Release notes/0.40

Inkscape 0.40

In brief

This release has been slow in coming, but it was worth the wait: Inkscape 0.40 brings a huge amount of new features, usability enhancements, documentation, and bugfixes. The three most important new features are:

• Layers are almost complete in this version; this fills a major gap in functionality, making Inkscape usable for complex artwork.

• The Potrace bitmap tracer is incorporated into Inkscape - now vectorizing bitmaps is easy and interactive. A matching command, "Create bitmap copy", converts from any object to bitmap.

• The text-on-path implementation is complete and very flexible. Both the text and the path remain fully editable and transformable.

Many other improvements deserve a brief mention:

• Features: new document templates, improved freehand and calligraphy tools, randomized stars, POV export, some clipboard integration, experimental flowText implementation, new command-line options, better PNG and EPS export, and more.

• Usability: new file dialogs, current style for new objects, select under