Hi all,

For two days now, I've been trying to convert an Inkscape file to Adobe Illustrator with poor results.

I'm working at home, in the evenings, on a site design for a project in Inkscape for Windows. The programmer building the site would prefer Illustrator format. The graphic designers where I work during the day have Adobe Illustrator CS4 for Mac. The design is basically a graphical background, with different layers for each site page.

I've been saving SVG files to a USB key and bringing them in for a friend at work to convert to .AI format. Both times, he hasn't been getting layers, just a mishmash of various elements, and almost no text, from the original SVG. The first time, I thought maybe the problem had to do with the SVG only being readable as a single layer, so I tried setting different layers to visible in sequence, and saving each as its own SVG.

This gave me SVGs of slightly differing size on the USB key, but all open in Illustrator to be an identical, well, mishmash of elements from various pages again. And again, just a single layer.

What am I doing wrong? Is there any established way to save an Inkscape file for best-possible conversion when opening in Adobe Illustrator?

Welcome to InkscapeForum!

As I suggested in this topic, which was posted in the last couple of days viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10215, I believe the answer has already been posted, probably more than 2 or 3 times. While you're waiting for someone who knows the answer to reply, you might find it by searching the forums

I did search. I found viewtopic.php?f=5&t=820.

Other search results, oddly enough, only turned up glib references to that same forum.

Here's what viewtopic.php?f=5&t=820 contains:

(a) importing from Illustrator, which is not my issue;
(b) failed "save as" Illustrator files due to missing GhostScript dependancies, which I’ll have to check out when I get home, but frankly I was hoping for a better solution than “read the error logs and figure it all out for yourself”;
(c) EPS files, which is not my issue;
(d) Exporting PNG files, which is not my issue;
(e) Exporting SVG files to bitmaps, which is not my issue;
(f) Creating JPG files with white backgrounds, which is not my issue;
(g) Exporting to a TEX-friendly format, which is not my issue;
(h) Saving preferences, which is not my issue;
(i) Running BASH scripts, which is not my issue;
(j) How to find the Inkscape wiki, which is in no way a solution to any problem.

It took well over an hour to read that forum thread in depth. It is poorly organized information that is useless for my current situation. I have provided a detailed explanation of the difficulty I am having, which is specifically that:

Illustrator is importing Inkscape SVG files (and not other SVG files) as a single layer as opposed to discrete layers.

I was hoping that somebody may have a better suggestion for how to save a file for optimal Illustrator import, from Windows to Macintosh, from Inkscape to Illustrator CS4, in a way that preserves layers and formatting.


I would appreciate some ideas from anyone that can actually help.

I'm sorry. I had no way of knowing you had already searched. Thanks for the clarification

There are no layers in the SVG standard, Illustrator supports SVG but not Inkscape SVG that contains the layers information. Layers in Inkscape are just special groups of objects, much like the groups you can create within layers. So the easiest way to get the layers back in Illustrator is to group everything within each layer, move the group to the main layer and save as Plain SVG. Then in Illustrator move each group to a new layer.

You should at least say thanks to those who try to help you

Yes, I know this post is ancient but it came up near the top of a google search for 'inkscape to illustrator' so it is as good a place as anywhere to post. I had this exact problem and it took quite a lot of work to solve. So for the benefit of anybody else tearing their hair out...

1) Complexity, for example layers, will not transfer well. This SVG will get converted, at best, into one 2D raster image.
2) So, start with separating out each SVG layer into its own file of the same dimensions.
3) Each layer file then needs to be checked to make sure it contains only simple 'flat' objects - overlaid gradients etc will again come out as raster.
4) Divide again if necessary.
5) Each identically-sized 'simple' SVG file can then be imported as a vector into Illustrator - and every vector file can then be inserted as a layer into a master ai file to reassemble and tweak the finished product.

Maybe this http://svglayers.com/#svglayersVideo could be an answer to problems of layering

Or https://gitlab.com/su-v/inx-exportobjects/ (inkscape extension) can be useful, too.