It is now finally possible to place SVG files as well as PDF files. That is great news for the many, many people who create logos and such things in SVG.

Everything you place, however, is still placed as completely uneditable images, which in many cases makes it somewhat useless. Especially with simple things like vector logos, it would be immensely useful to be able to convert the embedded vector paths in the placed file to native InDesign paths to adjust things like stroke colour, etc., in the actual InDesign document. Essentially, making it possible to use an SVG/PDF/EPS file as an InDesign snippet.

Clearly, there are aspects of SVG and PDF files which cannot be easily converted to native InDesign content (interactive stuff, effects, etc.), but it should at the very least be possible to convert simple vector paths to native paths as a starting point. A simple warning that such a conversion may result in loss of some functionality should be sufficient to inform users that not everything is snippetisable.

Currently the only ways to get vector paths into an InDesign document appear to be (1) to draw them directly in InDesign (not an option if it’s something like a client’s logo); or (2) to open the vector file in Illustrator, copy the paths there, and paste them in InDesign (not an option for those of us who don’t have Illustrator).

Considering that InDesign already has to read and layout the paths in the placed file (presumably by emulating native paths somehow), it shouldn’t be too hard to simply convert them to actual native paths.