Eric Wilhelm delineò:
- "import" for an image currently has a different behavior than
"import" for an svg. The behavior is more correctly called "place" or "insert linked image" and I believe that this is the source of most user's confusion -- the term "import" implies that the content is embedded in the current document.
- The "insert linked image" behavior that we currently have is
definitely desirable. It just needs to be renamed for what it is. There is no reason to mix the two in the user's model of how inkscape works -- no need for a checkbox on the "import" or any other dialog.
- The embedding of images is what I would expect "import" to do.
Inkscape definitely needs this functionality and it should be accessed via the File->Import menu.
+1
Several other conceptual holes exist in the user's model and should probably be addressed. Images should be able to be switched from embedded to linked, editing either needs to be transparent to the user (unless they have already edited the linked image externally) and some way of refreshing the display based on a change to the file on disk is also needed.
If exporting an image object gives the image itself (which is a Good Thing by itself), then switching from imported to linked can be implemented by exporting the image and then linking to it.
To make the distinction clear I think it would suffice to distinguish in the status bar between "Image" and "Linked Image"...