Import-Export > Import > SVG Import Supported Objects

SAMLight currently offers 2 different import filters for SVG files:

1)SVG - Scalable Vector Graphics, SCAPS (*.svg): new filter, based on open source SVG++

2)SVG - Scalable Vector Graphics, Old (*.svg): old filter, might be outdated in the future, not recommended

In the following tables, different attributes and elements of SVG files are listed. For the two import filters, information is given if these attributes and elements are supported or not. Additional information on specific interpretation is also given in some cases.

note

These lists are not complete due to the complexity of the SVG file format.

Recommended SVG properties and import filter options:

•Use SVG - SCAPS import filter with "Import with 96 dpi".

•Don't use viewBox to avoid scaling.

•Use elements with unit mm to get a 1:1 interpretation in SAMLight.

•Use UTF-8 coding for the SVG

Coordinates and Units	"SVG - Old" Import Filter	"SVG - SCAPS" Import Filter
Units	✓supported units: 'em', 'px', 'pt', 'pc', 'cm', 'mm', 'in', '%' and unitless ✗not supported: 'ex' •Coordiantes with the unit 'em', 'pt', 'pc', 'cm', 'mm' and 'in' are first converted to 'px' with 96 dpi. Unitless coordiantes are interpreted as 'px'. ✗The Viewport unit defines how the 'px' coordinates are converted to 'mm', see Viewport in table 1. This double conversion causes wrong scaling for coordinates with units other than 'px' and unitless.	✓supported units: 'em', 'px', 'pt', 'pc', 'cm', 'mm', 'in', '%' and unitless ✗not supported: 'ex' •Unitless coordiantes are interpreted as 'px'. •If the 'Import with 96 dpi' is checked, 'px' are converted to mm with 96 dpi •If the 'Import with 96 dpi' is not checked, 'px' are converted to mm with 25.4 dpi ('px' equals 'mm').
Coordinates of Elements	✓Coordiantes of elements are scaled by a factor.	✓Coordiantes of elements are scaled by a factor.

Coordinates and Units

"SVG - Old" Import Filter

"SVG - SCAPS" Import Filter

Units

✓supported units: 'em', 'px', 'pt', 'pc', 'cm', 'mm', 'in', '%' and unitless

✗not supported: 'ex'

•Coordiantes with the unit 'em', 'pt', 'pc', 'cm', 'mm' and 'in' are first converted to 'px' with 96 dpi. Unitless coordiantes are interpreted as 'px'.

✗The Viewport unit defines how the 'px' coordinates are converted to 'mm', see Viewport in table 1. This double conversion causes wrong scaling for coordinates with units other than 'px' and unitless.

✓supported units: 'em', 'px', 'pt', 'pc', 'cm', 'mm', 'in', '%' and unitless

✗not supported: 'ex'

•Unitless coordiantes are interpreted as 'px'.

•If the 'Import with 96 dpi' is checked, 'px' are converted to mm with 96 dpi

•If the 'Import with 96 dpi' is not checked, 'px' are converted to mm with 25.4 dpi ('px' equals 'mm').

Coordinates of Elements

✓Coordiantes of elements are scaled by a factor.

Table 38: Differences between the two import filters "SVG - Old" and "SVG - SCAPS": Coordinates and Units

Attributes of SVG Element	"SVG - Old" Import Filter	"SVG - SCAPS" Import Filter
Namespace <xmlns>	•not required.	•xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' in SVG element is mandatory.
Viewport <width>, <height>	✓supported as reference for coordinates in '%'. •Please consider the table -1. ✗Coordiantes with the unit 'em', 'pt', 'pc', 'cm', 'mm' and 'in' are first converted to 'px' with 96 dpi. This cause wrong scaling. •Unitless coordiantes are interpreted as 'px'. •The Viewport unit defines how the 'px' coordinates are converted to 'mm'. oIf the Viewport is not specified or the Viewport unit is 'mm', 'px' are converted to 'mm' with 25.4 dpi ('px' equals 'mm'). oIf the Viewport unit is not specified or 'px', 'px' are converted to 'mm' with 72 dpi. oIf the Viewport is 'pt', 'pc', 'cm', or 'in', then 'px' are interpreted in the same unit as defined by the Viewport and then converted to 'mm'.	✓supported as reference for coordinates in '%'. •If the Viewport is not specified, a default Viewport of 100 px is set. •How the 'px' coordinates are converted to mm depends on the state of the 'Import with 96 dpi' checkbox, see table -1.
viewBox <viewBox>	✓supported for scaling and positioning. •viewBox origin shifts elements. •viewBox is always interpreted in the same unit as defined by the Viewport. •In order to avoid scaling, the viewBox must not be specified or be of the same size as the Viewport.	✓supported for scaling and positioning. •viewBox origin shifts elements. •viewBox is unitless. How the unitless coordinates are converted to 'mm' depends on the state of the 'Import with 96 dpi' checkbox, see table -1. •In order to avoid scaling, the viewBox must not be specified or be of the same size as the Viewport.

Attributes of SVG Element

"SVG - Old" Import Filter

"SVG - SCAPS" Import Filter

Namespace <xmlns>

•not required.

•xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' in SVG element is mandatory.

Viewport <width>, <height>

✓supported as reference for coordinates in '%'.

•Please consider the table -1.

✗Coordiantes with the unit 'em', 'pt', 'pc', 'cm', 'mm' and 'in' are first converted to 'px' with 96 dpi. This cause wrong scaling.

•Unitless coordiantes are interpreted as 'px'.

•The Viewport unit defines how the 'px' coordinates are converted to 'mm'.

oIf the Viewport is not specified or the Viewport unit is 'mm', 'px' are converted to 'mm' with 25.4 dpi ('px' equals 'mm').

oIf the Viewport unit is not specified or 'px', 'px' are converted to 'mm' with 72 dpi.

oIf the Viewport is 'pt', 'pc', 'cm', or 'in', then 'px' are interpreted in the same unit as defined by the Viewport and then converted to 'mm'.

✓supported as reference for coordinates in '%'.

•If the Viewport is not specified, a default Viewport of 100 px is set.

•How the 'px' coordinates are converted to mm depends on the state of the 'Import with 96 dpi' checkbox, see table -1.

viewBox <viewBox>

✓supported for scaling and positioning.

•viewBox origin shifts elements.

•viewBox is always interpreted in the same unit as defined by the Viewport.

•In order to avoid scaling, the viewBox must not be specified or be of the same size as the Viewport.

✓supported for scaling and positioning.

•viewBox origin shifts elements.

•viewBox is unitless. How the unitless coordinates are converted to 'mm' depends on the state of the 'Import with 96 dpi' checkbox, see table -1.

•In order to avoid scaling, the viewBox must not be specified or be of the same size as the Viewport.

Table 39: Differences between the two import filters "SVG - Old" and "SVG - SCAPS": Attributes of SVG Element

Element Attributes	"SVG - Old" Import Filter	"SVG - SCAPS" Import Filter
Color of stroke and fill (for pen mapping)	✓Fill color is used. 'Read Pen Info' must be checked. •Default fill color is black. •If fill color is black or none, stroke color is used. •Stroke none is the same as stroke black. •If color of stroke and fill are both "none", the SVG element will not be imported at all.	✓The stroke color is used. 'Read Pen Info' must be checked. •Stroke none is treated as the default color black. •Fill color is usually ignored. Only when "import with default hatch style" is activated, elements with fill will be hatched. •If color of stroke and fill are both "none", the SVG element will not be imported at all. Default fill color is black.
CSS options	✓supported	✓partially supported ✓Inline CSS (each element has its own CSS statement) is supported. ✗CSS cascading (a global style element, a.k.a. CSS stylesheet in style element) is ignored.
xml:space	✗not supported	✗not supported
Vertical alignment <dominant-baseline>	✗not supported	✓supported
Horizontal alignment <text-anchor>	✗not supported	✓supported. The text-anchor sets the horizontal alignment. •Default is used for start. •Em-Center is used for middle. •Em-Right is used for end.
<tspan>	✓supported	✓supported
Font weight <font-weight>	✓partially supported •Normal is used for "lighter", "normal", "bolder" and any number. •Bold is used for "bold".	✓partially supported •Normal is used for "lighter", "normal" and a number < 700. •Bold is used for "bold", "bolder" and a number >= 700.
Path attribute <d>	✓supported ✗Lineto command with multiple positions is not supported ✗Horizontal and vertical lines with intermediate points are not supported.	✓supported
Transformation Matrices	✓supported	✓supported
Filling	✗not supported •color see above	✗not supported
Stroking	✗not supported •color see above	✗not supported •color see above
Marker	✗not supported	✗not supported
Linking	✗not supported	✗not supported
Clipping, Masking, and Compositing	✗not supported	✗not supported

Table 40: Differences between the two import filters "SVG - Old" and "SVG - SCAPS": Attributes

Elements	"SVG - Old" Import Filter	"SVG - SCAPS" Import Filter
Path	✓supported ✗If an empty path is present, the whole import is cancelled. ✗Open polyline with fill is closed.	✓supported
Use	✗supported	✗not supported
Image	✗not supported	✗not supported
Unspecified	✗not supported	✗not supported
Embedded Font (<glyph>)	✗not supported	✗not supported
Basic shapes (<circle>, <ellipse>, <line>, <polygon>, <polyline>, <rect>)	✓supported •Open polyline with fill is closed. ✗Polygon is not supported.	✓supported
Group (<g>)	✓supported	✓supported
Text	✓supported ✗Font rendering has some issues.	✓supported ✓Em size and DirectWrite character generation is forced.
Text path <textPath>	✗not supported	✗not supported
Filter Effects	✗not supported	✗not supported
Gradients (<linearGradient>, <radialGradient>, <stop>)	✗not supported	✗not supported
Patterns	✗not supported	✗not supported
Interactivity	✗not supported	✗not supported
Hyperlink <a>	✗not supported	✗not supported
Animation (<animate>, <animateMotion>, <animateTransform>, <mpath>, <set>)	✗not supported	✗not supported

Table 41: Differences between the two import filters "SVG - Old" and "SVG - SCAPS": Elements