November 2010 - Inkscape Users

xml - path attribute (d)
by unknown＠example.com 26 Nov '10

26 Nov '10

Hello everyone, I'm trying to use Inkscape to digitalize a diagram of experimental data. This is how I went about it: 1) Get the page in the .pdf document that holds the diagram. 2) Print out this page to another .pdf document. 3) Import the .pdf of the diagram page into Inkscape (with the "fine" import precision). 4) Ungroup everything. 5) Cleanup the text so that it doesn't bother the page size - coordinatization. 6) Resize the page size to the diagram axis span. 7) Set the document units to 'mm'. 8) Draw a path along the line in the diagram. 9) Export the path node coordinates into a .txt, xml, or whatever file. Coordinate system is defined by the document metrics and the page (lower left corner is 0, as the border rules state). This is the .svg document in question: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RZPI1084 Currently, I am stuck on the step 9 of the process. I have found the xml editor within Inkscape, but I haven't been able to find the option to export path data. The "d" attribute now holds values that are far to great to be in milimeters, although the document units are set in milimeters. There are letters like "M" (I believe it stands for "MOVE", I've played around with it) within the "d" attribute of the path. Is there a way to export just the paths I have drawn (I can give them sepparate id-s and names to distinguish them later on)? What is the best place to look for the description of the "d" attribute of a path? How do I sync the document units to the values of the d attribute? I have seen that there is a "transform" option in the xml property window of my path... what is that? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Tomislav

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Create 3D Boxes tool > Make a perfect cube
by Shane McGovern 23 Nov '10

23 Nov '10

Hi Basic question, I may have asked before but, when drawing a 3D box using the Create 3D Boxes tool how do I create a cube i.e. a box which will be constrained so no matter the perspective it will remain proportional?

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Constrain a cube
by Shane McGovern 19 Nov '10

19 Nov '10

I'm sure this is a basic question but how do I constrain a cube when I use the 'Create 3D boxes' tool. Wanting to draw a couple of perspective correct dice I am struggling with making sure the sides are square (outside of the perspective skewing them). Help!

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tool for paging pdf files
by xm 17 Nov '10

17 Nov '10

Hi list, Im wondering if anybody knows a tool or extension for inkscape that can make a pdf document with several pages. (also wellcome hacky-shell tools) I have tried to export till now and AFAIK it makes a single pdf page with the whole content in the formatted-page-layout. Any ideas? salut xà! -- dAAX! >> http://noconventions.mobi/x! tAZ >> http://noconventions.mobi/nvisible.taz/ HTDj! >> http://hackthedj.wordpress.com/ GDT >> http://noconventions.mobi/graficantsDtrisseny/ :::..::.......:.. : .. .. .:: . ..:.. .. . .. . .:.. ....... rm -rf / i ens ho carreguem tot....

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PDF export error
by Matthew Beckler 16 Nov '10

16 Nov '10

Hello, Not sure how to describe this PDF export error, so I thought I'd check the list first. When I make a simple four node path in the attached SVG, the PDF export closes the path (test.pdf). Not sure if I'm doing something wrong here, so any input would be helpful. I get identical output whether I manually "Save As" PDF or convert it from the command line. Thanks in advance. I'm using a freshly installed copy of Ubuntu 10.10, with Inkscape 0.48.0 r9654. I can file a bug report if it's warranted. Thanks, Matthew

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EPS Error
by Adin Ramirez Rivera 16 Nov '10

16 Nov '10

Hi, I got an error when I try to open a eps file that I create using Inkscape, I'm on windows XP. Actually I know the file is OK, because I converted to PDF and it looks nice. However, I cannot open it using GSview. Is it related to some problem on how GSview read the files? GSview 4.9 2007-11-18 GPL Ghostscript 8.70 (2009-07-31) Copyright (C) 2009 Artifex Software, Inc. All rights reserved. This software comes with NO WARRANTY: see the file PUBLIC for details. Unrecoverable error: rangecheck in setpagedevice Operand stack: false --nostringval-- --nostringval-- --nostringval-- --nostringval-- --nostringval-- --nostringval-- 0.0624961 0 --nostringval-- Failed to open device or install ViewerPreProcess hook: returns -15

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Export to PDF with filter effects, rasterizing
by Jeff Kowalczyk 14 Nov '10

14 Nov '10

I am trying to export (save copy as) to PDF, and the filter effects on a particular piece of SVG from openclipart render poorly. http://www.openclipart.org/detail/35389 The rings circling the globe and the four flare-effect points with circular gradients are greatly enlarged on PDF export, washing out most of the globe effect behind a white gradient. Is this an inherent limitation of the current state of PDF export? The graphic is proportionally scaled larger than its original size, e.g. 3" diameter on printed output. It looks exactly right as SVG, but are the gradients getting scaled incorrectly on PDF output? I did try the option to rasterize filter effects, but that did not change the rendered output much. It may well have rasterized, but the gradients were still the same over-size. I am using Inkscape bzr trunk on Gentoo Linux ~amd64. Thanks.

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Heavy operations with Inkscape
by ricardo lafuente 07 Nov '10

07 Nov '10

Hi list, I'm part of the team that's building up Libre Graphics Magazine (http://libregraphicsmag.com). We're using Inkscape to create the cover, as well as some illustrations inside. There's an issue that has been bothering me for a while. For some purposes, we need to operate on a huge number of paths -- e.g., combining >2000 paths or applying path operations (union, intersect, etc) to a very large number of paths. Inkscape, of course, takes quite some time to execute these, and there's no way that I've found to see the progress of the operation. Now, I can understand that it would be a big feature request to have progress feedback on heavy operations like these. However, something that I would *love* to have is some kind of feedback when the operation is completed, so that i can work on other programs while Inkscape does its thing. Right now, I'm keeping a terminal window with 'top' running, so I can keep tabs on Inkscape's CPU usage -- when it drops, the operation's probably done. However, I can imagine there would be an easier and more straightforward way to know when Inkscape's done with crunching paths. Do any of you fellow Inkscape users have any tips or hacks that can help with this issue? Also, should i pester inkscape-devel or file a feature request to have notifications (bell sound or notify popup) when a long operation is finished? Cheers!

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Inkscape Console on Windows
by Adin Ramirez Rivera 05 Nov '10

05 Nov '10

Hi all, I'm using Inkscape 0.48.0 under Windows XP. I'm trying to convert some images and I used this command inkscape -f "%CD%\image.bpm" -E "%CD%\image.eps" The problem is that now every time it prompts for an option: embed or link. My question is: Is there any way to pass this option in the command line? Or set a default state instead of clicking for the option I want. Thanks, adin

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Save as, output resolution
by Jeremiah Reilly 04 Nov '10

04 Nov '10

Inkscape is great! I have just spent two weeks as a newbie user of Inkscape finishing a design project. I could not be happier with the program: everything I tried to do worked great. Thanks to all the developers and to everyone who has written manuals and tutorials. I want to export files at the best possible resolution for sharing or viewing, -- what save-as format should I select? -- what options should I select or designate in the second stage dialog window? Here is what I've tried so far. For quick views and email, I export a png file (small and adequate). For high resolution views, I've tried pdf, ps, and eps. In particular I don't know what setting to specify for "Resolution for rasterization (dpi)." Do I want Postscript level 2 or level 3? I have the same question regarding high resolution printing. In the print dialogue window, I have the option of selection print resolution. Does this vary with the attached printer? I am offered the option of 120 x120, 360 x 360, or 720 x 720 dpi. Here are my intended purposes: I print images at home on an inkjet printer (available resolution 600 x 600). I print on a laser printer (available resolutions 1200 x 1200). I send print jobs to a printer for posters (unknown resolution but big final output). I share proofs of my work via pdf. I incorporate images into LaTeX documents. I am making an animated film digitally in Inkscape. I save each frame as a pdf, open in Apple Preview, save as a jpg, and then open in movie editing software and edit frame by frame. I have spent a lot of time looking through the manuals, tutorials, and archives. I have not found the discussion I am looking for in regard to print and output quality and resolution. I assume that I should set my image dimensions to desired final dimensions. But how do screen pixels ppi relate to print resolution dpi? My monitor (iMac 27 inch display) is approximately 109 ppi. I'd love to hear the theory behind all these decisions, but if an Inkscape expert just wants to tell me what to do, that'd be great. TIA, Jeremiah

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