Wikipedia:Graphics Lab/Resources/SVG FAQ

This FAQ was designed to help graphists deal with SVG problems. See also: Graphic Lab/Resources/Image FAQ.

This FAQ is currently under construction. Anyone with SVG skills may help.

Note that the procedures in this FAQ refer to Inkscape. You can download it at here

Progress

 * Text issues- under construction.  Zoo Fari  21:40, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

Why is the text in my SVG replaced with black boxes?
If you’ve made diagrams or SVGs with text, you’ve probably encountered issues with the text turning into black rectangles when uploading to Wikimedia. These aren’t problems with the SVGs. They are rendering issues that Wikimedia is unable to fix, thus the text elements turn black. Black boxes are caused by the modification of text after it has been stretched or skewed. To prevent this, use the font tool as an alternative way of enlarging the text. To fix text that has already been stretched or skewed, select Convert to text under the Text menu. Alternatively, you can convert the text element to path by selecting Object to path under the Path menu.

Why does the text in my SVG render at a different font than what I want it?
You will probably want to get fancy with your SVG, but Wikimedia will only render specific fonts. These fonts are called web-safe fonts, which include Times and Arial. If you choose a desired font that is not web-safe, the text will render in the default font—Arial. To allow Wikimedia to run a non-safe font, you will need to convert the text element to a path by selecting Object to path under the Path menu. Please note that converting text to path is an unwise decision, as it boosts the file size and it makes it difficult for graphists to modify the text. Consider using a web-safe font listed in this article.