This article explains how to convert a .pdf file with Inkscape in ten steps to a Origin-cuttable .svg file.
- Import your PDF to Inkscape. You can do this either per drag-and-drop or via the menu: 'File' > 'Open'
- The PDF Input windows will show up. You don't need to change anything and press 'OK'.
- This step is only needed if you imported the PDF via drag-and-drop! Select the document with the selection tool (upper left corner, looks like a black cursor or press [F1]). Now press [CTRL + ⇧ + G or command + ⇧ + G] for ungrouping the file. Sometimes you need to do this more than one time until it looks like in the screenshot below. For larger documents this can take a few seconds. Note that this will separate every distinct element in your file, so if you’re importing text, this text may be separated by character, or even parts of inaccurately-rendered characters.
- Now remove everything you don't need. Sometimes it is easier to just drag your workpiece out of the frame and then you can delete the rest.
- Select “Edit paths by nodes”-tool either by pressing [F2] or selecting it from the toolbox (below the cursor) and click on your object. Select all the points you want to include by holding down the left mouse button and drawing a frame around your object.
- Select “Join selected nodes”.
- The result should look like this:
- If your object is not grouped yet, you can switch back to the selection tool by pressing [F1]. You can group the object for better handling by selecting all parts and pressing [CTRL + G or command + G]
- Double-check the size of the object. Check your units to confirm that they are what you intend for your project. Keep in mind that Inkscape includes stroke width in its calculation of its bounding boxes. To change this, go to 'Edit' > 'Preferences' > 'Tools' and select ‘Geometric Bounding box’. Especially if you work with inches, there can be a conversation error. Be aware of, that Inkscape counts the width of the lines to the object, if you didn’t change it in settings (see this article).
- Save your file as a 'Plain SVG' and you're good to go!
