Hi folks. I've been saving all my project files as Inkscape SVG but now realize I should have been saving them as Plain SVG.

edited to add: I've been saving all my project files as Inkscape SVG but now that I'm done with the project, I need to create a Plain SVG file too.

Which of the two options should I do? I'm wondering if one is somehow better or the more preferred method over the other. 

(1) Open up my Inkscape SVG file, Go to file menu, choose 'save as,' rename file, choose 'Plain SVG' from the save-as-type drop down menu.

(2) Open up my Inkscape SVG file, Go to file menu, choose 'export,' rename file, choose 'Plain SVG' from the drop down menu

Thank you for your help.

3) Menu: File>Save a copy> filetype: Plain SVG

It is strongly advised to always save the working/editing version as Inkscape SVG and subsequent filetypes as copies. In this manner, the Inkscape tools, layers, effects will all be retained in the Inkscape original document.

Tyler,

As an Inkscape noob, I'm glad to report that I already knew to always (always!) have/save my original Inkscape SVG file before I save it as or export it to another file type.

On my end, my Inkscape SVG file is 100% done. Of course I want to keep the original Inkscape SVG file, but now I need to have it also be a Plain SVG file.

Would I still do the third option you are suggesting?  file > save a copy > plain SVG ?

I had thought that I would want to export to SVG so I would have the option to set the dpi to 300.  

I'm just not used to using a software program (like Inkscape) that has so many different ways to save a file (save, save as, export, save a copy, and save a template although that last one doesn't apply to my current situation.) I'm just used to save and save as, like in Microsoft Word. 

P.S. On a related note, since I'm talking about SVG files. Can someone with Adobe Illustrator (or another program) open an Inkscape SVG file? Or does it need to be Plain SVG?

Another P.S. This is not a criticism to the developers or anyone involved in the Inkscape program because I very much like Inkscape, but what is the point to have different methods to save a file if the manual only recommends to 'save a copy'?  

No matter which format you want to export to, it is recommended to only use the Save
a Copy functionality for this, and to save your original file as Inkscape SVG.

edited to try to add photo to message body rather than as attachment, I don't think it worked

When using Save-as, the active/open document is overwritten and it's easy to clobber your hard work. Save a copy will leave the open/active document open and un-touched (unless you use the same filename, which would be unwise) .

DPI is irrelevant when saving or exporting to svg files, since they are vector-based. DPI is only relevant when the output is a raster/bitmap format like png, jpg, bmp and designs that contain filters/ blurs being output to PDF.

Inkscape SVG files are fully standards-compliant, so any program should be able to open them. However, not all other programs are standards-compliant and may only work with plain or simplified svg files (e.g. Cricut Design Studio).

Over the 20 years of its evolution, developers (all volunteers) have included an ever increasing number of features, and removing features is only deemed necessary when they interfere with consistent, stable operation. Consider the ways to zoom in the viewport: keeping the older methods does not interfere with any newer methods, so there are a multitude of ways to zoom. Removing features such as Save-as may interfere with veteran-user workflows and automated/scripted workflows. 

Tyler,

Well that's a bummer to hear. With nearly all my Inkscape project files, I got to a certain point with my work, saved it per usual as I assume anyone would do (I save my work as I go along anyway) but then I did "save-as" and just added a number after the filename. I wanted to have a "back-up" of the file just in case things went awry somehow with what I was going to be doing next.

But, according to the info you shared above, it seems like save-a-copy would have been better? I don't quite understand why. I don't think I clobbered anything as I save my work as I go along (with the same file name, I'm just pressing Ctrl + S every so often) and then did save-as to have the document have a new file name and that new file named document is the one I moved forward with to work on...  Unless somehow by saving-as I'm losing "something" each time when I abandon the original file I was working in?

But then again you say: "Removing features such as Save-as may interfere with veteran-user workflows and automated/scripted workflows" so maybe it's still okay that  I used save-as and therefore did not lose or corrupt anything?

I feel like such a noob. And I'm definitely confusing myself at this point.

If you performed a Save-as and selected plain svg, yes, you lost the special tags (notations) that Inkscape uses for layers, guides, etc.

Control-S saves as Inkscape svg, if the document is an Inkscape svg.

Well I may still be a bit confused but *thankfully* I did not do what you described in #8. (I still have yet to make that Plain SVG file.)  All my docs are Inkscape SVG, so when I Control-S as I go along, I'm still maintaining/saving my Inkscape SVG document/file.

I do use locked guides and they are still in the original Inkscape SVG file as well as being present in the new save-as Inkscape SVG file -- so hopefully that shows that I did not lose any special tags or anything else (sigh, I don't know what I don't know when it comes to Inkscape and knowing/talking about certain things)