import

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Saving, Exporting & Files

Importing artwork

Bring SVG vector art into a design as Locus geometry you can build on.

You can pull existing vector artwork into a design and treat it as real Locus geometry - something to build on, snap to, and build alongside your own construction.

Importing SVG

Choose File > Import > SVG (also available from the command palette as Import: SVG File...). The artwork's paths come in as Locus geometry: lines stay lines, circles and circular arcs come across exactly, and Bézier curves come in as true curves.

The import is framed in view when it lands, and a short message reports how many shapes came in and whether anything needed approximating.

Full-precision import

Coordinates from the artwork are brought in at full precision - the points along each curve are never rounded off. This matters for tight, interlocking patterns: corners that were meant to meet still meet exactly after import, so nothing drifts apart at the seams.

Note

A genuinely elliptical or rotated arc is the one case that can't come across as an exact curve - it arrives as a fine multi-point outline instead, and the import message tells you when that happened.

Layers become groups

SVG layers are preserved. Each layer (and each nested sub-layer) comes in as a named group, with the nesting kept intact, and the whole import is wrapped in one group named after the file. That keeps a multi-layer piece organized exactly as it was authored, and you can ungroup it if you'd rather work flat.

Building on imported art

Imported paths aren't just a static backdrop - they participate in your construction:

• Every defining vertex of the artwork gets a reference point you can snap to and build from (segments, circles, midpoints, intersections, and so on). These points are hidden by default to avoid clutter, but they're real: toggle a path's visibility to reveal them.
• You can take explicit intersections between an imported path and your own construction geometry, the same way you intersect any two objects. Pick the path and the other object and place the intersection where they cross.

Tip

Importing art doesn't reshape it - the paths come in baked. Use the reference points and intersections to construct around and from the artwork, rather than editing the artwork's own curves.

Importing DXF

Caution

Confirm against the build DXF import is planned but not confirmed built. DXF export works today (see Exporting DXF), and importing DXF is on the roadmap, but at time of writing it may not be available in your version. Check the About window for your version and confirm against the current build before relying on it. To bring outside art in now, use SVG import above.

Raster images

To place a photo or scan as a tracing backdrop rather than as geometry, use a reference image instead - those are for tracing over and never become exportable geometry.

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Related

• Exporting SVG
• Saving & opening