I have converted all of the tutorials to being layered documents. I am doing it so that there are 3 layers.
Layer 1: the headers & any other background/stationary items (locked) Layer 2: text Layer 3: "images"
It makes sense to me, so if there are any other ideas for other things to take into consideration throw them my way.
Also, in opening up each of the tutorials I noticed differences in the way that they're set up as well as formatting inconsistencies (small time stuff, but I'm anal like that). So, I'm going to go through to make things more consistent throughout all the tutorials.
What is the mindset on making keystrokes & menu items given throughout the tutorials bold? I think it helps to make the directly relevant stuff stand out, and wouldn't mind updating them all for it. However, if you guys are against it I will not.
Last but not least I am also going to update all of the docs to use that flowText as well. I will upload the layered versions in the morning probably, and the flowing versions by this weekend.
-Josh
Joshua wrote:
Subject: [Inkscape-devel] Tutorials
What is the mindset on making keystrokes & menu items given throughout the tutorials bold? I think it helps to make the directly relevant stuff stand out, and wouldn't mind updating them all for it.
I use this technique often in my own writing. I think it is effective and would support it.
vellum
I have converted all of the tutorials to being layered documents. I am doing it so that there are 3 layers.
Layer 1: the headers & any other background/stationary items (locked) Layer 2: text Layer 3: "images"
Cool
Also, in opening up each of the tutorials I noticed differences in the way that they're set up as well as formatting inconsistencies (small time stuff, but I'm anal like that). So, I'm going to go through to make things more consistent throughout all the tutorials.
Excellent, thanks
What is the mindset on making keystrokes & menu items given throughout the tutorials bold? I think it helps to make the directly relevant stuff stand out, and wouldn't mind updating them all for it. However, if you guys are against it I will not.
In the long term, absolutely. The reason I did not do it so far was that there's no UI for that, and I don't want to use features which are not yet accessible to the user. But I plan to implement text selections for 0.41, and then of course this will have to be done.
Last but not least I am also going to update all of the docs to use that flowText as well. I will upload the layered versions in the morning probably, and the flowing versions by this weekend.
Which other docs you mean except tutorials?
Last but not least I am also going to update all of the docs to use
that
flowText as well. I will upload the layered versions in the morning probably, and the flowing versions by this weekend.
Which other docs you mean except tutorials?
DOH! I really only meant the tutorials. My wife was waiting for me and I had to wrap the email up quick (aka just typing, not thinking). =)
However if there are any other docs in the project that you can think of that are in SVG that you'd like converted to flowText I could do those as well since I'll already be in that "conversion" state of mind.
-Josh
What is the mindset on making keystrokes & menu items given throughout the tutorials bold? I think it helps to make the directly relevant stuff stand out, and wouldn't mind updating them all for it. However, if you guys are against it I will not.
In the long term, absolutely. The reason I did not do it so far was that there's no UI for that, and I don't want to use features which are not yet accessible to the user. But I plan to implement text selections for 0.41, and then of course this will have to be done.
And of course you don't need to remove the bold from the tracing tutorial because of that. Let it be :)
What is the mindset on making keystrokes & menu items given
throughout
the tutorials bold? I think it helps to make the directly relevant
stuff
stand out, and wouldn't mind updating them all for it. However, if
you
guys are against it I will not.
In the long term, absolutely. The reason I did not do it so far was that there's no UI for that, and I don't want to use features which are not yet accessible to the user. But I plan to implement text selections for 0.41, and then of course this will have to be done.
And of course you don't need to remove the bold from the tracing tutorial because of that. Let it be :)
The bold that is currently in that tutorial was a cheat. =) But I plan to do it the right way in that one and all the other tutorials over the next couple days. As usual, I have a couple Qs (big surprise)...
What is the current thought on timeframe for the .40 release? I haven't heard much in a few days so I was just wondering how much time I have to work with.
Also, I am wanting to add some info into one of the tutorials about the now very usable and handy Calligraphy tool (thanks again Bulia!). I'm actually wondering if perhaps we should have a separate tutorial for Calligraphy, which not only talks about how to use the tool, but gives some good general information about the art & techniques as well. It won't matter to people with some art background, but for people that don't even really know what calligraphy is it would be extremely helpful. If you guys are against the idea of a separate tutorial, which existing one should it be included in?
The only way the calligraphy in the tutorial thing will be a waste of time is if we are planning to replace that tool with a more robust "brush" tool in the very near future. If it isn't planned to do that within the next 6 months, it would be worth my time (in my opinion).
Also... is there anything that can be done about the files from the Help menu showing up in the "Open Recent" list (in the File menu)? I'm just wondering because if I "open" a file it makes sense for it to be there, but when viewing inkscape's internal documentation it doesn't.
Oh and I figure I'll just upload the docs when I've finished making all of the changes (this weekend) instead of upping any interim versions.
-Josh
What is the current thought on timeframe for the .40 release? I haven't heard much in a few days so I was just wondering how much time I have to work with.
One dialog remains to be added (new layer) and new crash bugs keep being reported. Once we clear these we can enter the freeze.
Also, I am wanting to add some info into one of the tutorials about the now very usable and handy Calligraphy tool (thanks again Bulia!). I'm actually wondering if perhaps we should have a separate tutorial for Calligraphy, which not only talks about how to use the tool, but gives some good general information about the art & techniques as well. It won't matter to people with some art background, but for people that don't even really know what calligraphy is it would be extremely helpful. If you guys are against the idea of a separate tutorial, which existing one should it be included in?
Good idea. I see nothing wrong if the tutorial not only shows how to use the tool but demonstrates basic calligraphic tricks, examples of hands, etc. If you can write it, it would be fantastic. If not I will probably write it when I have more free time.
The only way the calligraphy in the tutorial thing will be a waste of time is if we are planning to replace that tool with a more robust "brush" tool in the very near future. If it isn't planned to do that within the next 6 months, it would be worth my time (in my opinion).
Not in the near future, and in any case anything that this tool can do, the new one will also do, so the tutorial effort will not be wasted hopefully.
Also... is there anything that can be done about the files from the Help menu showing up in the "Open Recent" list (in the File menu)? I'm just wondering because if I "open" a file it makes sense for it to be there, but when viewing inkscape's internal documentation it doesn't.
Good idea, I just fixed tutorials and key reference to not show in recent files.
Oh and I figure I'll just upload the docs when I've finished making all of the changes (this weekend) instead of upping any interim versions.
Yes.
Status update on Tutorials...
Existing tutorials are converted to layers, and are roughly 90% done with bolding key commands and ensuring consistency of formatting as well as directions given between tutorials. Consistency issues would be like paragraph formatting, or elements such Menu/Item to Menu>Item, or Ctrl-L to Ctrl+L for example.
The calligraphy tutorial is coming along and should be ready to submit by tomorrow (with the rest of the tutorials).
I only have one Tutorial done with flowText, and I think I may opt to not convert the others until there is UI to deal with it as I want to ensure that the markup will be clean and correct (and not be rigged in behind the scenes to "just work"). Plus, manually editing the files for something we lack UI on may not be so good as any further modification requires manual editing as well (not that it's difficult, it's just more time consuming).
So tomorrow is Tutorial Tuesday... because it sounds good like that. =) And the flowText will wait for the UI unless you guys really think it would be beneficial for this release.
-Josh
On Mon, Nov 15, 2004 at 10:56:02AM -0700, Joshua A. Andler wrote:
So tomorrow is Tutorial Tuesday... because it sounds good like that.
=)
I can't wait! :) I'm a big user of the tutorials; I've been pretty excited about the cleanups.
Well... I think I've learned my lesson about guessing when I'm going to have something done. =) So... today is Tutorial Thursday!! Heh, it's a good thing there's a second T day in the week (although Tuesday had a better ring to it).
I'm having issues with cvsNT so I can't up these to CVS in the moment, instead they can be grabbed from:
They are all there except for the Calligraphy one I'm still working on. Following is the text from it so if anyone wants to contribute or give some feedback before I commit it all to SVG that would be great.
--- One of the many great tools available in Inkscape is the Calligraphy tool. These short notes should help you become acquainted with how our tool funtions as well as some basics & techniques of the art form.
General information about the Art of Calligraphy
Going by the dictionary definition Calligraphy means "beautiful writing" or "fair or elegant penmanship". Essentially, Calligraphy is the art of making beautiful or elegant handwriting. It is a fine art of skilled penmanship. It may sound intimidating, but with a little practice, anyone can become quite proficient at it.
Some 500 years ago, long before the printing press was around, calligraphy was the way books were made. A scribe had to hand write every individual copy of every book or publication. The hand writing was done with a quill and ink onto materials such as parchment or vellum. The lettering style applied was one of the period book hands like Rustic, Carolingian, Blackletter, etc. Obviously, we are working in the digital realm with Inkscape, so it is a little different. One great benefit is that it we have "undo" at our disposal.
Today, there are three main types or styles of calligraphy: (1) Western or Roman, (2) Arabic, and (3) Chinese or Oriental. This tutorial focuses mainly on Western calligraphy with only a glimpse at the other two styles, as the other two styles tend to use a brush instead of a pen, which is not currently how our tool functions.
The Calligraphy tool:
Switch to the Calligraphy tool by pressing Ctrl+F6 or by click on its toolbar button. On the top toolbar, you will notice there are options for Width, Thinning, Angle, Fixation, Mass & Drag.
PIC OF TOOLBAR
Width: The width of the calligraphic pen (relative to canvas size).
Thinning: how much velocity thins the stroke (>0 makes fast strokes thinner, <0 makes strokes broader, 0 makes stroke independent of velocity)
Angle: The angle of the pen's nib (in degrees; 0 = Horizontal, has no effect if fixation = 0) Note: Angle can be changed mid-stroke by using the up and down arrows.
Fixation: How fixed is the Pen's angle (0 = always perpendicular to stroke direction; 1 = fixed)
Mass: How much inertia affects the movement of the pen.
Drag: How much resistance affects the movement of the pen.
All of the above options greatly affect how the tool behaves. Unlike the shape tools, selecting strokes that you have created and modifying the variable controls will not affect have any affect (on those strokes).
Following are a handful of examples of those options in action using the word Inkscape.
INKSCAPE default options
INKSCAPE modified Width
INKSCAPE modified Thinning
INKSCAPE modified Angle
INKSCAPE modified Fixation
INKSCAPE modified Mass
INKSCAPE modified Drag ---
I'm sure I can go much more in-depth, and I plan to. I do however vote that Bulia does the actual calligraphy for the examples as I have been unable to come close to what he prepared for screenshots.
-Josh
participants (4)
-
bulia byak -
Joshua A. Andler -
Kees Cook -
vellum