Fine tuning SVG placement

[cjhilinski]

Often when I'm importing SVG files, I will want to put them on different sketch layers. I may design an image completely in Inkscape, but will break it apart when saving it so I can bring it into F360 as separate parts. Within Inkscape, I'll put in a registration/alignment mark that's on each svg "layer" to help with alignment (I have some print shop/newspaper production background). 

Anyway, when I'm in F360, I need to enlarge the window so I can make fine adjustments to the placement of each SVG. However, when I enlarge the screen, the tool to move ends up outside of the screen area so I can't see it or select the movement button. What am I missing? I want to be able to zoom in on a point and still be able to move the image.

A second issue with SVG files is related to scaling an SVG. It would be nice if there was a way to have it scale from the original size instead of the current size after moving the image. For example, let's say I bring in a circle and scale it from 10 inches in diameter to 15 using  1.5  in the scaling/movement/rotation tool. I then move the circle and say "Oh, I should have scaled it at 1.3 instead...I needed this at 13 inches." I can't rescale it at 1.3 because that would make it 1.3 * 15 = 19.5. So I have to figure out what to scale the new 15 size at to get to 13. If I overshoot and make it too small, then I have to do the math to figure out what to scale it again. If you don't move the svg, you can keep adjusting the scale against the original image, but as soon as you move it, that locks it into the new size. Again, what am I missing here?

[innovatenate]

Can you record an Autodesk Screencast of the behavior you are describing when you're making adjustments to the placement of the SVG? I'm having a difficult time understanding what you mean. I know that I use the double middle mouse button click to zoom all as a shortcut. I find that I'm able to zoom, orbit and pan while placing an SVG without losing the move dialog, so I'm a bit lost. 

With regards to scaling, if you want to change a model from 15 to 13, let Fusion do the math for you. Enter in 13/15 in the Modify > Scale dialog. Fusion will automatically do the math for you and scale by 0.xxx-xxxxxxxx modifying to size from 15 to 13 (15*0.xxx-xxxxxxxx = 13). 

I hope that helps.

[cjhilinski]

I'll try to explain more concisely. When you import an image, the tool to move it left/right/rotate/etc. is a few screen inches northwest of the actual image. If you use the middle mouse button and zoom in, enlarging the screen will eventually move that tool off the screen where it can no longer be seen or accessed. It would be nice if the tool stayed at a fixed location irrespective of zooming in.

The second point about scaling is that the scale is applied to the CURRENT size and not the ORIGINAL size. Once you move the object the original size is forgotten and any scaling is done against the current size. It would be nice if there were an option to always use the original size for scaling, say a checkbox that says Apply Scale to Original Size.

If I import an image now and it's 10 inches and I think I need it around 5 inches. So I scale .5. So the current size is now 5 inches. But upon further view, it really ought to be a bit bigger. So now I scale it 1.2 so that makes the current size 6 inches. Damned, 6 inches is too big. I need it somewhere between 5 and 6. If I wanted to get back to 5, I'd have to scale by .83333333.... So now I need to scale it somewhere between .833 and 1.0. As I make adjustments, I'm scaling back and forth between 1.x and 0.x and I quickly lose track of what I'm really doing. 

If you know exactly the size of the image you are starting with and exactly the final size, you can handle it with the initial import. But if you're going to align/arrange/size "by eye," it can be a nightmare. If you could just change the scale and have it always apply to the original size, it would be much easier. Then I could size by .5, change to .55 then maybe to .54 and I'd have some relative idea of what I'm doing. Imagine if you went though all the adjustments for one image and then you want to import a second one that fits within the first. 

For my purposes, the best workaround might be to import and image and scale it. If it's not what I want, delete the image and import it again and try a new scale. Keep doing that until I finally hit the size I need.

[cjhilinski]

Okay, I did my first screencast ever so I have no idea if I did it correctly. It sent me an email with this link http://autode.sk/2B8jkq0 .

If that works, it shows me importing an svg. There's a crosshair in the svg that I want to line up exactly with the center point. If I zoom out so I can see the move/rotate tool, the view of the svg becomes too small to see me trying to get the crosshair on the centerpoint. So I have to zoom out so I can see the tool, move the thing a bit, zoom back in to check the alignment, zoom back out to select the tool again and move the image a little more, zoom back in to see if it's aligned correctly yet, zoom back out, back in, back out, etc. It can't really be this clumsy; I must be doing something wrong or missing something.

[jeff_strater · Accepted solution]

Sorry to jump in, but I see the problem here.  Whatever tool was used to create this SVG put it a long way from the origin, and Fusion puts the manipulator on the origin, so it can be hard to position it.  A couple of comments:  You can use the precise input to adjust, even if you cannot drag the handles.  So, get it close, then type in numbers to get it where you want it.  Second, and more important, the positioning inside the Insert SVG dialog is not the only way to move the geometry.  You can the the SVG "close" to where you want it, the plop it down there.  For performance reasons, we bring in SVG geometry as "fixed".  But, if you unfix it, you can move it using the Move command.  See the screencast below:

Jeff

[cjhilinski]

Fix/unfix and then doing the point to point move works fine. The svg, by the way, was done in Inkscape. And the part I showed was just one of the pieces to the entire image. I wanted each of the pieces on a separate sketch...think four-color plates in the printing industry. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

i know this conversation is a little outdated. But you are describing exactly my problem. It's really annoying that the scale is resetting to 1.0 after moving the SVG.

Did you / or anyone else find a real solution for this problem?

[fencemoore]

100% INSANELY annoying and completely slows down the import process. Same thing happens with XYZ position. Whenever one of the factors is change, they all essentially reset to neutral (regardless what it says on the screen). So I move something -5mm left but it need to be -4mm left. I can change it at this point and it will shift 1mm positive. However, if I do this... Move it -5mm in X. THEN +2mm in Y. Then I realize I'm 1mm off in the X, the dialog still shows -5mm but in reality... Fusion now considers the X to be at 0 so if I change it to -4mm, it doesn't adjust from -5 to -4... it actually moves the whole thing 4mm further left as it reset the X position to 0 even though it still shows -5mm. Wildly annoying. This isn't as cumbersome as scaling but the same thing happens.

Ideal behavior - I THINK - is to maintain the starting position and scale so that changes to the dialog box are all relative to the original location. Less ideal but still more logical, reset the dialog for scale and position to 0 whenever a different value is changed. 

[TheCADWhisperer]

@fencemoore 

This is an ancient thread.

Can you File>Export your *.f3d file to illustrate your issue to your local drive and then Attach it here to a Reply?

One of the experts here will demonstrate how they handle this process in 2025.