Export label piece text as text

[alexandria_tale]

Hello!

I used the old Valentina for a few years and just know that it changed into Seamly2D and has many new features. Overall, I like the update. I just have one problem, is it possible to export label piece text as text?

So, I usually export my file as .svg and edit it again on Adobe Illustrator. I like to add text labels and make the lines into different color if needed. Usually I also changed the text so it’s convenient if the text is exported as text, but I just realized that the new Seamly export the text into path, so I need to re-label all my pattern pieces.

This is what I usually do:

This is the current export:

It’s minor, but I also like the old arrow appearance better.

I tried to open the file via the old Valentina, but it doesn’t support the new version. Does anyone know how to export text and arrow as the old Valentina?

Thank you so much!

[Douglas]

@alexandria_tale

is it possible to export label piece text as text?

Yes. In either the Export or Layout print dialogs leave the Text as paths unchecked. If you check one of these the text will be converted to curves.

@alexandria_tale

So, I usually export my file as .svg and edit it again on Adobe Illustrator. I like to add text labels and make the lines into different color if needed.

You can set the Label color in the Preferences. Eventually I will update the Text Manager to be able to set the text color.

@alexandria_tale

I tried to open the file via the old Valentina, but it doesn’t support the new version.

Seamly2D will only open Valentina .val pattern files up to ver 0.6.0. whch is when the project forked. If the Valentina pattern is 0.6.1 or above Seamly can’t open it, as the app’s schema start to diverge. And vice versa. Valentina can’t open Seamly2D ver 0.6.1 and above, You might try to edit the version number in a text editor, and if you didn’t use any newer tools it may open.

@alexandria_tale

Does anyone know how to export text and arrow as the old Valentina?

Text can be as noted above. Arrows - not possible at this time. The arrows are hard coded.

[Grace]

@alexandria_tale

It’s minor, but I also like the old arrow appearance better.

Hello @alexandria_tale

I also do quite a bit in Illustrator, and like to recreate my own arrows, especially for the on-fold arrows:

I normally just use arrow 1, and the size is normally based on the line thickness, but mostly 100 works.

[alexandria_tale]

Hi @Douglas thank you for answering!

I have left the Text as paths on the layout print setting unchecked, but my Export Pattern Pieces layout is a bit different than yours. Mine doesn’t have that Text as paths option

So maybe this is why the text is automatically exported as paths?

Hi @Grace thank you for the tips! I didn’t realize there’s arrow option there! It sure makes it easier, thank you!

Btw, I want to quote the messages but I forgot how to do it.

[Grace]

@alexandria_tale

Mine doesn’t have that Text as paths option

Try doing the export directly from Piece Mode. It works much better and has the Text option. Just layout our pieces more-or-less how you would like them to export and click the icon.

@alexandria_tale

I want to quote the messages but I forgot how to do it.

Just highlight the text you would like to quote - the options come up to Quote or Edit.

[alexandria_tale]

@Grace

Try doing the export directly from Piece Mode. It works much better and has the Text option. Just layout our pieces more-or-less how you would like them to export and click the icon.

Thank you! It does have the Text as path option on the Piece mode. Unfortunately, it still export my text as path. So I check the Text as path option to see if maybe that’s the answer, and it does export the text as path but the difference is:

This is when I uncheck the Text as path, the filling is in black:

And this is when I check the option, the filling is white:

And thank you for the quote tips!

[Douglas]

@alexandria_tale

And this is when I check the option, the filling is white:

Correct. It’s white because it’s just the path with no fill. If you’ve using the export with a plotter or cutter you can’t plot or cut the fill, so only the path is used. It’s the same thing with fonts… not all fonts are plotter fonts… so by converting the text to a path it can be plotted.

[Douglas]

@Grace

@alexandria_tale

Mine doesn’t have that Text as paths option

Try doing the export directly from Piece Mode. It works much better and has the Text option.

Hmmm… I wonder why the path option is not available in layout mode? I’ll have to take a look. BTW… the screencap I used was the export from Piece Mode.

[Grace]

@Douglas

Hmmm… I wonder why the path option is not available in layout mode?

Hmmm… I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I’m hoping that the Layout mode will go away soon

@alexandria_tale

And this is when I check the option, the filling is white:

You can just select the group with the text in & add a fill to all the text in that group.

[Douglas]

@Grace

Hmmm… I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I’m hoping that the Layout mode will go away soon

I took a quick look… the export dialog is the same regardless of which mode you’re in, which is why I wondered what was up. For some reason RT has the “Text as path” removed in Layout mode? The else clause makes no sense, as there’s no reason to hide the checkbox in any mode.

if (m_mode != Draw::Layout)
{
    removeFormatFromList(LayoutExportFormat::PDFTiled);
}
else
{
    ui->textAsPaths_Checkbox->setVisible(false);
}

In any case if we were to remove the layout mode, I’d want to remove this layout mode relevant code from the Export Dialog class.

[alexandria_tale]

@Douglas

Correct. It’s white because it’s just the path with no fill. If you’ve using the export with a plotter or cutter you can’t plot or cut the fill, so only the path is used. It’s the same thing with fonts… not all fonts are plotter fonts… so by converting the text to a path it can be plotted.

@Grace

You can just select the group with the text in & add a fill to all the text in that group.

Ohh I see, then currently there’s no way to export the text as text?

Just in case we have a miscommunication, this is what I meant by export the text by text, I can directly edit the label text

This is what the export currently do, the text is converted into path

[Grace]

Yes, I see that it does the same on mine, even in Inkscape

@Douglas… Please help

[Douglas]

@alexandria_tale

Ohh I see, then currently there’s no way to export the text as text?

@Grace

Yes, I see that it does the same on mine, even in Inkscape

No. Regardless of export format, the way the export currently works is by rendering the current scene data into an image. Selecting the “Text as Path” will only convert the text (and grainlines) into outlines… other wise the text (and grainlines) will be filled… but it’s still exported as an image. Plus when you think about it. some of the export formats don’t even support text - such as jpg’s. It would take more robust export routines, based on each format, to save a file with the text embedded rather than an image.

[alexandria_tale]

@Douglas @Grace Okay! Thank you so much for all your help!

[Douglas]

@alexandria_tale

Thank you so much for all your help!

Sorry that I didn’t have a better answer for you. I did however check if Qt has any built in support for exporting text in SVG’s. Unfortunately it doesn’t. Which is odd because it does support reading SVG’s - which may contain text elements. The only export support Qt has is to render painter objects which can be saved as the various file formats as shown in the Seamly2D export dialog. Since Qt doesn’t support exporting text with formats that allow it, it would mean having to write custom routines for each format. Not a high priority on the TO DO list at this time, but not something I’d rule out.

Ideally though I would hope we can get Seamly2D to the point where it would be uneccessary to post process in other apps like Ilustrator or Inkscape.

[alexandria_tale]

It’s okay! I really appreciate you both for answering my questions, whether now or before (I have asked a few questions a few years back). Thank you so much!