Approximately what file size is best for a glyph, created using CAD (to get rigorous tangents, etc.), for import as an SVG file?
There is no specific optimal SVG file size for importing glyphs into FontCreator. What matters most is the complexity of the outlines rather than the file size in KB.
I recommend keeping the SVG as simple as possible, using clean paths with as few control points as necessary. Avoid unnecessary details, duplicate contours, and excessive precision.
CAD is perfectly suitable for creating accurate geometry, but make sure the exported SVG contains paths rather than embedded images. FontCreator will scale the imported outlines to fit your font’s coordinate system, so you can adjust their size and positioning after import.
That distinction–paths vs. images–is new to me. How do I go about ensuring I have paths rather than images? I suspect that may be part or all of my difficulties. Thanks.
Thanks for the recommendation. How would I go about simplifying the SVG as you recommend?
You can simplify the SVG using:
- Adobe Illustrator: Object → Path → Simplify.
- Inkscape: Path → Simplify (Ctrl+L).
Be careful, as automatic simplification may alter your carefully constructed curves and tangents.
Could you also share a screenshot showing how you design your glyphs in your CAD software? That might help us identify opportunities to improve the workflow and produce cleaner SVG outlines.
I know something’s wrong: when I try to open one of the CAD-exported SVG files in Inkscape, I don’t see anything apart from a few horizontal or vertical lines. I see nothing of the glyph I drew in CAD.
I’ll be glad to share a screenshot, but could you please help me focus on what you’re looking for? Are you looking for how I draw straight lines, or rigorous conic section curves, or something else?
Thanks for the clarification. If Inkscape cannot display the glyph correctly, the problem may be with the SVG export itself.
Could you please provide:
- The name and version of your CAD software.
- A screenshot showing the complete glyph in your CAD software, including its curves and control points if possible.
- A screenshot of the SVG export settings.
- One of the exported SVG files.
I’m particularly interested in how the curves are constructed and exported. With this information, I should be able to provide more specific guidance.
- CAD software: QCAD version 3.27.6 (Windows 10, 64 bit)
- Screen shot of the glyph in QCAD, showing outline and points. (I suspect I may have too many points for the curves.)
- QCAD SVG export settings (somehow I think I need to change the SVG page size but as yet I don’t know how to do that and get a reasonable page size)
- Last, the corresponding SVG file.
Thanks for providing the screenshots and SVG files. I’ve inspected the files and found the main problem!
Your SVG contains a large amount of geometry far outside the actual letter. This explains the enormous page size and why the glyph is barely visible in Inkscape.
I suggest trying the following:
- In QCAD, select only the two outlines that form the letter A (outer contour and inner counter).
- Copy these into a new, empty drawing.
- Make sure both contours are closed.
- Export using File → Advanced SVG Export. Disable Export point entities and enable Preserve geometry.
- Open the resulting SVG in Inkscape to check the result.
You also have quite a few points along the curves, but let’s resolve the export issue first. Once we have a clean SVG containing only the glyph, we can investigate how to reduce the number of points without compromising your carefully constructed geometry.
That was a large step in the right direction. I followed your recommendations, and when I opened the SVG in Inkscape, I saw the glyph as I had drawn it in QCAD, so it seems that method works.
As an experiment, I tried importing the same SVG file into Font Creator, and the result was not at all what I expected or hoped for. Here’s a screen shot of what I got:
That doesn’t look anything like my glyph, as you might imagine. I think you’re right in suggesting there might be too many points (my phrasing!), and that may be the reason why I’m getting that collection of circles rather than a glyph.
Thanks for the screenshot. I now notice that you’re using FontCreator 13, which is several years old.
We’ve made numerous improvements to SVG importing in subsequent versions of FontCreator, so I strongly recommend upgrading to FontCreator 16 before spending more time troubleshooting this issue.
You can download the latest version here:
Please try importing your SVG file into the latest version. If the problem persists, share the SVG file with us so we can investigate it further.
I hope you understand that we’d rather focus our development and support efforts on the current version than troubleshoot issues in an outdated SVG importer.
Good news! I have FontCreator 16 installed and activated. It appears to have imported the SVG file from QCAD satisfactorily–or at least it did so with the one file I tried. Further developments to follow.
1 Like
Follow-up: just tried the steps for exporting you outlined a few days ago with a completely different glyph. Everything went well.
What remains for me is to experiment with the size of the glyph in QCAD so that I don’t need to enlarge the imported SVG image. I should note that the imported SVG image is faithful to the original glyph design in terms of geometry and proportion; it’s simply very small and needs to be enlarged. Not a big deal whatsoever.
That’s worth some experimenting. Thanks for all your help!