Release notes/1.3

These Release Notes are in Draft Status. Note: Not all animations work, due to Wiki bugs with resizing images. Release notes will be transferred to website, there animations will be working. Important Links: Commit History Main Program (starting from: xxx) Commit History Extensions (starting from: xxx) Commit History Documentation (starting from: xxx)

Pending questions:

Release highlights

• Pattern editor , Pattern canvas controls, and pattern performance
• Shape builder - New tool for building complex shapes form simple shapes. = live Boolean tool
• Live Path effects Dialog - Totally new improved
• Filter editor - New Redesign
• and so much more!

Performance

There has be lots of effort to improve performance of all aspects in Inkscape. Lots of refactoring of various inefficient code: Display- small hacks, handling of Patterns , Paint server and filters. After that we added Multi treading to Bitmap tracing, ...(more to come)

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests?scope=all&state=merged&label_name%5B%5D=Project%3A%3AMultithreading

General user interface

indicators of used colors

Color palettes have indicator color of stroke and fill of selected object. The first 4 colors are pinned and have the ability to become larger than the rest. Other than the special "none" color, the remaining 3 can be customized by editing the file palettes/default-fixed-colors.gpl.

New feature paste on page

You can copy and paste object from one page to another. Edit > Specials Paste > Paste on page

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4695

Old-style permanent snapping toolbar

An option was added in Settings > Interface > Toolbars to show the detailed snapping options permanently in a dedicated toolbar, similar to Inkscape version 1.1 and earlier.

Keyboard shortcuts

The keyboard shortcuts for aligning objects vertically and horizontally have been moved to the numeric keypad, where the other alignment shortcuts are, too:

• Vertical alignment was moved from Ctrl+Alt+T to Ctrl+Alt+Numpad 1
• Horizontal alignment was moved from Ctrl+Alt+H to Ctrl+Alt+Numpad 7

If you find yourself unable to reach the new shortcuts (for example, because your laptop does not have a keypad, or because the shortcuts do not work - may be the case on Linux with Xfce), you can set them to something else by changing both the alignment shortcut and the function that now uses that shortcut (if any). Use the search in Edit > Preferences > Interface > Keyboard. It also allows searching for shortcuts, not only for their name (e.g. search for 'ctrl+alt+t' to find the new default action that is executed when that combo is pressed).

Color Picker

Added support for the OKLab and OKLch color spaces which have just been adopted into the CSS Color Module Level 4 draft recommendation. OKLab is described in detail by its creator in an interesting blog post. The new picker is called "OKHSL" and is available from the dropdown.

Rulers

Improved look. Fixed performance penalty. Added indicator of selection (its possible to trun off in preferences)

Canvas

Pressing F temporarily hides on-canvas overlays (transformation handles, grids, guides ...). This allows quick preview of final artwork without any distractions.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4395

Added display overlay controls in top right corners. You need to have scrollbars enable to see it.

OpenGL (GPU) accelerated canvas

An OpenGL-accelerated display mode was added to the canvas to speed up panning, zooming and rotating.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4133

This is NOT a fully GPU-based renderer; content is still rendered on the CPU in exactly the same way as before, so large performance improvements are not to be expected. It does however result in a smoother display and lower CPU usage, especially on HiDPI screens.

OpenGL mode is highly experimental and is turned off by default. It can be turned on at

Preferences -> Rendering -> Enable OpenGL

Note however the following caveats:

• Due to packaging problems, when using the Linux AppImage, OpenGL support either does not work (on X11) or crashes (on Wayland).
• Due to GTK3 bugs, OpenGL mode crashes on Windows, blacks out the screen on MacOS, is slower than software rendering on Linux X11, and is only really usable on Wayland.

For these reasons, it is not expected to be useful until we migrate to GTK4, where we hope that at least some of these bugs have been fixed.

Smooth auto-scrolling

Auto-scrolling happens when you drag an object off the edge of the canvas. We improved smoothness of this action.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/5027

Tools

Selection tool

new commands:

• Reapply transform: Ctrl+Alt+T - This allows a user to perform a transformation multiple times and works from the canvas edits or from transform dialog or the select toolbar. Shortcut needs to change, it opens a terminal on Linux.
• Duplicate and transform: Ctrl+Alt+D -This performs a duplication and then reapplies the previous transform to the duplicate. Shortcut needs to change, it minimizes the window on Linux.
• Clone while dragging: drag object + C - Drag object move it and press C to clone in current position https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4752
  https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4506

editing pattern on canvas

Node tool

Pattern editing

Pattern editing on canvas is now easier you can click on any part of pattern and it will show you controls on that position. We also outline that shows you edges of pattern. First square controls position circle controls rotation and second square controls size hold shift to constrain proportions.

We also fixed performance problems with patterns so now you can have smaller patterns in project and also its possible to zoom in on pattern

Lasso selection mode

We added new lasso selection mode hold alt and draw around nodes you want to select. Useful fore selecting nodes inside of complicated geometry

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4747

Shape Builder tool (New tool)

New tool for fast shape building and Boolean operations. Shortcut X

Use: Select multiple overlapping shapes and select shipbuilder tool. Selection will be fragmented on overlapping areas everything else is going to be hidden until you confirm operation. Now you Click and drag to combine segments together or hold Shift + Click and drag to substract and Sigle click on segment to split. Adding is represented by Blue color removing by pink

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4709

Pages tool

Have controls for margins (guids):

• An attribute on the page element to record the margin
• A new html/css style box model with tests
• New UI to set margins in the toolbar
• New on canvas controls for moving margins (with ctrl/shift)
• New display of margins in the same canvas group as the page border

• Snapping for page margins

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4523

Gradient tool

• Allowing to change the repeat setting when multiple gradients are selected.
• Showing 'Multiple gradients' in the stop list when multiple gradients are selected (instead of a random stop).
• Allowing the editing of the offset of the start/end stops.
• Keeping the stop selected after the offset is changed in the toolbar (instead of selecting the 1st stop of the gradient).

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4339

Path Operations

New commands:

Fracture Path->fracture - every overlapping path will be silted in to separate object

Flatten Path->flatten - overlapping object vi be flatten visually (it will delete path that are hidden behind a top path). Useful for separating colors for Screen printing and offset printing

Masking / Clipping

• A new option to preserve clips / masks when ungrouping objects has been added (Edit → Preferences → Behavior → Clippaths and Masks: When ungroup, clip/mask is preserved in childrens). The option is active by default. This means that when you now ungroup a group that has been clipped, the elements inside it will inherit the clip. Previously, the clip was removed and everything became un-clipped. To go back to previous default behavior, deactivate this new option. (MR #3564) -->

Dialogs

Fill and stroke Dialog

New pattern editor

Added in to UI. You can preview patterns change name, size, rotation, offset, gaps and colors for some specific patterns. We also added collections of patterns ~paint/pattern.svg so its easier to be organized . Since this allows having much more patterns preset we also added search function .

Filter editor

Redesign of this dialog:

• Filter selection moved to a popover
• Effects are listed in a popup menu and can be selected by searching (by name)
• Adjusted connector sizes to make them more compact
• Fixed an issue where all parameters would initially be visible in a docked filter dialog
• Fixed min size of parameters panel to make it fit in a narrow docked dialog
• Reactive layout to accommodate wide dialog
• Added primitive filter attributes to fe-image and fe-tile (#1417)
• Replaced GTK color picker with Inkscape color picker

• Sources can now be hidden (for most use cases only the source graphics is useful; other inputs are broken or need ux work)
  https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4720
  

Layers and Objects

UX improvements:

• you can click and drag to change visibility of multiple objects
• selecting on group does not auto expand .
• Selecting multiple object and and changing visibility/locking applies to all selected
• We added search feature, Its limited implmentation.it does not auto apply search and you need to search for more 3 characters
• we added hover indicator for rows and layer colors
• added controls for opacity and blending mode

We added shortcuts for layers navigation and actions:

•   arrows to  navigate
•   space bur confirms (select, apply, open)
•  shift -> <- open close group
• shift up down to move  in Z order

Place holder demo of new LPE dialog

Live Path Effects ( LPE )

New redesigned LPE dialog.

The compacted design merges organization and controls into one unit. You can reorder LPE by drag and drop whole effect. It adds fast search box and fast dropdown for adding effects.

Single LPE has 5 controls:

• Show/Hide Controls
• Visibility of Effect
• Delete Effect
• Context menu
  • Re-order
  • Duplicate
  • Set as default
  • Flatten

Reorganization of LPEs:

Since we needed more compact way show All LPEs we Decided on a list that is organizes in to 6 Categories :

Tools ,Distort, Generate, Convert, Experimental + Favorite

Changes:

• Setting presets for LPE was moved in to contextual menu
• Setting Favorite LPE was moved in to contextual menu
• Added New feature flatten - This will apply effect to geometry , It will apply all effects in a stuck
• We removed LPE gallery (you can sill enable it in Preferences if you wish Preferences -> Behavior -> LPE
• To see experimental LPEs you need to enable it in Preferences Preferences -> Behavior -> LPE
• Added indicator which object is selected
• Added conversion commands when you select text objects - Since Text does not support LPEs yet we added workaround that convert text to path or clones the text
• If you select Object that is assorted with other LPE (Clone, Bool operations, Bend, Fill between many etc...) You will see button in Dialog that will take you to linked geometry/controls

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4677

XML Editor

We did small cosmetic changes to this dialog: smaller icons 16x16px , removed text tool tips. Added responsive layout and moved layout controls to top in to dropdown (auto layout is default option).

Syntax highlighting:

For improving readability we added syntax color coding and auto line braking. This work for CSS style tag, Inline styling, d <path data> . You change change color coding themes in Preferences -> Interface -> Theming

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4885

Symbols

You can drag and drop symbols on canvas and they are going to be place exactly where you dropped them. New icon "peace". Improved performance . Add visio modern formats vssx and vsdx. Symbols are load once, not in each window

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4666

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4883

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4793

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4784

Bitmap Tracer

Got significant performance boost. Now it takes advantage of CPU multithreading.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4702

Command bar

Improved UI https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4988

Live path effects

All labels are no align to one line.

Tapper Stroke and powerstroke now handle paths with multiples subpaths https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4906 https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4880

UI and Lale clean up for:

Roughen LPE

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4872

Templates

All template dialogs (Welcome screen, New from Template, Page tool default sizes) now use the same template sizes ([1] MR #479)

Customization / Theming

added user.css to UI folder to allow tweak UI without interferences or full override other css files https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/5004

Fixed hidden icons on menus: https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4686

Extensions

Features

Speedup processing specialy on complex docs https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4996

Command line

Added a new parameter --actions-file you send a list like in --actions but in a file to allow bypass windows comand line limit also for beter reuse it

?Added new parameter --active-window / -q that run all commands to the active desktop

Notable bugfixes

Crash fixes

Fixed a crash that occurred …

• when …

Other bug fixes

• LPE related Undo bugs https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4520
• Fixed bspline LPE with cusp nodes when start using with node tool https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/5016
• Uses retain LPE correctly when unliked or convert to paths. Old convert to paths is available by prefs. https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/5016

Even more bug fixes

There were even more issues fixed than those listed above, but these probably only affect a small portion of users, or are relevant for development and packaging only.

For a complete list, visit our GitLab issue tracker and see the commit history.

Translations

The following UI translations received updates:

• …

The Windows installer translation was updated for:

• …

The following documentation translations received updates:

• …

Contributing to interface translations

Want to help with translations? Learn how to help!

Documentation

Contributing to documentation and documentation translation

Contributions to the documentation translations, as well as improvements to its contents, are welcome at the inkscape-docs repository.

Other releases

• Inkscape 1.5 — development branch
• Inkscape 1.4 — current stable release branch
• Inkscape 1.3 (1.3.1, 1.3.2)
• Inkscape 1.2 (1.2.1, 1.2.2)
• Inkscape 1.1 (1.1.1, 1.1.2)
• Inkscape 1.0 (1.0.1, 1.0.2)
• Inkscape 0.92 (0.92.1, 0.92.2, 0.92.3, 0.92.4, 0.92.5)
• Inkscape 0.91
• Inkscape 0.48 (0.48.1, 0.48.2, 0.48.3, 0.48.4, 0.48.5)
• Inkscape 0.47
• Inkscape 0.46
• Inkscape 0.45
• Inkscape 0.44
• Inkscape 0.43
• Inkscape 0.42
• Inkscape 0.41
• Inkscape 0.40
• Inkscape 0.39
• Inkscape 0.38
• Inkscape 0.37
• Inkscape 0.36
• Inkscape 0.35