Hi,
Paul Krill from InfoWorld.com is preparing an on-line presentation of SVG tools. He has indicated that he wants to include Inkscape in his presentation and has contacted us through the Software Freedom Conservancy. I volunteered to answer his questions. I could use some help (and some feedback). I hope to be able to send him a reply in the next day. His questions are indicated by *'s with my tentative replies following. There are a couple of places I could really use some help as indicated.
Thanks,
Tav
* What is the purpose of Inkscape? What are its main functions?
Creating vectorized drawings, from serious artwork to technical illustrations. A good summary of Inkscape functions can be found at:
http://staging.inkscape.org/en/about/features/
(We will be going live with a new website in the near future.)
Inkscape provides an easy to use interface for creating complex drawings. While Inkscape supports most of the SVG 1.1 standard, knowledge of the standard is not directly required.
* What does Inkscape do that other SVG tools do not?
[HELP WANTED (I don't have Illustrator or CoralDraw to compare it to). Tracing? Tiling? File format support? Command-line conversion between file formats?]
Inkscape has a well developed plug-in system that allows users to extend Inkscape's functionality in many unique ways. One area that has been particularly popular is directly driving plotters and engravers including the "Egg-Bot". See:
http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/tinykitlist/171-egg-bot
* Who developed it?
A team of volunteer developers. The original developers were mostly artists who were looking for a tool that allowed them to create the art they envisioned.
* Is Inkscape an open source or commercial product? If it is commercial, can you provide a price range per-seat?
Open source. It can be downloaded from:
* How important is SVG, from your perspective?
Originally SVG was chosen as the native file format for Inkscape as it is an open standard. In a more general historical perspective, SVG did not gain the popularity on the Web it deserved due the lack of support in Internet Explorer and due to Adobe losing interest after purchasing Macromedia (i.e. Flash).
The inclusion of SVG as part of HTML5 and the addition of SVG rendering support in IE9 has resulted in a dramatic increase in interest in SVG. Adobe is once again on board and sees SVG (and HTML5) as the future. SVG is starting to appear on major websites such as this graphic from the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/02/20/movies/among-the-oscar-contend...
* Can you provide some screen shots or URLs with visuals of Inkscape?
Certainly. [HELP WANTED, I assume that he'll want something he can use on his website.]
See: http://inkscape.org/screenshots/index.php?lang=en
* I understand from a user of Inkscape that it has not been upgraded in a while. Are there any plans to upgrade it soon?
We will have a major upgrade in the very near future. Inkscape's rendering engine underwent a complete rewrite resulting in a significant speed up in rendering complex drawings while reducing memory use. There were a number of regressions that have had to be dealt with. We are down to a small number of blocking bugs (one?).
Tentative release notes for the upgrade can be found at:
http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/Release_notes/0.49
* Who is your employer and what is your title there?
I am self-employed as a writer and software developer. I represent Inkscape in the W3C SVG working group.
Hey Tav,
Great answers, one bit of added info:
On Fri, 2013-11-22 at 21:58 +0100, Tavmjong Bah wrote:
- Is Inkscape an open source or commercial product? If it is
commercial, can you provide a price range per-seat?
This kind of conflation is persistently aggravating.
* Inkscape is open source: Because it's developed in the open in a peer community and has a OSI approved license. * Inkscape is Free Software: Because it gives users freedom and has an FSF approved license. * Inkscape is Commercial: Because it _can_ be sold, by anyone, for any price in any market.
All Free Software is commercial software, just not /exclusively/ commercial and most typically download software without any commercial arrangement or payment. But the possibility is always there because the license doesn't prohibit a commercial relationship with users.
See there are people who wish to spin Free Software to mean 'charity' and likewise make proprietary software the only 'commercial' software development method. I'd like to encourage everyone to correct conflations like the one in this question so we can encourage the development of commercial Free Software further.
Best Regards, Martin Owens
On 23-11-2013 2:18, Martin Owens wrote:
Hey Tav,
Great answers, one bit of added info:
On Fri, 2013-11-22 at 21:58 +0100, Tavmjong Bah wrote:
- Is Inkscape an open source or commercial product? If it is
commercial, can you provide a price range per-seat?
This kind of conflation is persistently aggravating.
- Inkscape is open source: Because it's developed in the open in a peer
community and has a OSI approved license.
- Inkscape is Free Software: Because it gives users freedom and has an
FSF approved license.
- Inkscape is Commercial: Because it _can_ be sold, by anyone, for any
price in any market.
All Free Software is commercial software, just not /exclusively/ commercial and most typically download software without any commercial arrangement or payment. But the possibility is always there because the license doesn't prohibit a commercial relationship with users.
See there are people who wish to spin Free Software to mean 'charity' and likewise make proprietary software the only 'commercial' software development method. I'd like to encourage everyone to correct conflations like the one in this question so we can encourage the development of commercial Free Software further.
Let's tone down the response to InfoWorld (Inkscape is not commercial btw). It's indeed nice to add a reference to OSI and FSF. I think it is also important to explicitly state our license GPL v2, and that this also permits commercial use of the program. So I propose the following:
* Is Inkscape an open source or commercial product? If it is commercial, can you provide a price range per-seat?
Inkscape is Free/Libre Open Source Software, and is licensed under an OSI and FSF approved license (GPL v2). Inkscape can thus be used for free, and the license also permits free commercial use of the program. Inkscape can be downloaded from: http://inkscape.org/download/
regards, Johan
Johan,
On Sat, 2013-11-23 at 17:41 +0100, Johan Engelen wrote:
So I propose the following:
Inkscape is Free/Libre Open Source Software, and is licensed under an OSI and FSF approved license (GPL v2). Inkscape can thus be used for free, and the license also permits free commercial use of the program. Inkscape can be downloaded from: http://inkscape.org/download/
Brilliant. Better words, better modulated. I yield the subject. :-)
Martin,
Nice work so far, here are some initial thoughts only. I will try to help give more fleshed out thoughts tomorrow...
On Fri, Nov 22, 2013 at 12:58 PM, Tavmjong Bah <tavmjong@...8...> wrote:
What is the purpose of Inkscape? What are its main functions?
Creating vectorized drawings, from serious artwork to technical
illustrations. A good summary of Inkscape functions can be found at:
It doesn't sound "friendly" to non-professionals. Maybe "anything from doodling or making a flyer, to serious artwork and technical illustrations" instead? I just don't want to discourage anyone or possibly discount the work of our young users such as the 4th graders out in CA who have been using Inkscape in their curriculum for a few years.
Who developed it?
A team of volunteer developers. The original developers were mostly
artists who were looking for a tool that allowed them to create the art they envisioned.
More of my "let's be inclusive" stuff (plus wanting to generalize a little less)... I don't know that I'd narrow it as "mostly artists". Illustrators, comic artists, graphic designers, software developers, etc that all had a number of different goals. I only break down the "artists" thing further because some people really primarily identify themself as something specific. Less specific phrasing can in many cases entice someone who may not otherwise be grabbed by word "artists".
Can you provide some screen shots or URLs with visuals of Inkscape?
Certainly. [HELP WANTED, I assume that he'll want something he can use
on his website.]
We have permission to use these images on our website, it was never explicitly agreed that we could use them for promotion elsewhere though. I can seek permission with a few people to get some nice stuff if you'd like (the arrangement though has always been a link to the original artist... so if it goes on his site, that would be a consideration).
- I understand from a user of Inkscape that it has not been upgraded in
a while. Are there any plans to upgrade it soon?
We will have a major upgrade in the very near future. Inkscape's rendering engine underwent a complete rewrite resulting in a significant speed up in rendering complex drawings while reducing memory use. There were a number of regressions that have had to be dealt with. We are down to a small number of blocking bugs (one?).
Currently 2 blocker bugs and 83 open "regression" tagged bugs milestoned for 0.49. Since these are things that previously worked, the fewer that are open at the time of release the better off we'll be.
Cheers, Josh
P.S. Martin covered one of the other things I was going to comment on. :)
On Fri, 2013-11-22 at 17:39 -0800, Josh Andler wrote:
Can you provide some screen shots or URLs with visuals of Inkscape?
Certainly. [HELP WANTED, I assume that he'll want something he can use
on his website.]
We have permission to use these images on our website, it was never explicitly agreed that we could use them for promotion elsewhere though. I can seek permission with a few people to get some nice stuff if you'd like (the arrangement though has always been a link to the original artist... so if it goes on his site, that would be a consideration).
They are specifically asking for a screen shot of the interface.
"We need a screen shot of the Inkscape interface, or something of that nature, so we can use it as the graphic to accompany the text in the slide."
The screen shot at inkscape.org/screenshots by Mariana Sing looks nice, although it might be a bit too complex. I also like the screen shot by DiSmeCha but the interface is in French. What do people think? Can someone create something suitable?
Tav
El lun, 25-11-2013 a las 22:06 +0100, Tavmjong Bah escribió:
They are specifically asking for a screen shot of the interface.
"We need a screen shot of the Inkscape interface, or something of that nature, so we can use it as the graphic to accompany the text in the slide."
The screen shot at inkscape.org/screenshots by Mariana Sing looks nice, although it might be a bit too complex. I also like the screen shot by DiSmeCha but the interface is in French. What do people think? Can someone create something suitable?
Tav
Hi Tav: Here I uploaded a couple of examples made by Andrea Sagardoy (SuperDD)
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/255376/Inkscape-curvas.png https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/255376/Inkscape-ilustracion.png
They're both CC-BY licensed.
hth,
Gez.
El lun, 25-11-2013 a las 22:06 +0100, Tavmjong Bah escribió:
They are specifically asking for a screen shot of the interface.
By the way, I can take those screenshots again (these or other Andrea's works) using inkscape in english and the default iconset if it's necessary.
You can find more of SuperDD's work here:
www.flickr.com/superdd
(most of her works are created in inkscape then she adds some texture and color work in GIMP).
Gez.
On Mon, 2013-11-25 at 23:30 -0300, Gez wrote:
El lun, 25-11-2013 a las 22:06 +0100, Tavmjong Bah escribió:
They are specifically asking for a screen shot of the interface.
By the way, I can take those screenshots again (these or other Andrea's works) using inkscape in english and the default iconset if it's necessary.
Yes, the interface should be in English. The icon set I am less concerned about.
Is there a place that shows the works are CC-BY licensed?
I would like to send a few examples for them to choose from.
Thanks!
Tav
On Fri, 2013-11-22 at 17:39 -0800, Josh Andler wrote:
- I understand from a user of Inkscape that it has not been upgraded in
a while. Are there any plans to upgrade it soon?
We will have a major upgrade in the very near future. Inkscape's rendering engine underwent a complete rewrite resulting in a significant speed up in rendering complex drawings while reducing memory use. There were a number of regressions that have had to be dealt with. We are down to a small number of blocking bugs (one?).
Currently 2 blocker bugs and 83 open "regression" tagged bugs milestoned for 0.49. Since these are things that previously worked, the fewer that are open at the time of release the better off we'll be.
Actually, I think I "fixed" one of them. However, I've found another bug that I think should be a blocker. The drawing of a circle with small r is off a bit from being a true circle. The conversion of the circle -> path with arcs -> SBasis -> Bezier gives a non-optimal value for the Beziers. I am still investigating.
Tav
On Fri, 2013-11-22 at 21:58 +0100, Tavmjong Bah wrote:
Hi,
Paul Krill from InfoWorld.com is preparing an on-line presentation of SVG tools. He has indicated that he wants to include Inkscape in his presentation and has contacted us through the Software Freedom Conservancy. I volunteered to answer his questions. I could use some help (and some feedback). I hope to be able to send him a reply in the next day. His questions are indicated by *'s with my tentative replies following. There are a couple of places I could really use some help as indicated.
Thanks for all the great feedback! Here is an updated version.
* What is the purpose of Inkscape? What are its main functions?
Creating vectorized drawings, anything from doodling or making a flier to serious artwork or technical illustrations.
A good summary of Inkscape functions can be found at:
http://staging.inkscape.org/en/about/features/
(We will be going live with a new website in the near future.)
Inkscape provides an easy to use interface for creating complex drawings. While Inkscape supports most of the SVG 1.1 standard, knowledge of the standard is not directly required.
* What does Inkscape do that other SVG tools do not?
Inkscape uses SVG as its native file format making it easy to publish documents on-line.
Inkscape has the widest support for creating documents targeting the SVG 1.1 standard.
Inkscape allows direct editing of the drawing source code through the XML editor.
Inkscape allows you to add scripts to the SVG code, both inside and outside of the program. The scripts are preserved during opening and saving files when editing the drawing.
Inkscape can edit SVG files created by other editors or by hand with minimum disturbance of the existing SVG file structure.
Inkscape can directly create complex filter effects. (It also includes a couple hundred canned effects.)
Inkscape has a well developed plug-in system that allows users to extend Inkscape's functionality in many unique ways. One area that has been particularly popular is directly driving plotters and engravers including the "Egg-Bot". See:
http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/tinykitlist/171-egg-bot
* Who developed it?
A team of volunteer developers. The developers have ranged from illustrators, graphic designers, and comic artists to scientists and programmers; each looking for a tool that they could expand to meet their needs.
* Is Inkscape an open source or commercial product? If it is commercial, can you provide a price range per-seat?
Inkscape is Free/Libre Open Source Software, and is licensed under an OSI and FSF approved license (GPL v2). Inkscape is available for free and the license permits free commercial use of the program. Inkscape can be downloaded from:
* How important is SVG, from your perspective?
Originally SVG was chosen as the native file format for Inkscape as it is an open standard. In a more general historical perspective, SVG did not gain the popularity on the Web it deserved due the lack of support in Internet Explorer and due to Adobe losing interest after purchasing Macromedia (i.e. Flash).
The inclusion of SVG as part of HTML5 and the addition of SVG rendering support in IE9 has resulted in a dramatic increase in interest in SVG. Adobe is once again on board and sees SVG (and HTML5) as the future. SVG is starting to appear on major websites such as this graphic from the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/02/20/movies/among-the-oscar-contend...
and the home page of PBS Kids:
* Can you provide some screen shots or URLs with visuals of Inkscape?
There are screen shots at:
inkscape.org/screenshots/index.php
The screen shots are generally not licensed for commercial use. If you can be more specific about what you want, we can probably provide it.
* I understand from a user of Inkscape that it has not been upgraded in a while. Are there any plans to upgrade it soon?
We will have a major upgrade in the very near future. Inkscape's rendering engine underwent a complete rewrite resulting in a significant speed up in rendering complex drawings while reducing memory use. There were a number of regressions that have had to be dealt with. We are down to two blocking bugs and an assortment of other less serious bugs.
* Who is your employer and what is your title there?
I am self-employed as a writer and software developer. I represent Inkscape on the W3C SVG working group.
2013/11/24 Tavmjong Bah <tavmjong@...8...>:
What does Inkscape do that other SVG tools do not?
Inkscape uses SVG as its native file format making it easy to publish
documents on-line.
That's contained in the definition of "SVG tool" so I'm not sure it's relevant to the question.
Inkscape has the widest support for creating documents targeting the SVG 1.1 standard.
Inkscape allows direct editing of the drawing source code through the XML editor.
Inkscape allows you to add scripts to the SVG code, both inside and outside of the program. The scripts are preserved during opening and saving files when editing the drawing.
Is this accurate? This can be done via the "object properties" dialog, but it's not very sophisticated, and the "Scripts" dialog was recently removed (but AFAIK it was about scripting within Inkscape rather that Javascript in the document).
Inkscape can edit SVG files created by other editors or by hand with minimum disturbance of the existing SVG file structure.
Inkscape can directly create complex filter effects. (It also includes a couple hundred canned effects.)
Inkscape has a well developed plug-in system that allows users to extend Inkscape's functionality in many unique ways. One area that has been particularly popular is directly driving plotters and engravers including the "Egg-Bot". See:
http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/tinykitlist/171-egg-bot
Let's use the words "extension system" (the extensions are not plugins in the sense of dynamically loaded binary modules) and I'd say it's not actually that well-developed. It's just a way to feed the document to an external command + some GUI on top of it. I think a better word would be "simple to use".
I think it's worth mentioning that there is a focus on on-canvas editing. For instance, Corel Draw X3 didn't have the ability to edit gradients by dragging their control points, you had to key in percentages in a dialog. The set of operations available in the node tool is also larger than in some commercial editors. For instance, I'm not sure whether any of them has transformations on node selections.
Regards, Krzysztof
Thanks for your comments. I've incorporated them into the final draft and sent the answers to Paul Krill.
On Mon, 2013-11-25 at 03:28 +0100, Krzysztof Kosiński wrote:
2013/11/24 Tavmjong Bah <tavmjong@...8...>:
What does Inkscape do that other SVG tools do not?
Inkscape uses SVG as its native file format making it easy to publish
documents on-line.
That's contained in the definition of "SVG tool" so I'm not sure it's relevant to the question.
Inkscape has the widest support for creating documents targeting the SVG 1.1 standard.
Inkscape allows direct editing of the drawing source code through the XML editor.
Inkscape allows you to add scripts to the SVG code, both inside and outside of the program. The scripts are preserved during opening and saving files when editing the drawing.
Is this accurate? This can be done via the "object properties" dialog, but it's not very sophisticated, and the "Scripts" dialog was recently removed (but AFAIK it was about scripting within Inkscape rather that Javascript in the document).
Inkscape can edit SVG files created by other editors or by hand with minimum disturbance of the existing SVG file structure.
Inkscape can directly create complex filter effects. (It also includes a couple hundred canned effects.)
Inkscape has a well developed plug-in system that allows users to extend Inkscape's functionality in many unique ways. One area that has been particularly popular is directly driving plotters and engravers including the "Egg-Bot". See:
http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/tinykitlist/171-egg-bot
Let's use the words "extension system" (the extensions are not plugins in the sense of dynamically loaded binary modules) and I'd say it's not actually that well-developed. It's just a way to feed the document to an external command + some GUI on top of it. I think a better word would be "simple to use".
I think it's worth mentioning that there is a focus on on-canvas editing. For instance, Corel Draw X3 didn't have the ability to edit gradients by dragging their control points, you had to key in percentages in a dialog. The set of operations available in the node tool is also larger than in some commercial editors. For instance, I'm not sure whether any of them has transformations on node selections.
Regards, Krzysztof
participants (6)
-
Gez -
Johan Engelen -
Josh Andler -
Krzysztof Kosiński -
Martin Owens -
Tavmjong Bah