Tip #2143 - Inkscape
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Inkscape
I use a lot of image
manipulation programs while going through my daily routines, usually Photo
Impact, Photoshop and a few others to get the job done. There is another
program that I used to use all the time, but was forced to lay off because
I didn’t have a copy in the office. The program was Adobe Illustrator,
and it’s perfect when you need to create professional looking drawings
or logos from scratch. There are just some things you can do with Illustrator
that you can’t do with other programs. It’s frustrating when
you are missing a capability that you really need and it can hold up your
project, or force you to produce something you're not 100 percent happy
with.
This all became so
obvious to me when I was working with some images a few weeks back and
there were a couple of functions that I couldn’t perform with any
of the software I had on hand. Frustrated because I couldn’t get
the effects I wanted, I started searching for an answer. This search led
me to today’s Download of the Week, and I think
it is one of the best downloads I’ve ever had. It’s called
Inkscape. It’s a full-blown illustrating program
that can be utilized by first time users as well as seasoned professionals.
Inkscape is an open
source drawing application similar to Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Freehand
or Xara X. With an assortment of tools at your disposal, there is little
you cannot do, graphically. With Inkscape, the sky is the limit when discussing
drawing applications. Just take a look at current InkScape features:
Current Features
Object creation
· Drawing: pencil tool (freehand drawing with simple paths), pen
tool (creating Bezier curves and straight lines), calligraphy tool (freehand
drawing using filled paths representing calligraphic strokes).
· Shape tools: rectangles (may have rounded corners), ellipses
(includes circles, arcs, segments), stars/polygons (can be rounded and/or
randomized), spirals.
· Text tool (multiline text, full on-canvas editing).
· Embedded bitmaps (with a command to create and embed bitmaps
of selected objects).
· Clones ("live" linked copies of objects), including
a tool to create patterns and arrangements of clones.
Object manipulation
· Affine transformations (moving, scaling, rotating, skewing),
both interactively and by specifying exact numeric values.
· Z-order operations.
· Grouping objects, with a way to "select in group" without
ungrouping, or "enter the group" making it a temporary layer.
· Layers, with a way to lock and/or hide individual layers, rearrange
them, etc; layers can form a hierarchical tree.
· Copying and pasting objects.
· Alignment and distribution commands.
Fill and
stroke
· Color selector (RGB, HSV, color wheel).
· Color picker tool.
· Copy/paste style.
· A gradient editor capable of multi-stop gradients.
· Pattern fills (bitmap/vectors).
· Dashed strokes, with many predefined dash patterns.
· Path markers (e.g. arrowheads).
Operations
on paths
· Node editing: moving nodes and Bezier handles, node alignment
and distribution, etc.
· Converting to path (for text objects or shapes), including converting
stroke to path.
· Boolean operations.
· Path simplification, with variable threshold.
· Path insetting and outsetting, including dynamic and linked offset
objects.
· Bitmap tracing (both color and b/w).
Text support
· Multi-line text.
· Uses any installed outline fonts, including right-to-left scripts.
· Kerning, letter spacing, line spacing adjustments.
· Text on path (both text and path remain editable).
· Text in shape (fill shape following stroke).
Rendering
· Fully anti-aliased display.
· Alpha transparency support for display and PNG export.
· Complete "as you drag" rendering of objects during
interactive transformations.
Misc
· Live watching and editing the document tree in the XML editor.
· PNG and PostScript
export.
· Command line options for export and conversions.
· Perfectly compliant SVG format file generation and editing.
Before you say it,
I already know what some of you may be thinking. That’s great Chad,
but I don’t have time to try to figure out such a robust drawing
program. Well, that’s taken care of too, because besides having
free alternatives to popular programs, the open
source community is also known for a tremendous amount of information,
support and tutorials regarding their programs. You can go out to Inkscape’s
site where you have access to tutorials, FAQs and other resources to help
anyone get up to speed. With Open Source programs, you always have somewhere
to turn when looking for answers.
If you like to create
and modify images on your system, then I strongly recommend that you download
this program. You will be amazed with what it can do. I would match this
program up with the industry leaders, which by the way, cost hundreds
of dollars. Download it and try some of the tutorials found under the
Help menu, which has terrific explanations for all of
its capabilities.
Go here for
all the information!
~ Chad
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