Release notes/0.92

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Inkscape 0.92

(definitely not released yet - AnnouncePlanning092)

Release highlights

Released on «YYYY-MM-DD».

Manipulating Objects

Objects Dialog

Now dialog for manipulating the object tree.

Drag and drop reordering of objects.
Find, lock, and hide individual items.
Shows individual objects as well as layers.
Ability to change highlight color of objects.

Imported from Ponyscape.

Selection Sets Dialog

New dialog that allows the creation of selection sets that are not affected document structure.

Text

Font Features

It is now possible to take advantage of OpenType tables to select alternative glyphs from a font. Note that browser support is still limited. Inkscape must also be linked with a recent version of the Pango library.

Vertical Text

Support for vertical text layout has been improved.

The default behavior for Latin bases glyphs has been changed. They are now rotated sideways as required by the SVG 1.1 standard.
Support for the CSS 3 'text-orientation' property has been added. (Note that this property is not yet fully supported by browsers.)
The CSS 3 values for the 'writing-mode' property are supported in rendering. Saving still uses the deprecated SVG 1.1 values.

Accessibility

Converting text to a path will save the text in the 'aria-label' attribute. This is useful for accessibility and could eventually be used by Inkscape to reconstruct the text.

Live Path Effects

Now some suitable LPE's are applied to clips and mask.
Helper lines come again to live
Added to pen/pencil shape combo box the option to add a bend path directly

Spiro Live

Extended video: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFakiI5f0-Y>

Based in Spiro Live Path Effect, now show result while drawing.

Nodes cusp (SHIFT) and Spiro.
Handle append path on cusp and Spiro mode whith helper preview path.

BSpline

Extended video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwV0DHvA-OE>

Pen & Node mode

Use BSpline Live Effect while creating and editing paths.

Pen and Pencil use
Modes cusp(SHIFT) and BSpline while drawing.
Handle append parhs with preview helper path.
Handle weight of bspline (node tool) with handle movement. SHIFT key required.
Handle custom weight snaps with CTRL

Live Path Effect mode

The options in the Live effect dialog give you control on bspline paths.

Set to Default weight (0.3333 time of his curve segment).
Make cusp nodes.
Numeric input for weight.
Steps with CONTROL snaps in node/handle editing.
Ignore cusp nodes, affect to all other widgets changes and, for example, retain cusp nodes when you change the power.
Change only selected nodes, affect to all other widgets changes.
Show a helper path whith the final shape and the generated new nodes.

Fillet/Chamfer

Extended video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJKzGhJULfc

Four types: fillet, inverse fillet, chamfer and inverse chamfer.
Fillet/Chamfer knots are green diamonds
Change Fillet/Chamfer types: Ctrl+click green knot
Fillet/Chamfer knot dialog: Shift+click green knot
Handle units.
Methods Auto,Force Arcs or Force Bezier. Auto use arcs for straight lines and bezier for curves.
Numeric radius input.
Optional helper path with knot direction
Two kind of radius, fixed and flexible.
Optional Knot distance to node instead radius
Ignore 0 radius knots.
Change only selected nodes.
Chamfer subdivisions input. -double-chamfer, triple chamfer....-
Hide Knots, some times useful. ex: 0 radius knot.
Type change buttons

Roughen

Extended video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=130Dbt0juvY

This filter is a semi-clone of two extensions, ("add nodes" and "jitter nodes") + handle units.

The parameters are similar to both extensions + a global randomizer.

Apply to paths, shapes and groups.
Apply to clip and masks -if are vectors-

Simplify

Extended video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaWujN_iTSk

Send the simplify command to a non-destructive live path effect.

Use on paths, shapes and groups of them.
Apply to clip and masks -if are vectors-
User can change modify the threshold -preferences dialog- used by a numeric parameter.
Apply Simplify on stack.

Perspective/Envelope

Extended video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjKGatyxTZ8

Apply both deformations by 4 points.

Two modes, perspective and envelope.
Apply on paths, shapes and groups.
Apply on vector clips and mask

Lattice Deformation 2

Extended video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlK9L88_tWE
Symmetry video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhuVjqFA6ig

Add deformations by a mesh.
Vertical,horizontal or both symmetry.

Apply to paths, shapes and groups.
Apply to vector clips and mask

Show Handles

Extended video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9ul_PR9XYo

A LPE version of Show Handles extension.

Work on paths, shapes and groups.
Work on clones
Node and Handle shapes resizeables
If not a clone, is a destructive LPE, dont save styles, work on a copy!

Transform by two points

Extended video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLmYdWoXXIw
Extended video (Elastic rubber): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOWTeZC_LjM

Transform a element by two control points. You can position the control points by bounding box or by original path node index. Thanks Ivan Louette for the idea of the effect.

Work on paths, shapes and groups with less power.
Allow snapping of both control points
Allow fix angle or distance.
Elastic mode to simulate a flex path
From original width, set the control points based on bounding box

Spray tool

Extended video 1 (No overlap): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uehj4ATOWos
Extended video 2 (No overlap multiple items): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eTG2U3qlb4
Extended video 3 (Over visible, pick color): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTdKu7mAZE8
Extended video 4 (Pressure): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWdQnxd_z30
Extended video 5 (Trace -clones- dialog): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn3vzf-yA_w
todo: a video showing all features joined

New mode eraser
Add more pressure toggles
No overlap option with optional multiple elements
No overlap between colors
Configurable offset for overlaps
Color picker from center or average area
Apply color picked to fill
Apply color picked to stroke
Invert picked colors
Spray over transparent
Spray over non-transparent
Allow picker enabled sprays to use "Trace Clones" options

Measure tool

Extended video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE0cVDGCzbM

Persistent measure
Reposition of origin/end
Convert to measure item
Convert to guides
Convert measure to quote
Reverse origin/end
Measure global
Measure only current layer
Add precision
Add scale

File Format Support

The default PostScript level for exporting from the command line changes from 2 to 3 (consistent with the user interface PS exporter which defaults to level 3). Level 3 is required for gradient support.

Extensions

New

Render > Seamless Pattern (Screencast)
Images > Set Image Attributes (Bug #1357808)
Render > NiceCharts (github repo, not maintained

Plotter Driver

Multiple Pens

The Plotter driver (Extensions -> Export -> Plot) can now handle multiple pens to create colorful drawings on Pen Plotters:

Create a layer for every pen to use and move the corresponding drawings into it
Name the layer with a title like "Pen 1" or "MyLayerName Pen 1", where the number corresponds to the pen number the plotter should use
The layer name always overrides the standard pen setting in the plot menu

Serial Connection

The connection settings now allow you to specify rarely used serial connection settings like byte size, stop bits and parity. Most plotters use the default settings, so only change these if you know what you are doing.

HPGL Export

The HPGL export (File -> Save as -> HP Grafics Language file) has now the same multiple pens feature as the #Plotter Driver.

HPGL Import

The HPGL import (File -> Open -> Select .hpgl file) can now import multiple pens into corresponding layers, see #Plotter Driver for more information.

PDF Import

The image 'interpolate' value is now used to determine how to display bitmaps (interpolated or blocky).

Miscellaneous Improvements

Arrange > Restack has new options to reverse and shuffle the z-order of selected objects.
Render > Random Tree has new option to omit redundant segments.
Visualize Path > Measure Path has additional text layout options.

Other user interface

Node Snapping

Snapping in the node tool has been improved:

When double clicking to insert new nodes, the position of these new nodes will snap to for example path intersections and to path-guide intersections
When grabbing a segment of a path and dragging it to deform it, the pointer will now snap

Checkerboard Background

It is now possible to use a checkerboard background when editing. This allows one to clearly see the transparency of objects.

View Box

One can now set the SVG 'viewBox' attribute from the GUI. This attribute sets the scale of the drawing by determining the real-world value of the SVG user unit (pixel size).

Lock Guides

Now guides can be locked global or in individual way

SVG and CSS

The 'marker-orientation' property now recognizes units ('deg', 'rad', 'grad' and 'turn').
The new SVG 2 'context-fill' and 'context-stroke' properties are implemented which allows the auto-matching of arrowhead fill color to path stroke color.
The new SVG 2 marker orientation attribute value 'auto-start-reverse' is implemented. This allows one arrow marker to be used for both ends of a path.
The new CSS 3 'mix-blend-mode' and 'isolation' properties are implemented, allowing setting the blend mode between objects without using filters.
The new SVG 2 'paint-order' property is now supported. This allows setting the order in which the fill, stroke, and markers are drawn.
The new SVG 2 'mesh' paint server is supported, including bicubic auto-smoothing. A primitive GUI is available.
The SVG 1.1 'text-decoration' property is now rendered (underlines, strike through, etc.). CSS 3 'text-decoration' properties are also rendered.
The new SVG 2 'hatch' paint server is now supported.
The CSS 'white-space' property is now supported. Use of this property was added in SVG 2 to replace the now deprecated 'xml;space' attribute.
The SVG 1.1 'textLength" and 'textAdjust' attributes are implemented, however, there is no GUI for these attributes.
Rendering of the Component Transfer filter primitive has been corrected.
Units are now recognized in the text and tspan 'x', 'y', 'dx', and 'dy' attributes.
Percentage values are now interpreted correctly for shapes.

New SVG 2 and CSS 3 features are generally not enabled in the GUI until widespread support in browsers.

New dependencies

The Paintbucket and Trace Bitmap tools now use an external copy of the Potrace library, which is available in many Linux distributions or can be obtained from http://potrace.sourceforge.net

Translations

New UI translations for Assamese, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic and Devanagari), Kokani (Roman and Devanagari scripts), Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri (Meetei Mayek and Bengali scripts), Marathi, Odia, Santali (Devnagari and Ol-Chiki scripts), Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Urdu (Perso-Arabic and Devanagari scripts).