraw 2021 (from x8). Was working pretty good, but brought in an SVG from a student into CorelDraw 2021 to do some cleanup before I cut it, and CD 2021 decided to switch to UTF-16 encoding, which the GF didnât handle. Got it working with PDF before I got pointed to this thread for help, and noticed UTF-8 was set for all programs, so tried that and the GF is happy with the export now also. So - when in doubt, check your UTF setting as well.
True testament to the strength and value of @Jules original post that it is still providing guidance 7 years later! For over a year, i was âexportingâ my Illustrator SVGs and just accepting that iâd have to resize them in GF. Not too much of a hassle honestly. But this morning, i finally said âenough, there has to be a better wayâ and found this post. So huge thanks for the wise guidance. Cheers!
