January 2009 - Inkscape Devel

Re: [Inkscape-devel] Tango icons as default set
by Guillermo Espertino 27 Jan '09

27 Jan '09

A comparison between dark GTK themes with both sets. http://www.ohweb.com.ar/screenshots/Inkscape/Tango-Icons-Colors-dark.png Notice that I didn't choose a black theme (they exist) but a dark gray one. The black details in the oficial set are still visible but the contrast lowered a lot, so they are difficult to see. In a pure black theme they will be completely invisible. The Tango text tool also needs some tweaking for dark themes. About the colors: I'd prefer a single shade for the shapes tools, Shades of blues, for instance, with low saturation. But it seems the majority prefers the different colors. I agree with Bulia about lowering the saturation of them a bit. Finally we're getting closer to an agreement :-) Gez.

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access beyond end of merged section
by Felipe Sanches 27 Jan '09

27 Jan '09

what does that mean? /usr/bin/ld: filter-effects-dialog.o: access beyond end of merged section (34359815658)

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Re: [Inkscape-devel] Tango icons as default set
by Guillermo Espertino 27 Jan '09

27 Jan '09

I made some changes in the Tango set to match some aspects of the current oficial set. http://www.ohweb.com.ar/screenshots/Inkscape/tango-icons-colors.svg.tar.gz -Created a new icon for the 3D box. No more box with trapezoid :-) -Added colors to the geometric primitives -Unified and tweaked the drawing icons (now all point upwards) -Created a new icon for the gradient tool -Created a new icon for the flood fill tool Maybe some of them need some tweaking. It's my first time creating tango icons, but I think they are acceptable. I don't like the color icons, but I'm trying to reach a compromise and see if people who prefered the oficial set find this set acceptable. I'll try to tweak the bucket icon a little, maybe to make more evident the part of the dripping paint (separating more the paint blob of the bucket). I didn't change the tweak icon, please let me know if you think it should be changed. I find the hand icon more appropriate, since that tool allows some sort of manual tweaking, some humanization. It's a very complete tool and it would be very hard to find only one icon for all its features and I think -let me know if you don't agree- the "finger" icon covers pretty well the idea of the tool. Besides, that tool is a transformation tool, not a drawing tool, and the current icon is so abstract that may be interpreted as a shape tool. Another icon I didn't touch was the connector tool. Do you think it needs color too? Here is a side by side comparison of both toolbars: http://www.ohweb.com.ar/screenshots/Inkscape/Tango-Icons-Colors.png I'd like to hear your feedback. Do you think it's more acceptable with these changes? What other changes should be considered to accept this set as the default? Gez.

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Which python
by Bob Jamison 27 Jan '09

27 Jan '09

Hi, all. I found a small problem in build.xml that broke the build. In the "cxxtest" target, the path of the python executable was set to /target/python/python.exe . The problem with that is that the python you want at build time is the one that is native on your build machine. So on Linux, it would be /usr/bin/python or whatever. For win32/Mingw native builds, it would be preferable to add ${devlibs}/python to the PATH in mingwenv.bat rather than to explicitly invoke the one in /target/. Just "python" should be correct. Can someome please commit this? I don't want to commit the cross-compile version and break native/mingw. bob

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Re: [Inkscape-devel] Tango icons as default set
by Guillermo Espertino 27 Jan '09

27 Jan '09

Bulia Byak wrote: > But the old set copes much better with color thanks to its strong, > graphic black outline. It's the outline that holds them together > graphically, color is just a decoration. With the anemic outline-less > Tango ones, color indeed mostly fails. There's nothing to hang that > color on, basically :) ... thanks to it's strong, graphic outline that isn't even present in every icon. Some have single black oultine, others have a second inset line (tweak took), others have no outline (gradient tool), others have multiple outlines (zoom tool). The black outline ends up disappearing in black/dark themes, so it's not usable without a light outline for strokes (bezier and freehand drawing tools). The oficial icon lacks consistency. It looks unfinished because too much icons look too different in style than the rest. If somebody takes the current oficial set and makes it more normalized, I bet that people who want Tangos won't be so against the current set. I'm not a Tango zealot. I find it better than the current set and I have my arguments to think that it would be better to put them as default. But i'm not against improving the current one, at all. Gez

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Trouble in debug inkscape on MacOSX
by Beni **** 27 Jan '09

27 Jan '09

Hi everyone, I am student and I am looking for a way to debug inkscape, I have followed the instructions of the Debugging Tips for OS X and the CompilingMacOsX. The compilation works, I execute this line "Inkscape.app/Contents/MacOS/inkscape" every things is right but when I try to put a breakpoint in a source file like in main.cpp, gdb display that: No source file named main.cpp. Make breakpoint pending on future shared library load? (y or [n]) I have try to change the source directory, with the command directory [path] but nothing change. I don't know what can I do to solve my problem. I am working on MacOS 10.5. Thank you for your help. Cya _________________________________________________________________ Téléphonez gratuitement à tous vos proches avec Windows Live Messenger ! Téléchargez-le maintenant ! http://www.windowslive.fr/messenger/1.asp

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Re: [Inkscape-devel] Tango icons as default set
by Guillermo Espertino 27 Jan '09

27 Jan '09

Aaron Spike wrote: > Could you please include the Tango toolbar before your modifications in > the picture for comparison? Yes, I uploaded a new version with some corrections and the comparison of the three sets. http://www.ohweb.com.ar/screenshots/Inkscape/Tango-Icons-Colors.png The icons file: http://www.ohweb.com.ar/screenshots/Inkscape/tango-icons-colors.svg.tar.gz Bulia Byak wrote: > That is better. Though I think now there's too much color in the shape > tools. Especially the 3D box is too dark and saturated. I lowered the saturation of the 3D box and made it lighter, it blends better to the rest of the tools now. > Do we really need to have white lines in Pen/Pencil, Calligraphic, and > Spiral? Is it against some guidelines to draw crisp, visible black > lines, which would also match the default style of these tools? (they > draw black lines, not white!) I also made the lines dark. The problem with this (or just black) is how the theme works in dark GTK themes. The black or dark lines disappear. Although I changed those lines and made them dark, the white line with outline strokes work better both in light and dark gtk themes. I'd change them back to white. > With this comparison, I cannot help noticing that it is definitely the > Tango icons that look more childish, naive, clumsy - not our current > set. Both look childish. That's because of the colors. Now both look like a plastic children toy :) I have to admit that that's an opinion based on the current trends, not in an usability test. Of course different colors are easier to identify, but now the trend for design applications is to use desaturated interfases and icons. A multi-color icon theme looks cheap. Not because it is cheap, but it's something similar than when you watch an original Star Trek episode: all that lights and sounds looked high tech back on its days, but now they look old. (this metaphore is appliable to Knight Rider episodes too :-) But, apart of the colors, the current set lacks sistematization. Some color guidelines, consistent usage of outlines, etc. > Sorry but this is > how I see it. I would accept the change if the majority votes for it, > but it will be a sad day for me when this happens. No offense taken. I respect your opinion and I'd prefer to achieve a tango set that is acceptable for you rather than making you sad. :-) Anyway, it would be great if someone creates an UI for easy selection of themes, and it would be also great if someone takes the current oficial set and fixes it to make it more consistent.

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sorted LPE list
by unknown＠example.com 26 Jan '09

26 Jan '09

Hi all, I just committed code that should sort the LPE list alphabetically. I have not tested it for other languages other than English. So hope this works for Japanese too for example... Since I programmed it in a general function, more enumerations should be sorted now. I hope that is not a problem. (for example filter combo boxes should be sorted now) Cheers, Johan

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How to handle invalid input files
by the Adib 26 Jan '09

26 Jan '09

Hello all, there is this bug report about inkscape crash on invalid svg input file: https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/320987 The question here: Is there any standardized method how to handle invalid input files? eg show an error dialog or show an additional message line? Right now there is no message at all. The user does not get informed if inkscape can not render correctly. Even the user can corrupt the svg by typing some nonsense data in the xml editor. Any comments? Adib. ---

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Re: [Inkscape-devel] Inkscape-devel Digest, Vol 32, Issue 50
by Guillermo Espertino 25 Jan '09

25 Jan '09

El vie, 23-01-2009 a las 22:46 +0000, Pajarico escribió: > First we don't know what is the > profile of the average Inkscape user so we don't know if he likes > tango, if he prefers one shade over differentiated colors, if he uses > other apps like Gimp or Scribus (personal opinion: i use Inky and > Indesign and Photoshop)... Hell, we don't even know what is the > majority operating systems of these users, which brings me the > following point: what is "unification"? Keep in mind that not everyone > uses Tango icons, not everyone uses gnome, and not everyone uses even > Linux! What about users in Windows or MacOS?? This won't bring any > unification for them for the most part unless they have Gimp or > Scribus (maybe other apps), and not everyone is using them with > Inkscape. So what's the deal? Well, of course it doesn't make much sense if you think about inkscape as an isolated application, but Inkscape is the flagship vector illustration program in free software, and it since we'll possibly never have a "Creative Suite" in the free software world the idea of a good integration between the main applications makes a lot of sense. One of the strengths of Adobe CS is that every application in the suite is integrated seamlessly (or at least that's what they'd want). Free software packages can't do that but at least an effort to unify criteria would benefit a good workflow between application for people who can't afford a proprietary design suite. You don't seem to care about the fact that Inkscape is free software and there are people interested in achieving a good workflow between other free packages, but that's very important for many of us. > Also about the point of icons being made of a single color vs. > multiple colors... well, maybe is matter of taste, but i like icons to > be distinctive in shape and colors. A single shade of a color won't > make them inherently "better", rather the contrary (IMHO). Adobe has > done that (single color icons with minimum saturation) and is a > hit-and-miss approach. In one hand they won't distract the user, on > the other difficulties on picking and telling apart tools might arise > (i'm talking about experience). That's something that can be discussed of course. The single shades thing was a suggestion based on how the other applications implemented their icons and on the idea that primitives are sort of "blank" objects, not something with a pre-defined style. Of course the rapid identification of the icons is a valid argument in favour of the colored icons. But I think that when it comes to frequent use items as toolbar icons users tend to memorize the position of the icon more than its shape or color. And that's why you can't find anything when you go from Inkscape to Illustrator, for instance. > I could agree that the current icons could use some improvements here > and there but bashing them and sustituting them just based on those > arguments seems a bit unfair to me. > Why we don't try to see what current icons are worth for and improve > from that? or improve the Preferences dialog to let the user choose > easily between icons sets? As english say "don't throw the baby with > the bathwater". It's not about bashing the current set. But there's a proposal to replace a set with a lot of problems for a complete, stylized and systematized set. The current Tango set has coherence. The current default set has a lot of style problems (some have chiseled look, some don't, some have saturated colors, some don't, some have outlines, some don't, there isn't apparently a color palette or some guides about how to combine the colors). It's functional, but it has a lot of problems. And fixing all those problems would require an incredible amount of work, a work that has already been done in the Tango set. You may dislike the Tango set, but you can't deny that the current state is more streamlined and look more polished if you put two screenshots together. My suggestion was to put Tango as default just to see the users reaction. As a test. Another solution would be to add a GUI for selecting different themes present in the icons folder. But I still think that a finished set is better for the default look. Gez.

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