Import an SVG, PDF, or Illustrator file

Use this when your artwork is already a vector file, such as a logo from a designer or a cut file: Boldbobbin turns each path into an editable fill, satin, or running line, so you get clean edges without tracing a picture. It reads SVG, PDF, and Adobe Illustrator (.ai) files that were saved with PDF compatibility (the default when saving from Illustrator).

1. File → Import → Import SVG / PDF…, or click Import in the tool rail's Automation section and pick Vector graphics from the chooser. (You can also drag a file onto the canvas: see drag-and-drop below.)
2. The Import SVG / PDF dialog opens with two columns: drop or pick your file on the left (or Replace… to swap a loaded one), and a live preview of the imported objects on the hoop on the right, with a summary like "12 paths → 14 objects · 80 × 60 mm source" and any warnings. New in v1.3.2, the preview has three views: Vector (the shapes, where it opens), Stitch (the stitches the import will make), and Realistic (the same stitches drawn as thread, when your computer can show Realistic). While the import works, a list over the preview shows each step as it goes.
3. Set the options and click Import N objects.

Example: a two-color club logo for a left chest

An SVG with a red badge and a navy outline, to sew 75 mm wide.

1. Set Width (mm) to 75; the height follows.
2. Leave Center on hoop, Resolve overlaps, and Optimize entry & exit points on.
3. The outline is a 3 mm stroke at that size, so it comes in as satin (wider than Bean ≤ 2.5, up to Satin ≤ 8). For a lighter bean-stitch outline, raise Bean ≤ to 3.
4. Switch the preview to Stitch to check the outline sews as a satin border, then click Import N objects.

Multi-page files

If a PDF or .ai file has more than one page (artboard), an Artboard picker appears: choose which page to import as "Artboard N of Total." Only one artboard imports at a time.

Illustrator files that won't open

• Older Illustrator files (EPS-based, Illustrator ≤ 8) can't be read at all: re-save from Illustrator as SVG, or with "Create PDF Compatible File" enabled.
• A modern .ai saved without PDF compatibility can't be read either: re-save with that same option enabled, or export as SVG.

Boldbobbin tells you which of these happened rather than showing a generic error.

Options

• Size: set Width (mm) and Height (mm), or click Fit to hoop to scale the design to the largest size that fits your current hoop. The aspect ratio is locked by default; unlock it to stretch axes independently.
• Center on hoop: place the import centered in the hoop (on by default).
• Optimize entry & exit points: after importing, place where the thread enters and leaves each shape so neighboring same-color shapes connect with the shortest travel, causing fewer jumps and trims (on by default). Only the connection points move; the fill itself is unchanged. You can re-run this any time from the selection toolbar or the Layers panel. See Entry and exit. When Automatic stitch type (below) plans the sewing order, it sets the entry and exit points itself, and this option is skipped.
• Resolve overlaps: where filled shapes stack (common in layered art like flowers), stitch each area only once instead of twice (on by default). Turn it off to keep every shape's full fill, which may increase stitch time and thread build-up but keeps each shape independent.
• Replace palette with SVG colors: discard existing palette entries the SVG doesn't use (on by default). As of v1.3.0 a color that objects already on the canvas are sewn in is kept, so nothing beside the import loses its swatch. It only clears entries nothing is using.
• Advanced → Merge adjacent regions (the Merge touching same-color fills checkbox): join same-color tatami fills that touch or overlap into one region, so a shape split across several paths (or cut apart by Resolve overlaps) stitches as one fabric area instead of leaving a seam. A real gap keeps shapes separate; tiny leftover slivers along a curved seam are dropped automatically.
• Match close colors: fold near-identical fill colors into one shared thread (Distance (ΔE), default 0.08), so layered art with many subtle shades of a hue doesn't become a dozen barely-different threads. The biggest fill in each group barely changes color, and small patches snap to it. A larger distance merges more aggressively. Strokes are left untouched. For example, a flower drawn with five shades of pink petals can come in as one or two pink threads instead of five.
• Advanced → Stitch settings → Pull compensation (mm): expands filled shapes and satin rails outward to counteract the fabric pulling stitches inward. It starts from your active fabric preset; change it to override that for this import (both tatami and satin). Use fabric default appears once you've overridden it, to put it back. You can still fine-tune each shape afterwards.
• Advanced → Stroke-width classification: sets how stroke thickness maps to stitch type: strokes up to Running ≤ become running stitch, up to Bean ≤ become bean, up to Satin ≤ become satin; anything wider becomes a tatami fill shaped like the painted line, ends and corners included. (Defaults: running ≤ 1.5 mm, bean ≤ 2.5 mm, satin ≤ 8 mm.) As of v1.3.2 a stroke's width is measured at the size you import at, as the file scales it, and a wide open stroke no longer fills the area it encloses: an open "U" stays a U rather than becoming a filled cup.
• Advanced → Filter: a Remove tiny & invisible paths switch turns the whole filter on or off. When on, it drops near-invisible or near-zero-area paths so stray bits in the file don't add stitches (Min opacity, default 5%; Min area (mm²), default 1 mm², measured at your target size). When it drops a small fill, the hole that fill had cut in the shape around it is closed too.
• Stitch types (new in v1.3.2): Automatic stitch type (off for an SVG, on for Auto-Trace) picks a stitch type for each region from its shape, at the size you import: running stitch for hairlines, satin for small dots and narrow bands, tatami for the rest. Max satin width (mm) (default 7) and Min length ÷ width (default 4) set which bands count as satin. Map everything to tatami keeps the planning but makes every region tatami. A line under the preview counts the result: "12 tatami, 5 satin, 3 running". Turned on, it also plans the sewing order, as described in Auto-Trace.

If your design is bigger than the current hoop, the dialog warns you but still lets you import.

If you have a lot of thread colors after importing (not just from this dialog), see Color reduction to merge close colors across the whole design later.

How paths convert

• A filled path becomes a tatami fill (unless Automatic stitch type picks something else for it); an open path becomes running.
• A path that has both a fill and a stroke becomes two objects: the fill, then the stroke sewn on top of it.
• Stroke thickness picks the stitch type using the thresholds above.
• An open stroke sewn as satin takes its Ends from the line's cap in your drawing program: a round cap gives Round ends, a square (projecting) cap gives Square, and a butt cap gives Flat. Strokes from a PDF are always Flat. See Satin ends.

Known limits

• Sizing and centering can be slightly off for very curvy art, so check the preview against the hoop.
• The dialog may show warnings about parts of the file it could not use; expand them to read what was skipped.
• Fixed in v1.3.2: artwork the file reuses in several places (often the letters in a logo) is placed once instead of twice or not at all, and clipped artwork lands where a browser draws it.

Drag-and-drop

When you drop an .svg file on the canvas, Boldbobbin asks how to bring it in:

• Convert to embroidery: trace it into fill, satin, and running stitches (same as this dialog).
• Use as reference image: place it to trace over by hand; no stitches are generated. See Import a reference image.

Dropping a .pdf or .ai file skips that choice and opens the vector importer directly: a PDF page can't be used as a reference image, so converting it to embroidery is the only option.