User Decals - A Tutorial On How To Make .SVG (Request in separate thread)

[ghostrider135]

So I was having a think and obviously there are guys like me and Andrew above who go down the route of creating text logo svgs, I reckon this I saw a few weeks ago might come in handy.

https://jalopnik.com/how-to-find-your-favorite-automotive-fonts-1820631571

Does exactly what it says on the tin really, And I would think it should prove quite useful.

 

[alo70]

Hello i read this thread 4 a 5 time but i dont understand how get i a 80kb logo to 15kb logo i have photoshop +illustrator en inkscape i tried to use kraken but still nothing
and as i download a pgn file how convert i it to a valid svg file

please help

thanks guys

 

[Jump_Ace]

@syntex123 Can you add a tutorial to the OP on how to shrink the size a newly minted svg (from a png) down to 15kb? Thats the issue I keep running into. Is it a matter of resizing it? Halp!

I've uploaded a couple examples.


Jerome

 

[andrew1990]

I've been specifically doing typed text logos in Inkscape, After typing I do 3 things.
Path - Object to Path
Object - Ungroup
Path - Combine

I have noticed they do come up quite small though but they can easily be made larger in-game.
Hope that helps.

Doesn't seem to have worked. Which .svg file type have you used?

 

[MatskiMonk]

@syntex123 Can you add a tutorial to the OP on how to shrink the size a newly minted svg (from a png) down to 15kb? Thats the issue I keep running into. Is it a matter of resizing it? Halp!

I've uploaded a couple examples.


Jerome

It's not to do with the dimensions of the file. The trick with "Scaleable" Vector Graphics is that it doesn't really matter what size they are.

Best start by visiting https://jakearchibald.github.io/svgomg/ that normally does a pretty good job on it's standard settings. (upload a file with the OPEN SVG in top left).

If it's still too big, the decal needs to be simplified. This means removing unnecessary nodes, which you'll have to do in a graphics app.

edit:

Sorry just checked your zip. As you traced the Cobra Kai logo it's got waaaayyy to many nodes.

edit 2:

You also still had the bitmap embedded

edit 3:

There's a lot of layers in there.. this is how it looks when they all get separated out, with the original bitmap still in the middle.

It seems to have broken when I opened it.. hence the diagonal lines, not sure what's caused that.

 

[PrinceMG]

I have a weird issue.

I've been able to upload SVG's in the decal uploader. They look fine there. But when I open them in GTS it's nothing there. By nothing, I mean that the names and files are there, but the files are empty. Only one of the logos are visible in GTS, however it's only one corner of a square logo.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[Jump_Ace]

It's not to do with the dimensions of the file. The trick with "Scaleable" Vector Graphics is that it doesn't really matter what size they are.

Best start by visiting https://jakearchibald.github.io/svgomg/ that normally does a pretty good job on it's standard settings. (upload a file with the OPEN SVG in top left).

If it's still too big, the decal needs to be simplified. This means removing unnecessary nodes, which you'll have to do in a graphics app.

edit:

Sorry just checked your zip. As you traced the Cobra Kai logo it's got waaaayyy to many nodes.

edit 2:

You also still had the bitmap embedded

edit 3:

There's a lot of layers in there.. this is how it looks when they all get separated out, with the original bitmap still in the middle.

View attachment 695008


It seems to have broken when I opened it.. hence the diagonal lines, not sure what's caused that.

Okay so if I were to save just that original layer, would that help shrink it down?


Jerome

 

[ghostrider135]

Doesn't seem to have worked. Which .svg file type have you used?

Just Inkscape SVG, Sorry I cant be any more help. I'm still trying to get used to it myself.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Okay so if I were to save just that original layer, would that help shrink it down?

Jerome

Honestly, no. I spent an hour and a half trying to get that as one file, got it down to an indicated 14.5kb, but still got a server error, so it must think it's too big - or it's just been fiddled with so much it's corrupt.

You can see in that screen shot was what I called First pass, that was a quick auto trace, with the bitmap removed.
Second Pass had all the usual duplicated vectors that you get from auto tracing removed.
3rd, 4th and 5th Pass was as I was manually deleting un-necessary nodes (ie. simplifying it where possible)
Then once it got to <30kb, I loaded it into SVGOMG and kept playing with the settings until I got it under 15kb
The two sixth pass ones are trying different things to cure the server error.

.. then Corel Crashed and I lost half of it! So I gave up..

 

[ghostrider135]

Honestly, no. I spent an hour and a half trying to get that as one file, got it down to an indicated 14.5kb, but still got a server error, so it must think it's too big - or it's just been fiddled with so much it's corrupt.

View attachment 695082

You can see in that screen shot was what I called First pass, that was a quick auto trace, with the bitmap removed.
Second Pass had all the usual duplicated vectors that you get from auto tracing removed.
3rd, 4th and 5th Pass was as I was manually deleting un-necessary nodes (ie. simplifying it where possible)
Then once it got to <30kb, I loaded it into SVGOMG and kept playing with the settings until I got it under 15kb
The two sixth pass ones are trying different things to cure the server error.

.. then Corel Crashed and I lost half of it! So I gave up..

I wouldn't worry too much about the server error just seems like a normal server hiccup, You should worry if you start to get an Invalid svg error, I for the life of me cannot understand why, The svg I put together is perfect and just under 15kb but PD says nope.

 

[Jump_Ace]

Honestly, no. I spent an hour and a half trying to get that as one file, got it down to an indicated 14.5kb, but still got a server error, so it must think it's too big - or it's just been fiddled with so much it's corrupt.

View attachment 695082

You can see in that screen shot was what I called First pass, that was a quick auto trace, with the bitmap removed.
Second Pass had all the usual duplicated vectors that you get from auto tracing removed.
3rd, 4th and 5th Pass was as I was manually deleting un-necessary nodes (ie. simplifying it where possible)
Then once it got to <30kb, I loaded it into SVGOMG and kept playing with the settings until I got it under 15kb
The two sixth pass ones are trying different things to cure the server error.

.. then Corel Crashed and I lost half of it! So I gave up..

That's okay man. I really appreciate the time you spent on it!


Jerome

 

[the Interceptor]

I have a weird issue.

I've been able to upload SVG's in the decal uploader. They look fine there. But when I open them in GTS it's nothing there. By nothing, I mean that the names and files are there, but the files are empty. Only one of the logos are visible in GTS, however it's only one corner of a square logo.

What am I doing wrong?

I'm still learning as well, but I had the same issue and found that my decals were not aligned with the work surface. I did align them before saving the SVG, but somehow this information got lost somewhere. When uploaded on GT.com the displaced decal will show up fine, but the game itself will use the work surface as the reference, so any part of your decal which is not within the work surface will be cut off by the game. In contrast, it looks like GT.com ignores the work surface of the SVG file and only shows the decal, so you won't be able to see this issue in the browser.

Open the SVG file on your computer again and check if the decal is centered on the work surface. If it's not, manually mark and move the decal there (no automatic centering/resizing), save the file and open it again to double-check. This did the trick for me (though I haven't tried if this works in the game, but I am pretty sure it will).

 

[MatskiMonk]

I wouldn't worry too much about the server error just seems like a normal server hiccup, You should worry if you start to get an Invalid svg error, I for the life of me cannot understand why, The svg I put together is perfect and just under 15kb but PD says nope.

From what I've noticed 'server error' occurs when there's something in the SVG file that GTS doesn't recognise as a SVG tag. For instance, CorelDraw puts a <CDATA> tag in the code, if I leave this in, it will fail 100% of the time, if I remove that tag manually it solves the problem I wouldn't get the server error again. The only other time I get it is when the files are within a few hundred bytes of the limit. Other than those things, I've not had server errors.

I'm not sure what might cause 'Invalid SVG' though.

 

[ghostrider135]

From what I've noticed 'server error' occurs when there's something in the SVG file that GTS doesn't recognise as a SVG tag. For instance, CorelDraw puts a <CDATA> tag in the code, if I leave this in, it will fail 100% of the time, if I remove that tag manually it solves the problem I wouldn't get the server error again. The only other time I get it is when the files are within a few hundred bytes of the limit. Other than those things, I've not had server errors.

I'm not sure what might cause 'Invalid SVG' though.

I think we can say we probably wouldn't have all these issues if PD weren't so strict about whats allowed and whats not.

 

[MatskiMonk]

I think we can say we probably wouldn't have all these issues if PD weren't so strict about whats allowed and whats not.

IMHO It's not about them being 'strict' as such...

• A lot of people don't even understand the basic concept of vector graphics
• A lot of people don't understand what XML is
• A lot of people don't have, or know how to use, design software
• Design software seems not to export things in a standardised format
• The Uploader seems to interpret SVG's with a purer interpretation as laid out in the official SVG 1.1 Spec
• The server then seems to re-interpret the XML in the SVG to allow it to work with whatever way the 3D models are encoded

... that's a lot of steps where something can go wrong. I fully support PD going with Vectors instead of Bitmaps for the livery editor, but it does require more knowledge and skill, and possibly time... that is the trade off for having something of suitable quality.

Sure, the size limit could be higher... but if they've decided that's what it needs to be, then I can only assume it's for pertinent technical reasons.

 

[Belifant]

IMHO It's not about them being 'strict' as such...

• A lot of people don't even understand the basic concept of vector graphics
• A lot of people don't understand what XML is
• A lot of people don't have, or know how to use, design software
• Design software seems not to export things in a standardised format
• The Uploader seems to interpret SVG's with a purer interpretation as laid out in the official SVG 1.1 Spec
• The server then seems to re-interpret the XML in the SVG to allow it to work with whatever way the 3D models are encoded

... that's a lot of steps where something can go wrong. I fully support PD going with Vectors instead of Bitmaps for the livery editor, but it does require more knowledge and skill, and possibly time... that is the trade off for having something of suitable quality.

Sure, the size limit could be higher... but if they've decided that's what it needs to be, then I can only assume it's for pertinent technical reasons.

I fully agree. And it is not rocket science. All it takes is an hour of youtube tutorials and some practice, and people are able to do 99% of all vector work.

@syntex123 Can you add a tutorial to the OP on how to shrink the size a newly minted svg (from a png) down to 15kb? Thats the issue I keep running into. Is it a matter of resizing it? Halp!

I've uploaded a couple examples.


Jerome

Here you go, no errors while uploading. Issues are as MatskiMonk stated. Everything that is not necessary to the design should be deleted. When you're done with autotrace, it doesn't mean the design is done and finished. There still goes a lot of work into cleaning up the mess autotrace creates. That's why I rarely use it. for most things I'm faster just tracing it by hand.

Due to the low resolution of your original image, autotrace was also tracing the anti aliasing, which created 7 more or less identical curves, where only one is needed:

 

[MMX]

Anybody got an idea why some of my drawn logo or shapes, that are supposed to have a hole in them, the hole doesn't come through to the game?

For example, I recreated the WedsSport logo last night, but the E, P, and O letters don't have their center holes. What is causing that? Using Corel 12.

 

[Belifant]

Anybody got an idea why some of my drawn logo or shapes, that are supposed to have a hole in them, the hole doesn't come through to the game?

For example, I recreated the WedsSport logo last night, but the E, P, and O letters don't have their center holes. What is causing that? Using Corel 12.

Seems a common problem across applications. There are several solutions discussed in this thread. My personal favorite is to just do the cut out twice, that seems to work for some reason.

 

[Jump_Ace]

I fully agree. And it is not rocket science. All it takes is an hour of youtube tutorials and some practice, and people are able to do 99% of all vector work.




Here you go, no errors while uploading. Issues are as MatskiMonk stated. Everything that is not necessary to the design should be deleted. When you're done with autotrace, it doesn't mean the design is done and finished. There still goes a lot of work into cleaning up the mess autotrace creates. That's why I rarely use it. for most things I'm faster just tracing it by hand.

Due to the low resolution of your original image, autotrace was also tracing the anti aliasing, which created 7 more or less identical curves, where only one is needed:
View attachment 695306

Thanks man! I really appreciate it! I'm a total noob when it comes to svg files.


Jerome

 

[CptMadBean]

Any help on this tread be nice https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/need-some-decals.369959/

I'm still getting know where on doing them, just feel like head banging the key broad

 

[regnar]

Any idea of the maximum decals that can be uploaded?, can see these adding up quickly.

 

[MMX]

Seems a common problem across applications. There are several solutions discussed in this thread. My personal favorite is to just do the cut out twice, that seems to work for some reason.

I tried the cut out twice, it just cancels out the first one, and I'm back to a solid shape. My work around has come to be cutting an opening from the hole to the outside, then manually moving the area back together so you can't see it. Seems to be working so far.

 

[NFSCARBON1]

If you want to convert simple logos or text quickly, I've found this website works very well.

http://pngtosvg.com

I find the best results on text is to select 1 colour, then use the livery editor itself to change the text/logo colour to what you need

 

[MatskiMonk]

Any idea of the maximum decals that can be uploaded?, can see these adding up quickly.

There is a counter in the top right of the user decals screen that seems to indicate a limit of 1000.

 

[CptMadBean]

If you want to convert simple logos or text quickly, I've found this website works very well.

http://pngtosvg.com

I find the best results on text is to select 1 colour, then use the livery editor itself to change the text/logo colour to what you need

That got some working, well two but I not understand how they worked. and others just to big file size?
What's the best way to edit size in adode AI, my export don't seem to save files so I need to save as?

I make text in photoshop upload it to that site, then save it using AI. But jpeg file I'm making like 12kb and once I save it in AI it's 99kb or 121kb.
MeisterR logo that also way to big. Smallest I got that 149KB and it looks a mess

Can anyone make that one work please

 

[Belifant]

That got some working, well two but I not understand how they worked. and others just to big file size?
What's the best way to edit size in adode AI, my export don't seem to save files so I need to save as?

I make text in photoshop upload it to that site, then save it using AI. But jpeg file I'm making like 12kb and once I save it in AI it's 99kb or 121kb.
MeisterR logo that also way to big. Smallest I got that 149KB and it looks a mess

View attachment 695684

Can anyone make that one work please

You seem to have spend a lot of time on this already, but do you understand the basic difference between bitmaps and vectors?

This here is a very good explanation:

http://www.gran-turismo.com/au/gtsport/news/00_4307308.html

 

[CptMadBean]

I'm not understanding the software very well and how to keep the files size down.
vectors look cool bitmaps are easy.

This sounds easy but it's also over my head

 

[Belifant]

this is easy, and the solution to all (most) your problems :-)

With bitmaps you will always struggle with the file size and uploading errors. It's not about software, it's about the fundamental difference between bitmaps and vectors.

PS: Seems to be a great tutorial for beginners you have found here, maybe we should place that in the OP.

 

[Devenhill]

I seriously hate this now.

I've been trying for 4 hours to get inkscape to do just one thing: write some text, save as svg, upload decal.

Whatever I try it reads fine in the web uploader, but is blank in GT.

Process so far: Type text, object to path, save as SVG. Nothing.

Any ideas?

 

[ghostrider135]

I seriously hate this now.

I've been trying for 4 hours to get inkscape to do just one thing: write some text, save as svg, upload decal.

Whatever I try it reads fine in the web uploader, but is blank in GT.

Process so far: Type text, object to path, save as SVG. Nothing.

Any ideas?

I'll have a crack at if you like I've been doing text logos on Inkscape.