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Inkscape is an open source vector graphics editor. Its goal is to become a powerful graphic tool while being fully compliant with the XML, SVG and CSS standards. It is a cross-platform application that runs on Unix (including Linux), Windows, and Mac OS X; however, the primary development platform is Linux.
Inkscape does not yet have as many features as the best commercial vector editors, but it is already suitable for a wide range of applications. Inkscape's implementation of SVG is not complete; notably, it does not yet support filters, animation or SVG fonts, and its CSS support is limited. Inkscape is currently under active development, with new features being added regularly.
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 (full on-canvas editing)
- Embedded bitmaps (with a command to create and embed bitmaps of selected objects)
Object manipulation
- Affine transformations (moving, scaling, rotating, skewing), both interactively and by specifying exact numeric values
- 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
- Clones ("live" linked copies of objects), including a tool to create patterns and arrangements of clones
- Alignment and distribution commands
Fill and stroke
- Color selector (RGB, HSV, color wheel)
- A gradient editor capable of multi-stop gradients
- 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
- Path simplification, with variable threshold
- Path insetting and outsetting, including dynamic and linked offset objects
- Bitmap tracing (both color and b/w)
Text support
- Uses any installed outline fonts, including right-to-left scripts
- Kerning, letterspacing, linespacing adjustments
- Text on path (both text and path remain editable)
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
- Command line options for export and conversions
History
Inkscape was originally a code fork from the Sodipodi project caused by differences over objectives and development approach. Sodipodi itself was based on Gill, the work of Raph Levien.
Inkscape places emphasis on open access to the codebase for all active developers, and participation in the larger open source community. The Inkscape fork has, among other things, changed from using the C programming language to C++; changed to the GTK toolkit C++ bindings (Gtkmm); redesigned the user interface and added a huge number of new features.
Versions
The latest version 0.40, released in December 2004, adds support for layers, bitmap tracing, and text on path.
Version 0.39 saw the introduction of the Pango library, bringing better support for more languages, as well as markers, clones, and pattern fills.
Version 0.38 was a bugfix release, but it also features text kerning and letterspacing, multistage gradients, and many usability enhancements.
Version 0.37 saw the addition of Boolean Operations on Paths.
Version 0.36 was the first release with the Single Document Interface (SDI).
Version 0.35 was released October 14 2003 and was the was first release of Inkscape.
See also
External links
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