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No curves get imported at all into Blender, and I'm totally mystified why.

I have a CD of vector pattern library images that I'd like to use within Blender. These appear to be good vector images, i.e. in Inkscape I can see and edit the objects and paths.

I cannot use Trace Bitmap as an option, as these appear to be objects and paths (I'm no svg expert). I cannot convert to raster images and then trace, as that destroys the quality. I have literally hundreds of these images, that I would like to use as extrusions on decorative borders within Blender, but nothing I've tried seems to import the curve data, it comes in as an empty collection.

Before you answer:

  1. This is not a scaling issue.

  2. I tried Trace Bitmap many times - as they are not bitmaps, there's nothing to select or trace.

These appear to be bona fide vectors that I can edit and save. I've tried simplifying the image (destroys it), I've tried every svg format Inkscape offers.

One puzzle which makes me suspicious that these are not true path objects is that there is just a single node on the pink object. I can edit the handles and change its shape, so I assume it's a proper path, but I was expecting to see more nodes that define the curve.

Editing handles of nodes on a path

Blender v2.91 Inkscape v1.02

File: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ECnSQ77L99CpWiA0rMtou3w7qFPfiuYQ/view?usp=sharing

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  • $\begingroup$ It's hard to give a conclusive answer without looking at the svg or a clear image that shows the nodes on the path (not the selected object, as in the current image). If there are any kind of "effects" generated on the vectorial program, those will not translate correctly to the (very basic) svg importer on blender. Please edit your question and add more information on that particular file. Also please show the result you are getting on blender. Note that if the paths overlap or intersect, blender might have issues as well, those paths need to be cleaned up. $\endgroup$
    – susu
    Jan 21, 2021 at 19:15
  • $\begingroup$ Read also: blender.stackexchange.com/questions/122695/… $\endgroup$
    – susu
    Jan 21, 2021 at 19:17
  • $\begingroup$ and importing a complex svg to blender from illustrator problems with fill $\endgroup$
    – susu
    Jan 21, 2021 at 19:21
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for the suggestions. I tried the method suggested and nothing was imported. I'll add the file. $\endgroup$
    – biscuitlad
    Jan 21, 2021 at 21:36
  • $\begingroup$ Actually, when I tried the method suggested for fixing the mazes in the linked article, I could see there were lines and paths, with all the curve points defined correctly. So I've no idea why Blender refuses to import them. $\endgroup$
    – biscuitlad
    Jan 21, 2021 at 21:45

1 Answer 1

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The importer for SVG is quite basic (I feel like I keep writing this over and over)

Whatever you can do to simplify the file, will help you when import it to blender.

Effects on SVGs, and nested objects in groups (or in groups within a group within a group) don't translate well.

enter image description here

Un-group all of the objects in the SGV file and import.

A crucial difference between 3d graphics and 2D illustration is that in 3D you can't have surfaces occupying the same plane.

On 2D Illustration object's layers just occlude each other, but when imported to to 3D software, they will be created on top of each other causing Z-fighting(when two or more surfaces occupy the same space and the render engine cannot differentiate them). In 2D graphics you can get away with overlapping planes in layers, in 3D you can't. Coplanar faces cannot be on to of each other: no two faces can occupy the same plane.

enter image description here

How to fix this? You would need to edit the paths on the original file, and make sure that no paths are overlapping or intersecting. You will need boolean operations like path union, difference, intersect, exclusion, etc. to clean up.

Or you might choose to separate some of the elements on different files, and import them individually to blender, and edit them there, by joining different curves into the same object.

Since you are dealing with a single basic shape, and multiples copies of it, so you can get rid of most of the file to make your life easier, once you have the basic shapes you can make instances in blender.

enter image description here

Here's a picture of the file after cleaning up in inkscape, mostly using boolean exclusion and difference.

enter image description here

Ideally you should be dealing with only four curves that contain all of the elements with no overlaps:

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ Ah, that's fantastic. Thank you so much. I confess I'm pretty ignorant about SVGs and how they work. The Blender side is fine! That's brilliant, much appreciated. $\endgroup$
    – biscuitlad
    Jan 22, 2021 at 8:25
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    $\begingroup$ @biscuitlad please read blender.stackexchange.com/help/someone-answers $\endgroup$
    – susu
    Jan 22, 2021 at 11:33

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