I used the initial release of Seamless Beta for desktop. I was able to import my .svg files into the "My Shapes" category.

Eventually that version was closed. I recently reformatted my hard drive so none of the old files should be present to cause any issues.

A couple days ago I downloaded the new release of Seamless Beta for the desktop. I have Adobe Air installed.

I can't import .svg files into Seamless. When I try the .svg doesn't show up in My Shapes. The shape box appears in the menu, but looks empty. When I select the "empty" shape and stretch it out nothing appears.

Then when I click on the pencil (select) icon I do get a result. A selection box with the typical corners and the rotation handle appears off canvas. I can drag it onto the canvas but it's invisible. And my mouse seems bogged down. The pointer is wonky and heavy.

I create my own .svg files in Illustrator / Adobe CS5.5. That is the latest version.

1. Could there be a problem with the version of Illustrator I am using?
2. Could there be a problem with my save options?
3. Does Seamless prefer the Mac platform as opposed to Windows?
4. Is this a typical problem for Windows users?

Thank you.

CPP

Could you email me the SVG that's not importing properly for you? brian [at] colourlovers.com. Seamless Studio is identical across all platforms (because it's built with Adobe AIR), so it shouldn't be a platform-specific issue.

Also, if you go to "Help" > "About", can you tell me what version you're running?

Yes, I will be happy to do that!

I'm having the same problem. I just download the trial version but I can't import my svg files.

Verub wrote:

I'm having the same problem. I just download the trial version but I can't import my svg files.

Can you email me the SVG files that you are unable to import? I'd be happy to look into it! My email address is: brian [at] colourlovers.com

thank you Brianreavis

Could you please tell me if there is a solution to this problem yet? I am having the same problem. Thanks.

It's something that's really dependent on the SVGs you try to import --- do you mind emailing me one that's not working for you? brian [at] colourlovers.com.

I had this happen too and I was completely baffled! Check your colorspace; I had mine in CMYK by default, but once I saved my .svg files in the RGB colorspace, it worked just fine.

Same thing happened to me. I've tried importing a few different SVGs saved from illustrator with a number of different settings, as well as SVGs with different color settings, both RGB and CMYK. Nothing has worked.

I had this problem, I found that now if I do this all my shapes (so far) seem to work... select all, flatten transparency, pathfinder (add), then export to SVG, and it will then import.
Otherwise some of mine were doing what is stated here...


My question / problem / issue... I really wish, or maybe I am missing how, to import more complex shapes that need multiple colors in one file... Or to be able to just freehand draw?

Hi guys! ...So far, I have identified two things that keep vectors from importing:

-compound vectors
(which means that you have multiple fill and stroke colours in your svg; if it imports at all, it will import as a solid one-colour shape. ...as InsomniaMama states above, you must simplify the shape with the pathfinder tool. ...If you do not know what the pathfinder tool is, then please google it; this information is covered extensively elsewhere, and with pictures, too! :)

Addendum to compound shapes:
...Sometimes when I use the blob brush and the eraser, Illustrator will create garbage layers - they are not really there, but it's enough to stop the import since the shape is now a 'false' compound shape. So open up your layers and look for the thumbnails of pieces that are the wrong colour (usually white), and just delete them. ...make sure to watch your shape as you do, in case you actually created a true compound shape - deleting the off-colour parts in this case will destroy your shape, if you are not careful!

-too complex a vector
I have experimented with reducing the points on my shapes. ...A shape with less than 3200 points will usually import. Ones with 3600+ never have, in my experience to date. (I can't get more specific than that, unfortunately. I don't know what the real magic number is.) ...Again, try googling 'simplify paths in illustrator' and you will find lots of info. :)

While it would be great if an error message could tell you what the problem was, it's not that big a deal. If one of my shapes will not import; I know that I can fix it; I just have to go back to Illustrator to do it and make sure that my shape is compliant with rules one and two :)

As for more complex shapes/colours, I know that there are more elegant solutions, but here is what I used for this template:


1 - I drew my paisley in 4 colours. (Simpler designs without all the tiny details don't need steps 2-6!)
2 - I saved it as an .ai file and opened that in Photoshop as a very large file.(Photoshop is my old stomping ground; I am still much more comfortable with it than with Illustrator.)
3 - In Photoshop, I broke the paisley up into 4 layers based on colour. (This step could be done in Illustrator, using "Flatten Transparency" and then the pathfinder -- but given the combination of strokes and fills that made up my shape, I took the easy (read: lazy!) way out. :) )
4 - Set the top layer, and made sure I had adequate bleed on the 3 sublayers. (This is important!)
5 - selected the layers, converted them to 0.5 variation paths and 'copied' the paths
6 - pasted the paths, one at a time into Illustrator, where I reassembled them to make sure that they still fit cleanly after simplifying them - (important, since creating and copying paths from photoshop will give you lots of jaggies that eat up your point count!) Touch up edges if necessary; use pathfinder to merge the pasted file and your cleanup file. - The blob brush is great for this! ...but make sure you have read how to use it, or you will just be creating more problems for yourself.
7 - save each colour as separate svgs
8 - import seperately into seamless
9 - manually reassemble your shape - irritating, because for some reason they will not import at 1:1 scale to each other and have to be manually rescaled....
10 - Voila! (more or less)

Hope that helps! :)

Well I will add that I first tried just simplifying with the pathfinder in illustrator and it would sometimes end up filling in areas of my shapes that I didn't want - taking away transparent spots. So that is how I stumbled into trying other combinations with it and doing the flatten transparency before pathfinder seems to fix the issue for me.. I keep my transparent areas (99% of the time) and simplify enough to get the svg into Seamless.

I sure do wish seamless had a freehand tool to draw with, or just accept ai files straight forwardly, sure seems like that would be heaven to use in it. :D


I su

Maybe I am a little confused myself though here, about the community patterns and the ones that can be created in Seamless -- Are those one and the same, or different altogether...

For instance -- is a pattern like this one where it's very complex not created in seamless studio - http://www.colourlovers.com/pattern/template/121134/Merry_Old_SantaClaus or is someone really putting in day(s)++ fitting each little colorable area together for the overall pattern? lol...

Maybe wrongly so, before buying I thought all the patterns in the community were coming from being created in the program itself... If rightly so, then wow even more... all the more amazing considering how single flat colored the svg have to be when imported to SS. ;)

Your paisley sample is great, and sort of the path I have been taking so far to get complex bits together... but something like that Santa pattern seems monumental to come up with considering all areas that must have been separated?

Mama:
Underneath each template, there is a link that describes whether or not the pattern was created in Seamless Studio or in Seamless Lite. Seamless Lite means it was made on the website, Seamless Studio means it was made offline using purchased software.

The fantastic santa you reference was made in Seamless Studio, though it looks to my eye like Guida put it together using all (or almost all) 'stock' shapes - the same shapes built in to SS and SL.

If you look at Santa's hands, they are made of simple squares and circles - they only look like 'hands' because of her amazing artistry in putting them together. If I were to guess, I would say that his hair is the seaweed shape and his beard is the coral shape; I suspect that the bowl of his pipe is a combination of a circle and then a square in the background colour to hide part of the circle.

Back to Illustrator:

If your shape is publishing to Seamless as a single, filled-in blob, then you are trying to import a compound vector.

You can tell that a shape is a compound shape if you 'select all' and the colour for the fill/stroke colour icon at the bottom of the toolbar has grey question marks instead of solid colours.

The pathfinder tool is actually quite complex, with multiple settings. You would have to use duplicate layers and 'pathfinder:minus front' to keep those transparent spots from being filled in. ...That's what I mean by compound shapes - the white parts of your illustrator document are actually white fills, not 'holes' in the black -- which is what you need if you want to import the image to seamless. They only look transparent because of Illustrator's white background. 'Flatten transparency' is essentially a pathfinder macro: what you gain in convenience, you lose in control.

If you are having trouble in illustrator, you can export to photoshop as I describe above. If you do it correctly, the shape you import back to Illustrator will no longer be a compound vector.



Re: freehand drawing

Seamless is a tiling program, not a drawing program. (Just as Illustrator is a drawing program; not a tiling program.) I understand what you mean, but I think it is a little like wanting your car to also be a toaster. :) ...It can be done with effort and ingenuity, but the toaster is designed to make toast, and will do a better job with less work on your part.

Being that it has the other types of line tools, wishing for freehand doesn't seem too far out of the realm of possibilities... Just something to doodle with would be a handy feature.

Or that since it can export with colors in tact that it could import with more coloring options in tact -- maybe in a future version. ;)


My issue with illy was more that I am using plugins in illsutrator that really do make the things I've drawn even more complex in some situations -- rosettes, tiles, lattices, etc... And pathfinder was stumbling on areas that should have remained transparent at times and didn't while working just as it should other times. So flattening transparency worked well for me and is just another suggestion for those who don't want to work between even more programs - Seamless, Illustrator, and Photoshop - if they are having similar problems or even just another work around to try for any situation. :)

Thanks for the other info on the patterns, I didn't look at the Santa too closely just used it as an example... Trying to just figure out how to work smartest and not hardest.... ;) lol....

I'm having a lot of problems with this too. I am now making designs in Photoshop and Illustrator and most will not upload via Seamless even though they are converted to SVG. Can someone tell me SIMPLY how to do this?

Dear AR:

Unfortunately, since Illustrator is not a simple program, it is very difficult to give simple answers unless someone is already familiar with it. :)

Please read my post above re: compound vectors and number of points. Let me know what isn't clear and I will try to walk you through it. :)

If you'd prefer, you can also send me an email with the svg that won't import - lovenote me and we can exchange contact info - that way I'll know exactly what's going wrong, and the shortest number of steps to fix it. :)

OldeAuntieRae wrote:

I'm having a lot of problems with this too. I am now making designs in Photoshop and Illustrator and most will not upload via Seamless even though they are converted to SVG. Can someone tell me SIMPLY how to do this?

You folks are great and really helpful.