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C
CaseyScalf
Participating Frequently
April 21, 2020
Question

Help clipping shapes and text outside of art board when exporting as SVG

  • April 21, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 612 views

I am making a world map with a CNC machine. It will be so big I will cut up multiple panels of wood and combine kind of like a puzzle to get the final size.

 

I found that by exporting art boards I can sort of "slice" the art work up into these panels. The problem is that when exporting as an SVG (File -> Export -> Export As… -> SVG) there is artwork from the adjacent art board still present.

 

This is a problem because my CAM program, Carbide Create (which interprets SVG files and turns them into motion on the CNC machine), does not like this art work that is out of bounds. It will crash and bad things happen when I run it....

 

Is there an easy way to select some option when exporting so that the artwork does not overhang? Or to remove it entirely?

 

Or maybe a post-processing step where I can bring it back into Illustraotr and clip it?

 

Thank you for any tips please let me know if I can be more clear. Please see the picture below for reference.

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1 reply

Mylenium
Mylenium
Legend
April 21, 2020

Nope. Artboards are just that - virtual canvases and in fact SVGs can have multiple drawing areas, too, and they behave pretty much the same. If it's really such an issue, it would be up to the creator of the control software to suppress these features in order for operational safety. Until then you have to clean the files manually and only save the current artboard.

 

Mylenium

C
CaseyScalfAuthor
Participating Frequently
April 21, 2020

Thank you for the reply. 

 

Unfortunately the creator of the control software does not have this function. Worth noting is that with the laser cutter we use from Epilog this is observed and the overhanging geometry does not disrupt.

 

I did find that by reimporting the SVG from say Art Board #1 and using a combination of the Eraser tool and the Direct Selection tool I was able to delete the out of bounds geometry. 

 

I am new to scripts, and it is hard to make a straight line around the Art Board, but I must ask: would it be possible to automate this? Such as run the eraser tool acround the outside edge? Then I could Direct Select the rest?

 

Thinking I might be able to use an Arduino as a keyboard and mouse simulator but maybe there is a way to automate in AI?

 

Thank you!

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