If I may add a few words about interface...
Inkscape now has several pretty fun options for path shapes: - Simple line
- Pattern along path - Powerstroke - Sketch brush - [anything I might have missed. There will probably be future options too]
Now, for the "shape" drop-down I rarely use the presets because they are rarely the exact width I need them at, it's easier to create the right shape and copy it. So, how about the following?
Shape: - Line - Thick stroke (<- powerstroke)
- Sketch brush - Clipboard - Custom (insert drop-down of shapes you've saved for Pattern along Path)
It's rather unfortunate that Inkscape's tool control bar is static, otherwise I'd recommend for common options (like width and repeat options
in Pattern Along Path) to appear depending on the shape you've selected.
(though in the meantime, can someone please add dashes and markers to the tool option bar? Having to hunt through two
layersof Fill & Stroke dialogue each time is a bit annoying... also, a button to match marker colors to stroke color rather than hunting through the menus, please? Some of us do a lot of graphs in Inkscape...)
More generally, I'd like to see some proper of sorting of LPEs eventually: - Path shapes can be integrated into pen and other tools - Effects like Gears seem like they belong in Extension -> Render - I'd also Really like easier and on-canvas access to some transformations that would probably be used more often if access were easier (not only LPE): Envelope, Perspective, and Envelope deformation. Couldn't we include them as a drop-down options (like with pen and Shape) in the Select and Transform
tool? I can do mock-ups.