Inkscape Wiki - User contributions [en]

Release notes/0.44

2006-03-29T15:46:38Z

B b:

= Inkscape 0.44 =

== In brief ==

Bigger and better.

== Outline mode ==

An Outline ("wireframe") display mode is implemented. Use the View > Display Mode > Outline to activate it. In this mode:

* all paths and shapes are rendered as inverse (black on light background and vice versa) outlines of constant width (1 screen pixel regardless of zoom), without fill;

* text is painted by inverse fill, without stroke;

* bitmaps are shown as is;

* any opacity and gradients are ignored.

The outline mode is usually not drastically faster than regular mode (usually 10% to 50% faster), and in some special cases it may even be slower. However, the value of the outline mode is not only in its speed; it is a good way to get an idea of the structure and objects of your document, and it is convenient for precision node editing and for finding "stray objects".

== Selected style indicator ==

A new control in the left end of the statusbar lets you quickly view and change the fill and stroke of the selected objects. When you have a text selection in Text tool or a gradient handle selected in the Gradient tool, this indicator displays and changes the style of the text fragment or gradient stop, instead of the entire object (it's the same behavior as the Fill&Stroke dialog.)

* The two indicators, labelled F: (top) and S: (bottom), display fill and stroke of the selected object(s) correspondingly. (For gradient handles, they always display the same style.)

* Each fill/stroke indicator can display either a color+opacity swatch (the opacity shown here is the fill opacity or stroke opacity, not the master opacity) or a text label specifying N/A (nothing selected), None (no fill/stroke), Unset (unset fill/stroke), L Gradient, R Gradient, Pattern (corresponding fill/stroke types), or Different (selected objects have different fill/stroke types).

* Additionally, each indicator may be accompanied by one of two flags, m ("multiple", meaning there are two or more objects all with the same fill/stroke) or a ("averaged", meaning there are two or more objects with different flat colors in fill/stroke, and the indicator shows the average of these colors).

* Left-click on an indicator opens or activates the Fill&Stroke dialog with the corresponding tab (Fill or Stroke) active.

* Right-click on an indicator opens a popup menu with the following items:
** Edit fill/stroke...: Opens or activates the Fill&Stroke dialog with the corresponding tab selected. (Same as left-click.)
** Last set color: Applies to the selected objects the fill/stroke color that was last applied to anythig.
** Last selected color: Applies to the selected objects the fill/stroke color that was last displayed in this indicator. (Allows you to easily copy fill/stroke color between objects: select source, select destination, apply "last selected color".)
** Invert: Sets the fill or stroke to the inverse of the current color (does not affect opacity).
** White, Black: Sets the fill or stroke to the corresponding color (fully opaque).
** Copy color, Paste color: Copies or pastes the fill or stroke color (when it's color) to/from the system clipboard, as text in the <code>#rrggbb</code> hex format.
** Swap fill and stroke: Exchanges fill and stroke (both their types and colors, if any).
** Make fill/stroke opaque: Removes fill or stroke transparency (not master transparency!).
** Unset fill/stroke: Unsets fill or stroke from selected objects.
** Remove fill/stroke: Removes fill or stroke from the selected objects.

* Middle-click on a fill/stroke indicator removes fill/stroke from selected objects; if it is already removed (i.e. if the indicator displays "None"), it does the same as the "Last set color" command from the popup menu.

* The Stroke indicator also displays the stroke width of selection (averaged if there are multiple objects selected with different stroke widths), located to the right of the stroke color/transparency swatch. Left-clicking on it opens the Fill&Stroke dialog with the Stroke Style tab selected. Right-clicking on it opens a popup menu which allows you to choose the units for displaying the stroke width, as well as choose one of the presets to assign to selection.

* To the right of the fill/stroke indicators, the Opacity numeric field (labelled "O:") shows and allows you to change the master opacity of the selected object (or the averaged opacity of several selected objects). Right-clicking the numeric field opens a popup menu with preset opacity levels. Middle-clicking on the "O:" label cycles the opacity through the values of 0 (transparent), 0.5, and 1 (opaque).

The zoom field and the cursor coordinates indicator have been rearranged for compactness and moved to the right end of the statusbar. There's also a window resize handle added at the very end of the statusbar.

== Clipping and masking ==

Inkscape now provides some UI for using clipping paths and masks.

* Any object can be non-destructively intersected with a path (called a clipping path) so that only the intersected portion of the object is visible.
** To apply clipping, select the objects to be clipped and the clipping path object, make sure the clipping path is above the other objects in z-order, and do Object > Clip > Set.
** You can transform, edit, or style the clipped objects as usual. The clipping remains applied and transforms together with each clipped object.
** To remove the clipping, do Object > Clip > Release. If this was the only object using this clipping path [fixme], the clipping path is returned to the drawing as a regular object.

* Any object can be non-destructively masked by another object (called mask) so that: the mask's black or transparent areas become fully transparent in the masked object; mask's opaque white areas become fully opaque; and all intermediate colors translate into intermediate levels of opacity in the masked object. This allows you to apply, for example, arbitrary transparency gradients to objects.
** To apply a mask, select the objects to be masked and the mask object, make sure the mask is above the other objects in z-order, and do Object > Mask > Set.
** You can transform, edit, or style the masked objects as usual. The mask remains applied and transforms together with each masked object.
** To remove the masking, do Object > Mask > Release. If this was the only object using this mask [fixme], the mask is returned to the drawing as a regular object.

* Objects with clippath show their bounding box intersected with the bounding box of the clippath, instead of the original unclipped bbox as before. (However, this does not apply to objects without clippath of their own which are clipped by being inside a clipped group.)

* Clipped or masked objects display "clipped" or "masked", correspondingly, in their statusbar descriptions.

* Although Inkscape had render-only support for clipping paths and masks for quite some time, in this release we fixed a number of bugs which may affect the display of your documents using clippaths or masks.
** Clippaths and masks with objectBoundingBox units are now shown correctly upon loading of the document.
** Clippaths without fill didn't work, this is now fixed.
** Objects with clippaths or masks are correctly copied/pasted between documents.

== Color palette ==

[options; use; dragndrop - joncruz]

== Transform dialog ==

Fixes and improvements in the Transform dialog (Ctrl+Shift+M):

* The Apply to each object separately checkbox is added, allowing you to scale/rotate/skew each selected object by the same amount, around that object's center. When off (by default), the selection is transformed as a whole. The status of this checkbox is remembered across sessions. (It has no effect on Move and Matrix tabs).

* The Clear button resets the values on the current tab to defaults.

* The Scale tab now allows you to specify horizontal or vertical size increments in percentage or absolute units. Also, there's a Scale proportionally checkbox which ensures that scaling preserves the width/height ratio. (If you are scaling several objects proportionally with "Apply to each object separately", you can only use the % unit to specify the scaling; otherwise each object's scale increments will have the width/height ratio of the entire selection, not of that specific object.)

* The Skew tab can now specify the skew as an absolute displacement (e.g. for horizontal skewing of a rectangle, that means the shift of the top rectangle side relative to the bottom), as percentage displacement (e.g. a 1% horizontal skew of a rectangle means shifting the top side by 1% of the rectangle height), or as an angle (e.g. horizontal skew by 15 degrees results in the sides of a rectangle being rotated to that angle, while the top and bottom remain horizontal).

* The Matrix tab (previously called "Transform") can either edit the current <code>transform=</code> matrix of an object, or post-multiply the <code>transform=</code> with the matrix you specify, depending on the Edit current matrix checkbox. (As it is now redundant, the transformation matrix in the Object Properties dialog is removed.)

* The dialog now correctly watches selection changes in the active document window and updates its values accordingly.

* The layout of the dialog is simplified, tooltips and mnemonics added for better usability.

* Many bugs are fixed, especially in value conversions between units.

== Persistent rotation centers ==

* The position of the center (axis) of rotation and skewing used by Selector is now remembered for all objects and is restored when you select those objects again (even after save and reload). When you move or scale an object, its rotation center is moved or scaled too, so its position relative to the object always remains the same.

* When you have several objects selected, they use the rotation focus of the first selected object. If the first object does not have center set (i.e. if it's in a default central position), then several objects will rotate around the center of their common bounding box.

* Shift+click on the rotation center resets it back to the center of the object's box.

* Consequently, dragging the transformation center is now an undoable action; you can press Ctrl+Z to undo the drag.

* Keyboard rotation by [, ] keys with various modifiers, as well as the Transform dialog, now rotate around the selected object's center (for multiple selections, the center of the first selected object).

* Rotation centers are preseved when duplicating, cloning (including clone tiler), and converting to path.

[TODO:
- make it work smartly for groups: if a group has center not set, return the center of the first object inside group with the center set

- a separate tab in the Transform dialog, with 9 buttons in the square grid (for setting it to object's corners, sides, and center) as well as x/y fields for setting center to any position

- make center snap to grid/guides/objects and to other centers

- make objects snap with their center to grid/guides/objects]

== Pasting size ==

A number of commands are added to easily scale selected objects to match the size of the object(s) previously copied to the clipboard. They are all in the Paste Size submenu in Edit menu:

* Paste Size scales the whole selection to match the size of the clipboard object(s).

* Paste Width scales the whole selection horizontally so that it matches the width of the clipboard object(s). This obeys the scale ratio lock on the Selector controls bar (between W and H fields), so that when that lock is pressed, the height is scaled in the same proportion; otherwise the height is unchanged.

* Paste Height scales the whole selection vertically so that it matches the height of the clipboard object(s). This obeys the scale ratio lock on the Selector controls bar (between W and H fields), so that when that lock is pressed, the width is scaled in the same proportion; otherwise the width is unchanged.

* Paste Size Separately scales each selected object separately so that it matches the size of the clipboard object(s).

== Connectors and automatic layout ==

* [automatic diagram layout - ?]

* There is a new Remove Overlaps button to move the selected objects enough that they don't overlap each other. This should be a significant addition to Inkscape's usability for diagramming. [Consider expanding this, comparing with existing Unclump and Distribute edge-to-edge buttons. - pjrm]

* In Connector tool, the margins around avoided shapes (used for autorouting connectors) can now be adjusted via the "Spacing" control on the controls bar.

== Selective tracing with SIOX ==

[ishmal]

== Document Properties / Metadata dialogs ==

* The Document Preferences dialog is now named Document Properties, and it was split in two: metadata were extracted into the Document Metadata dialog; metadata widgets are now also spread over two pages.

* New controls: the new object snapping features required their own property widgets, and you can set the snapping sensitivity with a slider, or let it snap regardless of distance (grid only).

* Rearrangements within Document Properties: everything snapping-related was collected on one page; Grid and Guide widgets are on their own, the same page. For better HIG compliance, all widgets were categorized; especially the widgets on the Page page were completely rearranged in the General/Format/Border categories.

* Bug fixes: grayed out license URI had too low contrast, so it's no longer grayed out; the proprietary license didn't clean the license URI; spinbuttons had no tooltips, and minor grid quirks were removed; data was not updated when a new file replaced another in the same window.

* HIG compliance: much work went into that, and now only a few details are missing from full Gnome-HIG compliance.

== Keyboard profiles ==

[mental]

== Path effects ==

[acspike]

== Snapping ==

* [object snap - carl]

* [highlight - mtou]

* [only to visible gridlines - mtou]

* Guidelines are made easier to pick: now you don't need to position mouse exactly over a guideline to activate it, instead there's a small position tolerance (1 screen pixel on each side of the guideline).

== Sublayers ==

Previously, it was only possible to make a group a temporary sublayer by entering that group. Now Inkscape supports creating and using true persistent sublayers within a layer.

* The Add layer dialog allows you to place the new layer above, below, or inside the current layer.

* [keyboard selection "with sublayers" option]

== SVG Output ==

* Colors are now expressed by name (‘white’) or three-digit form (‘<tt>#f3c</tt>’) when possible.

== New formats ==

* [save zip with images - acspike?]

* An output format for desktop cutting plotters, such as the Wishblade and Craftrobo, was added. This format is a very minimalist DXF file with appropriate scaling and translation applied. This output format should not be expected to operate as a generalized DXF output.

* [xfig]

* [odg - ishmal]

== Speed ==

* Thanks to optimizations in the renderer, Inkscape's screen redraw is faster by at least 10%, and in some cases (such as complex stroked/dashed paths at high zooms) up to three times faster.

* Switching to and from the Node tool (with a path selected), as well as selecting nodes in that tool, have been significantly optimized and are now about five to ten times faster than before. Memory consumption in the Node tool is also reduced. This is especially noticeable when working with complex paths; with these optimizations, paths containing several thousand nodes, though still slow, are much more usable.

* An optimization in the attribute setting method made operations such as moving objects on the canvas at least 30% faster compared to 0.43. This is especially noticeable when you are moving clones selected together with their original (e.g. a clone tiling), in which case Inkscape now works three to four times faster.

== Mouse and keyboard ==

* Now you can use Shift+middle button drag in any tool to zoom into an area. This works the same as simple drag in Zoom tool, but is faster because it does not require switching away from your current tool. Together with middle button drag (panning), middle button click (zoom in) and Shift+middle button click (zoom out), this completes the set of canvas navigation shortcuts available in any tool or context.

* In Gradient tool, Shift+R reverses the gradient definition (i.e. mirrors the stop positions) without moving the gradient handles. For example, an elliptic gradient with blue center and red periphery becomes red in the center and blue in the periphery. This works on the gradient(s) of the currently selected gradient handle or, if no handle is selected, on all selected objects' gradients. (Compare with the Node tool where Shift+R reverses the direction of the selected path.) This is especially convenient for elliptic gradients which, unlike linear, you cannot simply rotate by 180 degrees for the same result.

* By popular demand, in Pen tool, if a new path is being drawn but not yet finished, Ctrl+Z cancels that unfinished path (i.e. does the same as Esc), instead of undoing the previous action.

* In Pen tool, Del works the same as Backspace to delete the last created point on the unfinished path.

* In Node tool, the ! key inverts node selection in the current subpath(s) (i.e. subpaths with at least one selected node); Alt+! inverts in the entire path. (This is similar to how these keys work in Selector, with current subpath(s) instead of the current layer.)

* The keyboard shortcut for "Make selected segments curves" in Node tool is changed from Shift+K to Shift+U for better mnemonics.

* In Calligraphic tool, Esc deselects as in most other tools.

* In Selector, Ctrl+Enter enters the selected group (making it a temporary layer). Ctrl+Backspace leaves the current layer and goes one layer up in the hierarchy (but not to root).

* [pen tool keys - bb]

== Menus ==

* Zoom commands in the View menu are moved to a submenu; the Zoom In and Zoom Out commands are added to that submenu.

* Clone commands are moved into a submenu in Edit menu and given more descriptive names and tips.

* Pattern commands (Objects to Pattern and Pattern to Objects) are moved into a submenu in Object menu, under the new Clip and Mask submenus.

* The contents of the Effects menu are categorized into submenus, and several effects are renamed to use more intuitive names.

== Statusbar ==

* In Selector, for multiple selected objects, the statusbar now reports their types. For example, if 5 groups are selected, it displays

::5 objects of type Group in layer LayerName.

:instead of just "5 objects selected" as before. If there are up to 3 types in the selection, they will be listed, for example:

::5 objects of types Group, Path, Rectangle in layer LayerName.

:The order of the list will correspond to the order in which the objects were added to selection. If there are 4 or more types in selection, only the number of types is reported, for example:

::5 objects of 4 types in layer LayerName.

* In Selector, objects selected in groups are now identified as such, and the group ID is given, for example:

::Rectangle in group g212 (layer content)

:If selected objects have different parents within one layer (for example, if one is selected in a group and another outside it), the number of parents is reported:

::2 objects of types Rectangle, Path in 2 parents (layer content)

:If objects are in different layers, only the number of layers is reported since this also implies different parents:

::2 objects of types Rectangle, Path in 2 layers

* The contents of the statusbar message are now duplicated as a tooltip that is shown when you hover the mouse over the statusbar. [TODO: need to strip markup from the tooltips.]

* The statusbar text is now no longer just cut off if there is insufficient room, but an ellipsis (...) is inserted at the end to show there's more (only with Gtk 2.6 and newer).

== Theme ==

* Inkscape has a new default icon set titled "Crispy" provided by Andre Sousa. The new icons are intended to add a more professional and cohesive look to our application, as well as to make the functions the icons represent more self-evident.

* ['''Mouse cursors''' are are coloured, and antialiased. - scislac]

== Miscellaneous improvements ==

* Document templates (listed in File > New) are now first searched in the <code>templates</code> subdirectory of the user's profile directory (on Linux it's <code>~/.inkscape/templates</code>), then in the system-wide Inkscape templates directory. This allows you to add your own templates on top of the list of standard templates, as well as override the default template with your own one (the <code>default.svg</code> in the profile directory has priority over the system-wide one).

* When toggling one of the "transform with object" buttons (for stroke width, rounded rectangle corners, gradients, or patterns), a message is displayed in the statusbar explaining what has changed in the program's behavior. Hopefully this will reduce the number of complaints from users who had accidentally toggled one of these and were surprised by the result.

* Whole thousands above 2000 in the rulers are now displayed as 2k, 3k, 4k etc.

* In the Document Preferences dialog, the new object style for each tool is now shown as a style swatch (displaying fill/stroke colors and opacity, stroke width, and master opacity), similar in design to the selected style indicator in the statusbar.

* The Simplify threshold in Inkscape Preferences can now be set with more precision.

* In the Grid Arrange dialog, row/column spacing can now be negative.

* The installation default is now to scale the rounded rectangle corners with the rectangles themselves (the previous default mode, still available as an option, was to keep rounding radii unchanged when scaling rectangles).

* Added a new <code>--export-area-canvas</code> command line parameter that causes the exported PNG to contain the full canvas. This option as well as <code>--export-area-drawing</code> and <code>--export-area</code> can now be used along with <code>--export-id</code> and <code>--export-id-only</code> for greater flexibility.

* The <code>--query-*</code> command line parameters now return the true SVG bounding box of the object instead of the Inkscape coordinate system bbox (with inverted Y axis). The new behavior makes more sense for scripting use of Inkscape.

* Individual <tspan>s within text objects (including line tspans) can now be selected via the XML editor to view their bounding boxes (though per SVG, you cannot transform them). Also, you can use the <code>--query-*</code> command line parameters to find out the bounding boxes of tspans from a script. (Individual strings within or between tspans are still not selectable, and they cannot have an ID for querying anyway.)

* The placeholder image which is shown when a bitmap file was no longer accessible reads now "Linked image not found" instead of the confusing "Broken image".

* Cloning multiple selected objects now works as expected (i.e. each selected object is cloned separately, similar to the Duplicate command). Previously you could only clone a single selected object.

* [about dialog redesign - mental]

* [icons prerendering - joncruz, mental]

* [extensions on windows - ishmal]

* [python extensions to work out of the box on windows? - ishmal]

* Added a new Python effect Flatten Path that flattens paths in the current selection, approximates them with a polyline by breaking them into segments that meet the specified criteria for flattness.

* [new cursors - scislac]

* In the Transform dialog / Rotate tab, the icon was flipped horizontally to be in line with the direction of positive rotation; the change was applied to the default (now crispy) and legacy icon sets.

* The scale ratio lock button on the Selector controls bar shows a closed lock when pressed and open lock otherwise (same as the layer lock in the statusbar).

== Miscellaneous bugfixes ==

* Inkscape couldn't be compiled with libxml versions <= 2.6.9, and we now bumped the requirements from 2.6.0 up to libxml >= 2.6.11, which is the earliest you can get officially, anyway.

* Scaling of objects with stroke in Selector used to cause undesired shifts of the scaled object, as well as scaling it in the dimension which was intended to remain untouched (e.g. slight change in width when you scale only height). All these problems are now fixed, both for interactive scaling by mouse and for numeric scaling via the Controls bar, and for both values of the "Scale stroke with objects" option. Among other things, this means that stroked objects no longer lose snapping on scale, and that the "Default scale origin" option in the Selector tool preferences finally works as designed. Caveat: There may still be problems if you scale a selection that contains objects with different stroke widths.

* Bounding box for text objects did not include stroke width.

* Stroke miterlimit on text objects was misinterpreted in absolute units instead of multiplies of stroke width (resulting in miter joins rendered as bevel).

* [win32 font backend, device fonts - cyreve]

* Setting dash pattern was broken for transformed objects, and copy/paste of style with dash pattern did not apply correctly to objects with transforms.

* An error caused a complete extra screen redraw after each zoom operation. That is, after you press "+" in a complex drawing, Inkscape redraws, but for some time after that it remains still unresponsive because it does that second redraw (invisibly for you, i.e. nothing changes on the screen). This is fixed.

* Gradient rendering was off by one pixel, which often resulted in visibly wrong gradient rendering for small objects or in zoom-out.

* The SVG path parser could not handle fractional numbers with the initial dot.

* Several pattern rendering bugs are fixed, discovered by working with SVG files exported from Adobe Illustrator.

* Inkscape on Mac OS X will now notice fonts in your ~/Library/Fonts directory, in addition to the other standard places.

* Scaling of stroke didn't work for objects that didn't specify stroke-width and thus had the default 1px stroke.

* Inkscape no longer crashes when presented with a defect inx file for extensions.

* There was a regression in 0.43 that caused several minor, though annoying bugs; knots and handles remained highlighted after the mouse was released, and the rubberband selection rectangle stayed visible if the selection was ended over a node while in the node tool. This regression has been fixed.

* The connector routing code would previously sometimes confuse objects between multiple documents resulting in strange routing behaviour. This has been fixed.

* There existed a bug in 0.43's Inkboard code that allowed a malicious outsider to very easily disrupt an Inkboard session. This has been fixed.

* There existed a bug in 0.43's Inkboard code that would cause deadlocks in the case that two users attempted to invite each other at the same time (see bug #[https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=604306&aid=1352522&group_id=93438 1352522] for further details). This should be fixed, although the fix has not been widely tested.

== Translations ==

* INX files (containing the UI of the external effects) now allow the user visible strings to be translated. This means that effect dialogs, file type selections, and extension names can all be translated by translators.

== Internal ==

* The Document Properties Dialog code was completely gtkmmified, which lead to dramatic reduction of code size due to usage of widget objects. The used widget objects should be reusable by other dialogs, too, and the code is much more readable.

* Work on optimizing includes in all cpp files started, using the purgeincludes tool specifically written for that purpose, and ended with 40% of include lines removed!

== Known problems ==

=== Beware: defect themes on Linux ===

* Inkscape and other Gtk programs can crash on any Linux, when the gtk2-engines-smooth / libsmooth package is installed. We have filed a bug against libsmooth which is now in gtk-engine and part of gnome. Removing the package resolves the problem, however, but it would be nice if you as affected user would inform the gtk-engines maintainers of the problem. See especially http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=312115 (thanks to Thomas Wood)
* A similar crash happens if the KDE Baghira theme or the package gtk_qt_engine are installed. If you experience Inkscape crashes on KDE, please try to install a different theme from Baghira, or uninstall the gtk_qt_engine package from your system. Both problems also affect older versions of Inkscape.

== Previous releases ==

* ReleaseNotes043 (http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/ReleaseNotes043)
* ReleaseNotes042 (http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/ReleaseNotes042)
* ReleaseNotes041 (http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/ReleaseNotes041)
* ReleaseNotes040 (http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/ReleaseNotes040)
* ReleaseNotes039 (http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/ReleaseNotes039)
* ReleaseNotes038 (http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/ReleaseNotes038)
* ReleaseNotes037 (http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/ReleaseNotes037)
* ReleaseNotes036 (http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/ReleaseNotes036)
* ReleaseNotes035 (http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/ReleaseNotes035)

User:Bats

2006-03-29T15:22:51Z

B b:

__TOC__
== Introduction ==
Hello, I wrote most of this into Kedit shortly after doing a project a few weeks ago; I wanted to capture things while fresh in my mind. I found this wiki much later and so I resolved to post what I had written, somehow. I am not sure where to put it, so I have used this user page for the job. I will advertise this somewhere, just not sure where yet.
:'''''comments'''''
:I found your page by chance - hope you don't mind if I add some answers here :) --bb
:'''No worries, glad to have some input!'''
::i think you should better post (some of) your ideas to the dev list, to get more input than just me...

Please forgive any missteps on my part, this is my first post to an online wiki.

My intention with this is to express my thoughts as I was working and then to express my '''wishes''' about what the software could do. It's not about flames. '''I really like Inkscape''', it's already better than the last time I tried Corel (version 8, I think) and it's just about at Freehand 7 level which is amazing considering the price!

I also know the whole "If you want it, code it yourself" argument, and this is not about shifting the burden to someone else. Employ these suggestions or don't, I will help where I can. If this list starts some discussion then that will be more than I expected.

I also appreciate that the stuff I experience may be due to the way that Inkscape has been compiled for my Distro. I still have not managed to compile it myself due to the large number of deps. I tried, but Cairo kinda killed my enthusiasm - it's just not gonna happen on Fedora 3.

One last disclaimer - I don't propose to be an expert. I am sure there is loads of stuff that I simply don't know about and by knowing could solve some of these problems!

== My working setup ==
I use Linux - Fedora Core 3 at the moment. My machine is 10 years old by now, an old AMD 1Ghz and I have 1 gig of RAM and various IDE drives poking out of a very old case. Money is tight, no Apples in sight and never have been ;)

Inkscape (4.3), Gimp and Quanta are my main tools. I will delve into Blender now and again and use sundry tools to get other stuff done.

== Newly added thoughts ==
'''Is there a place on this wiki (or elsewhere) that users can go and list tweaks wished for?'''
:try dev list, after discussing there the rfe tracker
=== Colour ===
* A way to store custom colours in a palette.
:'''''comments'''''
:joncruz is working on that right now
* A way to replace colour A with colour B throughout the entire design (or better, range of svg files on disk).
:'''''comments'''''
:not directly, but you can search (ctrl+f) for style e.g. fill=#223344
=== Pages ===
* A way to design with multiple pages in one file. I would like to make a PDF file of many pages but cannot. This forces me to use the (indescribably strange) Scribus!
:'''''comments'''''
:nothing for that in svg 1.1

== Mixed suggestions and hopeful ideas ==
Here is the big mixture of observations and ideas:-
* I would love a way to ''place guides on the four edges of a page automatically''. Those page borders are too bold sometimes, I like to hide them but then I must manually drag guides and place them - a drag (literally)!
:'''''comments'''''
:good idea, could you please file a RFE?
:'''I will. It could also be a python script in "Effects" I suppose.'''
* I worked with a trace from a bitmap that had ~700 nodes. ''Inkscape simply stopped''. The cpu was at 99% everytime I clicked something and it stayed like that for minutes at a time. I suspect that there is some slow code involved with nodes and the like. The rule is keep your nodes below 100 and that means: do not actually use trace. Do not actually create complex images. C'mon.
:'''''comments'''''
:current svn is slightly better for this, but the real improvement will come from a new renderer (Xara or Cairo)
:'''Ah, right.'''
* Strokes - I needed a way for the stroke to be created ''underneath or above the shape''. I had to convert strokes to shapes (nice that it can do that) and muck about with scaling etc to handle some tweaking on the logo.
:'''''comments'''''
:SVG has no other options for stroke placement, so this is indeed the only way.
:'''A pity that.'''
* The eye-dropper. I would like it to pick-up the colour ''optionally including'' the alphaness of the colour. Sometimes I actually want to know that exact rgba colour, not the rgb approx that assumes the alpha is ff. (If that makes any sense.)
:'''''comments'''''
:that's exactly how it works, did you notice the toggle button in the toolbar?
:'''Brilliant! I missed that. Thanks :D'''
* Fills. I love the gradient fills. I love the powerful way that alpha is used (in normal fills as well). I wish there was ''a better way to edit those fills''. The current method is too pokey. Why not lay-out the gradient and have little markers that allow direct control of the fill. Check out how Blender does it. Oh yeah, let me name my blends or - better - just show me a picture of the blend. I can't groove to names like: LinearGradient2182. Ouch.
:'''''comments'''''
:looks like you have a very old inkscape - the on-screen editing of gradients as you describe it is there since 0.42
:'''Well, I have version 0.43 and when you click "edit" you get another dialog which has pulldowns for the gradient stops. It's hard to use that dialog. A simple image of the gradient with little triangles to allow direct manipulation of the colours and stop would be better, this is what I meant.'''
::that dialog is needed only for gradients with >2 stops, which are not often needed. for commonly used 2-stop gradients everything is doable on canvas: drag handles, or assign color/opacity to them as you would to an object.
::'''Right, I had not thought to assign colours to the handles. I still think that if the app can do >2 stops then the interface should be able to simply handle that.'''
:::sure, eventually all stops will be editable on canvas, 2-stop editing is the first step
* ''Stamping''. I like that it's there. The way it's done is too sensitive. I click and start a drag, I press SPACE and continue the drag, suddenly I have dozens of copies of the shape.
:'''''comments'''''
:but when you type text, you don't have problems leaving just one space between words, right? this is no different.
:'''Well, I am not holding the mouse button down when I type! I find the act of keeping the mouse dead-still while quickly hitting space to be too hard to do. It's too sensitive.'''
::sorry i still fail to see the problem :) i think it's just a matter of getting used.
* ''Stamping''. It should be one copy per press of space.
:'''''comments'''''
:and it is.
:'''Not when you hold space down for a millisecond too long and move the mouse some...'''
* '''Another important thing''': When I drag and then stamp, the original object should be left where the drag began.
:'''''comments'''''
:no. it leaves is where you pressed space. sounds logical to me.
:'''Think about it this way: You have a flower-petal, in the correct position. Now you want to make a copy of it. So you select the petal, you drag it to the new position and hit stamp. The way it is now, the original petal is being dragged, there is a copy at the new position, but the petal is no longer at it's first position. You are forced to go back and drop the dragged petal back where it came from. There already is the concept of "cancelling" a move. This leaves the original object where it started (because this could have been a very careful positioning) when you hit ESC. Likewise, when you hit stamp it should 'know' that you are now stamping and so leave a copy at the original location.'''
::just press ctrl+d or alt+d before starting to drag :)
::'''I had a feeling you were gonna say that! :)'''
* A way to duplicate objects along a path. Perhaps a way to morph them to another shape at the same time. I know there is a plugin for morphing, but not along a path.
:'''''comments'''''
:we have an rfe on that, so in due course this will be added.
:'''Fantastic!'''
* A way to restore a bitmap (or any imported shape) to it's ''original dimensions'' after successive rotations and deformations.
:'''''comments'''''
:open Transform, go to Matrix, "edit current", Clear.
:'''Okay, thanks. Might I suggest that those are not intuitive steps and normal joes (like me) get scared by words like "Matrix"! What about an option in context menu (and/or Edit menu) called "Reset Transformations"?'''
::i think it's too a specialized need to deserve a command of its own. besides it does not always work as the user would expect, because some transforms are embedded and not cancellable - this depends on transform type, object type, and a user setting. so, the matrix clearing at least does exactly what it says it does, not pretending to be something more generic than it is.
::'''Yes it does what it says it does, but how many users will know what "matrix clearing" means? Not me that's for sure! I still vote for a simple "clear changes" menu somewhere, even if it's sometimes unpredictable. I could always hit undo.'''
:::a command that is confusingly named and does not always work as expected is worse than no command at all
* Import - Why can't I drop-in a Gimp XCF file? I have to go and make a special PNG (or jpg) of it (file clutter) just so I can get it into Inkscape. The Gimp can handle SVG...
:'''''comments'''''
:i think Aaron Spike recently worked on something related to XCF, like an import extension. you may want to ask on the dev list.
:'''Okay. Glad it's in the pipeline.'''
==Speed==
General speed.
I use the same machine that I used to use for Freehand 8, 9 and 10. Freehand flies. Zap, zap, zap. This machine now has 1 gig of RAM and runs Linux. Inkscape acts like ''a snail on superglue'', well, okay, it's a turn of phrase. I appreciate that this may be due to my distro's (Fedora 3) way of compiling GTK and Inkscape.
Slow things:
:#Dragging objects around.
:#Dragging the canvas around.
:#Toolboxes: Opening them and when you drag them over the canvas - there is a black flash of redraw.
:#Using toolboxes: The colour sliders are terrible - they redraw visibly while you are dragging!
:#Lots of nodes: The superglue hardens and the snail dies. Eek.
:'''''comments'''''
:try current svn, it's a bit speedier
:'''I am forced to wait for RPM's on my distro. This sucks a little. Perhaps I will try climbing Mount Compilation once again, although with Inkscape I never get past the base-camp!'''
==Paste-inside/Masks/Patterns==
* A way to "paste inside". '''This is a "biggy"'''. It's essential to be able to quickly ''clip shapes into other shapes''.
:'''''comments'''''
:added in svn.
:'''Dance Of Joy :-D'''
* On the subject of "patterns" - it's hard to make a pattern fill "sit" inside a shape properly. It would be great if we could set the spacing between the repeated pattern; sort-of like css padding.
:'''''comments'''''
:planned to add.
:'''And here I thought I was being pushy! :)'''
* I had trouble converting vector shapes to patterns. Weird stuff, hard to explain. Large vectors (large scale, not complexity) would simply corrupt as a pattern.
:'''''comments'''''
:please file a bug with that file attached
:'''I will try to find the original file.'''
* When you have a PNG with an alpha channel and you convert it to a pattern, there is a ''visible outline'' where the alpha ends; a kind of ragged edge.
:'''''comments'''''
:known problem, maybe a new renderer will be better in this respect
:'''Cool.'''

==Paths/Outlines==
* Inkscape really needs an "outline view". Things like paths that I put text onto usually have no stroke, after some hours of work ''I cannot recall where those paths are''.
:'''''comments'''''
:added in svn
:'''Whew!'''
* Oh yeah, when you select many objects and move them (or scale them), the paths that you had text put onto ''sort of move in a strange relative way'', not like you would expect. They sort-of lag behind and depending how far you drag, they can be '''waaaaay''' off the page after a bit.
:'''''comments'''''
:don't see that, again, please file a bug with example file and detailed steps to reproduce
:'''I have three bugs to file so far. It will take me some time to reproduce them and then describe it all. I will get onto it as soon as I can.'''
::ideally you should test with current svn before submitting, but we will also accept bugs against 0.43
::'''I guess so. When I have two days to rub-together, I'll try compiling Inkscape for myself! Until then I am kinda chained to the yum update.'''
* Putting text onto paths is great. ''Getting text onto a path in the way you want it to, is hell''. I needed a phrase along the top of a circle and then another few words at the bottom, but those had to be wrapped on the inside of the bottom of the circle, so that they read correctly (not upside-down). The only way I could solve my problem was to cut a curve out of a duplicate of the path and wrap the text to that and then move it around with ALT and F2 (node tool). It was messy.
:'''''comments'''''
:None so far.
:'''Really messy....'''
==Font dialog==
*The first thing is that I would love to see previews of the fonts in that list. Not the preview at the bottom which is no good if you happen to have small-sized text, but a pre-rendered, fixed-size (legible) preview in the actual list (like Gimp does it.).
:'''''comments'''''
:just no one coded it yet
:'''Is there a place on this wiki (or elsewhere) that users can go and add little tweaks wished-for?'''
*The other thing is kerning. I would love to kern my entire text from the dialog. I love the ALT+arrow keys for tweaking, but en-mass is handy.
:'''''comments'''''
:"kern entire text" is called letterspacing, use the alt+<> keys in text tool for that
:'''Um....'''
*Would be cool : Is there a way to get Inkscape to re-scan the various system font-folders '''without''' restarting? This way I can install new fonts and have Inkscape pick them up sans closing the whole thing down and re-starting it! That would kick bottom since (last I used them) neither Corel nor Freehand could do it.
:'''''comments'''''
:it's pango/freetype area, we just use what they give us
:'''Okay, brain shutting down now. I can't see why the buffers cannot be flushed, variables reset and pango told to kindly goto line 1, but I don't code C at the best of times!'''
*A way to "reset" fonts to remove all their distortions, scalings etc.
:'''''comments'''''
:see above on removing transform matrix, and for removing kerning there's a special command
:'''Cool. Please refer to last comments about making a simpler menu entry for this.'''

==Exporting==
*I was sure that I was able to do this in earlier versions, but: When I select an object (or a group of them, whatever - a "selection") and I go to export as a PNG and choose the "selection" type, then I expect it to ''only export what I have selected''.Inkscape is exporting my selection (good) along with a clipped collection of whatever is in the background (bad) - stuff that I have not selected. So - when I have a logo that I want to get into Gimp, I cannot simply select the various bits in-place and export them, I am forced to explode the whole thing into seperate clusters on white-space before I export them. Urgh.
:'''''comments'''''
:this was never in the UI. it's only available through the command line currently. we plan to add this option to the UI as well.
:'''Right. I don't see how the command-line is going to help me export a ''''selection''''' since that implies I am in the UI and have selected something....'''
::you can select an object to export via its id, using --export-id, see man page
::''Ah. I better look into that a bit more. Still, when I was doing this project I needed to export a logo (from amongst other graphics) and I was working on many aspects at once, going to and from Gimp. It would have been a drag to close inkscape and then use it as a command-line for one export and then re-open it. See what I mean?'''
:this is the standard behavior of most vector editors, fwiw
:'''I can't recall, so I'll take your word for it.'''
:'''I thought an example would help:
:'''Scenario: You have a blue square and above it you have a red circle.'''
:'''When you select ONLY the circle and choose to export it, you get a PNG that has the red circle, but it has a blue background (the square). It should have a transparent background because '''''you only selected the circle.''''' Ne pas?'''
* When I try to export (save as) to PDF or PS I have found that it ''only works when the page is a portrait'' layout. Anything else exports a clipped portrait version of the document. Most irksome.
:'''''comments'''''
:i think there's a bug on that, search the bug database and add your comments and use cases
:'''Okay.'''
* I would love to export to JPG/XCF. Also any other supported format like PDF, EPS etc. Even SVG. '''Why this fixation with Save As?'''
:'''''comments'''''
:because no one coded it yet :)
* Why no way to set ''PNG compression'' and other meta info?
:'''''comments'''''
:because no one coded it yet :)
* ''Supersampling'' option? Some small images are way chunky.
:'''''comments'''''
:export uses the exact same renderer as the screen display, and it should remain so. it's the principle of minimum surprise aka wysiwyg.
:'''Yeah, but it's a nasty surprise when you open the png in gimp and discover that it's illegible... Surely there is room for wywiwyg - what you WANT is what you get? :)'''
::no, instead we just need an export preview where you can see what you're getting, and just increase resolution if it's not enough
::'''Zigactly! Your "export preview" is what I call WyWiWyG.'''
* A way to export ''each shape in a selection as its own file''. A kind of export-explode if you like.
:'''''comments'''''
:easy to code by a script via command line export
:'''Again, how to set a selection of shapes from the command line? Not to mention a command-line being non-intuitive for a task like designing graphics.'''
::it's very powerful and truly unique among vector editors, a major inkscape advantage :)
::'''Hey, why not have a console ''''within'''' inkscape so we can access these features. Better still, a set of menu-options like, oh I don't know, "export this selection to..." :)'''
* Add an export '''Only Current Layer''' option. (With a transparent background please!)
:'''''comments'''''
:why not hide all other layers and export that?
:'''It was a suggestion. Sure your idea would work, but it's slow and gets in the way of the flow. Plus, using the current layer panel - that's a horrible idea!'''
::again, this might be added to the layer dialog when it's done
::'''Grand!'''
* I would really like to see a way to ''export slices'' like Fireworks does. Draw stuff, any combination of layers, groups, images, vectors, text. Then drag guides around and have a way to select "slices", name them and export them.
:'''''comments'''''
:easy to do via transparent rects on a layer of their own. Or, we even have an extension for that, try it out.
:'''I see what you mean about the recs. Cool. I did not see the extension - I will go and look. Thanks.'''

==Layers==
* I am really happy that they are now there. Really. Could we work on that horrible layer control? I would not mind a layer toolbar at the bottom where I then click around and hide/show/drag to arrange etc. and it goes away when I mouse-out (or re-click the button, or hit esc).
:'''''comments'''''
:sure, just join us and help us code a real layer dialog!
:'''Again, a suggestion. Perhaps harshly worded.I do not intend to disparage the efforts of the coders - not at all. I would not be useful as a coder, it would take me years to catch-up to your level of knowledge!'''
* Have a little "export this layer" thingum. (Same as mentioned in Export section. Another way to do the same thing. A shortcut.)
:'''''comments'''''
:None as yet.

==Hardcore wishes==
* '''Mega-wish''': Drop-shadows and other Fireworksification. Why should Inkscape not blur the line between pixel and vector? I really hate working with the Gimp. It's true. It just plain gets in my way all the time. ''Inkscape has a freedom of movement, a zoom-in zoom-out pan-around rotate-this scale-that paridigm that places foot upon bottom''. Why not go all the way and let me shade edges and glow logos and fill with cool textures?
:'''''comments'''''
:because no one coded it yet. but we may have it relatively soon.
:that's the plan, eventually :)
:'''Wow - that will be a great day!'''
* '''Super-crazy-OSS-thought''': Transfer Inkscape 100% to Open-GL
:'''''comments'''''
:if we switch to cairo, it has a hardware accelerated backend.
:'''I can't wait.'''
*Interact with Blender. I can now have 3D layers with full scenes from a Blender file in them. I can rotate, scale the 3D stuff and then over/underlay that with normal Inkscape stuff. Cmon! Do it! Okay, <nowiki></dream></nowiki>
:'''''comments'''''
:i think blender can import svg now
:'''Last I tried it kinda munged it, but it was a while back.'''
* On the Blender thought-trail: ''I love the way nodes work in Blender''. It's weird, but dig this: You can select two nodes and hit "s" (for scale) and then when you move the mouse (not even a drag) it "scales" the two nodes.
:'''''comments'''''
:same in inkscape, just select nodes and press alt+><, or alt+[] to rotate
:'''Ah man! I'm in love! Wow. Thanks again :D'''
* '''Flame idea''': Please start a QT version of Inkscape. I understand that the QT licence has really loosened-up and you can distribute to Windows etc now too. QT is (in my experience of about 4 distros) much snappier than GTK. Whoa! Put down that club. Drop that brick! You know it's so. Deep inside your heart, at midnight, you mutter the secret words; "Damn I wish GTK was as fast as QT." :) <-- smiley to demonstrate peace and humour. Now let me get back to my KDE desktop! :D :D
:'''''comments'''''
:no, not at all. the toolkit is irrelevant. its effect on speed is negligible. 99% of inkscape slowness is in the renderer, not toolkit.
:'''I will accept your word. My own experience (on mainly Red-Hat/Fedora) is that Gnome (in my mind that = GTK) is very very very slow. I always switch to KDE and then all is fine and snappy. This has kind-of burned into my head the idea that QT is somehow faster than GTK. This is a mere impression of a user, please ignore.'''

==Conclusion==
I hope this is a good list of suggestions and observations.

I really love the idea of combining Inkscape, Gimp and Scribus and having a mega-design-app that will do anything and everything you can imagine. Heck, let's toss 3D in there too!

Well, the dreams aside, I hope there is some chance of small fixes to an already highly useable and useful application. Way to go Inkscape!

:'''''comments'''''
:'''Thanks for all the input so far.'''