mikhaylovns December 9, 2016 at 02:53 PM

Inkscape: the beginning (translation)

• Working with vector graphics,
• Graphic design

• Recovery Mode

Translator's Preface:
In the first months of 2013, the authors of PCLinuxOS Magazine (licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0) focused on Windows migration, a GIMP tutorial, several PC games, and other topics. The March issue has an article about Inkscape. It was named Inkscape: Getting Started from its author Meemaw. Basically, that's it. Following this line is the result of my attempted translation of this article.

We've been happily creating peculiar things with GIMP, but we shouldn't forget that GIMP is not the only graphics editor. The main purpose of GIMP is photo processing. Inkscape is a great drawing program.

While this sounds intimidating, in reality drawing with Inkscape is not that difficult. Practicing practice will help you draw really good drawings. I was able to draw much more in Inkscape than with pencil and pen. I'm far from an artist, but with an assistant like Inkscape, many things work out much better.

Let's take a look around the main Inkscape window and take a close look at it.

The first time you open Inkscape, you get the window shown in the following figure.

It already has a new document open and rulers along the top and down the left side. You can change this view to show or hide as many tools as you want.

At the top, we see a menu bar with the items File, Edit, View, Layer, Object, Path, Filters, Extensions and Help. Many of the menu items are available from elsewhere, and we'll see that soon.

Below the menu bar is the toolbar, which contains a significant portion of the most used tools. At the beginning of work, it has the first eleven of the following elements: New Document, Open, Save, Print, Import, Export, Revert, Redo, Copy, Cut and Paste.

The rest of the tools serve in conjunction with the tools on the left side of the window, or they help you navigate from one part of the project to another, and need some explanation.

The next three elements look like magnifying glasses with inner rectangles. These are scaling tools: scaling from left to right to fit the window size of the selected part of the image, picture and page. They help you conveniently zoom in and out to the whole page and whatever selection you are working on. These commands are also available from the menu bar in the View → Zoom submenu.

To the left of them there are three elements that look like overlapping sheets of paper, the first of which is empty, on the second there is an image of a closed lock, and on the third is an open lock. These are tools for duplicating and cloning a selected object, used in cases where you need more than one of the same object (for example, many stars or flowers), as well as to remove the link between the clone and the original. By duplicating an individual object and making a specific change to it, you can only change the original. When cloning, if you make changes to the original, they also happen to the clone. This comes in very handy when you need two exactly the same objects, except for the color, for example. If you are cloning an object, you can change it and break the link between the clone and the original using the third mouse button and then change the color of one of them. These tools are also available from the menu bar under the Edit → Duplicate or Edit → Clone submenu.

The group of the next two elements includes a circle and a rectangle surrounded by black dots. The left tool is used to group selected objects, and the right tool is used to ungroup them. As you draw safely, at times you will want to group multiple objects to complete your project. These buttons are very handy for doing this, and also for ungrouping if you suddenly find out you need to fix something. These tools are also available from the menu bar under the Object → Group and Object → Ungroup submenus.

The last seven tools are arguably the most used in this toolbar. From left to right, in order, there are the Fill and Stroke, Text and Font, Layers, XML Editor, Align and Arrange, Inkscape Options, and Document Properties. Let's take a look at the individual windows that open when you click on each of these tools.

Fill and stroke. With this tool, you paint over most of the objects and their borders. If I draw a rectangle, Stroke is the color of its border and fill is the inner color of the rectangle. I can change the inner color by selecting the Fill tab and choosing a color, gradient or pattern. I can change the color of the border by selecting the Stroke tab and choosing a color, gradient or pattern. In the next example, I drew a rectangle, painted it blue and also made a black border, then chose the Stroke Style and set its thickness to 5px. Using the Fill and Stroke dialog, you can apply numerous options for fills and strokes. You can open it from the menu bar using the Object → Fill and Stroke submenu.

Text and font. Whenever you freeze some text in your drawing, you use this tool, as with it you change the font settings for your text. This tool works in conjunction with the Text tool on the left side of the window. You select the Text tool on the left side of the window, then type whatever text you want and open this tool (located at the top, center) to customize the text you wrote, or even change it. The menu bar has a Text submenu that contains this tool.

Layers. As with many other programs such as LibreOffice Draw, Scribus and GIMP, layers are very useful in creating your project. You can create your artwork on one layer, your background image on another layer, and your text on a third layer. It helps to keep things in order and also helps you keep things still that you don't need to move. If you are confident with your background, you can put it on the bottom layer and lock it, and you will not be able to move your background anymore until you unlock it again. This mechanism allows you to freely deal with other objects. The Layers tool is also available from the Layers submenu. Here the buttons are the same as we saw in the Gimp: clicking on the eye hides the layer, and clicking on the closed lock locks the layer and makes it impossible to change anything on it.

XML editor. Every drawing you make in Inkscape has a text description that is saved in the drawing file in .svg format. Each object that you insert into a drawing has a specific name and is listed in this text file. Clicking on its name gives you a complete list of that object's parameters (size, color, position on the page, etc.). The more complex objects you use, the larger you get the size of this file. Although I never do this, it is possible to change the picture by modifying this file. I tried to do this by duplicating in the XML file the entity that was the circle I had drawn. I got two identical circles. If you understand this well enough, perhaps you can draw the whole drawing like that. This tool is also available through the menu item Edit → XML Editor.

Align and arrange. If you want to form a page with a specific object in its center, grab this tool. It is also found in the Object submenu. Once you click on an object, you can click any of the buttons to align and center it. You can center the two selected objects, align along their borders, or spread them across the page.

Inkscape options. This is a quick, convenient and affordable way to open the options window. Alternatively, you can open it using a command from the File menu.

Document properties. Every document you create is different. This tool gives you the ability to change document properties, orientation settings, padding, page size, include guides and grids. This tool is also available from the File menu.

If you don't know yet, every time you move the mouse cursor over a tool, a tooltip appears with its description and a hotkey for that tool. So, if you hover your mouse over the Fill and Stroke tool, the hotkey is Shift + CTRL + F. So you have three ways to get this tool. Use the one that is most natural for you. By the way, the last action is canceled using the Edit → Undo menu item or CTRL + Z, as in other programs.

Now let's look at the left side of the window.

There are a wide range of tools with which you can do whatever you want. Also in the form of the third toolbar changes occur depending on which of these tools you are using. The tools are as follows:

Selection tool. This is the arrow that we all know well. She selects an object with one simple click. In the most general view of an object, you will see outward pointing arrows at its edges, which you can use to resize the object. If you click again, these arrows change direction and you can rotate the object. These arrows are called "manipulators" and they help you modify an object in a certain way.

Tool for working with nodes. When an object is selected and this tool is turned on, the "manipulators" will lose their appearance as arrows and become two shapes: like small squares and circles, and will give more ways to manipulate the object. The first thing you can do in this regard is, by deflecting the circles on the rectangle, make it rounded corners. By moving the circle lying on the ellipse, you get either an object that looks like a pie with a cut out piece, or, if you draw a circle without going beyond the ellisp, an arc. The image on the left contains the object after dragging the node handle inside the circle, and the arc on the right appears after dragging the node handle outside the circle. Be prepared for the ellipse to flicker a little during this. The node tool is useful for all of your objects.

Tweak tool. This group of tools is focused on changing your subject - blur, movement, magnification and some other acts. As you move your mouse cursor over these tools, you will see what they do from the prompts. True, so far I have used them a little, but for the article I blurred the object using one of these tools.

Zoom tool. Oops, here's another tool to scale your drawing back and forth! By selecting it, you change the mouse cursor to a magnifying glass image with a plus inside. Left-clicking zooms in on objects, and right-click zooms out. You can also use the scroll wheel, but remember to hold down the CTRL key.

Rectangle. Lost between the tools is the "Rectangle", with which you can draw any rectangle. The following work technique has been adopted with it: you need to place your mouse cursor on the page, make a click, drag the mouse cursor and a rectangle will be drawn on the page. If you hold down the CTRL key while doing this, you get a square or rectangle with an integer aspect ratio. At the top of the page on the toolbar, you will see fields for entering the desired dimensions and coordinates.

3D Box tool. With this tool you can draw cubes in 3D. To control an object, you control the axes that appear along with it. You will need to experiment a bit with this.

Ellipse. This tool draws ellipses and circles. If you hold CTRL while dragging the mouse cursor, you will draw a real circle.

Star. If your desired object has three or more sides, use this tool. Together with its corresponding toolbar located above the page, you can choose whether it will be a polygon or a star, as well as set the number of corners that your object will have. In the case of a star, you can also set the ratio of the radii of the base and top of the ray (the smaller this value, the sharper the star will be; the more the value approaches one, the more the star becomes like a circle). Below are two examples, in which both objects have 8 corners and the star has a radius ratio of 0.5. While the star tool is selected, you can change the appearance of your polygon or star by adding more corners, or by changing the ratio of the radii of its rays.

Spiral. This tool got its name from the fact that it draws spirals. Its toolbar is based on three settings: number of turns, nonlinearity, and inner radius. The first dictates how many times your line will wrap in a circle. Non-linearity means how much less often the outer lines follow one another than the inner ones, and the inner radius is the radius of the open area inside the spiral. On the left, the spiral has 9 turns, the nonlinearity is 2, and the inner radius is 0.5. The spiral on the right has 5 turns, the nonlinearity is 4 and the inner radius is 0.25. Again, if this tool is selected, you can, if you like, modify the spiral drawn earlier.

Pencil. With the Pencil tool it is possible to draw freehand lines on the page. While this is sometimes good, it is sensitive to the deviating behavior of the mouse cursor, so the Pen tool is more suitable for drawing a perfectly straight line.

Pen. The Pen tool is used to draw Bezier curves and straight lines. A Bezier curve is drawn using control points that allow you to edit the curve. Below there are three lines: the top one is drawn with a pencil, the second is drawn with a pen, and the curve is a Bezier curve. Using the tools shown above your page, you can paint whatever you want. With this tool and knotting tool, you can actually draw a spiral as well, but with the spiral tool it is easier and faster to draw.

Calligraphic pen. This is a different Pen type tool, but with it you can draw calligraphic type lines. The settings of this tool, available above your page, will change the appearance of your line. You have 6 preset instruments, plus No Presets. This tool can create interesting variations of the drawn lines.

Text tool. It is a tool that allows you to enter your text. By selecting it and clicking with the mouse cursor on the page, you will get the cursor. Type your text and click on the top Text button to change the font and size. Your text will also be displayed there, so you can change it in case of a typo or any other correction you want to make.

Spray. The spray bottle is an interesting tool. It has three settings: "Spray copies of the selected object", "Spray clones of the selected object" and "Spray copies of the object, merging them into one path." If you make copies, each of the objects can be changed independently of the others, and if you make clones, all changes in the original will be reflected in its clones until you break the connection between them. If you spray objects by combining them into one path, you get an extension of the object you are using, everything is limited within this stroke. Creating a cloud from an ellipse is an example of using this setup. In the example, the left ellipse is the original, and the cloud on the right is what I got by spraying copies of it and merging them into one path.

Eraser. This tool is similar to most other erasers: a small pink eraser. Select the object you want to erase and grab the eraser. The top toolbar shows the fill and stroke color that you will see during deletion; they are unnerving, but everything will be fine. If you do not select an object, all objects that you have dragged with the eraser will be deleted.

Solid fill. I think all the fill tools are alike! Once you select a color, click on the area you want to paint. That's all.

Gradient fill. A gradient fill works with the Bucket and Stroke tool to make gradients together. Selecting a gradient in the Fill and Stroke window creates a gradient from the last color you used, from that color to transparency. However, clicking on the Gradient tool will help you see the direction of the gradient and change it if desired, as well as edit the gradient to create different effects. You can add so called anchor points and change the color on each of them. You can arrange your anchor points to get the desired effect.

Pipette. This tool is a simple tool for choosing a color for an object's fill. Let's say you have two objects and you want them to be the same color. Select the one whose color you want to change, then select the eyedropper and place it in the color you want, and the object you selected will be painted in that color.

Connecting lines. With connecting lines, you can draw lines between objects. If you rearrange objects across the page, these lines stay between them instead of just staying where they are. This is desirable for flowcharts, or in other cases when you need lines between two objects. The settings allow connectors to ignore or bypass objects that you do not want to include in the connected object group. Below, lines have been drawn to connect the three ellipses, bypassing the central one. Connectors are strokes, so you can open Fill & Stroke and choose a style for your connector lines (wide lines, dashed lines, etc.)

These tools are ready for you to start painting with! You can pick some of them and try them out. Now it's time to take a look at the bottom of the window. Everything is pretty good there, there is a color palette, and in general the lower part of the window is rich in various information.
This board informs something about a chosen item. On the left side of the board informs about its fill and stroke, about their colors. You can use these colors to change them if you like. Clicking on any color in the palette changes the fill color, and clicking while holding down the Shift key changes the stroke color. Here are the colors of my circle selected below. To the right of the stroke color is the number 5. I used the same value to draw the ellipse as before to draw the rectangle for which I chose a 5px stroke size (obviously, I changed the fill color at the same time). There is a context menu with several standard sizes from which you can select the size of the stroke, or even remove it if you wish. Next is the field with a value of 100. This is the transparency, which you can set here and also in the Fill and Stroke window. The next is the "eye", by clicking on which you can make the layer invisible, and the lock, by clicking on which you will lock the layer and after that you will not be able to change anything on it. The message “Ellipse in layer Layer 1” flaunts in the center. It looks like it is repeating the word Layer, but I think it means "Ellipse in layer Named Layer 1", so if you give the layer any other name, this line will be more correct. To the right, you can also see some useful text. Since we selected the ellipse with our selection tool, it says that if we click again, we can switch the tool to rotate the object. To the right of it, we get the X and Y coordinates. They tell us about the current position of the mouse cursor. Finally, the percentage shows the scale of our drawing.

I know this is a lot of information, but we will soon be able to understand its meaning. Don't forget that Inkscape is designed to provide multiple ways to accomplish any task, so if you prefer to use one solution method (menu bar) for something and your friend does the same things differently (hotkeys), you both will love Inkscape.

Next time we will start a project.

Tags:

• inkscape
• vector graphics

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Edit, copy and save.

The tutorial covers techniques for navigating the canvas and working with documents. It gives an initial understanding of the tools for drawing shapes, selection, reshaping, grouping, setting fill and stroke options, aligning and distributing objects. If you are looking for more in-depth knowledge, see other tutorials from the Help menu.

Move across the canvas

There are many ways to navigate the canvas. Try Ctrl + Arrow Keys to move with the keyboard (Try Ctrl + Down Arrow right now to move the document down). You can also move around the canvas by holding its surface with the middle mouse button or using the sliders (press Ctrl + B (hereinafter, all letters in keyboard shortcuts are Latin) in order to show or hide them). The scroll wheel on the mouse also works for vertical movement. To move horizontally, use Shift with the wheel.

Zoom

The easiest way to change the scale is to press - or + (and \u003d works to zoom in). The option Ctrl + middle mouse button or Ctrl + right mouse button - to zoom in, Shift + middle or Shift + right - to zoom out, or the mouse wheel with pressed Ctrl also works. Alternatively, you can select the magnification scale in the lower left corner of the document window. The value is indicated as a percentage by typing the desired press Enter. In addition, there is a scaling tool (among the tools on the left), which allows you to enlarge only the selected area you need.

Inkscape keeps a history of the scales you used while working. Press the `key to return to the previous state, or Shift +` to move to the next.

Inkscape tools

The icon bar on the left side of the window presents Inkscape's drawing and editing tools. In the upper part of the window, under the menu, there is a control panel with the main command buttons, and just below the Tool Settings panel, which contains parameters specific to each tool. The status bar, at the very bottom of the window, will display helpful hints as you work.

Many actions are accessible from the keyboard. The complete key reference can be accessed through Help\u003e Keyboard & Mouse.

Work with documents

To create a new blank document use File\u003e New or press Ctrl + N. To open an existing SVG document, use File\u003e Open (Ctrl + O). To save use "File\u003e Save" (Ctrl + S) or "Save As ..." (Shift + Ctrl + S) to save the file under a different name. (Inkscape can still be unstable, so remember the important rule - SAVE FREQUENTLY !!!)

Inkscape uses the SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) format for its files. SVG is an open standard and is widely used in graphics packages. SVG files are based on XML and can be edited with any text or XML editor (apart from Inkscape). Besides SVG, Inkscape can work with other formats (EPS, PNG).

Inkscape opens a new window for each document. You can switch between them in different ways depending on the window manager (for example, pressing Alt + Tab to cycle through documents). Try to create some new documents now and switch between them for practice.

Creating shapes

It's time for the figures! Select the blue rectangle in the stripe on the left (or press F4). Hover the mouse cursor over the document (right there or in a new created window), press the mouse button and move its cursor to the side s - you will get a rectangle:

As you can see, by default the rectangle is filled with blue, has a black stroke and is partially transparent. Below you will see how to change these parameters. You can also create ovals, stars and spirals with other tools:

These tools are called shape tools. Each shape you create has one or more white control rectangles (grips); try dragging them back and forth and notice the change in shape (white dots are visible only when one of the four tools is selected: blue square, brown circle, yellow star or spiral). The toolbar has its own way of customizing the shape. The controls in it affect the currently selected objects (i.e. those whose handles are visible), as well as define the parameters of the new shapes.

To undo the last action, the combination Ctrl + Z is effective. (If you change your mind, you can redo the undone action using Shift + Ctrl + Z.)

Moving, resizing and rotating

The most popular tool in Inkscape is the Selector. You can select it by clicking on the black arrow (or by pressing F1 or the spacebar. With this tool you can select any object on the canvas. Click the square shown in the illustration below:

You will see eight arrows around the object. Now you can:

• 
  Move the object (with Ctrl pressed, the movements are limited by two axes: horizontal and vertical).
• 
  Resize the object by dragging any of the arrows (changing the size while holding down Ctrl will keep the original's proportions).

Click on the rectangle again. The direction of the arrows will change. Now you can:

• 
  Rotate an object by dragging the corner arrows. (With Ctrl pressed, the object will rotate in steps of 15 degrees. Moving the cross will shift the center of rotation.)
• 
  Skew (tilt) an object by moving the non-angled arrows. (With Ctrl pressed, skewing will be performed in 15-degree increments.)

In this mode (object selection mode) you can also change the size and position of the selection on the canvas using the boxes at the top.

Probably many people know the program CorelDRAW, which is a vector graphics editor. I use a vector graphics editor in almost everything, since it is quite convenient to work in it, and probably primarily because I prefer vector graphics. Of course, you can talk a lot about the advantages of vector graphics over raster graphics, but this is a separate topic for conversation. I will just say that vector graphics attract me by the fact that when increasing the image quality does not deteriorate, which gives many advantages over raster graphics. And the editors of vector graphics are liked by the fact that without special knowledge and skills in drawing, you can create something beautiful and ingenious. Naturally, many can say that you can create masterpieces in raster graphics editors. Basically, the decision about which editor to use depends largely on the task at hand, and on the tastes of the person who will solve this or that task. I have been using the vector graphics editor for a long time to solve most of the tasks, for example, such as: creating diagrams, block diagrams, logos, diagrams, etc. And when switching to licensed and free software, I began to look for a replacement suitable for functionality CorelDRAW... The main search criteria were free of charge, usability, interface similarity. And I didn't have to search for a long time, although there are quite a lot of free vector graphics editors. The first to like and match the search criteria was a free vector graphics editor Inkscape, which I actually try to tell you about today.

Inkscape - cross-platform, powerful enough and in many respects competitive free open source vector graphics editor, and in which the SVG format is used as the main standard for work.

Program Inkscape updated and updated with new features every year. Developers often fix bugs and shortcomings. And the program Inkscape every year it improves so much that it seems to me that in a few years it will become a powerful free competitor CorelDRAW... Of course to various features Inkscape you need to get used to, and the program has its own interface and functionality, although in many ways resembling the same CorelDRAW... And in general, you need to get used to a vector editor, since the differences with raster editors are very large.
According to the developers, the main goal is to create a powerful tool, and most importantly, convenient for drawing, and fully compatible with the SVG, CSS, XML standards.

Key features of Inkscape

• the program is free and distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License
• cross-platform
• the program supports the following document formats: import - almost all popular and frequently used formats SVG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, EPS, PDF, PNG, ICO, and many additional, such as SVGZ, EMF, PostScript, AI, Dia, Sketch, TIFF , XPM, WMF, WPG, GGR, ANI, CUR, PCX, PNM, RAS, TGA, WBMP, XBM, XPM; export - basic PNG and SVG formats and many additional EPS, PostScript, PDF, Dia, AI, Sketch, POV-Ray, LaTeX, OpenDocument Draw, GPL, EMF, POV, DXF
• there is support for layers
• as in many programs, Inkscape supports keyboard shortcuts, which speeds up the development of a particular layout or drawing at times
• there are many built-in extensions, many of which allow you to automate this or that process, or simply allow you to draw a large amount of information
• extended status line, which contains a lot of useful information, namely - information about selected objects, tips for keyboard shortcuts
• Inkscape has an XML editor with an object tree associated with the workspace
• a very useful and frequently used feature by me is the ability to vectorize a bitmap
• it is possible to write your own extensions, and scripts in Perl, Python and Ruby
• the program is available in several languages, including Russian and Ukrainian

Of course, you cannot tell about all the advantages and features of the program in a short time, so I told only about a few.
The main areas of application are:

• creation of logos, business cards, posters, illustrations for presentations
• technical diagrams, graphs, etc.
• web graphics - banners, site layouts, buttons for the site, logos, full site design

Most Inkscape I use when creating a website, whether it's a layout, or a ready-made website design. But sometimes you have to rework some kind of logo, or create a database scheme. In general, there are a lot of areas of application for the program. Inkscape can for many tasks. And in order to find out what kind of program it is, it is better to install and try it in practice.

Installing Inkscape

For loading Inkscape, there are several variants of the official versions: archive with source code - .gz, archive with source code - .bz2, Mac OS X - .dmg, Windows - installation package.exe, 7zip. Since I have Windows installed, I select the installation package in the .exe format accordingly. All other download variations are available on the page - http://inkscape.org/download/?lang\u003dru. In order to download version 0.48 in 7zip format, you need to go to the following address -. The file weighs about ~ 33MB, you can use the program to download it.

After downloading, you should have a file Inkscape-0.48.0-1.exe, after launching which a window for selecting a language will appear, the following languages \u200b\u200bare available to choose from: English, Indonesian, Russian, Ukrainian... Choose the language we need and press the button OK... (in my case it is English)

Then a welcome window will appear, in which you need to click the button Next\u003e.

In the next window, the text of the license is given, read and press the button Next\u003e.

In the next window, you need to select those components that you want to be installed with the program. There are two prerequisites here that need to be installed:

• Inkscape SVG editor (required),
• GTK + runtime (required).

You can also select additional components for installation:

• For all users(if you check the box, the program will be installed for all computer users),
• Labels(here you can select the places where the shortcut for the program will be installed - Desktop, Quick Launch, Open SVG files in Inkscape (SVG files will be associated with the program), Context menu),
• Delete personal settings(if you have already installed Inkscape, then clicking here the checkbox will delete all saved settings),
• Additional files(if you check the box here, Examples and Tutorials will be set),
• Translations(here you can choose one or several translations, and a large number of languages \u200b\u200bare available for this, choose Russian (ru) or Ukrainian (uk)).

After you select all additional components, you need to click on the button Next\u003e.

In the next window there will be information about which directory to install Inkscape, default C: \\ Program Files \\ Inkscape, in order to select another directory, you need to press the button Overview …... Then press the button Install to proceed with the installation.

After that, the next window will be displayed in which the installation process itself will take place, you will need to wait about 2-3 minutes. In order to display detailed information about the installation, click on the button Details ...... After the word appears in the installation status bar Done, the button becomes active Next\u003e, which actually needs to be clicked.

And in the last window, which says that the program has been installed, you need to click the button Done... If you did not uncheck the box next to the inscription Launch Inkscape, then after pressing the button Done the program will start automatically.

If you have cleared the checkbox, then you can start the program using a shortcut, be it a shortcut on the desktop or in the Start menu.
After starting the program, the main program window will appear, which is actually the main area for work.

The program is not very difficult to use, and you can study almost everything here yourself, because everything is in Russian, and in addition there are a number of examples and lessons that are installed along with the program.

Links

• http://inkscape.org - the official website of the program Inkscape

Speaking in general about the program, I can say that the program is not only easy to use, but also, as I said above, is convenient and multifunctional, and its capabilities will help to solve a large number of tasks. There is also the ability to work with layers and gradients, and many other tools that are repeated in most graphic editors. As I said earlier in Inkscape, even a person who does not have artistic skills can draw. And vector graphics editors are somehow more pleasant to use than raster editors. In general, to understand what Inkscape is all about, you just need to install, run and try to do something.

Inkscape (Inkscape) is a powerful editor for creating vector graphics, artistic and technical illustrations of almost any complexity.

Inkscape designed to create presentations, logos, business cards, posters, illustrations for office circulars, technical illustrations (diagrams, graphs) and much more ...

IN Inkscape it is possible to create vector graphics for high quality printing (with pre-import SVG in Scribus), web graphics (from banners to website layouts), pictograms for applications, buttons for sites and graphics for games.

The history of Inkscape began when several programmers and a couple of designers who could write code were no longer satisfied with the conditions for developing a vector graphics editor. Realizing that they would not be able to properly apply their skills, they organized a new project, which they called Inkscape.

IN Inkscape own rendering engine is used livarot (in the future, it is possible to switch to Cairo), has a powerful scripting infrastructure (written in Perl, Python and Ruby). SVG based on markup language XML and extensions are written to it, for example, implementing support for new data formats.

Inkscape uses the standard W3C entitled Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG). Format SVG allows you to create illustrations of various types, including animated ones.

Inkscape has its own document format (based on SVG v1.1), immediately contains a number of extensions to increase functionality.

Documents Inkscape SVG can be saved as Plain SVG with the ability to change not supported in the usual SVG elements as outlines. Documents can be saved and opened in a compressed form using a compression algorithm gzip.

IN Inkscape such capabilities are supported SVG like shapes, paths, text, markers, clones, alpha channel, transformations, gradients, textures and grouping. Groups can be used SVG as layers and moving documents between layers.

Inkscape also supports metadata Creative Commons, editing of nodes, layers, complex operations with contours, vectorization of bitmap graphics, text along the contour, text wrapped in a shape, editing XML-data directly and much more.

Inkscape is easy to use and has familiar tools: Select, Scale, Edit Nodes, Rectangle, Ellipse, Star, Spiral, Freehand Line, Bézier Curves, Calligraphic Pen, Text, Connectors, Gradient, Eyedropper.

The contour-changing modes of the Concealer tool allow you to push, shrink, grow, repel, pull, and roughen any path to arbitrarily reshape objects.

The way the color-changing modes of the new Corrector tool work is similar to how the soft brush works in bitmap editors. If you have multiple objects in your drawing, you can select all of them and draw on them with any fill or stroke color.

Inkscape has a convenient contextual toolbar, comes with a set of textures available through the dialog “ Fill and stroke» (you can easily and easily fill the object with a texture in the form of stripes, checkerboard cells or a polka dot pattern).

Tool " Fill and stroke»Has great capabilities, works exactly the same as its counterpart in raster graphics editors, clicking on an area fills it with the selected color, allowing you to complete the task much faster.

With a dynamic effect " Circuit"along the path, you can direct one path along the other. With the usual node editing tool, path A can be edited directly on the canvas, and the result will be updated on the fly (function is equivalent to "vector brushes" and "skeletal strokes" in other vector graphics editors).

The calligraphy pen has functions that allow you to use Inkscape to imitate woodcuts, which allows you to change the darkness of the strokes at any point and even erase parts of the drawing. It is possible to use " clones"and style inserts (assigning fill and stroke properties from one object to another).

Inkscape has a built-in bitmap vectorizer using SIOX to highlight objects in the foreground. Advanced options for working with clones of objects, creating a pattern from clones using any of 17 symmetry groups, support for tilt and pressure of the stylus when using graphic tablets (Calligraphic pen tool).

Inkscape supports shared drawing via protocol XMPP (Jabber), there is a built-in editor XML-code of a document with a tree of objects (to access document parameters not yet supported in the graphical interface).

Inkscape imports files in formats such as: SVG, SVGZ, EMF, EPS, PostScript, Dia, AI, Sketch, PNG, TIFF, JPEG, XPM, GIF, BMP, WMF, WPG, GGR, ANI, ICO, CUR, PCX, PNM, RAS, TGA, WBMP, XBM, XPM.

It is very useful for every lover of painting to have at hand a functional graphic editor that can work with vector and raster graphics. Fortunately, in our time, there are a huge variety of drawing programs that can replace entire art workshops. Let's take a closer look at one of the best representatives of this group. We present to your attention the graphics editor Inkscape!

The main advantages of Inkscape are its undoubted compactness, high functionality and wide possibilities for working with vector graphics. Moreover, the program has an open license and is absolutely free. It is very beneficial to be able to use such a wonderful tool.

True, from one of the pluses, a logical minus follows, causing some inconvenience to beginners. The functionality of the program is very extensive, and at first work in Inkscape is not very productive, due to the lack of knowledge and skills. To quickly overcome the stage of illiteracy and quickly begin to confidently practice, we recommend that you read the following videos.

Inkscape Tutorials for Beginners

A useful collection of instructions for drawing various images in the editor. The author devotes the audience in detail to the process of his work, explaining the use of each tool and function. Upon completion of watching video tutorials and consolidating the knowledge gained in practice, you will understand how to use Inkscape at the level of a confident user and will be able to depict any of your ideas on the canvas.