SCAL file is BLANK

[nuznannie]

I saved some files in Inkscape and imported them into SCAL and when I did they are all blank? Any Ideas? The files show ok in Inkscape. Thank you Nancy

[HeatherM]

Did you convert your images to Path? The method you use would depend on the image and your preferences. Text and shapes are a simple Path/Object to path. Other tools you might use are the Trace dialog from the Path menu, and the paint bucket tool. HTH

[nuznannie]

I put it in Inkscape (.jpg file) then saved it as a .svg and then imported into SCAL and it's blank. So I went back and opened it in inkscape again and tried the trace bitmap to path and saved again as svg and it is still blank. I am gonna have to use these more often so i can get it right. you can email me nancy@centralva.net thx Nancy

[nuznannie]

i just did it again and it worked this time.. thank you so much Nancy

[nuznannie]

WELLLLLL no it didn't am gonna start from scratch and c what happens!!! Nancy

[HeatherM]

There is a good video on this here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50KplQAcU64
If you prefer written tuts there is a good one here. http://www.scrappingtable.com/understandingshapes.html It is the number three tut. HTH

[firstcut]

Here is a checklist for when svgs show up blank
A Guide to troubleshooting blank SVGs

in Inkscape
Check the Outline View by selecting View>Display mode>Outline
to see if it looks like what you want to cut

If the Outline View does not show as expected then...
If you imported a bitmap (jpg, png, bmp, gif, etc.) did you autotrace it?
If not, select it, then Path>Trace Bitmap
If you autotraced, did you delete the bitmap version, and not the vector version. (You will see a red x in outline mode if you accidently deleted the vector copy)
Did you convert text into objects?
If not, select text then Path>Object to Path


If the Outline View does show as expected
then
Have you ungrouped everything?
If not then select all then Object>Ungroup repeatedly until the message at bottom of screen says there are no objects to ungroup.
(You can use Path>Combine but SCAL doesn't like Grouping)
Are there any Clipped Paths? (green lines in outline view and the infobar will indicate clipped paths) if so select Object>Clip>Release

If none of that works then
-Double check that the file you imported was really an SVG. Check this (and prevent future occurences) by not selecting "All Files" in the file type menu of the Import dialog box.
-Make sure all objects are within the page boundaries. (Press 4 or View>Zoom>Drawing to check for stray objects or parts of the image that extend past the page boundaries.)
-Make sure that all shapes are converted to paths (select each shape, then Path>Object to Path)
-Make sure the image is made up of closed paths, Inkscape can not cut lines, per se.
-Resave the document as Plain SVG (as opposed to Inkscape SVG)
-Select all, then copy, then open a new document and paste.
-Select all then change the colors (click the color bar at the bottom of the screen).

Here is a list of tutorials on autotracing by image type
http://cleversomeday.wordpress.com/images-to-svg/