Skip to main content

Vector artwork support

Intro​

Cavalry supports importing and exporting SVG artwork meaning it's possible to copy/paste SVG code from other vector apps like Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer and Figma.

Details​

As well as importing SVG as an Asset, .svg files can be imported and converted when dragging or pasting them into the Viewport.

Dragging an SVG file from the Assets Window or file system into the Viewport or pasting SVG data via the clipboard will invoke a pop-up dialogue with two options:

  • Asset Layer - Create an SVG layer and connect the .svg asset to the File attribute. If the .svg asset does not already exist in the Assets Window it will be added.
  • Separate Layers - Separate the .svg asset into individual layers, convert each one into an Editable Shape and set the Fill and Stroke to match.
tip

Hold Option/Alt when dragging an SVG asset from the Assets Window or file system into the Viewport or Scene Tree to bypass the modal and Separate Layers.

It's possible to copy/paste SVG code from other vector apps like Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer and Figma.

ApplicationInstructions
Adobe IllustratorEdit > Copy (Cmd/Ctrl + C)
FigmaRight click on a path and select Copy/Paste > Copy as SVG.
Serif Affinity DesignerEdit > Copy (Cmd/Ctrl + C). Ensure Copy Items as SVG is checked in Preferences > General.

To copy a shape to the clipboard as SVG from Cavalry, select a Shape(s) in the Viewport and right click > Copy as SVG.

caution

Support for svg can be a little mixed as it is not a fully featured format. For example, the SVG format has no native support for Inner or Outer Stroke and, as a consequence, different apps have different ways of working around this problem. For this reason parity may not be 100% when exchanging files between applications.

Known issues:

  • Clipping Paths/Masks/Compound Shapes are not currently supported.
  • Gradients are not supported.
  • Opacity is not supported.
  • Blend Modes are not supported.
  • Text is converted to a mesh (it is neither exported or imported as editable Text).