Comment 12 for bug 171054

I agree that "Save" and "Save As" should be restricted to Inkscape-compatible SVG and all other formats should be handled by "Export".

Reading through the past postings, I notice there is confusion between these two notions:

1. The current implementation (mine is 0.91) is functionally complete
     in the save/export department.

2. The current implementation isn't optimal.

You can certainly "export" to PDF by "saving as" (item 1). But the current implementation is a bit confusing and annoying (item 2).

You edit your SVG image and save it; you then "save" it as PDF; you try to quit inkscape, but it insists that you have to save it as SVG not to lose your edits.

Why does this happen? Because the notions of "saving" and "exporting" aren't clearly distinguished.

By convention (look at major wordprocessors, image editors, etc.), "save" means save the current document. Therefore, "saving as" PDF means that you save the current document as PDF and then the new PDF file "becomes" the new current document. Subsequent saving overwrites to that PDF file. Then why ask about SVG when quitting inkscape?

The fact is that the current document cannot "become" PDF because PDF cannot express everything the inkscape-SVG does: when you export to PDF, some information is lost. Therefore you cannot "save" as PDF: all you can do is to "export" to it.

. . . This is how the two notions are distinguished by convention. It's desirable that Inkscape should follow the convention, not to confuse or irritate the user.