On 4/3/07, Bill Baxter <wbaxter@...155...> wrote:
Love the python scripting too. Can't wait to start tinkering with it. I have done a bit of research on manipulating drawings and have plans for more things. (http://www.cavie-x.net/doodle/) It might be nice to implement future things as Inkscape Python scripts or perhaps more full-fledged plugins.
I like the idea of spray-painting with randomized steps from a path interpolation. I added this to the corresponding RFE:
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=908792&grou...
Stroke patterns seem to be limited to axis-aligned textures? Is there any way to transform the pattern applied to the stroke, at least in global coordinates?
Looks like a bug. Fill patterns show handles but stroke handles do not. Can you please submit it to the bug tracker?
It would also be nice to be able to apply a texture in a curvilinear coordinate system relative to the stroke itself, with x being the direction tangent to the stroke, and y perpendicular to it. Being able to do curve-relative mappings opens the door to lots of possibilities. Like Hsu's "Skeletal Strokes" (which I see someone has already noted on the wiki: http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/Expression)
Try the Pattern along Path effect
Why are spirals and stars top level tools? Seems very odd to have two such niche items on the main toolbar. Are they actually used that often? Why not gears or block arrows or speech bubbles or ... etc.
Gears and bubbles are not simple geometric figures. Stars and spirals are.
I'm curious about the choice of usage for Tab and Space keys. Space as select tool toggle is reasonable, since that is pretty frequently used. Still, seems to me like Photoshop's hold-toggle for canvas panning is a better option (i.e. needed more frequently), but easy access to the selection tool is also nice.
Panning the canvas is much easier by middle mouse button - no need to touch keyboard at all.
Actully, this has already been proposed many times by former Adobe users who are used to space-for-panning. My official stand on it always was: if someone implements this as an option (off by default), we will accept the patch. You need it, you code it :)
But Tab as "select next" seems like a waste of prime keyboard real estate. I don't see how this is useful once you have more than a dozen or so elements in your drawing. Some kind of hide/reveal function might be good for this.
I use Tab all the time. _Most_ real world drawings use a limited number of objects. And in complex drawings, you normally use grouping and layers, and Tab/Shift+Tab always select object within the current layer or group (if you entered the group, i.e. made it a temporary layer).
Is there a way to hide everything but the current selection? Or to use outline rendering for everything but the current selection?
Not at this time.
I was playing around with editing the about.svg splash screen and with all the blurring going on rendering was very slow when zoomed in. Outline mode fixed the speed, but then it's hard to tell what the current thing I'm editing really looks like.
Watch the selected style indicator in the statusbar. It's quite informative showing you at a glance the fill, stroke, and opacity of the selected object (though currently not blur). Textual description in the statusbar is also very useful.