Beam Bench Docs
TroubleshootingFiles

SVG came in wrong size

The imported SVG is much too big or too small. You expected one size and got another.

You see

You import an SVG that you know should be (say) 100 mm × 100 mm. It comes in at 350 × 350 mm, or 28 × 28 mm, or some completely different size.

What is happening

SVG's coordinate system is flexible and rarely matches the user's intent. The unit assumption depends on:

  • Whether the SVG file has an explicit width / height (with units like mm, in, px).
  • Whether the SVG file has a viewBox.
  • The source app's interpretation of "1 unit".

Common pitfalls:

  • The SVG has only a viewBox (no width/height with units). Beam Bench guesses a unit.
  • The SVG was exported with units in pixels and Beam Bench treats them as mm (or vice versa).
  • A scale factor was applied during export.

Fix

If the SVG is exactly 3.78x too big

The SVG is in pixels, treated as mm. 1 pixel at 96 DPI = 1/96 inch = 0.265 mm, but Beam Bench may treat 1 unit = 1 pixel = 1 mm, giving the factor 1 / 0.265 ≈ 3.78.

Open the SVG in Inkscape, set the document units explicitly to mm, save, and re-import.

If the SVG is some other ratio off

Open the SVG in a text editor. Look at the <svg> element:

<svg width="100mm" height="100mm" viewBox="0 0 100 100">

The viewBox is the internal coordinate space. If the width/height are missing or in pixels, you can usually fix by editing them to add mm units explicitly.

If you do not want to edit the file

  • Import then scale uniformly. Select the imported objects, use Shape Properties to set the desired W / H.
  • Note the scale factor and apply consistently.

If the SVG comes from Adobe Illustrator

Illustrator's SVG export has settings that affect the units. Try the "More options" pane and set:

  • Decimal places: 4 (precision).
  • Encoding: UTF-8.
  • Use <inline> style attributes.

For laser work, exporting from Inkscape gives more predictable results than Illustrator.

As a workaround: import then resize

For one-off files, just measure once, scale to the intended size, save the project. Next import of the same source file will need the same scale.

Verify it worked

  • Imported SVG measures correctly with the Measure tool or in Shape Properties.
  • Subsequent imports of the same file consistently come in at the right size.

Still stuck?

Import failed

Beam Bench refused to import your file or imported it as an empty / broken object.

Art library will not save

The .bbart file shows a red save-error banner. Destructive operations are disabled until the save succeeds.

On this page

You seeWhat is happeningFixIf the SVG is exactly 3.78x too bigIf the SVG is some other ratio offIf you do not want to edit the fileIf the SVG comes from Adobe IllustratorAs a workaround: import then resizeVerify it workedStill stuck?