Editing Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)

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[[File:1200px-SVG_logo.svg.png|64px]]

SVG is an image format developed by the [https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web_Consortium World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)] for vector graphics. SVG uses an XML format and is easy to generate on the fly and edit in many programs. [[Inkscape]] and [[Krita]] are leading examples of vector graphics editors using the SVG format, but many other programs can export to SVG.

=Advantages and Disadvantages=

Pros of SVG:
* Supported everywhere!
* Easy to read, easy to write, and a variety of data types to play with (paths, primitives, groups, defs...)
* Classes (like layers, but more flexible, which is both good and bad) with styles at run-time
* Can be turned interactive, with HTML, CSS, and Javascript (animation, hyperlinking, style combo changes, LOD zoom in/out, drag/drop - annoying tag obscuring your drawing? Just flick it away! Real-time updates from RSS or API - no more outdated drawings at site! Etc...)
* Can add properties and metadata relating it back to model space. And not just classes, but serious metadata - could include IFC-XML inside SVG using their "metadata" element.

Cons of SVG:
* CAD programs don't typically treat it as a CAD format. Modification is usually done in artsy programs like [[Inkscape]] which aren't designed for drafting.
* Only one paper space. No absolute units. You can have embedded SVGs (which mean multiple SVGs), but everything has to be bound within a single document at the end of the day, there isn't a native concept of "pages".
* 2D only. Unless you include IFC-XML.

=Resources=
* SVG is listed in the [[AEC_Open_Data_Standards_Directory]]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Vector_Graphics SVG article on Wikipedia]
* [https://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/ World Wide Web Consortium's page on the SVG format]
* Discussion on documentation formats on the OSArch discussion forum [https://community.osarch.org/discussion/170/what-is-best-for-documentation-when-svg-dxf-dwg What is best for documentation when svg, dxf, dwg?]

[[Category:File formats]]