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Re: [Inkscape-devel] NEW : LPE stacking
by Valerie 01 Jun '08

01 Jun '08

Once again, congratulations on the terrific work done with LPE stacking! I'm having a blast putting all sorts of shapes on Spiro lines (which convinces me more than ever that we should have Spiro lines as a sub-mode of Pencil and Bezier: it'd basically be an automatic Spiro line upon a bezier, minus the annoying bezier skeleton popping up all the time, yes? ;) ) Now that was a blast! http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/2219/lpesqm7.png I tried deforming a text with Envelop by the way but found a bug instead: the LPE dialogue didn't let me do effects with Text so I tried to convert it to path first. Result: Inkscape seems to crash if you select the text then the edit tool (F2). The console says: (inkscape:7044): GLib-GObject-WARNING **: invalid cast from `SPText' to `SPLPEItem' Does the same problem occur to anybody else? I suppose I should file a bug. There is no such bug on 0.46 though, and an exported text can be deformed just fine.

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Re: [Inkscape-devel] NEW : LPE stacking
by Valerie 31 May '08

31 May '08

> Hello, > Our student project is now finished. Thanks to our mentor Johan, our > work is now in main trunk. For us it is a real pleasure to see that. > > Our goals were : > - LPE stacking : Check it out > - LPE for groups : has already been committed > - LPE envelope : we created 2 deformation effects, the first one > is "Envelope", the second is > "Lattice" and is based on the d2sb2d object from 2geom. > They are not designed for the same use. Indeed, while the lattice offers > an accurate deformation, this deformation is only determined by > control points. > It also allows the user to move inner control points, which can't be > done with the Envelope deformation. The power of the Envelope > deformation is the absolute control of the shape of the envelope. All this is excellent, excellent news! Thank you for all your contributions! I'm pretty excited, and I look forward to trying them tomorrow! How about some screenshots by the way, for a formal announcement as Inkscape news? ;) As for the praise your teacher gave you, I have no doubt it is well-deserved! Any plans in particular from now on (apart from LPE bug-fixing, that is)?

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Blueprint for "Geometric Drawing" SoC project
by Maximilian Albert 31 May '08

31 May '08

Hi all, to "officially" kick off my GSoC project I have made my initial draft available as a LP Blueprint: https://blueprints.launchpad.net/inkscape/+spec/tech-drawing I'd be glad if folks added their suggestions and ideas there (and/or reorganize stuff if it seems helpful) so that I can get an impression of which features are most wanted and how people imagine them to work most smoothly UI-wise. As for coding, during the last 1-2 weeks I did some experiments with LPEs in various directions. Some of these are in SVN already, but overall it was mainly to get an impression of what is already there and what still needs to be done in order to integrate LPEs more tightly into existing tools. In the next few days I'm going to write an email summarizing my thoughts and giving an overview of the first steps I'm planning to take. Max P.S.: As I'm still not subscribed to inscape-user, feel free to forward my email there.

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Re: [Inkscape-devel] Resource paths on win32
by Bob Jamison 31 May '08

31 May '08

Ok, This path stuff on win32 has been biting us for a long time now. :-) So I added some code to prefix.cpp to provide a macro, WIN32_DATADIR, that works similarly to BR_DATADIR, so that paths are calculated now, rather than static. So INKSCAPE_EXTENSIONDIR, for example, will always be valid, no matter what the CurrentDirectory is. In fact, we should make sure that CurrentDirectory does not affect resource loading at all. It seems to work OK. If anyone sees an Inkscape win32 build that looks like icons/menus/etc might be missing, please let me know. But I really consider this a short-term fix. If we actually jumped into the deep water, quit using strings for paths and started using URIs, then this problem might disappear forever. bob -----Original Message----- >From: Albin Sunnanbo <albin@...1900...> >Sent: May 29, 2008 12:35 PM >To: Bob Jamison <rwjj@...127...> >Subject: Re: [Inkscape-devel] Resource paths on win32 > >Hi >I did some bugfixing with extensions a while a go. The new native win32 >file dialogs changed the current path when browsing the file tree. >I guess this might be related. > >// Albin > >Bob Jamison skrev: >> Hi, >> >> wormsxulla alerted me to a problem with the Tutorial menu items not being able to load a tutorial file. The error is something like "can't load file \share\tutorials\blah.svg". Which makes me think that Inkscape has forgotten its path some time since startup. It must have known -during- startup, else you wouldn't get your icons or translations. >> >> Has anyone done anything recently to change the path-prefixes, or CurrentDirectory of Inkscape? This was working before. >> >> >> bob >> >> >> >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------- >> This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft >> Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2008. >> http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/ >> _______________________________________________ >> Inkscape-devel mailing list >> Inkscape-devel(a)lists.sourceforge.net >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/inkscape-devel >> >

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Re quest: Calligraphy Tool - Union and difference button toggle
by microUgly 30 May '08

30 May '08

I actually posted this idea on the forum last year (http://www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=304&p=1693) and then being without a PC with Inkscape for almost 7 months meant I never got around to posting here for developers opinions. I believe that most artists, when inking a drawing, will ink a line with many strokes to accurately control the shape of the lines. The problem at the moment is that multiple strokes create multiple shapes. You can hold SHIFT so they only form one shape, but this is awkward when you're using it most of the time. So I would like to see a toggle on the Tool Control Bar that allows for union without holding SHIFT. Likewise I would also like to see a toggle that has the opposite effect and performs a difference. This toggle obviously conflicts with the new Eraser tool so I'll let you guys debate which is more intuitive or less cumbersome (I assume the erase tool will share the exact same tool controls as the calligraphy tool) This is a simple screenshot of what I'm talking about - http://www.microugly.com/images/calligraphy-union-difference.png -- View this message in context: http://www.nabble.com/Request%3A-Calligraphy-Tool---Union-and-difference-bu… Sent from the Inkscape - Dev mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

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UI proposal for Freehand with automatic LPE (stroke effects)
by Valerie 30 May '08

30 May '08

Hey Bulia! Happy now? :) http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/5248/lpeiz6.png You'll notice that I've submitted several proposals in one. I included them in one mock-up because I needed to make sure everything fits (they seem to, the current version is just about the same size as the toolbar for the selection and calligraphy tools). The 4 components (which ones to be included to be seen are): 1. The Width x base unit component. If you set your base unit to 0.2 pixels for example, you can increment the width of the stroke in increments of 0.2 pixels with just the directional keys. :D 2. I'd like to see Mode there too, because I rather like the smoothness of the freehand tool in Karbon14. Instead of Karbon14's "exactness" and "combine angle" text though, I just called it "smooth", because it's pretty intuitive, not to mention short. :\ I'm not sure if it will get added, but I'd be pretty happy if it were. For those who've missed it, the output of Karbon14: http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/9927/karbon14px5.png (for me, Inkscape's current output is closer to Curve with exactness of 5, not more) 3. The drop-down allows you to chose the behaviour of the line! Either a normal, simple line, LPE with presets, or LPE with clipboard items. Lots of fun, no? You can create a shape and make a true vector brush out of it! (example: you do a leaf shape, you copy it, and you start "drawing" it in various sizes everywhere on the file. Whoo-hoo! How pointless! Moving on) Anyway, the presets drop-down allows you to access dotted lines for normal lines and pre-defined shapes for LPE lines (I'm naming them calligraphy just because. If you name them Live Path Effect or Pattern Along Path, most users will probably not get it...) 4. Finally, I wouldn't have markers accessible from the top-level. Again, this depends on whether people agree or not, but I find it handy when doing charts. Very. Actually, I've just noticed that I forgot the "pattern copies" components of LPE. Aww geez. Maybe for Clipboard, there could be sub-modes that take up the place the Markers buttons would. Icons: - single instance of a small shape - single instance of a shape stretched - multiple instance of the shape along the path - multiple stretched instances of the shape along the path Not as necessary for those pre-defined calligraphy shapes though. Anyway, Bezier would get the same features as freehand, minus Mode and Smoothing.

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Re: [Inkscape-devel] Toolbox management proposal (presets and tool toggle)
by bulia byak 30 May '08

30 May '08

On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 3:11 AM, Valerie <valerie_vk@...36...> wrote: >> the user to add and remove tools from a "tool pool" onto a single >> toolbar? > > Because usually, people use specific sets of tools for specific tasks, > common groups of which can be determined: OK, then, let's ship with several predefined task-oriented toolbars and allow the user to modify any of them by adding or removing tools. I guess at this level it's basically the same as Jon Cruz and you propose, except that I don't want to add as many new tools as you do :) > So basically, you're proposing complex strokes as a sub-mode of pencil and > pen? Yes. For example, a drop-down with a list of LPEs with some preset parameters and a "last used LPE" entry, and separately from that a drop-down with profiles as in your mockup, implemented as pattern-on-path LPE (and therefore disabling the LPE chooser, until we can support more than one LPE per path). > That's workable. How do you propose to settle the UI issue of fill vs > stroke color? With LPE, the stroke Is the shape, after all (though I > suppose said shape/stroke doesn't need its own stroke). This is a relatively minor point - but Calligraphic pen works fine using the current fill color for its "strokes" and nobody complained so far :) -- bulia byak Inkscape. Draw Freely. http://www.inkscape.org

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Toolbox management proposal (presets and tool toggle)
by Valerie 30 May '08

30 May '08

Before I start... what can I submit as "blueprint", and what should I be submitting as "wishlist" instead? Can I use the wiki? If so, what pages am I supposed to save them as? Anyway, most of these will be submitted separately, but they're all only made feasible with a proper toolbox management. So the toolbox is getting cramped, right? At the same time, it's not really fun when many tools are grouped and you have to find each sub-component (case of the tweak tools, I can never remember the shortcuts either). So here's a possible solution, and some possibilities that'd derive from it. 1. Toolbox proposal http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/416/toolbarmanagement1ov3.png http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/3712/toolbarmanagement2xb0.png Some features: - There should be a visible icon, as people won't be able to find the feature otherwise. - The icon allows you to access toolbox presets. - Managing a preset is easy, just go to "configure toolbox" and toggle on and off the visibility of any tool, just like with Gimp. - Multiple toolbars may be possible: see mock-up 1. The additional floating toolboxes would have a close button, though not the "main" one to avoid confusion (insert "Aaah! My toolbox has disappeared!" messages). - Some tools could have "grouped" and "separate" options (mock-up 2). Examples: . square, ellipse, spiral and polygon can be options of a single "shapes" button for those who don't use them often. . the individual modes of the tweak tool could be accessible separately: see mock-up. . when 3D shapes are added, they'd also have both grouped and separate options. - Since management is easy now, have some LPEs as tools too? Please? PLEASE??? 2. LPE as tools With a proper toolbox management system like the one above, LPEs can be incorporated as tools when needed. It saves one the trouble of applying one from a panel every time (it Really breaks the flow when you have a lot of lines to do, not to mention the LPE panel takes up a lot of space). This would simplify interface for many LPEs tremendously. You just select the tool, modify any necessary parameters, and draw the paths you need. As soon as you've drawn the path the effect is automatically applied. For example, Spiro lines: you draw your normal bezier, and as soon as you release the mouse it becomes a Spiro line (by the way, any chance for "native" Spiro lines as opposed to a Bezier with an LPE on it?). I actually think LPEs should eventually be separated into categories: - Spiro lines (native spiro lines? Yes please!) - Complex lines (sketch, waves, wide) - Shape generators (gears, stiches, etc.) - Guides (grids, technical, composition guides, perspective guides) - Transform (envelop deform, perspective deform) - etc. 3. LPE tool: Wide lines It's crazy, but it's nearly impossible to find a program that would let you do a nice double-edged line without either: - a tablet (+ very steady hands, which I don't have) - half a dozen operations - or forcing you to switch between panels. It's Really discouraging when you want to do several hundred hair strands. D: The wide lines LPE would be a very simple tool: a few basic shapes are saved. You draw your path. The shape automatically gets stretched onto it: http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/9302/widestrokeslpemx3.png There you go, easy-to-edit (direction wise, in any case, I'm assuming that a person doing dozens of hair strands does not care about the exact form of each) double-edged stroke drawn in a single operation with a mouse (or with bezier, whichever). Note: Developers will probably not want to set this as a tool until a proper toolbox management system is in place, which is why I proposed one myself (though I'd be more than happy if a better solution comes along). For this particular LPE tool, you'd have the following entries: - size: size of the maximum. It basically takes the saved shape and adjusts the size first, so you can modify the width of the strokes with just the directional keys. - presets: preset shapes: single edge, double edge with max at 1/2, double-edge with max at 1/4, etc. Users can add their own commonly-used shapes, but the above are among the most ridiculously common ones. - and you can adjust the size with just the directional keys! (though there could be %width options to further tweak the thin lines) If anybody knows how to automatically generate shapes likes these, that's fine too (though let's be honest, including a few files of shapes like these would take up tiny disk space anyway. They're 4 nodes each!). 4. Tool for charts: shapes with text Another feature that probably would be considered too much waste of real-estate without a proper toolbox management. I often use Inkscape to do charts. Having to call up the Align dialog each time (which really takes up a Lot of space by the way) just to place a few text into shapes, and having to realign every time the text is modified, is needlessly tedious to say the least. The auto-text shapes I'm proposing would come as Ellipse, Text, or Polygon. They're simple: place a shape, click on the center and you can start typing away. The text is always automatically aligned to center (or some other option of your choosing). They may have the following features or options: - padding of text to borders: sets a minimum distance between the text and the border. - auto-adjust size: if the text starts to fill the shape, the shape resizes automatically to fit. - the default is for the text to be centered, but there could be other alignments. - linked duplicates: a linked duplicate only conserves the shape, not the text content, so by making a duplicate, when the text in one of the boxes forces one of the items to become bigger, all the other shapes of the same type resize as well. This is for those charts that need all elements to be of approximately the same size. - adding points for connectors: this is simpler for rectangle shapes than for other shapes... you can basically specify how many connector points you want per side (example: 3). Though, ideally, there'd be an on-canvas means to mark points for each side, but I don't have UI ideas for that one... Also handy for comics. It's at least three steps fewer (changing the tool, selecting all then aligning the whole, not to mention it has to be repeated if the text is changed much) for a rather common task, which can translate into a good enough time gain and a much more pleasant work flow. Any comments before I submit? (if only to say which ones should Not be submitted as blueprints, because I'm a bit confused right now)

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Multi-thread help
by Mario Pavlovic 30 May '08

30 May '08

We are software development company which use inkscape in our graphics. I have strong experience in multi-threading environment and server side development. Prkos (you probably know her from the list and launchpad) told me that you need someone to help, I heard that you plan to refactor your code and consider to apply new multicore and parallel processing. I can offer you my expertise advice in multi-thread and parallel programming, let me know the best way to do this. Best regards, Mario

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Resource paths on win32
by Bob Jamison 29 May '08

29 May '08

Hi, wormsxulla alerted me to a problem with the Tutorial menu items not being able to load a tutorial file. The error is something like "can't load file \share\tutorials\blah.svg". Which makes me think that Inkscape has forgotten its path some time since startup. It must have known -during- startup, else you wouldn't get your icons or translations. Has anyone done anything recently to change the path-prefixes, or CurrentDirectory of Inkscape? This was working before. bob

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