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defaultg3v3zsu3i4gt
Participant
May 14, 2021
Answered

SVG files messed up when I import into Illustrator

Hi,

 

When I import SVG files into Illustrator (saved from R), they get completely messed up.  Random portions of the figure are missing.  Any suggestions?

 

Best wishes,

Lucy

    Johannes nico38883993y7ruCorrect answer
    Participant
    March 4, 2025

    Hi! I know that this thread is very old, but the problem still persists. What worked for me was to paste the file on powerpoint, and copy and paste it again to illustrator. 

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    12 replies

    Em2841840093n2
    Participant
    June 30, 2023

    Hi,

    Well aware that this issue been posted two years ago, but it has not been fixed as currently I am having the same troubles with it! I am doing exactly same thing, importing a plot/figure that has been generated with R (and to address the passive-aggressive commenter below, R means something has been generated using either the stats software (RStudio) or the code itself, most likely a plot, and that should not matter to you) and is currently in an SVG format. I also have another file that has been made with InkScape so it is also in SVG. When I place it in Illustrator, a lot of information is lost - text, boxes, some lines are simply missing. The objects that seem to have maintained their original state are not easily moved. This is all understandable considering it is coming from another format, but perhaps there is a workaround? If not a great solution then at least perhaps some other way of importing it that would make it look like the closest possible version to that which would have been made with Illustrator. 

    P.S. no particular examples required, really. Just import any SVG file into Illustrator via 'Place' function and it will be obvious what is the issue.

     

    Thanks in advance!

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      Community Expert
      Bobby HendersonCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 30, 2023

      In the case of Inkscape you may have to experiment with some of its options for saving SVG files or exporting in other file formats. Inkscape incorporates some secret sauce flavors into the SVG files it creates. What kind of fonts are you using in the layouts? If you're using any Postscript Type 1 fonts that could partially explain missing text boxes, etc. Adobe removed support for T1 fonts from its applications recently.

       

      I'm not familiar at all with R Studio. What kinds of curves is it creating? The reason I ask is because of experience dealing with CAD type files, such as drawings of building elevations. Those applications don't use Bezier style vectors. Everything is arcs and lines or poly-lines. When opened in a vector graphics application like Illustrator the line work is often "exploded" into lots of open line segments. That stuff is fine to run out on a plotter for drawing plan sheets. But it doesn't work so well for graphics purposes. If R Studio is generating similar kinds of line work that could explain some of the problem.

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      Em2841840093n2
      Participant
      July 1, 2023

      Thank you for your quick reply! So the take-away message essentially is that there is no easy way to do it or fix it all together? I am not the one who is creating the figures via InkScape (my colleagues are), hence I am not sure which parts are more problematic than others. But it is a constant issue - half of the people in Academia use InkScape (because it is free) and the other half - Illustrator (usually only if academic institutions have licences). We all end up unable to share our files properly and people often need to start from scratch with their preferred software.

       

      Regarding R, if anyone is really keen, you could have a look at this website: https://huygens.science.uva.nl/SuperPlotsOfData/ and what kind of plots are generated there (if you proceed to plot there without uploading any data it will use example data). This is essentially the same thing that would come out of R/RStudio but has been nicely implemented into a web interface. When those plots are saved as a SVG and then imported into Illustrator - half (if not more) of the information is lost. My current workaround is to save it as a PDF which is much easier to edit on Illustrator after 'releasing the mask', it's just time-consuming and tedious.

       

      Anyways, thanks! There are a few really annoying ways how to minimize these issues now, but just wanted to know if perhaps I am unaware of some nice importing or format switching tool that would make things much easier and less time-consuming.

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      Met1
      Met1
      Legend
      May 14, 2021

      Try open instead of import.

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      Monika Gause
      Community Expert
      Monika GauseCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      May 14, 2021

      SVG is not a native file format of Illustrator.

      It may or may not work.

       

      Is the SVG file valid as per the W3C Validation?

       

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      defaultg3v3zsu3i4gtAuthor
      Participant
      June 1, 2021

      Thank you, I have sent my file to the Adobe tech support and they are looking to fix the issue in upcoming releases of Illustrator.

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      Mylenium
      Mylenium
      Legend
      May 14, 2021

      And "saved from R" means what? The statistics software? Reddit? Some other service/ program? Generated with the R programming language? You need to be much more specific. That aside it's usually not particular helpful to describe such issues, but rather to show screenshots or the files in question themselves/ the SVG code. Again, you need to provide much more info and explain rather than just saying that your file gets messed up.

       

      Mylenium

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