Free or inexpensive way to creat .svg

[IamWSPro]

I have a few ideas and am typically artistic enough to greatvthings. I just don’t have the money to buy the big vector making programs. Does anyone use a program that is free or under $75 to creat decals for GTS. If so please let me know.

Thanks!!

 

[Nuschel01]

Inkscape or Illustrator CS2 are free

 

[syntex123]

^ that, or of course there is the powerful and amazing Affinity Designer. It is on par with Illustrator, some areas Illustrator win, some areas Affinity Designer wins. I really prefer Affinity Designer, as the pen tool of Adobe is kinda "hard" to use. Less clicking in Affinity, your fingers will thank you if you use a trackpad like I am. And you get updates for free, as it is a one-time payment. (if you want something newer and continuously updated than Illustrator CS2, since the new Illustrator CC only lets you use it with a subscription plan)

I'd definitely have a look on youtube before you decide, see which program suits you more. For me Illustrator felt natural to start with since I was used to Photoshop, but making SVG files there was a real head scratcher. I am thankful to @Belifant for showing me Affinity Designer, I love its simple UI and the pen tool is amazing. It's the "cheapest" paid program out there with powerful tools. It's so simple to use. Only downside is that GTS won't recognize gradient decals made with this program though. I don't really care as I make solid color decals 99% of the time.

 

[inri]

inkscape does everything necessary for making whatever you want and it's free

 

[uccio21]

I know some of the best decals creators and they use Inkscape, a guy that work with illustrator told me that for Gt he prefer Inkscape. Some of the most insane work in GT are made with Inkscape.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Obligatory mention of CorelDrawX3, I was lucky enough to pick up a copy for peanuts many years ago - doubt it's still available though. I find it the best compromise of useful features, ease of use, and clean/efficient SVG code.

But, I'd agree... Inkscape is a safe bet because it's free.

 

[IamWSPro]

Awesome I will try Inkscape. I tried using vecteezy online and was able to make what i wanted but when I tried to drop it into GT it said wrong.svg format.

 

[ghostrider135]

Another vote for Inkscape from me, Been gradually learning new techniques with it over the past couple of months, Never really had any problems with it aside from needing to occasionally google how to do something specific, Beyond that though it works fantastically. 👍

 

[DigitalBaka]

I have both Inkscape and Affinity Designer. I like the interface of AD but I don't see much difference between the two. I'd recommend you start with Inkscape and see if you like it and actually want to be bothered to make your own SVGs. Then you can decide if you want to drop money on something else, but as has been said, Inkscape is more than sufficient.

 

[IamWSPro]

Ok. So was using Incscape and was having issues with size of decal. I could see it on Inkscape and when I upload to GTSport. Son i started over doing whatvibthinkbisbthe same process just making it bigger size not file and it uploads but shows nothing. It’s like I’m making it in the transparent layer. Does this make sense?? I’ve even tried a simple text word built from scratch and saved and uploaded and it’s notvthere. Do I have a setting wrong in Incscape. It was working but now it’s not. I’m lost.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Ok. So was using Incscape and was having issues with size of decal. I could see it on Inkscape and when I upload to GTSport. Son i started over doing whatvibthinkbisbthe same process just making it bigger size not file and it uploads but shows nothing. It’s like I’m making it in the transparent layer. Does this make sense?? I’ve even tried a simple text word built from scratch and saved and uploaded and it’s notvthere. Do I have a setting wrong in Incscape. It was working but now it’s not. I’m lost.

When you've finished the decal, before you save it, select it all, then got to Edit > Resize page to selection .. or press Ctrl+Shift+R... then save as... when saving remember to save as PLAIN SVG not inkscape SVG.

edit: Also, if you're struggling with size check out https://jakearchibald.github.io/svgomg/

You can drag/upload your file there, use the slider on the right to adjust the optimisation level, then download the optimised file. Depending on your original file this can shrink file sizes to half/third their original size.

 

[Nuschel01]

Usually when I get some weirdly cut logos into GTS I just open the SVG, copy the logo, put it in a new file and save that

 

[uccio21]

In general Illustrator or Inkscape are good if you need to work "manually", but not very good for automatic tracing. You can also use website like vectorized

 

[IamWSPro]

Thank you all for the tips. I will deff try those out.

However I don’t think I’m explaining my problem correctly. It’s like I have two diff canvases I’m working on. On one nothing shows when I load it to The uploder. But on another one I see it in inscape and save it as a plane svg as discribed above but it’s not visible on the downloaded. It downloads and does not give me an error or anything but it’s not there.
This is why I think it’s a setting in Incscape somehow got changed between designing on diff canvases even a fresh one.

 

[syntex123]

Don’t auto trace like mr uccio here says unless it’s high res and really simple, it turns out like crap 99% of the time. And the file size is usually bigger than tracing it yourself.

If it’s only text you struggle with, you need to convert it to curves before saving, GTS won’t ‘read’ text unless it has been converted to curves.

 

[zeptrans]

I have a few ideas and am typically artistic enough to greatvthings. I just don’t have the money to buy the big vector making programs. Does anyone use a program that is free or under $75 to creat decals for GTS. If so please let me know.

Thanks!!

Try Inkscape for example, free & easy.