- Inkscape Users - Inkscape Mailman

Re: On Forums
by Valerie VK 01 Jun '07

01 Jun '07

> Two things... > > First, it sounds that there are some strong feelings on both sides here > - for having more forums as well as for keeping things unified. While > passion can be good, please let's try to ensure discussions remain > civil and polite. I'm sure with friendly discussion, good compromises > can be found on this topic. > > Second, regarding forums, this topic comes up from time to time. Our > official position has been if someone wishes to set up and maintain an > independent forum, it's cool by us. However, we've been down this road > a few times and there's been some good observations made in this and > past threads: > > * It's better for the community as a whole to have just a few > forums, since it consolidates the knowledge to one place. > > * As a project, Inkscape is open to setting up an official > http://forums.inkscape.org site, but we'd need volunteers to be > committed to setting up and maintaining it on an ongoing basis. > We'd also be open to hosting it on the same machine as > inkscape.org, PROVIDED that the selected forum software is a) > available in Gentoo, and b) is reasonably free from security > issues. > > * Some people prefer mailing lists, others prefer forums. There are > some mailing-list-to-forum gateways that some people find adequate, > but others don't. There are a lot of different opinions on which > is the best forum software to use. Thus, obviously our choices are > to either have a lot of different forums, none of which are very > heavily used, or a small number of forums (perhaps just one) that > are heavily used but that some proportion of people dislike. > > * While open to having forums, most of the currently active Inkscape > contributors are okay with mailing lists. Thus, if we as a > community are to have an Inkscape forum beyond the mailing lists, > and if we want it to be an official central unified forum, the > effort is going to need to be driven by the larger Inkscape > community. In other words, what we need are some new folks to join > in on this challenge, get it all organized, and help maintain it > going forward. > > Bryce Now that's an answer! May I suggest changing the "Mailing-list" section name on the main page to "Mailing lists and forums" and adding at the top of the page something in the lines of the following? "You can currently access the contents of the mailing list in forum format through [insert the url of that forum interface. I forgot what it is]. We currently do not have plans for a separate "official" forum. If you have any questions on this, please read the following: [insert link to the above]." Provide an answer people can easily see and find, and maybe they'll stop asking. :) ____________________________________________________________________________________ Fussy? Opinionated? Impossible to please? Perfect. Join Yahoo!'s user panel and lay it on us. http://surveylink.yahoo.com/gmrs/yahoo_panel_invite.asp?a=7

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Inkscape and FontForge
by Jeffrey Brent McBeth 01 Jun '07

01 Jun '07

So, I spent last night figuring out how to make fonts using Inkscape, there have been several messages on this before, so they probably know this already. Fontforge does things in terms of sub-em units. Traditionally, TrueType fonts are 1024/2048/4096 sub-em units, and when FontForge reads SVG, it uses the pixel as one sub-em unit. Since I was creating a mono-spaced font with 4096 sub-em units, I created a canvas that was 4096 pixels high, and my fixed width wide. I placed guides at the baseline, x-height, and capital height to allow easy repeatable placement of the letters. From that point on it was easy copying from my source file, saving the individual glyph and importing it to FontForge. As far as things in Inkscape go, one thing stung me several times. I expected Center on Drawing to remove the current selected objects from consideration prior to computing the center. I can't imagine why you would want any other behavior? -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hofstadter's Law states: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Inkscape for bitmap editing
by Claus Cyrny 01 Jun '07

01 Jun '07

Hi all, I don't know if anyone has tried this, yet, but I just starting using Inkscape as a bitmap (!) editor. The main reason for this was the task to isolate a (bitmap) object against its background. I've e basically used the Gimp until now, but my main problem was aliasing (or bad anti-aliasing) at the edges of the object(s). Now I discovered that if the new background is just one color, Inkscape can be of tremendous help. Particularly the splines are amazingly easy to use, and if I am using the proper zoom factor, the results are way better than when using the Gimp. (I guess this technique is basically called "vector painting", and a few years ago there was an app from the now defunct company 'discreet' called 'paint*', which did just that, but 'paint*' was much more high-end than Inkscape, and you could even animate the splines.) In addition, due to the incredible ease of use of Inkscape, the work flow is really a breeze! ;-) I can pan using the middle mouse button, maybe zoom in or out using '+' or '-', draw, pan again, and so forth. Greetings, Claus -- Home Page - http://home.arcor.de/ccyrny/ [in English] graf-o-matic 2.0 - http://grafomatic01.twoday.net/ [in German]

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Re: Inkscape a giant killer !
by Valerie VK 01 Jun '07

01 Jun '07

> I have worked as a proffessional Graphic Artist for 30 years and > specialize in illustration. > I also run my own Sublimation printing and embroidery business as well > as teaching and writing. > I have used both Illustrator and Corel Draw since their introduction and > have taught them both and written published training manuals on all the > major desktop publishing packages. I have been a big supporter of The > Gimp and have written a book that has been published on that too.I am > very impressed with Inkscape and the approach that has been taken to > user ergonomics. > I am now using Inkscape professionally and actually prefer to use it > over all other packages for many illustration tasks. > The programmers should be very proud of what they have done because I > regard Inkscape as a superior Illustration package to Illustrator and > equal if not better than Corel Draw for many Illustration tasks. In > particular the ease of use and control over the drawing tools is > fantastic. I have timed myself over specific illustration tasks (Like > illustrating a racing car for instance). I can work considerably faster > in Inkscape. This relates directly to productivity. I think the design > team at Adobe should take a good look at Inkscape AND ACTUALLY DO > SOMETHING ABOUT THE TRAGIC ERGONOMICS of their so called industry > standard program. Far more professionals use Corel Draw for serious > illustration work than people think, they just don't tell anyone because > of that Mac - Illustrator, Photoshop, Quark express standard in the > industry rubbish. This has far more to do with the conservative nature > of Graphic designers and the inability of training organizations and > tertiary institutions t > o provide alternative training. IGNORANCE IS NOT AN EXCUSE FOR SHEER > LAZINESS. I constantly monitor and test new programs and will provide > training and support for any one of them that proves to be useful. > SCRIBUS, THE GIMP and INKSCAPE have at last provided a serious working > solution for desktop publishers. Linux is at last a viable alternative > to the Mac or Windows. (Not that these programs don't work well on the > Mac or Windows). > And all this for free !!!!!!!!! > I do a lot of consultancy work for printing organisations and will be > pushing Inkscape and it relative merits extensively. > I will also provide support and training to any of the organizations I > train for or deal with. > WELL DONE INKSCAPE!!!!!! Wow, that's quite a background. :) I had never used Illustrator before, and the first time I tried out Inkscape several years back, I couldn't figure it out (that and... it kept crashing. It was a long time ago XD ). I've only rediscovered Inkscape recently, and damn I'm also impressed now. I must admit I'm impressed to hear that it's faster to illustrate a racing car in Inkscape than in most commercial softwares. XD Just out of curiosity, what features in Corel Draw do you think are missing in Inkscape? I'm not a programmer, but it'd be interesting to hear the opinion of a professional. :) ____________________________________________________________________________________ Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles. Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center. http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/

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Inkscape for bitmap editing
by Tony Vigil 01 Jun '07

01 Jun '07

Claus, Is Discreet Paint the same thing as Satori Paint? http://www.satoripaint.com/ I've never used Discreet or Satori Paint, but my google search for "Discreet Paint" came up with some hits for "Satori Paint" as well. It seems to do what you describe, including the spline animation. Same product maybe? - Tony

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Inkscape a giant killer !
by Rod Taylor 01 Jun '07

01 Jun '07

I have worked as a proffessional Graphic Artist for 30 years and specialize in illustration. I also run my own Sublimation printing and embroidery business as well as teaching and writing. I have used both Illustrator and Corel Draw since their introduction and have taught them both and written published training manuals on all the major desktop publishing packages. I have been a big supporter of The Gimp and have written a book that has been published on that too.I am very impressed with Inkscape and the approach that has been taken to user ergonomics. I am now using Inkscape professionally and actually prefer to use it over all other packages for many illustration tasks. The programmers should be very proud of what they have done because I regard Inkscape as a superior Illustration package to Illustrator and equal if not better than Corel Draw for many Illustration tasks. In particular the ease of use and control over the drawing tools is fantastic. I have timed myself over specific illustration tasks (Like illustrating a racing car for instance). I can work considerably faster in Inkscape. This relates directly to productivity. I think the design team at Adobe should take a good look at Inkscape AND ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE TRAGIC ERGONOMICS of their so called industry standard program. Far more professionals use Corel Draw for serious illustration work than people think, they just don't tell anyone because of that Mac - Illustrator, Photoshop, Quark express standard in the industry rubbish. This has far more to do with the conservative nature of Graphic designers and the inability of training organizations and tertiary institutions to provide alternative training. IGNORANCE IS NOT AN EXCUSE FOR SHEER LAZINESS. I constantly monitor and test new programs and will provide training and support for any one of them that proves to be useful. SCRIBUS, THE GIMP and INKSCAPE have at last provided a serious working solution for desktop publishers. Linux is at last a viable alternative to the Mac or Windows. (Not that these programs don't work well on the Mac or Windows). And all this for free !!!!!!!!! I do a lot of consultancy work for printing organisations and will be pushing Inkscape and it relative merits extensively. I will also provide support and training to any of the organizations I train for or deal with. WELL DONE INKSCAPE!!!!!!

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Howto build flash tutorials.
by John R. Culleton 31 May '07

31 May '07

I am fascinated by the Inkscape Flash tutorials. I would like to know in general at least: 1. Can these be created using Linux? 2. If so, what (extra) hardware is required? 3. What software is required? 4. Where is the howto on this process (if any)? -- John Culleton Able Indexing and Typesetting Precision typesetting (tm) at reasonable cost. Satisfaction guaranteed. http://wexfordpress.com

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Image attachments
by Stathis Sideris 31 May '07

31 May '07

Hello everyone, I just wanted to know what the policy is for attaching images to emails to this list. Are we allowed to attach images under a certain size, or not at all? I have a suggestion for a GUI enhancement and I have prepared a mock-up to explain it and hopefully get some useful feedback from here. Thanks, Stathis

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inkscape young artists
by artur coelho 31 May '07

31 May '07

Showcasing a work done by one of my young pupils using inkscape. I'm a portuguese schoolteacher who has found in inkscape an invaluable tool in the classroom. The pupils are very young, and have fallen in love with the program. http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/55573407/ I apologize if this list is not the place to publicize, but i have not found another way. -- <i>nulla dies sine linea</i>

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Equivalent to Illustrator's Gradient Mesh?
by Kat Tanaka Okopnik 31 May '07

31 May '07

Hi - I've finally gotten more comfortable with Inkscape's gradient tool (although I miss the interface of Illustrator's gradient editor), but I'm wondering if there's any equivalent in Inkscape to Illustrator's gradient mesh tool? For more explanation of the mesh tool, see here: http://www.magicalbutterfly.com/tutorials/meshtutorial/meshtutpage3.htm -- Kat Tanaka Okopnik Linux Gazette Mailbag Editor kat@...2161...

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