Inkscape 0.44 - Faster, Bigger, Better 226
bbyakk writes "After 6 months of development, Inkscape 0.44 is out. This version of the
SVG-based vector graphics editor brings improved performance and tons of new features:
Layers dialog, docked color palette, clipping and masking, native PDF export with
transparency, configurable keyboard (including Xara emulation), Outline mode for
complex drawings, innovative 'node sculpting' and lots more. Check out the full
release notes, enjoy the screenshots, or download your
package for Windows, Linux or Mac OS X."
Excellent. (Score:5, Interesting)
I've really enjoyed watching the progress of this app, along with Scribus and the GIMP. Inkscape has become one of the tools I use day in and day out (especially in conjunction with Scribus) and even though I can run older versions of CorelDraw and Illustrator on my FC5 box, I've really come to value Inkscape even though it doesn't have the collection of power tools that the Windows vector apps have (in all honesty, some of the "power tools" in those other guys are just imagesetter-chokers and you're better off leaving them be).
Now that Krita supports CMYK tiff files (with color management) the day has pretty much dawned in which I no longer have to jump over to my lone remaining Windows box to do some sort of previously-necessary file format conversion.
Re:I like plants (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Tried it. (Score:1, Interesting)
Screenshot of .44 in action (Score:4, Interesting)
http://www.friendlyskies.net.nyud.net:8080/inks
Sorry it's in KDE, seeing how Inkscape is GTK...at the moment Skype isn't working in Gnome, so...
Re:Firefox Users (Score:3, Interesting)
Did anyone see this?!?! (Score:4, Interesting)
Illustrator (Score:4, Interesting)
Which features are still missing (aside from PDF capabilities)?
Ink Question (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Ink Question (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Tried it. (Score:2, Interesting)
Inkscape versus Xara? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Did anyone see this?!?! (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Illustrator (Score:4, Interesting)
I am not exactly an art guru, but I do use both Inkscape and Illustrator all the time. The three things that have historically bugged me most about Inkscape have been the huge difficulty of locking/unlocking objects, the poor import/export of EPS and PDF, and the inability to add custom colors and gradients onto the swatch palette (I use that in Illustrator a lot to save and reuse colors and gradients). Actually, the editing of gradients is really clunky in Inkscape, so I guess that is another thing that bugs me.
I don't want to paint an overly grim picture of Inkscape, though. It's really quite good, and I am very eager to get my hands on this new version (but I'll wait for the debs).
GIMP (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Did anyone see this?!?! (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Ink Question (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Did anyone see this?!?! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Red arrows? (Score:3, Interesting)
Nope! The problem here is really the SVG spec, though, in that markers can't exactly inherit useful properties from the line they're being marked on.
My reading of the marker section in the SVG spec [w3.org] says that "fill: inherit" and "stroke: inherit" should be cause the colors to inherit off the parent element.
However: With arrow-heads, the arrow is being filled with a color, and the line is being stroked with a color. Even if Inkscape allowed markers to inherit stroke/fill properties from their parent, the best you could do is have a black arrow-head with a red line around it.
Even so, it's still possible to create red arrows with a red tip, just not easily. First create your normal arrow and set the tip onto it. Note the name of the arrow head you used. Next open up the XML editor. (Yeah - we're heading into tech-land here.) At the very top of the tree there should be a node marked "svg:defs". Open this up, and find the "svg:marker" element that has the same ID listed as the arrow head you used.
Click on it and then click the "duplicate node" button (it's the third from the left on the toolbar). You'll now have a new marker with a new, weird ID. You can edit the ID to be something like "red arrow head" or something useful.
Anyway, click on the "svg:path" element located within the "svg:marker" element. Click on the "style" attribute listed in the right pane. Edit the "fill" attribute listed below, changing it to match the color value of the line you want to use. Press Control-Enter to commit this change.
Then, finally, select your original arrow in the document. This will highlight the node for the path. Edit the style attribute here and change the appropriate "marker" element to point to the new ID of your new arrow head.
You may now optionally curse both Inkscape for making the process this boneheaded and the SVG spec for offering no way to suggest that maybe, just maybe, a marker might want to be filled with the same color the path it's being placed on was stroked with.
Re:Did anyone see this?!?! (Score:3, Interesting)
When they (Inkscape) implement proper PDF and eps support, Adobe should really start to either fear open source, or embrace open source operating systems and port their creative suite to Linux before people start retraining themselves in other applications. Heck, they're starting to lose their competitive edge on PDF composition as kword matures. Inkscape's GUI is quirky but easily learned, and is fantastic for creating illustrations, so the need for Illustrator on Linux (and Windows, etc.) is beginning to fade.
I really ought to start donating to open source products I use. As it is I buy distributions we use at my office, but the Inkscape/kword/gimp/etc. developers don't see a dime of what I pay Novell, Mandriva, etc. for the distributions.