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Geobop
Known Participant
May 18, 2021
Answered

Why does a bigger artboard affect my SVG image's file size?

  • May 18, 2021
  • 1 reply
  • 1924 views

I bought an image (a pair of lips) from a commercial graphics site. When I open the Illustrator file and save it as an SVG file, the file size is 294 KB. But when I enlarge the artboard, the file size explodes to 2.2 MB.

I want to use a second Illustrator file as a background. But the file size is 2.2 MB even without this background image - just the plain background.

Can anyone tell me why enlarging the artboard would have such a dramatic effect on my file size? More important, is there any way to reduce the file size?

Thanks.

P.S. I don't know why the SVG image I uploaded won't display, but you can see the image @ https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/woman-biting-her-red-lips-vector-3742914

Correct answer Monika Gause

That file has a ton of raster based effects in it. In an SVG file they get rasterized, so it's no longer vector artwork. And that's why it gets huge when enlarged. It's just not suitable as an SVG.

1 reply

Monika Gause
Community Expert
Monika GauseCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
May 19, 2021

That file has a ton of raster based effects in it. In an SVG file they get rasterized, so it's no longer vector artwork. And that's why it gets huge when enlarged. It's just not suitable as an SVG.

    G
    GeobopAuthor
    Known Participant
    May 19, 2021

    Interesting. They shouldn't have advertised it as a SVG image. 😉

    But that's OK, because I can just use it as a .png. Thanks.

    P.S. If you have a "pure" SVG image - no raster effects - will the file size still vary with the size of the image? I thought it was supposed to stay the same, but I discovered I have other images whose file size varies with image size. I wonder if these images also contain raster effects.

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 19, 2021

    There might be slight changes because the numbers are just longer text strings when the document dimensions are larger.

    But I haven't tried this out fully yet.

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