Why this tends to go wrong.
I often see files that look correct at first glance. The black shape is there, but a white rectangle sits behind it. You only notice when the artwork is placed on colour or sent to a cutter.
Vector Boy separates form from empty space. White areas in Result are not filled with white. They remain open. Counters in letters such as A, O and P are stored as genuine cut-outs in a compound path.
Signs of a clean result
- The checkerboard shows through every outer white area
- Letter counters remain open
- Changing colour affects only the intended shape
- There is no separate white background object
How I do it.
- Load the image and inspect which areas become black in Result.
- Set Brightness and Black level until the background disappears completely.
- Remove unrelated islands with the lasso.
- Inspect the outside edge and every counter in Vector.
- Change the vector colour briefly and look for white leftovers.
- Export SVG and place it on a coloured surface once.
White artwork on a transparent PNG is different from a white background. Vector Boy detects that visible artwork through the alpha channel. Invert then decides which side becomes the vector shape.
The file looked finished on white.
Artwork for a workshop ruler can look clean in a browser and still arrive at the manufacturer as a white rectangle. The problem only appears on wood, colour or vinyl. I therefore put every export on an aggressively coloured background before handoff.
- What worked
- Place a coloured shape behind the export and inspect the counters in A, O and P.
- What did not
- Checking only on a white artboard, where transparency and a white object look identical.
- Lesson learned
- Transparency is proved by how the file behaves on another background, not by the preview alone.
Questions that usually come next.
Why does the SVG still look white in Illustrator?
Many applications display a white artboard even when no white object exists. Put a coloured shape behind the artwork to check.
Are counters exported as white paths?
No. They are cut-out subpaths inside the filled form.
Can I recolour the shape later?
Yes. Choose the vector colour in Vector Boy or change it later in the destination software.