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 from simple shapes. (Live Boolean tool)
• Live path effects dialog - Totally new and improved
• Filter editor - New redesign
• And so much more!

Performance

There has been lots of effort to improve performance of all aspects in Inkscape. Lots of refactoring of various inefficient code, rewritten handling of patterns, and moving bitmap tracing off-main-thread are some examples.

Canvas rendering is now both multithreaded and done off-main-thread. This should significantly improve performance while zooming/panning/transforming objects if your CPU has more than one core.

In some cases you can see 2-4x speed improvements.

You can set core count in Preferences > Rendering > Number of Threads. The default is to use as many as possible.

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

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4760

General user interface

indicators of used colors

Color palettes have an indicator showing the stroke and fill of the selected object. The first 4 colors are pinned and have the ability to become larger than the rest. Colors can be pinned/unpinned in the context menu.

New feature paste on page

You can copy and paste objects 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 a performance penalty by caching text labels. Added indicator of selection (it's possible to turn off in preferences).

Command bar

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

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 enabled 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

You can right click on any tool in toolbox to see tool preferences.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4982

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.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4506

• Clone while dragging: drag object + C - Drag and object and press C to clone it in the current position. https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4752

editing pattern on canvas

Node tool

Pattern editing - On canvas

Pattern editing on canvas is now easier; you can click on any part of a pattern and it will show you controls at that position. We also added an outline that shows you the edges of the pattern. The first square controls position, the circle controls rotation, and the 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 zoom in on them without worrying about Inkscape eating up all your RAM.

Lasso selection mode

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

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

Blur editing - On canvas

New canvas controls for blurring is showed on canvas, if you add blur in fill and stroke panel or add filter that has Blur. Controls are not linked by default so you can control horizontal and vertical blurring separately. If you hold CTRL you can control both Axiies linked. You can control arbitrary angle of blurring if you rotate your object after you set your blur.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4867

Shape Builder tool (New tool)

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

Use: Select multiple overlapping shapes and select the Shape Builder tool. The selection will be fragmented on overlapping areas, while everything else will be hidden until you leave the shape builder. Now you Click and drag to combine segments together or hold Shift + Click and drag to subtract, and Single click on segments to split. Adding is represented by a blue color, removing by pink.

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

Pages tool

The pages tool now has controls for margins (guides):

• 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

• Allow changing the repeat setting when multiple gradients are selected.
• Show 'Multiple gradients' in the stop list when multiple gradients are selected (instead of a random stop).
• Allow editing of the offset of the start/end stops.
• Keep the stop selected after the offset is changed in the toolbar (instead of selecting the first stop of the gradient).

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

Path Operations

New commands:

Fracture Path → Fracture - every overlapping path will be split into separate object.

Flatten Path → Flatten - overlapping objects will be flattened visually (it will delete paths 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 children). 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 in ~paint/ so it's easier to be organized. Since this allows having many more patterns preinstalled, we also added a search function and a few new default patterns.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4938

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 graphic 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 objects and and changing visibility/locking applies to all selected
• We added a search feature; it's a limited implementation - it does not auto-apply search and you need to search for more than 3 characters.
• We added a 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 bar 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 compact new design merges organization and controls into one unit. You can reorder LPE by dragging and dropping the whole effect. It adds a fast search box, and a fast dropdown for adding effects.

Each 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 a more compact way to show all LPEs, we decided on a list that is organized into 6 categories:

Tools, Distort, Generate, Convert, Experimental + Favorite

Changes

• Setting presets for LPE was moved into contextual menu
• Setting Favorite LPE was moved into contextual menu
• Added new feature: flatten - This will apply effect to geometry. It will apply all effects in the stack.
• We removed LPE gallery (you can still 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 an indicator showing which object is selected
• Added conversion commands when you select text objects - since text does not support LPEs yet we added a workaround that converts text to paths or clones the text.
• If you select an object that is associated with an LPE (Clone, Boolean operations, Bend, Fill between many, etc...) you will see a button in the dialog that will take you to the linked geometry/controls.
• Labels inside effects are aligned nicely

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 the top in a dropdown (auto layout is the default option).

Syntax readability

For improving readability we added syntax highlighting and auto line-breaking. This works for CSS style tag, inline styling, d <path data>. You can change change highlighting themes in Preferences > Interface > Theming

d < path data >

We added a feature to round path data. You can also set how many decimal points you want to round to. This gives you granular control over optimizing size of svgs

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

Symbols

This dialog got a new redesign:

• Migrated dialog settings to a popover.
• Saving dialog UI state in preferences (current symbol set and settings are remembered).
• Larger range for scaling (tile size) and symbol zooming.
• Fixed symbol selection color for dark themes.
• Added option to show symbols names.
• Rendering symbols at screen resolution - sharp (high-dpi aware).
• List of symbol sets is searchable and can be filtered.
• Symbol search is live (no need to press enter).
• Symbol rendering is done on-demand, to limit memory use and time needed to switch sets.
• Stats: total number of symbols / how many are visible.

New features

• You can drag and drop symbols on canvas and they are going to be placed exactly where you dropped them.
• A new icon - the "peace" symbol.
• Improved performance.
• Add visio modern formats vssx and vsdx. Symbols are loaded once, not in each window.
• We added new stock symbols SJJB map icons.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4975

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4994

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 and a progress bar. Now it runs in the background, allowing you to cancel it if it's taking too long.

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

Export Dialog

We added new options for how to export multipage in PDF and SVG formats.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/5002

Document Resources Dialog (NEW)

Added a new dialog that shows you an overview of what assets are currently inside your document. You can edit names and export some of the resources from this dialog.

It presents the following document assets:

• fonts
• styles
• colors
• swatches
• gradients
• filters
• patterns
• symbols
• markers
• images
• external references

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/5003

Welcome Dialog

Files are sorted by their last modified date. We Added recovery for files in this list after crash. You can see then by text Emergency save next to file.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/5058

Live path effects

Performance of most of the effects was improved. LPE Dialog was completely redesign see New redesigned LPE dialog for more details

Roughen

UI clean-up and reordering of the controls.

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

Taper Stroke

Added support for sub-paths.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4906

Power Stroke

Added support for sub-paths.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4880

Import / Export

Refactoring of PDF and AI import

The PDF importer was using the svg group as a way of tracking the GfxState matrix, but this actually causes a lot of problems. Using the Sfx CTM matrix state directly provides dependable positions and transformations for creating objects.

• New import PDF dialog GUI using glade
• Added PDF layer support
• Merging of similar path stroke/fill objects
• Removal of state groups
• Rendering text methods, to glyphs and to text
• Embedded font handling for rendering methods
• Much better font-name detection
• ICC Color Profile support
• Margins, bleeds and page sizes retained.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4757

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 tweaking UI without interfering with or fully overriding other css files. https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/5004

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

Other

Added support for href and xlink:href in SVG header. This makes Inkscape more compatible with SVG 2.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4596

Extensions

Features

Speed up processing especially on complex documents: https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/4996

Command line

Added a new parameter --actions-file. You specify a list like in --actions but in a file to allow bypassing Windows comandline length limit, and also to allow reuse of action lists.

Added a new parameter --active-window / -q that runs all commands on the active window of an already-running instance of Inkscape.

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 initially using with node tool. https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/merge_requests/5016
• <use>s retain their LPE correctly when unlinked or converted to paths. The old convert to paths behaviour is still available in the Preferences. 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 proportion 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