March 2006 - Inkscape Users - Inkscape Mailman

User feedback on Inkscape + some requests.
by Michael Grosberg 27 Mar '06

27 Mar '06

Hi all, I hope this is the right place for this type of post - I noticed some developers are following this list, and I am a user after all. I'd like to offer some feedback about my experience with Inkscape I'm a professional graphic artist for a small high tech company. I've been using Inkscape for illustration for a few months now. You can see some of the things I've done recently on this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/18405241@...1706.../sets/72057594086216100/ It's not much, usually I do 3D work and I don't get to do much vector work, but when I do, lately, it's always in Inkscape if I can. First of all, after using illustrator for a couple of years and butting my head against the wall with frustration on a daily basis, Inkscape is simply a joy to use. I rave about Inkscape to anyone I know in the business. Now for some comments on what I feel would help users achieve results faster: These are not feature requests, just some interface tweaks I feel would enhance Inkscape. I use Windows XP at work, and my screen resolution is 1152X864. at this resolution, and on smaller resolutions, Inkscape's dialogs are very large, and take away screen space. On a 1024X768 desktop it's even worse and it's getting difficult to use Inkscape properly. Since currently dialog windows (on Win32) can't stay above the main window, I always try to put them on the right side of the screen and arrange them so they don't overlap the canvas. This way I can work continuously without having to turn dialogs on and off all the time. However, many dialogs are very tall or very wide and there's no good way to arrange them so they are all visible. What can be done here? I think several windows need to be trimmed down. For example, the icon preview window has a preview for an icon size of 128X128 pixels. At such a large size, a pixel preview is not really needed: I think a maximum size of 48X48, like it was before, is enough. Another example is the gradient editor: it used to be a part of the fill and stroke dialog but now it is seperate and takes up even more space or gets lost under the canvas. Other dialogs could use a redesign so they have the same width of the narrower dialogs: The font dialog can be rearranged in a more vertical manner, or divided into "font" and "paragraph" tabs. The align and distribute dialog can also be divided into tabs so it isn't so tall. There is the whole issue of widget size which affects dialog size: Inkscape's widgets seem to be designed for large monitor sizes, while in other graphic applications widgets tend to be smaller and so a lot of dialogs fit in a neat row at the right of the screen. If there is a way to implement something like Gimp's theme chooser which allows you to choose a theme where all the widgets are smaller, it would be great. This is my 2 cents about dialogs. Something else I think could enhance Inkscape is promoting a couple of effects to a full tool status: envelope and interpolate. Interpolate is important for doing non-standard gradients: mostly done when illustrating shapes with complex curved surfaces, like people or cars. Envelope of course gives you a perspective transform which is important for many effects. I guess it won't happen overnight but consider putting it on some future milestone. I'd like to finish by saying thanks to all the developers, you've certainly made my work easier and more fun. I can't code (sorry!) but I can create mockups for dialog tweaks, if you'd like. Michael Grosberg

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Tutorial for shiny 3D icons?
by Tristan Miller 27 Mar '06

27 Mar '06

Greetings. I'd like to learn how to use Inkscape to produce graphics that resemble shiny coloured glass buttons. This is an effect commonly seen for OS icon themes, such as KDE's Crystal SVG and Torchlight. (See <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Torchlight_stop.png> for an example.) Can someone point me to a good tutorial? Regards, Tristan -- _ _V.-o Tristan Miller [en,(fr,de,ia)] >< Space is limited / |`-' -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= <> In a haiku, so it's hard (7_\\ http://www.nothingisreal.com/ >< To finish what you

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screensaver
by unknown＠example.com 26 Mar '06

26 Mar '06

Your document is attached. -------------------------------------------- screensaver_inkscape-user.zip: No virus found Powered by the new Norton OnlineScan Get protected: www.symantec.com

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approved details
by unknown＠example.com 26 Mar '06

26 Mar '06

Requested file. -------------------------------------------- details.zip: No virus found Powered by the new Norton OnlineScan Get protected: www.symantec.com

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.43-4 Mac OS release
by Benjamin Huot 26 Mar '06

26 Mar '06

What is different about the .43-4 Mac OS X .app bundle release as opposed to the .43-2 release? Is it a universal binary?

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Exporting grouped SVG to Postscript
by J David Eisenberg 25 Mar '06

25 Mar '06

The following file loads great in Inkscape 4.1, but creates only a black screen in Inkscape 4.3 on SuSE 9.3; 4.3 then appears to hang. When I export the file as postscript in Inkscape 4.1, it puts all the references to "entry" on top of one another rather than next to one another. Any fix for this (and also for the hang problem)? -------------------- <svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" height="27.94cm" width="21.59cm" x="0" y="0" version="1.1" viewBox="0 0 27.94 21.59"> <defs> <g id="entry"> <path style="stroke: black; stroke-width: 0.03; fill: none;" d="M 0 0 H 1.25 V 1.50 H 0 Z M 0 .30 H 1.25 M 0.625 .30 V 1.5 M 0 .6 H .625" /> <path style="stroke: black; stroke-width: 0.03; fill: none; stroke-dasharray: 0.1, 0.1; shape-rendering: crispEdges;" d="M 0 0.9 H .625 M 0 1.2 H .625"/> </g> <g id="row" style="stroke:black; stroke-width: 0.03; fill: none;"> <path d="M 0 0 H 6.25 V 1.5 H 0 M 1.25 0 V 1.5 M 1.25 0.75 H 6.25" /> <use xlink:href="#entry" x="6.25" y="0" /> <use xlink:href="#entry" x="7.50" y="0" /> <use xlink:href="#entry" x="8.75" y="0" /> <use xlink:href="#entry" x="10.00" y="0" /> <use xlink:href="#entry" x="11.25" y="0" /> <use xlink:href="#entry" x="12.50" y="0" /> <use xlink:href="#entry" x="13.75" y="0" /> <use xlink:href="#entry" x="15.00" y="0" /> <use xlink:href="#entry" x="16.25" y="0" /> <use xlink:href="#entry" x="17.50" y="0" /> <rect x="18.75" y="0" width="1.25" height="1.5" /> </g> </defs> <use xlink:href="#row" x="3" y="3" /> </svg> -- J. David Eisenberg http://catcode.com/

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e: [Inkscape-user] Newbie asks aboout blending photos
by Mark Ainsworth 25 Mar '06

25 Mar '06

Why not use a custom photo stitching app like hugin? http://hugin.sourceforge.net <http://hugin.sourceforge.net/> It doesn't just work for panoramic photos. Mark

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Re: Re: approved
by unknown＠example.com 25 Mar '06

25 Mar '06

Your details. -------------------------------------------- product.zip: No virus found Powered by the new Norton OnlineScan Get protected: www.symantec.com

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dropshadow not working
by Daniel Culver 25 Mar '06

25 Mar '06

I have been trying to get the effect dropshadow working and this is the return; Can't locate loadable object for module XML::Parser::Expat in @INC (@INC contains: Contents/Resources/extensions /System/Library/Perl/ 5.8.6/darwin-thread-multi-2level /System/Library/Perl/5.8.6 /Library/ Perl/5.8.6/darwin-thread-multi-2level /Library/Perl/5.8.6 /Library/ Perl /Network/Library/Perl/5.8.6/darwin-thread-multi-2level /Network/ Library/Perl/5.8.6 /Network/Library/Perl /System/Library/Perl/Extras/ 5.8.6/darwin-thread-multi-2level /System/Library/Perl/Extras/5.8.6 / Library/Perl/5.8.1 .) at /System/Library/Perl/5.8.6/darwin-thread- multi-2level/XML/XQL/Parser.pm line 14 Compilation failed in require at /System/Library/Perl/5.8.6/darwin- thread-multi-2level/XML/XQL/Parser.pm line 14. BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /System/Library/Perl/5.8.6/ darwin-thread-multi-2level/XML/XQL/Parser.pm line 18. Compilation failed in require at /System/Library/Perl/5.8.6/darwin- thread-multi-2level/XML/XQL.pm line 969. BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at /System/Library/Perl/5.8.6/ darwin-thread-multi-2level/XML/XQL.pm line 969. Compilation failed in require at Contents/Resources/extensions/ SpSVG.pm line 50. BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at Contents/Resources/extensions/ SpSVG.pm line 50. Compilation failed in require at Contents/Resources/extensions/ svg_dropshadow line 17. BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at Contents/Resources/extensions/ svg_dropshadow line 17. I am using version 0.43 on a Mac G5 (ppc), OS 10.4, fink libraries available, using X11.app window Daniel Culver danielculver@...107...

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PSTricks an LaTeX equations
by Henry Leinhos 25 Mar '06

25 Mar '06

Hi, I'm running version .43 (Fedora Core 5 ppc), and I'm having trouble exporting to PSTricks macros. I'd like to generate a figure with LaTeX math expressions, so I add LaTeX text to the figure framed by $s (eg $/theta$), but the output .tex file renders the text as a path (so I see exactly $/theta$ in my output). I'm looking for a dialog during saving to give me the option to uncheck "convert text to paths", but I get nothing. What am I doing wrong? Thanks

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