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Tutorial
Topic
Import text and geometry from Inkscape
Level
Beginner
Time to complete
30 minutes
Authors
r-frank
FreeCAD version
0.16.6704
Example files
See also
None

Úvod

This tutorial is supposed to show how to import text or geometry created with inkscape via svg-format into FreeCAD.
Inkscape 0.91 and FreeCAD 0.16.6704 on Windows are used for these operations.

General tips for importing from inkscape

• the svg-import in FreeCAD cannot handle a svg file with a resolution of more than 45 dpi, so check the settings in inkscape
• when importing path objects which show up in the 3D view in FreeCAD not very smooth it may be a matter of the FreeCAD-settings for the shape view.
  • in FreeCAD choose Edit → Preferences → Part Design → Shape View
  • as for "Tesselation", the "Maximum deviation depending on the model bounding box" the default value is "0,5 %"
  • setting this to a lower value will increase smoothness of the model in the 3D view (and use more PC performance)
  • don't use values lower than "0,01 %", this will most likely crash FreeCAD
  • in that case deleting "system.cfg" and "user.cfg" in your FreeCAD-user-directory will solve this problem

Importing text from inkscape

• In inkscape, after inserting text (and perhaps applying effects like bending or something else to it) make sure to
  • select your text and choose Path → Object to path
  • ungroup your objects
  • save as "Plain SVG (*.svg)" file format
• open the file in FreeCAD, choosing the option "SVG as geometry (importSVG)"
• a path object for each letter/number/sign will be created in the tree view
• use Draft Upgrade tool on each path object to create faces
• use pad or Part Extrude tool on the faces to get solids
• you can fuse your objects or use compound on them depending on your intended further work

Import geometrie z programu Inkscape

Since inkscape and FreeCAD seem to have different approaches on how to apply dimensions on svg-object, the recommended workflow seems to be:

• ungroup all objects in inkscape
• select all objects in inkscape
• apply a stroke style with a width of 0 mm (yes, that is zero millimeter) to all objects
• save as "Inkscape SVG (*.svg)" or "Plain SVG (*.svg)" file format
• open the file in FreeCAD, choosing the option "SVG as geometry (importSVG)"
• the dimensions of the objects in inkscape and in FreeCAD should now be identical

Poděkování

Thanks to users "freecad-heini-1" and "herbk" for testing and providing valuable feedback.