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Participant
September 8, 2020
Answered

SVG Text and TSpans Import

  • September 8, 2020
  • 1 reply
  • 3486 views

Hello all, 

I'm having issues with AI importing a SVG file.

I need to preserve the original texts and tspans after importing a svg file. 

 

A file was created by exporting an AI document into a SVG file (SVG 1.0).  The option "Preserver AI capabilities" is checked off, because the SVG is later modified by a different system. 

Once the modified SVG is imported, the texts and tspans are all messed up in a very inconsistent manner. 

 

There is a simple way to reproduce the issue doing the following steps:

1 - Create a sample file, write a text that breaks to different lines 

2 - Export ai file to SVG.

 

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- Generator: Adobe Illustrator 24.3.0, SVG Export Plug-In . SVG Version: 6.00 Build 0) -->
<svg version="1.0" id="Layer_1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" x="0px" y="0px"
width="1920px" height="1080px" viewBox="0 0 1920 1080" enable-background="new 0 0 1920 1080" xml:space="preserve">
<text id="Lorem_ipsum_dolor_sit_amet_consectetur" transform="matrix(1 0 0 1 421.4561 260.877)"><tspan x="0" y="0" font-family="'ArialMT'" font-size="24px">Lorem ipsum</tspan><tspan x="0" y="28.8" font-family="'ArialMT'" font-size="24px">dolor sit</tspan><tspan x="0" y="57.6" font-family="'ArialMT'" font-size="24px">amet consectetur</tspan></text>
</svg>

 

 

3. close and open the exported  SVG. No need to modify the SVG. 

4. Export the file again as another SVG file (file #2)

The tspans are gone and now all became texts. 

 

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- Generator: Adobe Illustrator 24.3.0, SVG Export Plug-In . SVG Version: 6.00 Build 0)  -->
<svg version="1.0" id="Layer_1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" x="0px" y="0px"
	 width="1920px" height="1080px" viewBox="0 0 1920 1080" enable-background="new 0 0 1920 1080" xml:space="preserve">
<text transform="matrix(1 0 0 1 421.4561 260.877)" font-family="'ArialMT'" font-size="24px">Lorem ipsum</text>
<text transform="matrix(1 0 0 1 421.4561 289.677)" font-family="'ArialMT'" font-size="24px">dolor sit</text>
<text transform="matrix(1 0 0 1 421.4561 318.477)" font-family="'ArialMT'" font-size="24px">amet consectetur</text>
</svg>

 

 
Is there anything I can do to solve this issue? The TSPANs are key for the system that is consumming. 
Thank you in advance
 
This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Monika Gause

SVG is not suitable for roundtripping in Illustrator.

You need to redesign your workflow, because this way it just won't work.

1 reply

Monika Gause
Community Expert
Monika GauseCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
September 8, 2020

SVG is not suitable for roundtripping in Illustrator.

You need to redesign your workflow, because this way it just won't work.

Known Participant
May 11, 2021

It's obviously a bug in Illustrator. Adobe should fix that bug instead of forcing us to "redesign our workflows".

Monika Gause
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 11, 2021

The SVG file format is not a native file format of Illustrator. Therefore it treats text (among most other kinds of objects) differently from Illustrator.

 

You cannot roundtrip SVG files. It's just not possible.

Even Inkscape has 2 versions of SVG: a native SVG file that allows full editing and a standard SVG. And for Inkscape SVG *is* the native file format.