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Author Topic: Having problems with Inkscape..  (Read 7986 times)

August 31, 2017, 02:00:59 PM
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khedley

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Hello. I have been using Inkscape for quite awhile now, however, recently, I have been experiencing the following problems with it:

1. When I import a PDF file, it's invisible. I can click it, resize it, all that but nothing shows up. I have tried going to View > Display Mode > Clicking all of the options but none of them show my pdf. (I just did this recently and it worked fine)

2. When I copy and paste a single bezier line, it does the same thing. It's invisible. I can move it around, resize it, all of that but it doesn't show up.

3. If I try and go to File > Export PNG Image, it doesn't work with anything. I get an error message that says "the chosen area to be exported is invalid" (I just did this aswell and it worked fine! not anymore... :-( )

4. Don't know if this is a problem or just with one project I was working on but Inkscape was very very verrrrrry slow and would say "not responding" for literally like 3 minutes.

Hopefully someone can help me... Thanks in advance!!

September 01, 2017, 07:12:05 PM
Reply #1

brynn

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Welcome to the forum!

I'm sorry to hear about these problems.  Fortunately, it sounds like it might be relatively simple options somewhere that you forgot about or accidentally set.

1.  The PDF looks like it's blank, but you can select things, and see their bounding boxes? 

My first guess about what's happening is that the entire layer's opacity has been reduced almost  completely.  Open Layers menu > Layers...., and look at the Opacity slider.  Make sure it's 100%

2.  If you're using the Pen/Bezier tool for everything in the file, it could be a Shape option is enabled.  Look on the control bar for the Pen/Bezier tool for the Shape dropdown menu.  Make sure it says None.

3.  I probably need to look at a file which is showing this problem, to investigate about Export PNG.  Are you also saving SVGs?  Or do you only save PDFs?  Since some things might not be editable as PDF, it's probably a good idea to always save an SVG file, just to be safe.

4.  This sounds like a performance issue, which is usually caused by a very large file size.  Have you ever used File menu > Clean Up Document (or earlier versions it was called Vacuum Defs).  You can try that right away.

For everything else, if you could share a PDF file that is showing these problems, we can investigate without having to guess.  If you have an SVG file from before you saved as PDF, please share that too.  If there's no SVG file from before saving  as PDF, then we'll just have to work with PDF.

Also, please tell us your Inkscape version and operating system.
  • Inkscape version 0.92.3
  • Windows 7 Pro, 64-bit
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September 02, 2017, 05:16:58 AM
Reply #2

Moini

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3.) Make sure the export area is not 'Custom', but 'page' or 'selection' (choose the corresponding tab at the top).

September 02, 2017, 02:15:52 PM
Reply #3

flamingolady

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It's hard to tell without seeing the document. Just taking a wild guess for something to try for your #3: make sure your objects, etc are within the bounding box.  If inkscape doesn't show your box/border, you can turn it on by going to Document Properties and checking 'show page border'.  Depending on whether or not you are selecting objects to export or choosing to export the entire document, could make a difference.  It exports best/easiest (for me anyway) when the objects are within the border and I export the entire document. 

September 05, 2017, 08:54:57 AM
Reply #4

khedley

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3.) Make sure the export area is not 'Custom', but 'page' or 'selection' (choose the corresponding tab at the top).

This fixed my #3 problem! Thank you Moini!!  :-D

September 05, 2017, 09:14:37 AM
Reply #5

khedley

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Welcome to the forum!

I'm sorry to hear about these problems.  Fortunately, it sounds like it might be relatively simple options somewhere that you forgot about or accidentally set.

1.  The PDF looks like it's blank, but you can select things, and see their bounding boxes? 

My first guess about what's happening is that the entire layer's opacity has been reduced almost  completely.  Open Layers menu > Layers...., and look at the Opacity slider.  Make sure it's 100%

2.  If you're using the Pen/Bezier tool for everything in the file, it could be a Shape option is enabled.  Look on the control bar for the Pen/Bezier tool for the Shape dropdown menu.  Make sure it says None.

3.  I probably need to look at a file which is showing this problem, to investigate about Export PNG.  Are you also saving SVGs?  Or do you only save PDFs?  Since some things might not be editable as PDF, it's probably a good idea to always save an SVG file, just to be safe.

4.  This sounds like a performance issue, which is usually caused by a very large file size.  Have you ever used File menu > Clean Up Document (or earlier versions it was called Vacuum Defs).  You can try that right away.

For everything else, if you could share a PDF file that is showing these problems, we can investigate without having to guess.  If you have an SVG file from before you saved as PDF, please share that too.  If there's no SVG file from before saving  as PDF, then we'll just have to work with PDF.

Also, please tell us your Inkscape version and operating system.

Thank you for your helpful replies!
In response to #1, I have attached an image showing my pdf that I imported that is showing up invisible and showing the layer 100% opacity.
pdf fail.JPG
*pdf fail.JPG
(66.93 kB . 1228x622)
(viewed 5286 times)


In response to #2, the shape option was set to 'none' so..   :-|

In response to #3,I do save SVG's and PDF's but I like to have a PNG when saving logo's but another response's advice fixed my problem (so far!)

In response to #4, I'll use that from now on. I didn't know what that was used for!

In response to your last statement, the PDF logo I am trying to import that is showing up invisible is attached (pdf and svg).
PDF LOGO.svg
*PDF LOGO.svg
(189.84 kB . 1275x360)
(viewed 5263 times)


*Smooth Logo.pdf
(100.47 kB - downloaded 112 times)


My Inkscape version is 0.92.0 and my operating system is Windows 10.

....my preview of the reply is saying "you are not allowed to view attachments and because I am new, I am not sure if it just means I can't see them but you can or you can't also?

September 05, 2017, 01:02:52 PM
Reply #6

Moini

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Not sure why it's invisible, but it helps to select the object, then press Ctrl+U 3 or 4 times to ungroup.
Probably an issue with masking/clipping being imported incorrectly.

September 05, 2017, 01:15:46 PM
Reply #7

khedley

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Not sure why it's invisible, but it helps to select the object, then press Ctrl+U 3 or 4 times to ungroup.
Probably an issue with masking/clipping being imported incorrectly.

That fixed it! Thank you so much!

September 05, 2017, 02:46:56 PM
Reply #8

brynn

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Is everything fixed now?
  • Inkscape version 0.92.3
  • Windows 7 Pro, 64-bit
Inkscape Tutorials (and manuals)                      Inkscape Community Gallery                        Inkscape for Cutting Design                     



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September 05, 2017, 02:56:41 PM
Reply #9

khedley

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Is everything fixed now?

So far yes! Thanks for all the helpful advice!!  :-D :-D