Can you use SVG files in InDesign?

Brad Fisher said:

" there's nothing in an SVG file that states the proper profile, and since current SVG 1.1 official specs dictates that all colors are assumed sRGB, any viewer/program, without knowing what the proper profile is, will read it as sRGB, which would definitely show the colors incorrectly. This is not a good workflow for branding! "

Well, if one has control over the branding one can simply define the colors for an SVG graphic.And also state that they are meant for sRGB only. In the case of Laura the question is if there are any specs for print publishing. As I understand she only deals with someone savvy in web publishing.

Laura, it may help you to look into this:

https://www.gamutmap.com/

https://www.gamutmap.com/site/content/howto

https://www.freiefarbe.de/en/

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

SVG can only contain RGB, and are assumed by SVG spec to be in the sRGB colorspace. Forget about Pantone/spot colour specifications while you are at it. Even if your graphic has a different ICC assigned (say, Adobe RGB), it will be converted to sRGB.

Some say a future spec will allow other colour modes, and some say there is a way to embed a diffeernt ICC profile, but that's not now, practically.

Although it is possible to save an SVG out of Illustrator and piggy-back the Illustrator editing ability along with it, this "fork" is only of use to Illlustrator. e.g. InDesign (and other programs) will import only the information related to the SVG fork. Your best chance is that they have done this, so you can open them in Illustrator and save as a format more appropriate for your workflow.

I can't imagine anyone in their right mind would use SVG as their main format for branding with the inherit limitations, but, ya know.

-Brad

Hi Laura, As Uwe suggests you can save a CMYK mode Illustrator document as SVG but the color fills get converted to RGB on the save. SVGs also do not include color profiles, which could create additional color problems when they do have to be converted to CMYK. It might be worth placing your SVGs on an InDesign page, Export the page to PDF/X-4, and use Acrobat’s Output Preview>Object Inspector to inspect the SVG object.

Here’s what happens to a CMYK 0|0|0|100 fill:

Saved SVG placed—InDesign’s Separation Preview shows the black fill will convert into 4-color when the export or print is to Document CMYK:

The page exported to default PDF/X-4—No Color Conversion. Object Inspector shows the fill as RGB with the InDesign RGB profile embedded:

Hi Laura,

if you have logos and/or technical drawings that require 100% K for black strokes and fills do not use SVG vector graphics. They come in RGB and must be converted to CMKY for offset printing. Without special software that would always mean the conversion is creating blacks with CMY plus K components. Better ask your client to provide offset print ready vector files in Illustrator format or PDF/X-4.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )