Inkscape Wiki - User contributions [en]

Release notes/0.47

2008-12-21T12:30:53Z

Naught101: /* Pencil sketch mode */

=Inkscape 0.47=
'''(not released yet)'''

=Refactoring effort=

- many instances of SP_ACTIVE_DESKTOP were eliminated (although there still remain quite a lot to be removed)

[mention the 'main' goal of 0.47 and list which things have been refactored and the benefits/new features/different workflow? --johan]

- ratio of code lines and comment lines (difference with 0.46)

- number of fixme's and todo's (difference with 0.46)

- cairo

- speed improvement? (LPE? bootup?)

=Tools=

==Node tool==

* [helper path display, flashing - johan]
* The Node tool can now edit '''clipping paths''' and '''masks''' of objects on canvas, without releasing them. If the selected object has a clipping path and mask, the corresponding buttons on the controls bar of the tool will be enabled; pressing these buttons will display the editable paths or handles of the clippath or mask. A clipping path is stroked green, a mask is stroked blue (the same colors as those used for them in Outline mode).
* Snapping has been improved (more details in Snapping below)
* When dragging a node '''handle with Ctrl''', it now snaps not only to the 15 degree increments starting from 0 and to the original handle direction, but also to the direction of the '''opposite handle''' (if it exists) or of the '''opposite line segment''' (if it is a straight line).
* The behavior of the buttons/shortucts that make a node smooth or cusp has been improved:
:* If a node is already cusp (diamond shaped), pressing Shift+C again on it will retract both its handles. As this works for any number of selected nodes, you can always retract all handles in all nodes by selecting all nodes and pressing Shift+C twice.
:* If a non-smooth node is next to a straight line segment, pressing Shift+S once makes it ''half-smooth'': it now has one handle aligned with that line segment. Another press of Shift+S will expand the second handle as well turning it into a full smooth node. If a node is between two curve segments, Shift+S will expand both handles as before.
*'''Auto smooth nodes''': a new "auto" node type was added, similar to the one Xara Xtreme has. An auto node is a smooth node which automatically adjusts (rotates and stretches) its handles when this node or its neighbors are moved. This adjustment (same as what you get when you convert node type to Smooth, but continuous) keeps the curve at this node as smooth as possible. It feels a bit like Spiro paths (see below); although not as smooth as a Spiro, auto nodes may often be preferable as they work without applying any Path Effect. Whenever you manually adjust the handles of an auto node or drag the adjacent curve, it loses its auto state and becomes simply smooth; for this reason, it is recommended to edit smooth nodes with the node handles hidden via a toggle button on the controls bar. Auto nodes are represented by little circles, as opposed to smooth/symmetric nodes (squares) and cusp nodes (diamonds). To convert selected node(s) to auto, press '''Shift+A''' or use the corresponding node type button on the controls bar.

==Tweak tool==

Several new modes are added to the Tweak tool for transforming, duplicating, and deleting selected objects using the same "soft brush" metaphor that the path editing and coloring modes use. Using these new modes, it is easy to "sculpt" scatterings of small objects, such as clone tilings, into complex and naturalistic textures.

* '''Move mode''' moves those selected objects that are under the brush in the direction in which you move the brush. This is similar to the Push path mode, except that the Move mode affects entire objects and not parts of the paths under the brush.

* '''Move in/out mode''' moves those selected objects that are under the brush towards the cursor (default) or away from cursor (with '''Shift''' pressed). This is similar to the Attract/repel path mode, except that the Move in/out mode affects entire objects and not parts of the paths under cursor.

* '''Move jitter mode''' moves those selected objects that are under the brush in random directions and by random amounts, but the overall amount of movement depends on Force, pen pressure (if you're using a tablet pen), on the closeness of the object to the center of brush, and on how long you apply the brush.

* '''Scale mode''' scales those selected objects that are under the brush down (by default) or up (with '''Shift''' pressed). The speed of scaling depends on Force, pen pressure (if you're using a tablet pen), on the closeness of the object to the center of brush, and on how long you apply the brush.

* '''Rotate mode''' rotates those selected objects that are under the brush clockwise (by default) or counterclockwise (with '''Shift''' pressed). The speed of rotation depends on Force, pen pressure (if you're using a tablet pen), on the closeness of the object to the center of brush, and on how long you apply the brush.

* '''Duplicate/delete mode''' randomly duplicates those selected objects that are under the brush (by default) or deletes them (with '''Shift''' pressed). The chance of an object to be duplicated and deleted depends on Force, pen pressure (if you're using a tablet pen), on the closeness of the object to the center of brush, and on how long you apply the brush. As with regular Duplicate command, duplicating with Tweak tool places the copies right over the originals, and you may need to use the Move jitter mode to ruffle them apart.

:The duplicates created by the tool are automatically added to selection if the originals objects were in selection (e.g. if you're tweaking a group of objects, they are duplicated within that group and are not by themselves selected).

*'''Blur mode''' blurs the selected objects under the brush more (by default) or less (with '''Shift''' pressed). The amount of blur added or removed depends on Force, pen pressure (if you're using a tablet pen), on the closeness of the object to the center of brush, and on how long you apply the brush.

Also, the existing path editing modes of the tool have been rearranged: now Shrink and Grow are one mode (shrinks by default, grows with Shift), and Attract and Repel are one mode (attracts by default, repels with Shift). Here is a complete list of modes and shortcuts of the Tweak tool:

Shift+m, Shift+0 move mode
Shift+i, Shift+1 move in/out mode
Shift+z, Shift+2 move jitter mode
Shift+<, Shift+>, Shift+3 scale mode
Shift+[, Shift+], Shift+4 rotate mode
Shift+d, Shift+5 duplicate/delete mode
Shift+p, Shift+6 push path mode
Shift+s, Shift+7 shrink/grow path mode
Shift+a, Shift+8 attract/repel path mode
Shift+r, Shift+9 roughen mode
Shift+c color paint mode
Shift+j color jitter mode
Shift+b blur mode

In Color Paint mode, painting with Shift inverts the color you're applying (e.g. when painting with white, Shift will switch applied color to black; blue, to yellow, etc.).

==Calligraphy tool ==

[presets - Aubanel]

==Paint Bucket tool==
* Paint Bucket is now more tightly integrated with potrace. As a result, memory and CPU usage on each fill operation have been reduced significantly.

==Eraser Tool==
A new eraser tool has been added. It has two main modes:

* Delete-mode where any shape touched by the tool is deleted completely. This operation is in line with "vector" editing.
* Cut mode where erasing acts similar to erasing in a standard bitmap editor.

Cut mode works for both selected and not selected objects.

Shortcuts:

* '''Shift+E''' enables the tool

==Pen and Pencil==

Apart from the regular Bezier mode, the pen tool now provides several new modes:

* '''Spiro mode''': This mode automatically applies the new Spiro Splines LPE (see the section on new effects) to any newly drawn path. As mentioned below, it is not yet possible to preview Spiros before the path is finished.

* '''Zigzag mode''': This mode makes it easy to draw many straight line segments in quick succession by disallowing curves (even when the user drags with the mouse).

* '''Paraxial mode''': In this mode, the user can only create straight line segments that are parallel to one of the coordinate axes. Normally, each line segment is drawn perpendicular to the previous one. The direction of the line segment being drawn can be toggled with Shift. When clicking on the start anchor, the path is closed with an L-shaped segment (the direction of which can also be flipped with Shift).

Furthermore, it is now possible to automatically apply predefined vector brushes to path strokes in pen and pencil tools. This is a first step towards [http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/Vector-brushes this blueprint].

In Pencil tool, the controls bar now provides the '''Smoothing''' parameter, changeable in the range from 1 to 100, which controls how much smoothing is applied to the freehand line. Small Smoothing values produce rough lines with many nodes; large values give smooth lines with few nodes. (Previously, this control was only available in Inkscape Preferences.)

===Pencil sketch mode===
[johan]
Press alt and sketch away, release alt to finalize result.
:could you explain this a bit more? --[[User:Naught101|Naught101]] 12:30, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

==Text tool==

When editing multiline or flowed text, the '''PgUp''' and '''PgDn''' keys now work to move the cursor by one screen (i.e. by as many lines as fit into the screen at current zoom).

=Live path effects=
== Notable bug fixes and effect changes==
We try to refrain from changing the behavior of LPE's, because it will change appearance in old files when opened in new version of Inkscape (but not in any other SVG viewer or editor). However, when an effect is really broken, we have to fix it:

* The Pattern Along Path effect:
**The pattern used to be stretched across discontinuities. This has been fixed; now it treats a discontinuous path as a group of continuous paths and applied the effect separately to each.
** Successive copies of the pattern can now be fused into continuous paths (using the new "fuse nearby ends" feature) so that "filling" the result works as expected.

==New effects==

* '''Sketch''': Simulates hand-drawn lines. A set of parameters let you tune the effect. They are all sumerized in this [[:Image:SketchParameters.png|picture]].[jfb]

:[[Image:SketchExemple.png|300px]]

* '''Hatches''' Fills the given shape with rough, configurable and randomized, hatches, simulating quick hand-drawn hatches.[jfb]
:[[Image:hatches-lpe.png|300px]].

* '''von Koch''': This effect creates fractal pictures (example). To the input shape are added some transformed (rotated/scaled/slanted) copies of it, and then copies of the copies, etc... to get the final shape. The transforms are defined via a path.
:[[Image:VonKochExample.png|300px]]

:''Warning'': the complexity of the output path grows exponentially fast with the number of generations. As a guardrail, an (editable) complexity bound is provided, above which the effect is disabled.[jfb]

* '''Knot''': Creates a knot from a flat self intersecting curve. At each crossing, one string is interrupted to make it look like going under the other. The "sign" of each crossing can be set independantly.
:[[Image:KnotExample.png|300px]]

:''Known limitation'': can not be applied to groups nor be shared by different objects.[jfb]

* '''Perspective paths''': Draw an arbitrary path as if viewed in perspective. This is work in progress. Known limitations (among others): It can only use the first perspective that exists in the document defs, and the perspective cannot be adapted interactively yet (the effect must be removed and reapplied after modifying the perspective). [max]

* '''Spiro splines''' are a novel way of defining curvilinear paths [http://www.levien.com/spiro/ developed by Raph Levien]. It takes some getting used to, but for certain tasks (such as lettershape design) Spiros have a clear advantage over Bezier curves. Recently, Spiro support was added to the FontForge font editor; now it is available in Inkscape too, which means you can use all the convenient Inkscape path tools (moving and transforming groups of nodes, node sculpting, etc.) on Spiro paths.

:A Spiro path is defined by a sequence of points, but unlike a regular path with Bezier curves, all Spiro points lie on the path and there are no off-path handles. The curvature of the path is defined entirely by the positions of the points and their types. The path behaves very similar to a springy rod which is forced to pass through the given points and which uses the minimum possible curvature to satisfy the requirement. As such, it feels quite natural and the resulting path is very smooth - not just superficially smooth (i.e. having no cusps), but smooth at a deeper level, which you can achieve with Beziers only after a lot of laborious tweaking.

:To create a Spiro path, select any path and assign the "Spiro spline" path effect to it. There are no parameters. Each node of your path becomes a point of a Spiro path, depending on the type of node:

:* Smooth nodes (those with two collinear Bezier handles; use Shift+S to make a node smooth) become smooth curve points of the Spiro path. Note that the length or direction of the Bezier handles of the source path is ignored; the only thing that matters is their collinearity.

:* Cusp nodes of the source path become corner points of the Spiro path, like free hinges on the springy rod. Between two corner points, the path is always a straight line. To make a node cusp, retract its Bezier handles by Ctrl+click, or press Shift+C and move one of the handles so they are no longer collinear.

:* Half-smooth nodes - those with one Bezier handle collinear with a straight line segment on the other hand - become "left" or "right" points on the Spiro path which behave exactly the same: they sit between a straight line and a curve and enforce that these two segments join smoothly without a cusp. To create such a node, make sure one of the segments is a line (select its ends and press Shift+L), then Ctrl+drag the remaining handle to make it snap to the direction of the straight line segment on the other side, or press Shift+S to lock it to that direction.

:Note that what matters is the actual collinearity of a node's handles, regardless of the node type that the node has in the Node tool; for example, if a node designated as cusp (diamond-shaped) has collinear handles, it will become a smooth curve point of the Spiro path.

:Some configurations of points do not converge and produce wild loops and spirals instead of a smooth curve. According to Raph, "The spline solver in this release is _not_ numerically robust. When you start drawing random points, you'll quickly run into divergence. However, "sensible" plates based on real fonts usually converge." Avoid too sharp changes in direction between points to prevent divergence. Hopefully, the robustness of the algorithm will be improved in future releases.

:For now, to edit Spiro paths viewing the result in real time, you have to use the Node tool; it is recommended to turn off the red highlight of the source path as it is a distraction. The Pen tool does not yet allow you to preview a Spiro as you draw, although you can paste the Spiro effect on the path and see the result as soon as the path is finalized.

:You can always use the Node tool to continue a Spiro path by duplicating and dragging away its end nodes. Also, when you have a Spiro path selected, you can add a new subpath to it with Pen or Pencil if you start drawing with Shift.

* '''Construct Grid''' [johan]

* '''Perpendicular bisector''' [max]

* '''AngleBisector''' [max]

* '''Tangent to a curve''' [max]

* '''Circle through 3 points''' [max]

* '''Circle with radius''' [max]

* '''Envelope Deformation''' allows the user to deform an object (or a group of object) by deforming its sides. Modifications are done by deforming the 4 Path parameters : Top and Bottom, Left and Right.

* '''Lattice Deformation''' allows the user to deform an object (or a group of object) by moving 16 control points.

* '''Ruler''': [max]

* '''Freehand Shape''': [max]

* '''Interpolate Subpaths''': [Johan]

* '''Path Length''': [max]

* '''Text Label''': [max]

==New features==
* The '''Paste Path Effect''' command is enabled to assign the path effect of the clipboard to any number of paths, going recursively into groups if necessary.

* A new command, '''Remove path effect''' removes any path effects from all selected objects, going recursively into groups if necessary.

* Along with the commands to open the path effects dialog and to paste path effects, the three commands were collected in a submenu under Path menu.

* Live path effects can now be assigned to the sides of a 3D box (use Ctrl+click to select individual sides).

* The Pen and Pencil tools now correctly work with paths with LPEs: you can continue such a path or add a new subpath to it by drawing with Shift, all preserving the effect applied to it.

* Path type parameters can now link to existing shapes and text, like clones do. Now it is possible to use text as input for the Pattern Along Path effect for example!

* Lib2geom now has an implementation for EllipticalArc. For Inkscape, this means that it is now possible to directly copy-paste ellipse shapes on path parameters (e.g. 'pattern' in Pattern along Path), without the need to convert the ellipse object to path first. [needs coding and checking]

==Live Path Effects for groups==

LPE can now be assigned to a group. For most LPE, the effect is applied recursively but for Bend Path or Deformations the result is more powerful : the distortion applies on the whole group.

*You can as usual enter the group by double-clicking on it.
*It applies recursively, this means that a LPE can be assigned to groups of groups
*The Effect can be applied definitively with "Convert Object to path"

==Live Path Effects stacking==

With Live Path Effects stacking, more than one Live Path Effect can be assigned to an item. A new UI was created to control the stack.

=Import/Export=
==PostScript and EPS import==

Inkscape's capability to open or import PS and EPS files now uses Ghostscript instead of pstoedit. If you need to open files of these types, install Ghostscript and make sure the directory with the <code>ps2pdf</code> utility from Ghostscript installation is in your PATH. On opening, you will see a preferences dialog similar to PDF import, which, for multipage PS files, allows you to select the page to open.

==PDF import from the command line==

Now you can use, for example,

inkscape file.pdf --export-plain-svg=file.svg

It will take the first page of the PDF and all the default import options, and save the result to SVG. (Before, it crashed because it tried to open the PDF import preferences dialog and could not do it in the command line mode.) If you try to import PDF without an <code>--export</code> command, it will show the prefs dialog as before and open the file in the UI.

==PDF, PostScript, and EPS export==

The new cairo-based PS and EPS exporter provides a much better support for various vector features, including '''clipping paths''', '''patterns''', and '''non-ASCII characters'''. Those features that are not supported by the target formats are exported via embedded rasters that preserve the appearance; in particular:

* transparency is always rasterized in PS or EPS (but not PDF, as PDF supports vector transparency);

* filters, such as blur, is by default rasterized in all three formats (PS, EPS, PDF), but this can be turned off by unchecking the "Rasterize filter effects" option in the UI or adding the --export-ignore-filters option via the command line, in which case filtered objects are rendered as vectors without filters and without rasterization.

All of PS, EPS, and PDF export formats uniformly support the export area options (canvas or drawing) and the new export-id option:

* You can now export a single object from a complex document (for example, a single layer) if you specify the ID of that object in the "Limit export to the object with ID" field in the GUI or via the '''--export-id=ID''' option on the command line. The export will show only that object (all others will not be exported at all). The BoundingBox (page size) of the exported PS/EPS/PDF file will correspond to the bounding box of that object; you can override that with "Export area is whole canvas" (GUI) or '''--export-area-canvas''' (command line) option which forces the output to have the size of the SVG document's canvas (this may not be possible with EPS, see below).

* The "Export area is whole canvas" (GUI) or '''--export-area-canvas''' (command line) option forces the output to have the size of the SVG document's canvas. This is the default for PS and PDF but not for EPS.

:*Note that for EPS, the specification of the format does not allow its bounding box to extend beyond its content. This means that when --export-area-canvas is used with EPS export, the canvas bounding box will be trimmed inwards (but never outwards) to the bounding box of the content if it is smaller. If you want a file which has a %BoundingBox different from the bounding box of its content, you can use PS or PDF export formats instead of EPS, or add a white background rectangle with the required size to source document before exporting to EPS.

:* The --export-bbox-page command line parameter is removed; use --export-area-canvas instead.

* The "Export area is the drawing" (GUI) or '''--export-area-drawing''' (command line) option forces the output to have the size of the exported objects' bounding box, regardless of canvas size. If no --export-id is specified, this means the bounding box of the entire drawing; with --export-id, this means the bounding box of the exported object only. This is the default for EPS.

* The --export-embed-fonts option is removed; now Inkscape always embeds and subsets all fonts used in the document when exporting PS, EPS, or PDF.

==Corel DRAW files import==

Now Inkscape can import more Corel DRAW files of following types:

* Corel DRAW Compressed Exchange files (CCX)
* Corel DRAW 7-X4 Template files (CDT)
* Corel DRAW Presentation Exchange files (CMX)

Text objects are not supported as of UniConvertor 1.1.1.

==sK1 files import==

Inkscape uses UniConvertor to import sK1 files. Text objects are not supported as of UniConvertor 1.1.1.

==CGM import==

Inkscape uses UniConvertor to import Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) files. Text objects are not supported as of UniConvertor 1.1.1.

==HPGL export==

Inkscape can now export to HPGL (Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language). It is a file format that is used for various cutters/plotters.

==JavaFX export==

[]

==DXF export==

DXF export is much faster than in previous versions.

==PNG export==

* If you specify a relative path for exported PNG file (e.g. <code>../</code>) it will now be resolved relative to the current document's location.

* PNG export has been updated to include metadata if present in the source SVG.

= Autosave =

Autosave has now been added to allow for automatic timed backups as work goes on. Saved versions are put in a designated directory and do not overwrite the original SVG file and each other. Go to Inkscape Preferences, Autosave tab, to enable this feature and specify the backup time interval, the directory, and the maximum number of saved backups (if this number is exceeded, old backups will start to be deleted).

=Extension effects=
==New and improved effects==

* The new '''Arrange > Restack''' extension restacks the Z-order of selected objects, from left to right, top to bottom (or vice versa), with radial outward or inward or by an arbitrary angle, specifying the base point for comparison (top, left, middle, etc.).
* The improved '''Modify Path > Add Nodes''' extension now also allows segments to be divided into a given number of subsegments.
* The new '''Printing > Add cut marks''' extension add cut marks and color bars required by printing bureaus. You can either manually define margins by which cut marks are created, or use a rectangle for that.
* The new '''Render > 3D Polyhedron''' extension allows drawing polyhedrons from scratch and render them from OBJ files.
* The new '''Render > Alphabet Soup''' extension is a vector rework of Matt Chrisholm's [http://www.theory.org/artprojects/alphabetsoup/main.html GPLed script]. Alphabet Soup randomly mashes glyph-elements together to make exotic looking text.
* The new '''Render > Cartesian Grid''' extension plots Cartesian (square) grids that do not fill the page, but offer three levels of division, logarithmic scales (with clutter-reduction and arbitrary base) and customisable line width. All like elements (eg x-axis subminor divisions) are put into subgroups together. A proper border is also drawn, with an independent line thickness.
* The new '''Render > Draw from Triangle''' extension takes a triangle drawn as a path (only the first three nodes of a path are counted) and allows to draw many triangle-related geometrical objects such as circumcircles, excentral triangles, etc. It also allows entry of custom trilinear coordinated and triangle centre functions, as well as computation of basic triangle properties such as area and semiperimeter.
* The new '''Render > Guides Creator''' extension allows creating easily horizontal and vertical guides for dividing equally the canvas. You can choose the divisions from None, 1/2, 1/3 ... to 1/10.
* The new '''Render > Polar Grid''' extension plots a polar co-ordinate grid, with options for arbitrary-base logarithmic subdivisions, clutter-reduction around the origin, circumferential labels and custom line widths.
* The new '''Text > Convert to Braille''' extension recodes English (or just Latin letters) text to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille Braille] code created for visually impaired people.
* A collection of effects for creating SVG filters was added in the Filters submenu (see the section on SVG Filters).

==API changes==

While the "Live preview" checkbox is useful for most effects, for some it just does not make sense. Now, you can add the attribute <code>needs-live-preview="false"</code> in the <code>effect</code> element in the .inx file of the effect to suppress this checkbox for your effect.

Parameters passed to extensions (via the <param> element) now have a new boolean attribute - <code>gui-hidden</code> to indicate that the parameter should not be represented in the GUI. If all parameters are marked as hidden no GUI is presented for such extension.

All '''.inx''' files are now properly formatted XML files with its own namespace of: <code><nowiki>http://www.inkscape.org/namespace/inkscape/extension</nowiki></code> and a Relax NG schema to define it. More information can be found in the [[Extensions]] Article.

=Filters=

==One-command filters via extensions==

The Filter Effects dialog is powerful, but can be quite cumbersome. There is now a way to add complex predefined filters to the selected objects by a single command by choosing it from Effects > Filters submenu. Further submenus categorize the filters by function. Most filters apply immediately after selecting the command; some present a dialog where you can adjust some of the parameters before applying the filter (such filters have "..." at the end of the command in the menu). If the selected object already has some filter applied, the chosen filter will be merged with the existing filter for combined effect.

You can easily add your own filters to these menus. Simply place any SVG file with the filters to the <code>filters</code> subdirectory of your config directory (<code>~/.config/Inkscape/</code> on Linux) and the filters will be picked up. By default, they will be placed in the Personal submenu under Effects > Filters. If you want to control this, add the following attributes to the <code>filter</code> element:

inkscape:label is the command label
inkscape:menu is the submenu to place the command into
inkscape:menu-tooltip is the tooltip (displayed in the statusbar
as you select the command)

==Filters can be disabled==
In order to facilitate editing documents that use lots of SVG filter effects, filter effects can now be disabled for a particular document window by selecting '''View|Display mode|No Filters''' from its menu. This provides an intermediate step between "normal" and "outline" view modes.

The Toggle view command in the Display mode submenu (Ctrl+keypad 5) toggles between the outline view and either regular or no-filters view, depending on which was used most recent.

==Filter quality setting==

Instead of the 'blur quality' setting, Inkscape now has a general 'filter effects quality' setting. It affects all filters and gives you an opportunity to find optimum balance between speed and accuracy when rendering filters.

=SVG output=

==Optimized CSS properties==

* As a file size optimization, Inkscape does not write into SVG some of the stroke properties if the object has <code>stroke:none</code> and some of the fill properties when it has <code>fill:none</code>. The only situation where this might affect you is if you remove stroke from an object and then turn it back on - the object will get the default stroke instead of the same it had before.

:Also, in manually-edited SVG where a parent group has no stroke but sets some stroke properties to be inherited by its descendants, you will need to set stroke property to other than none on the group, and suppress inheritance with stroke:none on those children that don't need it.

:Specifically, if stroke:none, the following properties do not get written to SVG:

stroke-width
stroke-linecap
stroke-linejoin
stroke-miterlimit
stroke-opacity
stroke-dasharray
stroke-dashoffset

:Note that this does not include marker properties, which means you can still have markers on a path without visible stroke.

:If fill:none, the following properties do not get written to SVG:

fill-opacity
fill-rule

*The <code>opacity</code> property is not written if it has the default value of 1 (this property is not inherited, so the change should have no side effects).

*The <code>marker-start</code>, <code>marker-mid</code>, and <code>marker-end</code> properties are not written if the <code>marker</code> property is already present with the same value.

==Optimized path data==

In this version, the size of the path data written in the <code>d=</code> attribute of <code>path</code> elements is reduced by about 10%. Inkscape generates the shortest possible path strings by avoiding repeated operators and using relative coordinates (when it helps).

This is controlled by the '''SVG output''' page of Inkscape Preferences dialog, as well as the following attributes in <code>group id="svgoutput"</code> in your preferences.xml file:

* allowrelativecoordinates (default 1) to switch relative coordinates on (1) or off (0)
* forcerepeatcommands (default 0) to force repeating operators (1) or allow use of the more compact representation without repeated operators (0)

==No more explicit closing line segment==
Inkscape used to always explicitly write the closing line segment to SVG for closed paths. For example: "M 0,0 L 1,0 L 1,1 L 0,1 L 0,0 z". With the improved SVG path data writing, Inkscape no longer generates this closing line segment, resulting in "M 0,0 L 1,0 L 1,1 L 0,1 z".
When SVG path data input contains this explicit closing segment, it is maintained throughout transformations, but is removed after using the node edit tool.
[this seems no longer to be true, fix it!!! -johan]

==Horizontal and vertical path segments==

If an SVG contains paths with shorthands for horizontal and vertical path segments ('H' or 'V'), then Inkscape will try to maintain those shorthands if possible, so the saved file will also contain them.

==<script> support==

While Inkscape does not yet support SVG scripting via the <script> element, this element is now preserved after editing the file in Inkscape.

=Other features=

==Desktop integration improvements==

* '''Clipboard is system-wide''' - you can now copy/paste objects between different Inkscape instances as well as between Inkscape and other applications (which must be able to handle SVG on the clipboard to use this).

* '''Open Recent menu''' now integrates with Windows recent documents management as well as Gnome and Xfce recent document lists.

==Shell mode==

If you run inkscape with <code>--shell</code>, it will enter an interactive command line shell mode. In this mode, you type in commands at the prompt and Inkscape executes them, without you having to run a new copy of Inkscape for each command. This feature is mostly useful for scripting and server uses: it adds no new capabilities but allows you to improve the speed and memory requirements of any script that repeatedly calls Inkscape to perform command line tasks (such as export or conversions). Each command in shell mode must be a complete valid Inkscape command line but without the Inkscape program name, for example:

$ inkscape --shell
Inkscape 0.46+devel interactive shell mode. Type 'quit' to quit.
>file.svg --export-pdf=file.pdf
>otherfile.svg --export-png=bitmap.png
Background RRGGBBAA: ffffff00
Area 0:0:744.094:1052.36 exported to 744 x 1052 pixels (90 dpi)
Bitmap saved as: bitmap.png
>quit

==Masks and clipping paths==

[editable in node tool - johan]

==Stroke width changeable by dragging==

Similar to editing the fill or stroke colors by dragging away from the swatch in the status bar, which was added in the last version, this version allows you to drag away from the stroke width value displayed there to change the stroke width of selection. Dragging above the 45-degree line from the swatch increases the width (up to twice the original width), dragging below it decreases the width (down to half the original width). With this feature, quick and precise stroke width adjustments are possible without opening any dialogs or menus.

==Enhanced tablet support==

===Input device tool switching===

Tablets and other input devices that report separate hardware are now recognized and current tool and/or settings can be set to switch in response to the physical tool being used.

===Extended input device configuration===

The stock Input Devices dialog has been replaced with a completely redone version that provides a more useful representation of settings. It also contains a simple area for testing different inputs of different devices.

Additionally hardware setup itself has been separated from general settings to allow for easier dynamic switching of settings appropriate to the task at hand.

==Layers==

===Show/hide other layers===

The layers dialog now allows for hiding or showing all layers other than the current layer. This "solo" feature allows for faster switching between working layers and for quick checking with and without others shown.

===Duplicate Layer command===

A new command has been added to the layers menus to allow for duplicating an existing layer with all of its objects.

==External image editing and reload==

Linked bitmaps have a context menu option to launch editing in an external application. Linked images now will reload when the linked file changes on disk. Both the external editor application and the reload behavior can be controlled by user preferences.

==Command for relinking clones==

A new command, '''Relink Clone to Copied''' in ''Edit > Clone'', allows you to relink any clone to a different original object without changing its other properties. Just copy (Ctrl+C) the object you want to be the new original, select any number of clones, and choose the Relink command. Now all selected clones are linked to the copied object.

==Auto relinking clones on Duplicate==

If you turn on the '''When duplicating original+clones: Relink duplicated clones''' option on Clones tab of Inkscape Preferences (default is off), duplicating a selection containing both a clone and its original (possibly in groups) will relink the duplicated clone to the duplicated original instead of the old original.

==Pattern editing==

When editing pattern fills:
* The pattern origin and scale handles now snap.
* The pattern scaling can now be different in X and Y direction. Press '''Ctrl''' to have a fixed 1:1 ratio scaling (old behavior).
* The handles are now positioned at the corners of the unit cell, instead of only a quarter of that cell as before. So, now a rectangle filled with pattern will have all of the pattern handles in the corners, making it harder to manipulate them. However, the handles can be dragged outside the rectangle by moving the pattern's origin handle.

==Transform dialog: spacing out option==

Previously, the '''Apply to each object separately''' checkbox had no effect for the '''Move''' tab. Now, if several objects are selected, this checkbox is on, and "Relative move" is on, each object is shifted relative to the closest selected object on the left (for X) or below (for Y).

For example, if you have a horizontal row of objects and you move them relatively by X=5px with "Apply to each object separately" on, the leftmost object will shift by 5px, the next one to the right by 10px, and so on; the rightmost selected object is displaced by 5*n px where n is the number of selected objects. As a result, the distance in each pair of adjacent objects will increase by 5px and the whole row will be spaced out, much like a letterspacing adjustment spaces out a text string. Moving these objects by X=-5px will, conversely, squeeze them tighter together: the leftmost will move by -5px, the next one by -10px, and so on. For Y, the effect is the same except that the move starts from the object closest to the bottom (i.e. with smallest Y coordinate).

When determining the order of shifting objects, for X, the left edges of their bounding boxes are sorted horizontally, and for Y, the bottoms of their bounding boxes are sorted vertically. Order of selecting the objects or z-order does not matter.

==Converting text to path produces a group==

Converting a text or flowed text to path (Ctrl+Shift+C) now produces a group of paths, one path for each glyph of text, instead of a single monolithic path as before. Apart from easier manipulation, an additional advantage is that if your text contained styled spans (i.e. fragments with different color, opacity, or other properties), these styles will be preserved by the corresponding glyph paths after the conversion.

=User interface=

==Native file dialogs for Windows==
The windows builds of inkscape now have Windows-native file dialogs to keep consistency with other windows applications.

==Inkscape Preferences dialog==

This dialog has been rearranged for more logical grouping of options. New pages has been added: Bitmaps (options for the new update-on-file-change and external editor features), UI (options for toolbar icon sizes), and SVG Output (options for SVG formatting, introduced in 0.46 and now editable from the dialog as well).

A new option on the Bitmaps tab, '''Resolution for Create Bitmap Copy''', allows you to set the resolution of the bitmap created by the corresponding command (by default bound to Alt+B). The default value of 90 dpi forces the resulting bitmap to align with the default 1px-spaced grid on the canvas.

There is a new option on the Interface tab, '''Zoom correction factor''', which displays an adjustable ruler. Move the slider until the ruler's on-screen size matches its true size. The resulting conversion factor is used internally when zooming to 1:1 etc. such that objects are displayed in their true size.

== Align and Distribute dialog ==

There is now an option to treat all selected objects as a group when aligning (this spares the user the trouble to manually group them, align, and ungroup afterwards).

==Dropper tool==

The confusing icons on buttons in the controls bar of the Dropper tool (pick/assign opacity) are replaced by text labels.

==Swatches==

Hovering over a swatch now shows the name of the swatch in the status bar. This makes it easier for tablet users to identify a swatch by name, as holding a stylus still enough to show a tool tip is difficult.

==Toolbars==

* The toolbar icon sizes for the three main toolbars are now separately configurable and to a few different sizes. This allows users to get a smaller UI on certain systems, including Ubuntu.

* The main tools toolbar has been converted to a standard GtkToolbar, removing the problem of it pushing the main window taller. Tools that don't fit automatically flow into a popup menu.

* When torn off, toolbars now keep the size they last had in the main window. They can be resized by docking, sizing the main window, and then undocking agin.

* Some controls (such as the Width in Calligraphic/Tweak/Eraser tools, Tremor, Wiggle, and Mass in Calligraphic, Threshold in Paintbucket, Tolerance in Pencil) are converted from numeric editable fields into draggable sliders, with labels and values (usually in the range 0..100) displayed on top. As these values don't usually require much precision, this makes adjusting them much easier and faster.

==Title and Description==

* [the Title and Description fields on the Object Properties dialog - sas]

==Clone/original visualization==

When you press Shift+D to find and select the original of the selected clone, Inkscape draws a dashed line between the centers of the bounding boxes of the clone and the original. This line disappears after one second.

=Grids, guides, snapping=

==Grids==
* The dotted rectangular grid now shows small crosses at the intersection points of emphasis lines.

==Guides==

There is now an option to treat groups as single objects during conversion to guides (as opposed to converting each object inside the group separately).

==Snapping==
Snapping has been implemented or improved in these areas:
* The '''node tool''' now snaps to any unselected node (both cusp and smooth) within the path that's being edited, and nodes of other paths. It also snaps to the path itself, but only to the stationary segments in between two unselected nodes. It is now also possible to snap while moving nodes along a vertical or horizontal constraint
* Whether or not to snap to '''smooth nodes''' is now an option in the document properties dialog
* '''Clipping paths and masks''' are now also snappable
* Inkscape can now also snap '''midpoints''' of line segments
* The object snapper now also allows to snap to the '''page border'''
* It is now possible to snap '''intersections of paths''' (where we previously only snapped to intersections of line-segments)
* In the selector tool, snapping while '''skewing ''' or '''constrained translating''' have been improved
* When creating '''new shapes''', all of their handle points now snap
* In the document properties dialog, the checkbox for ''' 'always'''' snap has been replaced by two radiobuttons; this should eliminate most of the confusion surrounding this option
* Holding the shift-key now also disables snapping while dragging '''node-handles'''
* The code relating to the snapping mechanisms has undergone '''major refactoring''' to make it more reliable and easier to use from a developer's perspective
* Snapping to objects now uses routines from the '''2geom libraries''', which are actively maintained and are less error prone than the old Livarot libraries. This fixes at least two known snapping bugs
* While drawing and '''constraining to specific angles''' (using CTRL), Inkscape should now only snap to points on the constrained line.
* When '''pasting''', previously aligned originals will stay aligned to the grid. The code for this had to be reinvented due to the refactoring
* Inkscape now has a snapping tab in the '''preferences dialog'''. It contains some non-document specific settings
* Optionally, Inkscape now waits some time after the mouse pointer has stopped moving before it tries to snap. This makes Inkscape more responsive on complex documents and allows moving objects in a straight line over a grid, amongst others. This '''snap delay''' can be disabled or specified in the preferences dialog
* A slider has been added to the preferences dialog which controls which type of snapping Inkscape will prefer. When multiple snap solutions are found, then Inkscape can either prefer the '''closest transformation''' (when the weight-slider is set to 0; this is the old mode), or prefer the node that was initially the '''closest to the pointer''' (when the slider is set to 1). The way Inkscape calculates the preferred snap has been improved too, which should lead to more predictable snapping
* There's now a toggle to force Inkscape to only try snapping the (source) node that is '''closest to the mouse pointer''', à la Coreldraw. When this mode is enabled a snap indicator will shortly be shown at that node. This will give you maximum control of the snapping which is useful for more complex drawings with many nodes.

==Snap indicator==
When snapping has occurred, an indicator is displayed at that specific position. For now that indicator is just a cross that disappears in a second. In the future the shape of the indicator will be related to the type of target that has been snapped to. The snapping indicator can be disabled in the preferences dialog.

=Localization and documentation=

* Hebrew localization complete now

=Other changes and improvements=

* ''New Layer'' dialog can be opened with '''Ctrl+Shift+N''' shortcut now

=Notable bug fixes=

* Several '''memory leaks''' are stopped, reducing the memory consumption during long editing sessions considerably. Closing the last window with a document now frees memory used by that document immediately.

* Inkscape is now able to handle paths with only 'movetos', i.e. "M 0,0 M 1,1 M 2,2". These kind of paths can be used to only show markers on a path without the rest of the path visible.

* The '''visual bounding box''' (which is the default bounding box type used by Inkscape) of an object with a filter applied, now includes the expanded area of the filter. For '''single blur filter''' (such as the blur you apply with a slider in the Fill and Stroke dialog), this expands the bounding box by 2.4*radius; although theoretically, blur is infinite, this is the distance at which the opacity of the object drops below the perceptibility threshold of our renderer. For all other filters, the area is expanded by the relative amounts you specify on the "Filter general settings" tab of the Filter Effects dialog.

:Only visual bounding box is affected; if you use geometric bounding box, you will notice no change in most cases. However, the Export bitmap dialog always uses the visual bbox for selection of the export area; this means that you can now export a blurred object to bitmap without any clipping of the blur.

* Bounding box calculation does not include the invisible objects. (#252547)

* Several fixes allows Inkscape to correctly render and edit SVG files that use <code>currentColor</code> in objects' style (this includes files created by gnuplot).

* '''No more ID clashes on import and paste''': previously, importing or pasting SVG objects might sometimes distort their colors, because the imported objects referred to gradients with the same IDs as those that already exist in the document but look different. Now, IDs of all gradients in the pasted document are checked for clashes with those in the host document, and if necessary changed with all their users updated correspondingly, so such unexpected color changes will never happen.

* File dialogs remember last visited directory.

* The --vacuum-defs command line parameter erroneously deleted markers which are in use.

* No more garbage lines in outline mode.

* No more artifacts left by the circle cursor in Tweak tool.

* The Live Path Effects '''Bend Path''' and '''Pattern along Path''' now work correctly with closed paths.

* several '''[[ViewBoxToDo|viewBox]]''' related bugs fixed
** Documents with viewBox are now editable without transformation defects. In particular this affected documents created with pstoedit for example ([https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/168370 #168370])
** resizing page adjusts viewBox ([https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/167682 #167682])
** preserveAspectRatio parsing code fixed ([https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/166885 #166885])

= Previous releases =

* [[ReleaseNotes046]]
* [[ReleaseNotes045]]
* [[ReleaseNotes044]]
* [[ReleaseNotes043]]
* [[ReleaseNotes042]]
* [[ReleaseNotes041]]
* [[ReleaseNotes040]]
* [[ReleaseNotes039]]
* [[ReleaseNotes038]]
* [[ReleaseNotes037]]
* [[ReleaseNotes036]]
* [[ReleaseNotes035]]

[[Category:Marketing]]

Category:CAD

2007-10-29T01:36:18Z

Naught101: New page: Pages related to Computer Aided Design/Drawing, intended for use for engineers, architects, industrial designers, boat builders and more.

Pages related to Computer Aided Design/Drawing, intended for use for engineers, architects, industrial designers, boat builders and more.

CAD

2007-10-29T01:31:57Z

Naught101: more!

== CAD requirements ==

NOTE: this is a collector page showing specific features which is required some basic CAD capabilities.

=== CAD ===

CAD is an acronym of '''C'''omputer-'''a'''ided '''d'''esign, which means basically some ''tech drawing abilities''.

Some plans already exists at 0.52 milestone of the [http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/Roadmap#Milestone_18_-_Inkscape_0.52_-_Tech_drawing_abilities Roadmap].

This page is basically an effort to expand what is in the roadmap and provide some background of this planned features and add some more needed capabilities.

== Needed capabilities ==

* Numerical input
* Measure tool
* Units should be consistent all over the codebase
* Transpose of the object center
* Geometrical constraints
** "Perpendicular-to", "Parallel-to", etc.
* Path trimming/extending/offset
* Filleting tool
* Dia-like smart shapes support

=== Numerical input ===

Ability to input the coordinates, distances, angles via keyboard. The include:
* Angle
* X-coordinate
* Y-coordinate
* Distance

=== Measure tool ===

Simple tool to measure the distance between two points.
Could be extended into a poly-line measure tool.

=== Inkscape units ===

Architecture and engineering require different units, and different countries have different standards.

Most of the world: Metric
* Meters (architecture)
* Centimeters (architecture - europe)
* Millimeters (architecture and engineering)
* Nanometers?

US, some others: Imperial
*Inches
*Feet
*Yards

=== Transpose of the object center ===

TODO

=== Geometrical constraints ===

*Vertical
*Horizontal
*15 degree increments
*Arbitrary increments

=== Trim/Extend tool ===

* Trim cuts one path, or object at a point where it crosses another line. This could perhaps be an extension of the "path>cut" tool.

=== Fillet/Chamfer tool ===

Cuts the corner off two intersecting paths, and replaces it with another line
*Chamfer cuts a straight line
*Fillet replaces the corner with a curve (this is similar to the rounded corners on a rectangle, already implemented, perhaps some code could be reused)

=== Dia-like smart shapes support ===

applications:

* [http://live.gnome.org/Dia Dia]
* [http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?iAppId=524 Visio]
* [http://www.yworks.com/en/products_yed_about.htm yEd]

[[Category:Developer Discussion]]
[[Category:CAD]]

CadInteroperability

2007-10-29T01:21:02Z

Naught101:

== CAD Interoperability ==

Computer-aided design (CAD) is another particular application for 2D vector graphics. A difference between CAD and other types of drawing is that precision is extremely important. Another difference is the need for dimensioning of items in the drawing. Workflow can also be very different between CAD and other vector drawing uses. Because of these reasons, Inkscape is not currently useful as a CAD tool directly, but could be with future (as yet unplanned) additions.

===DXF support===
However, being able to import CAD drawings for final cleanup/rendering, or to mock up some ideas before putting into CAD, may be of use. The de factor standard exchange format for CAD programs is DXF. Having support for this format suddenly opens up interoperability with a huge range of other applications, including not only 2D CAD such as qcad, but also 3D rendering programs such as Blender, etc.

A nice workaround to import cad drawings in Inkscape could be the following:
# create a pdf via pdf creator (gpl'ed - windows) or via any other distiller
# open it Gsview and use the command "convert to vector format" via GnuLibplot to convert it in SVG format.
# the file is ready for Inkscape.

As an alternative, you can use the command line for pstoedit or GnuLibplot, but they are much more tricky to install under windows.

==CAD additions==
the changes/aditions to inkscape required to give some kind of CAD usability include:
* the ability to enter data (distances, angles, co-ordinates) exactly (probably with the keyboard)
* the ability to snap to nodes and other points on objects (centers of arcs etc.) while drawing
* the ability to snap to a point at some ratio or distance along a line, as well as to perpendiculars and tangents of lines.
* a dimensioning tool (arrows with measurements, that kind of thing).
* the ability to set a page/layout to a certain scale.
* support for other CAD formats
these would need to be implemented via either a plugin (not currently enough support for that), or a source code change. if the project begins to require more differentiation from inkscape, perhaps a fork would be required.

==see also==
*[http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1422314&group_id=93438&atid=604309 CAD feature request on sourceforge]

[[Category:Developer Discussion]]
[[Category:CAD]]

PerspectiveObject

2007-09-27T06:30:20Z

Naught101:

Below are some thoughts on how to implement perspective distortions in Inkscape.

== Goals ==

Goal 0: SVG compatibility. A perspective object must look the same in Batik.

Goal 1: A perspective object must be preserved as such and be always editable. That is, it must remember the original objects and the envelope parameters, and regenerate the view whenever any of the two changes. In other words, a perspective must be an object, not a one-time operation.

Goal 3: A perspective object must be a group that may include many objects. That is, I want to be able to select any number of objects and make them into a single perspective object with a common envelope. The objects thus combined should preserve their own fills, strokes, trasparency, etc.

=== Example mockups ===
* [http://www.yattaweb.it/wrapper-example.png http://www.yattaweb.it/wrapper-example.png]

== Implementation ==

The implementation consists of two new SPObjects, SPEnvelope and SPEnveloped.

* SPEnvelope is represented by a <g> element with these extension attributes:

sodipodi:role="inkscape:envelope"
inkscape:envelope="<a representation of the envelope>"

:Suggestions as to the optimal representation of the envelope are solicited. At the very minimum, the envelope is four plain ("cusp") nodes that the enveloped objects are inscribed into. Ultimately, I want it to be able to store 1) four bezier nodes with handles, so that the edjes of the envelope may be made non-linear; and 2) a lattice (mesh) of more than four nodes, with all segments being beziers and with internal nodes having 4 handles each and non-corner edge nodes having 3 handles each. Even if we only implement simple four-node linear envelope, I want the envelope representation to be easily extensible to cover 1) and 2). (Note to Nathan: it may be worthwhile to add nodes that connect more than 2 segments into your new path representation. Even though SVG does not allow branching nodes, they may be necessary for editing meshes such as the distortion mesh described here, and probably in other situations too.)

* SPEnveloped is an object inside an SPEnvelope. I do not see how we could preserve other inkscape: abstractions alongside SPEnveloped, so I think only a <path> SVG object can be an SPEnveloped, and if you apply perspective to text, star, spiral, etc., they are converted to path first. Thus, we need the following attributes for this object:

sodipodi:role="inkscape:enveloped"
d="<distorted path, regenerated automatically>"
inkscape:original="<original path>"

:This is similar to the SPOffset object which also stores the original path and the offset radius and regenerates d=. The difference is that SPEnveloped must walk up to its ancestor(s) in order to find out the envelope and distort its path accordingly.

== Interface ==

At the first stage, I think we can do without adding a new tool for perspective. Instead, the node tool will work just fine.

* You select some object(s) and give a command (from the menu or by a shortcut), "Perspective Envelope". At this point all non-paths are converted to paths, all selected objects are grouped, and the group becomes an SPEnvelope with a default rectangular envelope. The visible display does not change (except that the z-order of some objects may change due to grouping).

* Now you can scale, move, rotate etc. the envelope object with selector. This tool is not aware of SPEnvelope and treats it as any group, i.e. by adding a transform= attribute to the <g>.

* Now, with the envelope object selected, you switch to the node tool. That tool is aware of this object type and, recognizing it, constructs and displays a four-handle knotholder, similar to those used for tweaking spirals, stars, etc. You drag the corner handles, and the shapes are distorted accordingly. Later when we support non-linear envelopes, a nodepath of four nodes complete with their bezier controls may be created instead of a knotholder.

* When you have the perspective you need, you may de-envelope the object by the regular Convert to Paths command. It ungroups the <g>, applying its transform= to the individual objects just as the Ungroup command does now, and removes the inkscape:original and sodipodi:role attributes leaving you with a bunch of plain <path>s.

* There are a few issues when you select one or more objects _inside_ an envelope. We could attempt to prohibit this by disabling ctrl+click for SPEnvelope groups, but this will not prevent XML editor from selecting objects inside an envelope. So how should tools behave in that case?

** Selector and all other ways to move/transform objects (top panel, Align and Transform dialogs, etc) will treat the object as usual, figuring out its position and bounding box based on d=, and therefore will reflect the perspective-transformed path, not the original. However, unlike the normal <path>, transforms will be added to an SPEnveloped object as a transform= attribute, and the algorithm generating the distorted path must _first_ transform the inkscape:original path with this transform and _then_ apply the perspective to it. In other words, a user will see and transform the distorted path, but the resulting transform will be first applied to the original path, and then the transformed path will be perspective-distorted to yield the visible path. Whether this interface will be sufficiently well-behaving to be usable is an interesting question; I think there will be some "jumps" and "jerks" when you try to resize or move an enveloped object (maybe only if it's enveloped together with other objects and not alone), but how it will actually _feel_ is hard to say at this time.

** In node tool, it makes no sense to try to edit the d= of the enveloped path, because there's perhaps no simple way to translate these edits to the inkscape:original path. Therefore, I think the best thing we can do is to teach the node tool to handle SPEnveloped objects by generating a nodepath from their inkscape:original path instead of d=. This way, when you select an object inside an envelope and switch to the node tool, what you will see is a mismatch between the visible path and the nodepath nodes. You edit the nodepath nodes that show you the original undistorted path, and you see at once how the perspective-distorted path responds. I think that with proper explanations and hints, such an interface is logical and may be even convenient.

:::The only problem is that currently, nodepath only displays its own nodes and bezier handles, while it does not display the line segments between the nodes (normally the object itself does that). Therefore when editing an object inside envelope, what you'll see instead of the original path is a collection of unconnected nodes "hanging in the air". To fix this, we must program a way to show "helper" non-AA bezier lines in addition to knots, ctrllines, and ctrlrects (there's even a comment somewhere in the code on this being a good idea). Later we can also use these ctrl-beziers, for example, to implement yet another selection cue mode in selector, whereby the outline (not bbox) of each selected object is "highlighted" by superimposing a ctrl-bezier on it.

** All other tools do not apply to the SPEnveloped objects because they can only be simple paths (no text, stars, etc.)

FeatureNotePad

2007-05-11T06:13:02Z

Naught101:

Here is a notepad for quickly noting down good ideas (newest first please). If you're bored, feel free to write these as full feature requests and add to the tracker, or as separate Wiki pages.

[[FeatureNotePadArchive]] (dupes, already implemented ideas, those with acceptable workarounds, those that cannot be implemented at all)

Note: there is also a bug/feature request tracker at [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=93438&atid=604309 sourceforge.net].

== Gradient Fills ==
Conical (or 'angle') gradient fills would be most useful.

[[Image:conical.png]]

== Fill Gallery ==
A default fill gallery.

When I want to build an area with a nicely complex multicolored fill of some sort, I don't want to have to build the fill from scratch every time. I want a huge array of default fills to start with, which I can modify to my heart's content using the existing fill editor. 
[[User:Jonathanbrickman0000|Jonathanbrickman0000]] 17:06, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

:: Extend this Idea to a Stylesheet-Sidebar, where the User can easily drag&drop already used styles to objects. I think on something like Microsoft word does when a user is formatting a text-fragment in a new way: the new formatting is shown in the Formating-Sidebar. [[User:MovGP0|MovGP0]] 19:57, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

== EPS Export ==
A modified version of the eps export.

I m currently working with maya and I can't import eps from inkscape.
Except if i modified the text manualy. I need to replace moveto by
m and curveto by c. I also need to put my vector in the top right corner.And once import to flip verticaly the line.
So if there was an option to record a modified eps I think people making 3d will be really happy.

== openclipart.org Export ==
An easy way to submit clipart to openclipart.org. Currently you have to save a clipart to a file, open a web browser, login to openclipart.org and browse for the previously saved file in order to upload... A "submit selection to openclipart.org" menu entry would be handy, it would remember login and prompt for a cliparts' meta information before upload... Perhaps such functionality should be a plugin...

:I think there should be rather a API that allows write a Plugin doing so, because
:*there are more Websites that are an interesting target like Wikipedia's Commons, Flickr (supporting only PNG/JPG-Export instead of SVG), and many others
:*openclipart.org is unreachable while I'm writing this and I'm not sure if the Website is still existing at all. Websites can happen to go offline, so its not wise to code for single distributors.
:[[User:MovGP0|MovGP0]] 20:14, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

== Arbitrary Zoom ==
Arbitrary precision zoom levels:

-Unlimited scaling on zoom would be a very useful feature in some applications, allowing for unlimited detail.

== Rotation ==
Persistent rotation centers 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]

== Plain SVG Export ==
''wwwwolf writeth:''

An XSL stylesheet to convert from [[InkscapeSVG]] to [[PlainSVG]]

If we had that, it wouldn't be necessary to use Inkscape's exporter in all situations - it could be used to make plain SVG without user intervention, automatically, and in places where Inkscape isn't even installed - all you need is an XSLT processor. This would be highly cool since some of the programs (I'm looking at YOU, Scribus *and* rsvg) at times choke randomly on Inkscape markup but render Inkscape's plain SVG without problems.

== Extended Stroke Rendering ==
Extend stroke rendering capabilities

Make it possible for the definition of the rendering of a stroke to be scriptable (at stroke time). For instance, I might want to render a path as a series of flames - the size of the flames somewhat randomized, perhaps, along the stroke. Because they are flames, my script would make sure they're always pointing the same direction (up) along the stroke. Similarly, a series of water droplets would always be rendered dripping in a downward direction.

Note that much of this functionality could also be done outside of scripting, using an approach similar to tiled clones.

== Edge-Offsets ==
kwixson writes:

* Edge offsets in flowed text with automatically drawn linked offsets of the object with no fill or stroke properties.
* Visual cue for selected groups (i.e., solid marquee instead of dashed)
* Undo in draw mode removes last node, not the entire path, same as backspace key
* Set the ruler 0, 0 coordinates by dragging a cross out of the rulers' corner / double click to set precisely, according to 0,0 index of page dimensions.
* Make space bar held down transform cursor to Selector tool until spacebar is released, with any tool except Text.

== Smooth drawings ==

2.) Sub-pixel resolution in drawing, is possible with XInput i think?
- Again, improves drawing by hand
3.) Smooth drawing, smooth over small irrelegularities from mouse/drawing board
- Same as all of the above, improves drawing, makes it a whole lot more fun! :)

It doesn't seem so hard to implement but it would make a huge diffrence!

Aside from that, I love where Inkscape is going, the interface is great to work with and it just keeps getting better!
I find myself building from CVS so I dont't miss out.

GREAT WORK GUYS! :)

== Extrusion and Shadows ==
Ilja writes:

1.) Extrusion of Objects
2.) Dropshadow, kind of a clone - a bit fuzzy and little shifted behind

== Some small Features ==
Daddio writes: 
A couple of Small features that would help those of us a lot that like to draw a basic shape and then tweak it in the xml editor: 
1) the ablility to convert the SVG coordinates in a path to and fromrelative coordinates (small case m's l's c's a's) except perhaps the initial M 
2) the ability to truncate (or even better, round) the SVG coordinates to 1, 2 or zero (etc) decimal places. 
3) Set a decimal place limit so the generated SVG will stay within that limit. I don't usually need or want 0.0006 precision! 

fantasai seconds these and suggests a way of saving as Plain SVG with metadata, since
things like the title, author, and license terms -- which are applicable to published images but not so
much to in-process drafts -- shouldn't be thrown out with the "last used zoom level" data, which are just
junk in a publication-ready image.

== Orthogonal Lines ==
njh writes:

Orthogonal lines best-fit to a pen path would be useful for quickly sketching diagrams.

:I think that Inkscape could adapt techniques from professional CAD Software including the Snap-Functionality:
:existing
:*Snap to Nodes of a Line/Polygon
:*Snap to Line
:missing
:*Snap to Center of a Circle
:*Snap to Quadrants of Cirle
:*Snap to Middle-Point of a Line
:*Snap ortogonal to a Line
:*Snap to Tangents of Curves
:*Snap to Crossing of Lines
:*etc.
:Also there could be a kind of
:parametic input methods
:* There are more than one possibility to express how a circle gets created - ie. a circle could get defined using the center and a radius/diameter, 3 tagent-points, etc.
:* A line could get constructed using a startingpoint, lenght and angle
:* and much more...
:the way a specific line was drawn parametrically could get stored in the SVG-file as XML-Extensions using the Inksape-Namespace.
:[[User:MovGP0|MovGP0]] 20:36, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

== Scribus ==
*Scribus is a DTP coded in C++ (but with Qt). it can work with Python Script.
May be have a look at this could help doing the same in Inkscape.
*If the later can be done, this will help eventually include some of good
Sketch
(written in Python) possibilities in Inkscape.
*Also Scribus has good [[NodeTool]], and good text tool featuring textbox (frame)
or text on a path.

cheers
Cédric

== Plugins ==
plugins for ways to warp and bend things

== GtkVectDraw ==
What I can expect from this project is a better integration with gnome-office.
I dream for a really integrated gnome-office with a lot of code sharing via libraries.
For example, a vectorial drawing soft has lot of things in common with glabels, [[AbiShow]], etc ...
We have a lot to learn from Koffice in this respect.

So please create a fully capable [[GtkVectDraw]] library !

== Small core, great extensions ==
''Emphasis on a small core plus modular extensions for features (a la Mozilla Firebird)''

But *please* maintain a plugin-pack, and ship it with Inkscape. The way Firebird works sucks. Firebird has poor tab-implementation, and there are >10 extensions that try to improve it, while only 1 good version is needed. The list with extensions is chaos, don't let it be so with Inkscape...

== Sodipodi ==
The below is in regards to Sodipodi 0.32:

2. The XML viewer doesn't appear to allow selecting multiple items.
Often times I want to makes changes to many items at once and sometimes
I'll be working in the XML viewer. Since this was the only way I could
figure out how to select individual items in a group it seems completely
impossible to select several items in a group.

Some notes on feel:

4. The mouse event system feels a bit wonky. For example, if I take a
fairly complex design which can be a little bit sluggish when editing and

make adjustments to a path node the cursor doesn't release as soon as I
let go of the mouse button. So when I'm working quickly what happens is I
tweak a node, let go of the mouse button, then move the mouse and it keeps
adjusting the node even though I'm not holding the button. This slows me
down considerably because I have to wait after letting go of the mouse
button each time. It also does this when scrolling the main view using
the middle mouse button. I'll scroll the view over, let go of the mouse
button, then when I move the mouse the view still scrolls for a second or
two. Very annoying. :)

Feature "wants":

9. More powerful selection commands. Some examples (from Illustrator):

Select by fill color
Select by same stroke and fill
etc...

11. (DONE) More and user defined hot-keys. Can I set any command/mode to a
hot-key?

== Gimp ==
I noticed that gimp does a cool hack today, they use an image thumbnail of the drawing as the window manager icon for the drawing window, you should do that with inkscape too
and it is actually usefull, consider I have fix inkscape windows with different flags, with this hack I will be able to identify each window in the tasklist and don't have to search so much

Also, I really wish inkscape where session aware like gedit, so that when I asks nautilus to open a new image it does so in the existing inkscape session instead of starting a new instance

http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=107668 - the discussion in that bug report might be of interest to you guys too. the participants are Dom (librsvg), Owen and the Gimp guys

-- Uraeus

== Nonexisting File ==
when given a nonexisting file name on the command line, create that file (with an error report too)

== TIFF-Export ==
Ability to export to uncompressed TIFF.

== Multi-Page and Layers ==

Add multi-page support, default layouts for all pages, etc.

== Dia-Import ==
Ability to import Dia objects.
Restricted Inkscape mode to work like Dia. There's nothing that Dia can do that is not possible to
do in Inkscape.

== Viewports ==
However you gave me an idea: I can store past viewport not only before I do zoom, but also after that; later, when a next zoom is started, I will compare the current viewport with the last stored and, if it's the same, not store it. This way I will be adding one viewport record if there was no panning between zooms and two records if there was panning, these records storing the first and last viewports at this zoom. I think it will be a bit more convenient this way.

:Well, what I had in mind is that viewport undo steps would be separated by editing operations -- so e.g. consecutive pans/zooms with no edits in between them would be coalesced into a single zoom undo step.

== SWF-Export ==
Exporting vectors as swf files. While this is probably not on the top of everyone's wishlist, it would make inkscape the tool of choice for editing shapes for flash, which is an area where the flash editor does a horrible job. Flash import capabilities for vectors are also very limited, making AI a requirement in order to convert between flash and svg.

Given that svg is going to be replacing flash very (very) soon, a flash import capability would also make life easier for a lot of people...

Ming library: [[http://ming.sourceforge.net/]]
[[Svg2Swf]] python script (uses Ming): [[http://www.eskimo.com/~robla/svg2swf/]]

== Mouse/Pen gestures ==
Add support for mouse gestures.
I have used the Mentor Graphics CAD tools for editing
schematics and PCB layouts, and the built-in support for mouse

gesture has helped the productivity a lot. Granted CAD drawing
is not exactly vector drawing, but it is not too far apart.
There is a library libstroke that provides gestures support,
but I don't have any idea how usable that would be for inkscape.

:I thik there is some potential in this, ie. for undo/redo operations or tool-selection. Anyway, when you are working ie. with a tablet, its just about hitting the buttons that are doing just that. [[User:MovGP0|MovGP0]] 20:09, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

== Find enhancements ==
Find dialog: collapsable panes: Size & Position (X, Y, W, H; tolerance), Attribute (Name, Value). Pasting in the id, style, size/position fields (add buttons for pasting?) pastes the id, style, size/position of the object on clipboard. Add a regexp checkbox, when it's on matches are always exact but with a regexp matcher. Checkboxes: limit search to selection, (later) to current layer, possibly in (in)visible or (in)sensitive only.

== Fill & Stroke ==
Plan for fill&stroke:

* add fill opacity/stroke opacity sliders common to all fill/stroke types (gradients, patterns, color)
*:upon reflection, no. It gives nothing compared to master opacity.
* maybe separate it into Fill and Stroke dialogs
* change gradient display/controls to match those of the toolbar!

== Transform Selection ==
A new "transform with selection" toggle: font (see [[FontKerning]], toggle between [0 or 1, depending on optimize/preserve] and 2).

== Corel Draw and Illustrator Import ==
Filter to import Corel Draw Files and Adobe Illustrator Files
(very important at my opinion)

:Probabbly to dificult to do well, just export to svg

== Postscript Export ==
On export to Postscript, special-case treatment of text/fonts so that, instead of outputting each instance of a character as a separate set of coordinates, output the definition of the character once, and then use it (with matrix transforms) for each instance of that character.

On export to Postscript, allow for specifying use of fonts-and-text (particularly useful when planning to create PDFs).

On export to Postscript a) warn about transparencies, b) attempt to automatically correct for transparencies by i) converting underlying fragments to transformed values (complex) or ii) embed a bitmap-based fill. Possibly allowing optional choice of approach.

Possibly provide a direct-to-PDF export as well?

Possibly allow for a UI mechanism that lets any code in the system define a selection set of objects, displaying their IDs in a floating dialog. Clicking on the IDs would select the object. The postscript export warning about transparent objects, then, would be able to return with a selection set through which the user could iterate in order to fix each transparent object.

Provide a saving option which gathers the fonts used by the SVG file (as well as any other externally referenced files) for transfer to another machine. Preferably stored in a zip or similar mechanism so that they're easy to share. This is basically a "collect resources" feature.

:I sign this one too, because using SVG from LaTeX is hard to do. The usual approach to this is exporting all as bitmap and then use it. I think that a PS export would do much better. [[User:MovGP0|MovGP0]] 20:00, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

== Print Preview ==
Provide a print-preview, print-settings, page-setup style printing framework (a-la Corel, Adobe, etceteras).

== Fill and Stroke Dialog Focus ==
On right-click menu selection of a dialog (fill and stroke, or object properties, for instance), set focus to the dialog selected to avoid the need for a mouse-seek-and-click to do the set-focus.

== Tiled Cones ==
Under the "Rotation" tab of the "Create Tiled Clones" menu, perhaps have
an "Anchor Offset" option "as well as a setting for (px, cm, mm, in, etc - default "px") which could remain at "0" or "centered" or be changed
relative to center, say (+ or -) and (x or y):

x = 50, y = 50; x = 50, y = -50; x = -50, y = -50; x = -50, y = 50

etc.

This would allow for explicit placement of the rotation anchor.

This could also be used for general rotation as well.

== MathML Import ==
For scientific graphics I often need the possibility to write mathematical Formulas within the SVG-File. A possible way to do so is write the Formulas using TeX, convert to MathML (this is the easy part) convert to PNG and then import to use it. But a Bitmap that is not good for scaling, so you better transform MathML to SVG and import the SVG.

I think that Inkscape should come with a Plugin that can do the MathML to SVG transformation. Later this tool could get extended to convert also simple TeX to MathML to SVG.

Having such a plugin, complex Formulas could get transformed like any SVG (including scaling, rotation, coloring, etc.), but keept as plain MathML in the Sourcecode. This will make inkscape really useful for scientific and technical needs.

[[User:MovGP0|MovGP0]] 19:57, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

== Metadata in Save-Dialog ==
I think that the Button for editing Document-Metadata should also be shown in the File-Save Dialog, because lazy peoples like myself are ignoring such possibilities if there are not easily accessible.

I think a Button that asks for filling Metadata and another Button for choosing a License (if not filled/choosen already) in the File-Save Dialog would be a good idea.

[[User:MovGP0|MovGP0]] 20:21, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

== SVG Profile Selection ==
There should be a possibility to choose which SVG-Standard a user want to use for his drawing. If choosen one, Inkscape should only show tools that are supported in this standard. So, if a user chooses to use "SVG Mobile 1.0" it doesn't makes sense to present a "SVG 1.2 Full"-only-tool. [[User:MovGP0|MovGP0]] 20:48, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

CadInteroperability

2007-03-23T14:11:16Z

Naught101: