Are there any experts in file formats here, who In laymans terms can tell me if this is a vector file or what exactly it is?

It was made in a new program called Studio and converted to PDF using CutePDF, when I've used this method in other vector programs to open convert the files to PDF and use in Inkscape, it has always worked in the past but this one seems to be different and I don't understand why.

PDF can store both vector-based and bit-mapped images, as well as other many formats. What version of PDF? You can find out by opening the PDF with a text editor. The first line has the version number.

You might want to try another format like EPS.

Hi Lucille,

Are there any experts in file formats here, who In laymans terms can tell me if this is a vector file or what exactly it is?

What is the file format? Did you intend to upload a file? In what way is this file different from others you've created by this method? What is wrong with it, and how do you want it to be instead? Could the problem be more with the image, than the method of conversion?

What is the Studio native format? Or does it offer other formats besides PDF? Maybe it will open in Inkscape directly, and not require the PDF conversion??

I'm certainly not a "file format expert", but I think even such an expert would need a little more info....

brynn wrote:Hi Lucille,

Are there any experts in file formats here, who In laymans terms can tell me if this is a vector file or what exactly it is?

What is the file format? Did you intend to upload a file? In what way is this file different from others you've created by this method? What is wrong with it, and how do you want it to be instead? Could the problem be more with the image, than the method of conversion?

What is the Studio native format? Or does it offer other formats besides PDF? Maybe it will open in Inkscape directly, and not require the PDF conversion??

I'm certainly not a "file format expert", but I think even such an expert would need a little more info....

Sorry I thought I had uploaded the file no idea where it went, I've now added it.

When I've used CutePDF in the past to 'print' a vector file from programs like Design Master and RoboMaster, the PDF has always opened in Inkscape as a cuttable vector image, in Studio it doesn't as you will see when it's opened. I thought it might be raster but autotrace doesn't work on it and you can't change any of the lines to a different colour or fill it from the colour picker, I've also tried Object to path and that didn't do anything so I'm assuming it isn't a vector image, I've no idea what I'm trying to work with here. Also it is in bits if you select all you can see a grid of what I assume are bounding boxes.

Studio is a new vector drawing program for use with the CraftRobo/Silhouette cutting machines, it is replacing RoboMaster. It only has one save format and that is .studio which I assume is a custom format, but we can still select CutePDF from the print menu. I was hoping that by using this method to save the file in PDF format it would be in vector format as it is with other crafting software so I can share the files I make with people who use other software.

I have tried opening the .studio files in Inkscape but they won't open.

Oooh, a cutter program! I know very little about those, and even less about how they work.

I can tell you what I find, upon opening the file, but I think you probably already know. And I can't explain it. But maybe someone else can.
Btw, when I finish posting, I'll move this topic to the Inscape and Cutters forum. Maybe someone there could help.

When I click on the square, there becomes highlighted something that appears to be transparent, even though it shows a red fill and red stroke in the F/S dialog. The info area says it is a Group of one object. So I ungroup it. Now it's shown to be a 299 x 299 image, embedded. And there's a whole series of those, 12 in total. But still they all appear to be fully transparent, yet I can find no transparency assigned to the image, whether fill, stroke or layer. But THEN, when I move one of them, I see what's happening (file attached). What appears to be either a square shaped path or square shape, is in reality a series of separate images, each containing a portion of that square "path". By opening the XML editor, I learn that the images are PNGs.

So they ARE raster images, it's just that there are 12 of them! I suppose you could use Trace Bitmap to trace each one. Then you will have to join them all together (Path menu > Combine) and you will probably have to join the nodes as well, although I'm not sure about that. Perhaps the cutter can still cut them as a series of individual paths? I don't know enough about cutters though, to say.

So, I can explain what you've got there, but can't explain how or why it happened. But clearly this new program does things differently than you're used to Hopefully someone else can explain, although if it's a new program, you might have to wait awhile. Really we have a handful of people who are quite familiar with cutters, who visit our Cutters forum, so once I move this topic, maybe they will see it.

Thank you. I've been using the CraftRobo and RoboMaster for a very long time, I was the first person in the UK to have one of these machines, so I'm quite familiar with most of the various software on the market, I have most of them. So I'm quite competent with using Inkscape etc to make cutter files. I'm not really concerned about the cutters themselves, it's the files that interest me.

What you did, found explains and confirms all I need to know. So thank you once again for all this information I appreciate it and unless there is a fix for this problem I don't need any further help.

Hi Lucille, the file you attached isnt a true vector, its a series of bitmaps embedded in a SVG file. so essentially bitmap wrapped in vector.
CutePDF appears to have 'printed' the vector from studio to the pdf by converting it into lots of little bitmaps, not an entirely unusual side affect of third party pdf print type exporters, guessing that studio prints via bitmaps so CutePDF isnt having a chance to work with the vectors.
Can you post a sample .studio file? can see if its something complex to interpret.

Found a sample file and took a look, its binary, which is more pain than I want to play with at the minute...