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Inkscape: Guide to a Vector Drawing Program, Rough Cuts, 4th Edition

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Description

  • Copyright 2011
  • Edition: 4th
  • Rough Cuts
  • ISBN-10: 0-13-276416-4
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-13-276416-2

This is the Rough Cut version of the printed book.

Inkscape: Guide to a Vector Drawing Program, Fourth Edition, is the guide to the Inkscape program. With coverage of versions 0.47 and 0.48, this authoritative introduction and reference features hundreds of useful illustrations.Using Inkscape, you can produce a wide variety of art, from photorealistic drawings to organizational charts. Inkscape uses SVG, a powerful vector-based drawing language and W3C web standard, as its native format. SVG drawings can be viewed directly in browsers such as Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer 9. A subset of SVG has been adopted by the mobile phone market. Inkscape is available free for Windows,Macintosh, and Linux operating systems.

Systematic coverage of the entire Inkscape program begins with twelve tutorials ranging in difficulty from very basic to highly complex. A new tutorial introduces the use of interactive SVG in HTML5.The remainder of the book covers each facet of Inkscape in detail, with an emphasis on practical solutions for common problems. The book is filled with valuable tips and warnings about the use of Inkscape and SVG. Find dozens of Inkscape illustrations from the book in the online color supplement available at http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/.

Updated for Inkscape version 0.48, this edition includes complete coverage of new features, including the new Spray Tool, updated Node and Text tools, improved bitmap image import, LaTeX export for PDF/EPS/PS, added extensions including the JessyInk extension for web-based presentations, the adaptive UI, and the new Glyphs dialog.

Complete Coverage of New and Improved Inkscape 0.48 Features

  • Live Path Effects for tasks such as adding patterns along a path while maintaining complete editability
  • More than two hundred pre-built SVG filters for adding textures, manipulating color, and so forth
  • A tiling tool to create complex tilings with thirteen different symmetries
  • Clipping and Masking objects
  • An integrated spell checker
  • Built-in bitmap-to-vector tracing
  • The ability to export to more than a dozen graphics formats, including PDF and PostScript
  • The ability to import from more than two dozen graphics formats, including PDF, Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, AutoCad, and XFig Graphics
  • Complete vector drawing program supporting the W3C SVG standard
  • Three path-drawing tools (Pencil, Pen, Calligraphy)
  • Five shape-drawing tools (Rectangles, Ellipses, Stars, Spirals, 3D Boxes)
  • Linear and Radial Gradients
  • Pattern fills
  • Tweak Tool for fine adjustment of paths and colors
  • Spray Tool
  • Eraser Tool with both Vector and Bitmap modes
  • Sophisticated snapping for precision drawing and aligning objects
  • Extendable through scripting; more than one hundred scripts included

Sample Content

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

About the Author xii

Overview of What Is in This Book xiii

Introduction xiv

 

Chapter 1: Quick Start 1

The Anatomy of the Inkscape Window 1

The Swedish Flag—A Short Example 5

The European Flag—A More Elaborate Example 16

A Hiking Club Logo—An Exercise in Paths 19

The Northern Pacific Railway Logo—A Tracing Example 31

A Box for Cards—An Isometric Projection 38

A Can of Soup—A Three-Dimensional Drawing with Gradients 43

A Vine Design—A Tiling Example 56

An SVG Button—SVG and the Web 66

A Neon Sign—Animation 73

A Bank Note—Security Features 89

A Bottle—Photorealism 101

Chapter 2: Files 110

Opening and Saving Files 110

Importing Files 111

Exporting Files 114

Printing Files 128

Vacuuming Files 129

Chapter 3: Changing the View 130

Panning the Canvas 130

Zooming the Canvas 130

Miscellaneous View Commands 131

Chapter 4: Editing Basics 134

Undo and Redo 134

Selecting Objects 134

Copying, Pasting, and Deleting Objects 137

Clones 138

Ordering Objects (Z-Order) 139

Groups 140

Layers 140

Chapter 5: Positioning and Transforming 143

Inkscape Coordinates 143

Transformations 144

Snapping 152

Alignment and Distribution of Objects 157

Chapter 6: Geometric Shapes 161

Rectangles and Squares 161

3D Boxes 163

Ellipses, Circles, and Arcs 166

Regular Polygons and Stars 167

Spirals 169

Chapter 7: Paths 172

Bezier Curves 172

Creating Paths 173

Editing Paths 185

Path Operations 194

Chapter 8: Live Path Effects (LPEs) 197

Bend 198

Construct Grid 199

Envelope Deformation 199

Gears 199

Hatches (Rough) 200

Interpolate Sub-Paths 201

Knot 202

Pattern Along Path (LPE) 203

Ruler 206

Sketch 206

Spiro Spline 208

Stitch Sub-Paths 209

VonKoch 212

Chapter 9: Text 216

Crea

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