EMF, WMF, HP-GL and XAML files in Vectornation by Zaweba

Not every vector file arrives as SVG or PDF. Older Windows programs, office clip art, plotters and Windows app developers each have formats of their own. Vectornation by Zaweba reads and writes several of them, so you can bring that artwork into a modern drawing and send it back out in the form the other end expects.

EMF and WMF open, with EMF+ content coming in as editable shapes, and both can be exported. HP-GL, including PLT files, and XAML go both ways.

EMF and WMF from Windows programs

EMF and WMF are the Windows metafile formats. They turn up in office documents, old clip art collections, charts copied from business software and output from engineering programs. Because they hold vector data, they can be edited properly rather than traced.

EMF+ is the richer form used by more recent Windows software, and Vectornation brings it in as editable shapes. Open the file, ungroup, and you can recolour a chart or tidy a piece of clip art like anything you drew yourself.

Exporting EMF or WMF is useful when the destination is an older Windows program or an office document that handles metafiles better than other formats. Edit > Copy also puts EMF on the clipboard, so pasting into many Windows programs gives them vector artwork without saving a file.

HP-GL and PLT for plotters and cutters

HP-GL is the plotter language that many cutting plotters, vinyl cutters and some older CAD programs still speak. PLT files usually contain HP-GL. Being able to open them means you can look at and edit a cutting file you have been sent, and exporting HP-GL lets you send artwork to a machine that expects it.

These files are about lines rather than fills. When you open one, expect paths and little else. When you export, think in terms of what the machine will cut or draw: closed outlines for vinyl, strokes for a pen.

XAML for Windows app developers

XAML is the markup language used for Windows desktop app interfaces. Designers sometimes need to hand icons and illustrations to developers in XAML so they can be used as scalable graphics in an app. Exporting XAML from Vectornation gives them that directly. Opening XAML lets you bring existing app artwork back in to edit.

Keep XAML artwork simple. Flat shapes and plain gradients come across most predictably, and an icon is easier for a developer to work with when it has few paths.

Picking the right format

If the other side can take SVG or PDF, those are usually the better choice. Use the formats here when they are what a program, a machine or a person needs. Vectornation also has DXF for CAD and G-code for laser cutters and plotters, so between them most technical destinations are covered.

Pitfalls with older formats

WMF in particular is an old format with limits. Gradients, transparency and some text features may not survive a round trip, so check an exported WMF in the program that will use it.

Metafiles from office programs often wrap artwork in clipping groups and invisible boxes. Ungroup them and delete the empty rectangles to get at the real shapes.

And text in these files may come in as text with a font you do not have, or as outlines. Check the type before you trust the result.