Hi, sorry for the late reply (been working on Inkscape, hackfest, and other priority items).
I wanted to sit down and have a look at all your replies, because you've taken the time to reply, and I appreciate that. :)
This is the best "thank you" I've ever had. I'm tickled pink!
Glad you like it! Thanks again for your work!
- In your help file, it would be helpful to indicate where the
extension shows up. In this case, Extensions > Examples > Blobs texture
Agree. By "help file" you mean the stuff that you see on the web page for /blobs/, below the picture? Or blobs.txt?
I'd include it in both so it's easy to find no matter how you get the extension. If it saves time, I'd always do it in as many places as it makes sense. :)
- I'd actually add it to the "Render" submenu instead, since that's
what it's doing- rendering blobs. :)
Well . . . The problem is that /render/ already has a meaning in computer graphics (transform from vector to raster). It bugs me to see it misused.
Well, I've heard at least 10 different uses of that word in computer science and in the "graphics industry" in which I work, and everyone seems to insist their definition is "the industry/graphics term for X". When I looked, I saw that no one agrees on it, and thus it's used for all sorts of different things.
This is the definition I go by, which is also the definition in the dictionary:
Render (v) - cause to be or become; make. In Inkscape's context, the idea is to produce vector artwork, so Render in this case seems appropriate from a purely contextual... uh... context. :)
What isn't debated is the term "Raster", which does actually mean bitmap no matter who you ask. So that's a good name for things that produce raster output, and indeed, that's the submenu in Inkscape where you find those bitmap-centric items. I think you'll find that all the neat vector extensions are in the Render submenu, which is why I suggest putting it there- it does actually fit in with the rest, and it's likely that if we were to include your extensions in Inkscape (the ones that ship with Inkscape), which is my hope, they would probably wind up there anyway. :)
Looking at the existing categories, none seems right. I could create a new one . . . either very broad (Draw), or medium (Create or Create Objects or New Objects), or narrow (Texture)
I like to discourage making a new category, because some of us use quite a lot of extensions, and it starts to push the extension list off the page after a while. However, if you intend on making a lot of extensions based around the idea of blobs, or lots of objects, then I'd go with "Generate". In fact, Generate might work better than "Render" since it's a loaded word for a lot of designers across different programs.
- Increase "How many blobs?" Max to 2k instead of 256, and change
wording to "Number of blobs"
OK, can do.
Thanks!
- Combine all the blobs into one path instead of individual objects
(this will significantly speed up moving the results around, and prevent having to pick blobs individually out of stuff. :)
This one seems funny to me. You can merge them yourself (Path -> Combine or maybe Objects -> Group)
Problem is, when the blobs are generated, they are not highlighted, so unless you've made a new layer, or are already inside a group, they are just floating around everywhere over the objects already in your scene. The more objects there are (even 256) the slower it is for Inkscape to move them around. Making them highlighted, slows Inkscape down even more because it has to draw bounding boxes around each and every one of them. Maybe try generating them in a group, and see how that works? The slowness is a problem, even on decent hardware. But don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself. :)
- Keep in mind the default size of the Inkscape canvas is A4 in mm
units. I recommend these defaults: # of blobs: 256, work area 200x200, size of blob 0.3
Well . . . This assumes that everyone wants many small blobs. I didn't when I wrote it. I wanted a few big blobs.
Ah, okay, leave them as big blobs then. :)
In fact, if its primary use is for grit, I'd write another extension, not paying so much attention to individual blobs, but concentrating on how they're scattered across the page (even spacing? no collisions? varying size?)
Yes please! I'd love that. Maybe you could add a drop-down for blobs with various default options for grit, blobs, etc. A separate extension also works for me if you want to make them different controls entirely.
I'd also like to say that I really like this extension and can see myself using it to create a worn text look and grit in future projects. Thanks for the work!
You're very welcome. Could you send me an SVG version of thanks_andrew? Maybe I'll make a poster out of it!
Sure, but I can do you one better - If you want to make that grunge extension for me, I'll do two things for you in return:
I'll print that "Thanks Andrew!" poster you want (just let me know what size) and I'll bring it to the Keil hackfest with me, and ask the Inkscape developers to sign it. Also, if the grunge extension is good, I'll push to get it included in the default Inkscape extensions that will ship with version 1.0
Sound good?
Regardless, here's the svg if you just want to print it yourself: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hdj34bcxw195bqr/thanks_andrew.svg?dl=1
I've resized it to fit an A3 mini poster sized print, but can go as large as A2 if you want me to have it printed for you as a bribe. :)
Thanks again for your work!
-C.Rogers
Andrew
On Sat, Jul 28, 2018 at 2:37 PM, Andrew Kurn <kurn@...3346...> wrote:
Sorry. Here it is: https://inkscape.org/en/~kurn/%E2%98%85blobs
found via: https://inkscape.org/en/gallery/=extension/?order=-edited
Good?
Andrew
On Fri 27 Jul 2018 20:50 +0100, C R wrote:
Link?
On Fri, Jul 27, 2018 at 6:54 AM, Andrew Kurn <kurn@...3346...> wrote:
This is to announce a new extension. It generates random blobs in a rectangle for use in a texture.
There are controls for the roundness, sharpness, branchiness, number of blobs, and size.
Hope you like it.
If you can think of more controls to add, drop me a line.
Andrew
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