- Inkscape Devel - Inkscape Mailman

Inkscape UI Papercuts
by Aleksandar Kovac 04 Oct '10

04 Oct '10

Hi everyone, in the last month+ I have conducted a tiny survey with a few fresh Inkscape users. A mixture of ethnographic research in design and 'papercuts' by mr. Siegel. ;) (http://davidsiegel.org/one-hundred-paper-cuts/) I asked a few colleagues to try using inkscape for some time and put down all the little irritations they find. I tried to systematize the list somewhat, but that could use some more work probably. They are mostly small inconsistencies, unnecessarily complex jargon, etc. Anyhow, it's a list of roughly 100+ small issues (some with suggested simple corrections), a la: -- Inkscape preferences: Color management: 'Black point compensation', the tip says: 'enables black point compensation' not too informative. -- Inkscape preferences: Interface. 'Enable dynamic relayout'... Technical jargon. -- Commands Bar: Import: The Tip says: 'Import bitmap or SVG into this document' but actually it imports so much more (see import in the file:import) -- Text and Font panel: The 'Layout' area is a misnomer. Solution: The correct title would be: 'Text alignment and direction'. (Alignment being: Left, centered, right, justified. Direction: horizontal/vertical). ...etc. What would be the best way to present those? Should I submit them as bugs? Should I try to out down the solution suggestions for the issues, too? Thanks. Alex.

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Re: [Inkscape-devel] [Inkscape-user] ui improvements
by Jasper van de Gronde 04 Oct '10

04 Oct '10

On 2010-09-09 12:54, J.B.C.Engelen@...1578... wrote: > ... (about tool cursor with color preview) > Pretty neat! > Could you also implement this for the spiral, pen(cil) and calligraphy > tools? Sure. The main reason I didn't do it yet is that it isn't clear to me what should be shown. Other than that it's just a matter of changing the corresponding .xpm and adding a small line with tool's "preference url" to its TOOL-context.cpp (in the init function, see rect-context.cpp for example, if you want to do it yourself).

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Cloned Tiles
by Thorsten Wilms 04 Oct '10

04 Oct '10

Hi! Back to the topic of the Cloned Tiles UI: One issue is if you try to apply one of the non-rectangular wallpaper groups to rectangular prototype, the result does not appear to make sense. Showing schemes like http://thorwil.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/wallpaper_groups1.png would help a bit. But actually, the user should start with the right shape. They should be encouraged and assisted to do so. The "Use saved size and position of the tile feature" allows one to deal with geometry that extends outwards of the base tile, as nicely explained on http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/TilePattern.html I think this is a hack to seemingly get around the need for 2 different things: the base tile area used for building the pattern (gap-less, no overlap), and the prototype with the geometry to be repeated. A solution could be to put this functionality into a tool/effect. You choose the Wallpaper group, then you create the base tile area that will have the right shape (similar to rectangle/star/polygon tools). There could be automatic selection of geometry covered by the base tile area. If you start with a selection, the base tile area could be created centered on it, automatically. -- Thorsten Wilms thorwil's design for free software: http://thorwil.wordpress.com/

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Problem resizing horizontal or vertical lines
by JiHO 01 Oct '10

01 Oct '10

Hello all, This is an old issue I think, and this made wonder wether there was a workaround by now. Here are the steps: 1- draw a perfectly horizontal line (snap to grid to be sure) 2- select the path with the selector tool. Its size is displayed in the toolbar 3.1- in inkscape preferences > tools, select visual bounding box 3.2- resize the width of the line by typing a new number (say, half the original) in the toolbar => The line is resized but only approximately 4.1- in inkscape preferences > tools, select geometric bounding box 4.2- resize the width of the line by typing a new number in the toolbar => The line is not resized at all This works the same when you try to change the height of a vertical line. I guess all this relates to a division by zero somewhere since it disappears as soon as the line is slanted even by the tiniest amount. I could not find a bug report but there is surely one (I probably just searched with incorrect terms). Is there a fix in sight? a workaround? I am trying to map an apartment and it's just a bunch of horizontal and vertical lines that need to have a precise length. Thanks in advance for any help, JiHO --- http://maururu.net

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How to reduce complexity of scanning svg file
by Stephen Dickason 30 Sep '10

30 Sep '10

Hello all. I am using Inkscape to vectorise images - i.e. set up path information - that I can then parse the resulting .svg file into an intermediate program that when run generates the equivalent PDF drawing commands. This was nice and easy with version 0.46, but I have a windows XP configuration where the Inkscape floating toolbars don't work properly on that version and upgraded to version 0.48 where they now work. A new problem is now the path information (after working on the path) is now not just M,L,C,z commands, but also m,l,c commands, and command omission on repetition. (The M,L,C commands are great because translating them is relatively simple.) I have attempted to correctly interpret the relative coordinates of the m,l,c commands, but I don't seem to get the curves right. The command omission on repetition I may have to rewrite my parser, or try understand the whole thing again (No it wasn't BNF'd or Yacc'd). I have a few options in order of preference: 1) Find the switch in Inkscape that makes it use the original M,L,C path commands. 2) Export the path(s) from inside Inkscape to something similar. 3) Fix my parser, which will take a while and may break again in future versions. 4) Find a nifty utility that helps with the svg parsing. Can anyone can help or advise with the above options or suggest a better alternative? Thanks In Advance This email is subject to our disclaimer which can be found by visiting our website on http://www.elcb.co.za/UI/Contents.aspx?ID=28

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Funding inkscape development
by Drechsel Wolf 30 Sep '10

30 Sep '10

Hi everybody, as I was the person to start this discussion, I feel myself obliged to try a sort of resume, so I tried a solution hopefully many people can agree with. What about a sort of "market place solution" like this ? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ We create a "market place" section in the wiki. Somebody looking for the solution of a specific problem (called "inquirer" in the following) can create a related page, containing a description of the task and a table with two columns and several lines. One column contains contributors with their financial offerings - obviously starting with the inquirer. The other column can contain entries of people who are willing to do the job, including the amount of money each person is asking for to do the job. When the sum of offerings exeeds the lowest demand, the inquirer can ask the contributors to wire the money to a "inkscape bank account in trust", which should be administrated by a small commitee. When the sum came in, the administration committee can issue the mandate to the contractor, who will start to work on the solution. When the inquirer states that the job is done, the administration committe can tranfer the money to the contractor, and the inquierer can remove the request page. In the case of conflict, the committee should act as an arbitration board. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ As a EC citizen, I'd like a European Bank account - would make money transfer very cheap and easy due to the IBAN/BIC thing. If this or a modified solution of this kind would find general acceptance, I'll be happy to design the wiki pages/templates. Let me hear your comments. Yours, Wolf

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Non-model extension dialog consistency
by Craig Marshall 29 Sep '10

29 Sep '10

Hi, I think it would be good if the 9 extensions that are not using live-preview[0] could use a non-model dialog, just like all the other live-preview-enabled extensions do (when live-preview is unchecked). By live-preview-enabled, I don't mean whether the live preview checkbox is checked, I mean whether it has the checkbox at all. Note: I am only talking about extensions of the "effect" type, not input, output or any others that may exist. For example, if I want to re-apply an extension (a non-live-preview-enabled extension) and to change the workpiece between applications, I currently I have two options: 1) Close and reopen the dialog between uses. 2) Pretend that the extension can make use of live preview, but leave it unchecked. Option 1 is irritating, even though there is a "Previous extension" menu entry. Option 2 is a nasty hack, and one which could cause the extension to crash if the checkbox is accidentally checked. Since this non-modal functionality is the default for extensions that say "I can use live preview", I see no downside to making it the default to all extensions. In fact, it is a more consistent, and more user-friendly approach. I've filed a bug [1] and attached a very small patch, which implements this proposed change. It works in Windows 7 and OS X 10.5.8 at least. I think it would be great if some of the original or current UI/extension authors could give their points of view and possibly tell me where my thinking is flawed. Thanks, Craig [0] Add nodes, Embed Image, Extract Image, Guillotine, Printing Marks, Replace Font, Webslicer Create Group, Webslicer Create Rect and Webslicer Export [1] https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/649441

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problem while building 0.48
by Britton Kerin 28 Sep '10

28 Sep '10

It fails like this (on a re-run of make after vanilla configure): $ make make all-recursive make[1]: Entering directory `/home/bkerin/tmp/inkscape-0.48.0' Making all in src make[2]: Entering directory `/home/bkerin/tmp/inkscape-0.48.0/src' CXXLD inkscape /usr/bin/ld: warning: librt.so.1, needed by /usr/lib/gcc/i486-linux-gnu/4.3.2/libgomp.so, may conflict with librt.so.19 /usr/bin/ld: warning: librt.so.1, needed by /usr/lib/gcc/i486-linux-gnu/4.3.2/libgomp.so, may conflict with librt.so.19 libinkscape.a(addNoise.o): In function `Inkscape::Extension::Internal::Bitmap::AddNoise::applyEffect(Magick::Image*)': /home/bkerin/tmp/inkscape-0.48.0/src/extension/internal/bitmap/addNoise.cpp:29: undefined reference to `Magick::Image::addNoise(MagickLib::NoiseType)' libinkscape.a(channel.o): In function `Inkscape::Extension::Internal::Bitmap::Channel::applyEffect(Magick::Image*)': /home/bkerin/tmp/inkscape-0.48.0/src/extension/internal/bitmap/channel.cpp:32: undefined reference to `Magick::Image::channel(MagickLib::ChannelType)' libinkscape.a(levelChannel.o): In function `Inkscape::Extension::Internal::Bitmap::LevelChannel::applyEffect(Magick::Image*)': /home/bkerin/tmp/inkscape-0.48.0/src/extension/internal/bitmap/levelChannel.cpp:33: undefined reference to `Magick::Image::levelChannel(MagickLib::ChannelType, double, double, double)' collect2: ld returned 1 exit status make[2]: *** [inkscape] Error 1 make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/bkerin/tmp/inkscape-0.48.0/src' make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1 make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/bkerin/tmp/inkscape-0.48.0' make: *** [all] Error 2 any clues? Thanks, Britton

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how to include size information in SVG_G_ELEMENT
by Ogla Sungutay 28 Sep '10

28 Sep '10

Hi guys, I need to add the size of the SVG_G_ELEMENT in a custom namespace as seen below: <g inkscape:label="baz" id="foo" myNamespace:width="647" myNamespace:height="400" > This will require some hacking, so before I go into the code, I wanted to get some feedback from you; I'm hoping that you can give me some directions or offer me solutions. Thanks!! -- V. Ogla Sungutay, UI programmer www.lyciasoft.com skype:oglasungutay

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Website redesign Proposal (was: )
by AJ Ashton 28 Sep '10

28 Sep '10

Hi all, I've been reading the side-discussion about the current state of the Inkscape website and figured I should speak up. from Alexandre Prokoudine in the 'Free Desktop Release' thread: > In fact, our custom website CMS is rather unmaintained. Several people > volunteered to create a new website based on drupal or possibly > something else, and we never heard back from them. This was me and my colleague Young Hahn. We work for Development Seed, a small web shop in Washington, DC, with a focus on using & contributing to open-source projects. Young and I are both designers who rely on Inkscape for the majority of our graphics work. You can see the kinds of things Inkscape is helping us do at http://developmentseed.org/projects Earlier in the year we chatted with Josh Andler about how the current website works and what a Drupal redesign/migration might look like. We suggested Drupal since that is what we specialize in - Young, in addition to being a kick-ass designer, is also a highly respected and experienced Drupal developer. Since our initial chat with Josh we've been letting other projects distract us. However, recently I've been speaking to Young and our CEO, Eric Gundersen, about scheduling some real time for this and, if the community is willing, we'd love to get started soon. One important aspect of the site that we think needs work is the information architecture. We propose reducing the main navigation menu to: - News - Download - Documentation - Resources - Gallery - Community - Development I would like to open a discussion about people's thoughts on this, and perhaps get into some specifics regarding what pages/sections would need to be consolidated, rethought, or perhaps eliminated in order to do this. I have some ideas regarding a new visual design as well, but think that can wait until these more fundemental decisions are made. Thanks! AJ Ashton

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