Save as SVG

What features would you like to see in Pixelmator?
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2012-11-05 19:49:43

Everett, you bring up a very good point. Here's my question. Being able to save as an .svg file would allow you to save compound paths into the file correct? As Sabastiaan was saying to everyone, why would you need this in your workflow? Mine would be that I do a lot of modeling in Cheetah 3d. To be able to take a vector and save the paths, then import it into Cheetah 3d and raise those paths into a 3d image would be great. The other option I guess is purchasing Sketch 2 which is a vector based program... Just throwing it out there for thought :) But hey, if someone is developing a Sequencer, Editor, Modeler, Vector, BMP and Word Processor all in one, I'm game! HA!
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2012-11-08 05:50:42

evanh,

I wanted to think about what you said before I stuck both feet in my mouth. I'm going to give an honest, but likely unpopular answer. Buy a vector editor. I'll give an example. I use iDraw (sketch, are you serious ?!?!? :) I love that program. What I would like to see (in my perfect world that I live in) is integration across Pixelmator, iDraw, and iStudio Publisher. Have the three teams get together and figure out how to move things between them (like how Adobe products are integrated). However, stay independent (just because you have tight integration does NOT mean that you need to all be one company).

My main point (as stated elsewhere) is Pixelmator needs to pick A focus, and stick with it. This being all things to all people is what got Adobe Bloatoshop where it is. What I mean by that is people jumping ship (like me) looking for simpler, more elegant answers.

What would really be cool (to me, in my perfect world again) would be hooks that cheetah could use, a round trip through Aperture, heck, lets throw in Bryce 3D (if they ever make a version for ML), DAZ, and Manga Studios... Have companies start getting creative in the ways they pass data to each other. Compete with the big guys, by using the advantages of being the small guys (not trying to insult anyone). Work together. Get ahold of Apple and ask for hooks into Motion.

Really, think outside the box. No, I don't want one app that does everything anymore than I want one tool to build a house with. I want the tools I used to be specialized for their job. I want them to do it VERY well. And I want to look incredible using them (okay, not look like an idiot at least).

I recognize you may not agree with me, because my perfect world may not line up with yours. It's okay, your just wro... I kid. All I'm saying is I'd like to see the focus for Pixelmator to be what they said they were building when I bought in. An image editor. Potentially (IMHO) the best one on the market.
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2012-12-22 16:30:52

Everett:

Although you mention solid points about how a tool should be very good at the thing it was designed for and how some people use a hammer for everything I think you're looking at things in the present perspective, rather than the future. I think that the calls for Apple to make it's UI resolution independent are getting louder and makes sense when looking at all the form factors they now have to juggle: iPod, iPhone (there are two sizes of that now!), iPad (again, two), a possible TV, desktop Macs...

More so would be the Retina display, the one thing all reviews commented on was that the webpages looked pixelated, everybody said it and then they said it'll take time to catch up, but then I read of 400~600+ppi screen being developed and where then, because competition will mean there have to be even more resolutions/sizes of images catered for and that just complicates things.

SVG is vector, it's not vector that is vector, it's less work, it means that one image (text files, if you will) can be loaded up and then it works on ANY display, I'm sure you get that, but what it means is the future, shouldn't Pixelmator reflect that?
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2012-12-24 09:56:23

tiffin:

you have to decide what kind of image you are working with. And a developer has to decide which kind of software they are developing.

Yes, there is retina. But have you ever seen a digital camera saving their files in SVG? Or any other vector-format? I guess your answer will be "no" and it will be no forever. And that's the point. Pixelmator is a bitmap-tool. Only a bitmap-tool. The vector-shapes are for design-purposes only and to make things easier and keep them editable. If you need a vector-tool, you'll find a lot on the AppStore. Try Sketch or iDraw. They read and write SVG (almost, because SVG is not SVG). But SVG is only for vector and not for bitmap-content.
When I have to work with bitmaps, I use Pixelmator. When I have to work on vector-images, I use Sketch. Both do "images" but in different ways.
When I have to wash my dishes, I use the dishwasher – not the washing machine although both do "cleaning".
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2012-12-24 10:57:38

Websites can be designed in Pixelmator, what then?
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2012-12-26 17:11:57

Create the design in 2x the size for Retina. Slice it, export it and build the site. There's no need for vectors here. Don't forget that there are not so many browsers out, that offer full support for SVG. But you should think about using CSS3 which is (almost) better supported than SVG by modern browsers. Use it to create gradients in navigation-bars, backgrounds, and so on. And whenever a browser doesn't support the commands you can be sure that SVG is not supported, too and you have to fall back to bitmaps.

If you want to create your website with vectors, use a vector-drawing-tool. Whenever you use more than just strokes and lines in Pixelmator, you can't use vector anymore (even when there is a SVG export because SVG can't create bitmaps). That's the point where a vector image turns into a bitmap with all the limitations a bitmap has.
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2012-12-26 23:52:07

SVG is a work in progress sure but it's being taken seriously by all the big players, there is not a player who doesn't have a fair slice of the browser market not backing it. The SVG team work closely with the CSS guys and it's obvious that as CSS has been embraced so firmly that SVG plans to ride on its coat-tales.

The idea that double "Retina" resolution will work is folly, dimensions count for more, simply doubling the size of an iPad Retina display does nothing for Retina on the iPhone, yet both display the same webpage, that says nothing of competing brands with differing dimensions, which is why CSS is so popular.

SVG can also be re-edited and as you'd expect and that makes a real difference. Aperture can ad after effects to photography, its one of the main requests I read all the time online: to have more! But what if it didn't have them, then it would just organise photos but they offer more and people like it, sure it's a resource hog but that becomes less of an issue with more RAM and SSD. To imagine that Pixemlator wouldn't cater for SVG would be to condemn it to irrelevance.

If anything the displays we have today will be meaningless when out wallpapers become screens (eWallpaper) and then what, then you're going to need vectors!
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2012-12-29 06:13:38

Hello. New Pixelmator user here (testing the demo, strongly considering purchase).

I'm trying to replace Adobe Fireworks and Pixelmator so far is the closest contender with a workflow that makes sense.

The problem is, with Fireworks, I can freely move between vector and raster graphics. Any shapes I draw are editable vectors and I can have raster or vector content in the same file and export to raster files OR export vector work to AI, SVG, etc.

If the Pixelmator team were to add SVG or AI export support, it would be a giant leap forward for the app and my needs.

I don't agree at all with earlier comments about it being like asking for midi support in microsoft word, as I've had very real, tangible uses for this and have used it for years. I'm just tired of dealing with Adobe products and want to support smaller developers who are making nice lean apps that perform well.


Thanks for reading.
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2012-12-29 06:22:45

SVG's gonna happen so if Pixelmator don't adopt it you'll be using something else anyway.
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2013-02-12 17:27:03

Yes! Vector support would be awesome! The ability to open .svg/.eps files would be so useful.
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2013-03-13 00:34:07

What with the text to shape and all the other shape features being added to Pixelmator now would be the perfect time to give us SVG support.

I know there's been some debate among users here about why you'd need it. Where I would find it the most useful is for the web. With a number of online tools it's possible to create your own icon fonts by importing SVGs. The end result is a much more flexible and modular icon library for web use. Not to mention all the benefits of SVG in general. Anyway, SVG on the web is a really handy thing and comes with so many benefits. However, all the current tools that aren't Illustrator basically suck for this purpose. They either have an ugly, confusing UI, are missing key features (like text to shape), or simply do not work.

Here's hoping this makes it into 2.2 and we get to play with it soon!
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2013-05-09 16:30:45

SVG would be awsome and very useful to me too!

I'm picking the discussion in the middle of it, but being able to export to vector formats is not the same as converting an entire pixel image to vectors. SVG itself allows for part of the image to come from a bitmap. The SVG XML part only refers to the image at its location (which can be stored together insize a ZIP file with the extension .svgz).

So please, let's not mix two functionalities here. What we're asking here (me too!) is to export to SVG solo.
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2013-05-16 19:59:13

I would like this feature very much. :)
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2013-05-26 05:02:16

Ok, now Pixelmator is doing a way better job with vectors it need to be able to export as SVG and EPS. Also hope the vectors work with the CMYK side of things as well
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2013-05-27 11:24:44

+1 for SVG export
+1 for export into bezier path like Paintcodeapp.com or Drawscri.pt
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2013-05-27 20:35:31

Hello,

+1 for the SVG & PDF export.;)
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2013-05-30 11:23:50

Definitely support of import/export SVG graphics is very needed, especially taking into account the current course toward vector graphics in Pixelmator 2.2. Add it please...
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2013-05-30 17:13:29

+1 for this too: I need to covert various .pngs for things like arrows to .svg Would really prefer to do that in Pixelmator.
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2013-06-05 21:42:57

Definitely - vector file formats means I can share vector stuff with my non mac friends.
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2013-06-14 13:56:12

+1 for SVG export
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2013-06-14 13:58:01

+1 forSVGexport too.
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2013-06-14 19:04:02

This is a must-have. Please make this happen!
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2013-08-08 13:10:52

We definitely need both import and export for at least one common vector format, and given that SVG is an open standard, often requested, and natively supported by modern web browsers, it would seem the format to go with. I am not a programmer, but since PXM can *already* import shapes (albeit in a proprietary format), it would not seem too much of a stretch to implement such functionality.

And as for people bitching here about how Pixelmator should exclusively focus on work with pixels: No, it should not, and it doesn't anyway. There is a legitimate use for vector elements in any design work, and I don't want to make every little edit to a rounded rectangle in an external app and re-import the shape a hundred times over. That's how things used to be in 1990, but this is 2013 and we have come a long way in terms of usability and integration since then.

Maybe, vector naysayers, you should write to Adobe and tell them that PHOTOshop better be used for working with photos (mind the name) only, and thus all vector functionality, including text, should be removed in order to "focus" more. Really, that argument is ridiculous.

Not many people know this, but PS can actually output a thoroughly (offset-) printable PDF with vector text and graphics. I have done that before, and it worked flawlessly. I am not expecting that of PXM, but some interoperability in terms of file formats (of which vector / SVG seems the only major omission) would be most welcome and one of several tweaks / additions necessary to take this otherwise fantastic app to the next level.

So +1 for SVG both IM- and EXport. Please.
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2013-08-15 06:00:21

Yes please. Also, SVG import.
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2013-09-03 04:48:45

+1 SVG. The internet needs you.