Finally! There's a simple way to do this. Some reading on the SVG Format in Illustrator: Adobe Illustrator Save in SVG Format But there will never be a true viewbox attribute unless they release an update to Illustrator with editable viewbox features. You can make a pseudo-viewbox by simply changing the Artboards Width + Height/X + Y position and then changing the objects Size and Position attributes as well. Whatever changes you make in the data of the SVG file will then be reflected in Illustrator but through repositioning and resizing both the Artboard and Layers to create a pseudo-viewbox.įor now all you can do is design work in Illustrator and all extra code for offset and positioning of the viewbox within the file data. If you saved the SVG from Illustrator without 'Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities' you can reverse the process. The viewbox element is only compatible with certain programs that chose to use this element or manipulate it. I did a little research on SVG's and apparently the viewbox is not a element that is exportable via Illustrator. Moving the artboards' top left corner or importing SVG files to AI seems to cause some kind of weird internal disconnect between the rulers, artboards and some sort of invisible secret viewbox origin point known only to Illustrator.ĪFAICT, as with most things to do with web or emerging technology, Adobe's approach to SVG has been to throw something crudely together so they can boast about it in a press release, then leave it buggy, unfinished and unloved, pretending it doesn't exist and carrying on like it's 1998. You can safely resize the artboard from the bottom right corner, but things start to go wrong if you move the top left corner. Use smart guides ( cmd-u) or the align window set to Align to Artboard if you need your artwork to start at exactly 0, 0. The top left corner of this untouched default artboard will export as point 0, 0 of the view box. I've run into this problem several times, and the only thing that has ever worked for me to reliably reset the SVG viewbox to precisely 0, 0 when exporting from Illustrator is to create a new blank document and copy and paste the artwork into it.

Inkscape svg viewbox