Claus Cyrny wrote: > 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 > > Hi there Claus, I'm newby at Inkscape too, i had been using CorelDRAW till now. I just came to love Inkscape. (I also think it's very easy to use and i like the roadmap of the development where it's heading..) As i noticed, a lot of people compare Gimp with Inkscape. I don't understand this. Gimp is a pixel graphic software, while Inkscape's a vector graphic one. Each of them has different special functions for their specialized tasks. You mentioned "isolate bitmap object against the background". Did you mean cutting it out so to have it separate from its background? If so then i agree that inskape is better for this task in some cases. Especially when you mix it with other vector graphic shapes too. Because if you wanna have an area cut out of an image, then you can do it in both Gimp and Inskcape too- while in gimp the image will still have a final resolution. While in inkscape you can create a curve path along the desired area of the image, and then "clip" it, so you'll have only the cut part with vector edge. So you can zoom it whatever level, will still stay nice :) About the anti-alias edge in gimp: if you got bad results and not nice edges while creating masks and working with them, then i'd suggest you to use the "feather" feature from the selection menu. With this you can set the radius of the pixel feathering that will give the amount of smoothness. Cheers, Andras ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by DB2 Express Download DB2 Express C - the FREE version of DB2 express and take control of your XML. No limits. Just data. Click to get it now. http://sourceforge.net/powerbar/db2/ _______________________________________________ Inkscape-user mailing list Inkscape-user(a)lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/inkscape-user

Basically you're right, of course, but you can import a bitmap into Inkscape and then "paint over" it. Finally, you can export this edited bitmap ("Select all") as a PNG again.

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).