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Inkscape: Guide to a Vector Drawing Program (Digital Short Cut), 2nd Edition
- By Tavmjong Bah
- Published Jul 16, 2008 by Pearson.
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Now Available! Inkscape: Guide to a Vector Drawing Program (Digital Short Cut), 3rd Edition covers versions 0.46 and 0.47.
Description
- Copyright 2009
- Edition: 2nd
- eBook
- ISBN-10: 0-13-700472-9
- ISBN-13: 978-0-13-700472-0
Inkscape, An Open-Source Vector Drawing Program is THE GUIDE to the Inkscape program. The shorter, web-based, version is linked to directly under the program's Help menu. With Inkscape one can produce a wide variety of art, from photo-realistic 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 directly viewed by web browsers such as Firefox and Opera. A subset of SVG has been adopted by the mobile phone market. Inkscape is available free for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and Solaris operating systems.
This Short Cut is both an introduction and reference for the Inkscape drawing program. The first third is devoted to eleven tutorials that progress in difficulty from very basic to very complex. The remainder covers each facet of Inkscape in detail. Updated for Inkscape v0.46, this Short Cut includes complete coverage of new features including: SVG filters, "Live Path Effects", the 3D box tool, and the Tweak Tool. Advance topics covered include the use of Inkscape's powerful tiling tool, built-in bitmap tracing, and SVG use on the web. Additionally, it includes plenty of tips (and warnings) about the use of Inkscape and SVG.
Sample Content
Excerpts
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................................. x
About the Author .............................................................................................................................. xi
Overview of What Is in This Short Cut ................................................................................................ xii
Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1
How to Use This Book ............................................................................................................... 1
Vector Graphics .......................................................................................................................... 2
SVG ........................................................................................................................................ 4
The Inkscape Program ................................................................................................................. 4
Help ....................................................................................................................................... 4
1. Quick Start ................................................................................................................................... 6
The Anatomy of the Inkscape Window ........................................................................................... 6
Dockable Dialogs ............................................................................................................... 9
The Swedish Flag - A Short Example .......................................................................................... 10
The European Flag - A More Elaborate Example ............................................................................ 20
A Hiking Club Logo - An Exercise in Paths .................................................................................. 24
The Northern Pacific Railway Logo - A Tracing Example ................................................................ 35
A Box for Cards - An Isometric Projection ................................................................................... 42
A Can of Soup - A Three-Dimension Drawing with Gradients .......................................................... 48
A Vine Design - A Tiling Example .............................................................................................. 60
A Neon Sign - Animation .......................................................................................................... 69
A Bank Note - Security Features ................................................................................................. 84
A Bottle - Photorealism ............................................................................................................ 95
2. Files ......................................................................................................................................... 104
Opening and Saving Files ......................................................................................................... 104
Importing Files ...................................................................................................................... 105
Open Clip Art Library ..................................................................................................... 107
Exporting Files ....................................................................................................................... 107
Exporting PNG (Portable Network Graphic) Files ................................................................. 107
Exporting Other File Types .............................................................................................. 109
Printing Files ......................................................................................................................... 116
Vacuuming Files ..................................................................................................................... 116
3. Changing the View ...................................................................................................................... 117
Panning the Canvas ................................................................................................................ 117
Zooming the Canvas ............................................................................................................... 117
Miscellaneous View Commands ................................................................................................. 118
Hide/Show ..................................................................................................................... 118
Hide/Show Dialogs .......................................................................................................... 118
Outline ......................................................................................................................... 118
Full Screen Mode .......................................................................................................... 119
Switch Windows ............................................................................................................. 119
Duplicate Window .......................................................................................................... 119
Icon Preview ................................................................................................................. 119
4. Editing Basics ............................................................................................................................. 121
Undo and Redo ....................................................................................................................... 121
Selecting Objects .................................................................................................................... 121
Selecting with the Mouse ................................................................................................ 122
Selecting with the Keyboard ............................................................................................ 123
Selecting with the Find Dialog ......................................................................................... 123
Copying, Pasting, and Deleting Objects ....................................................................................... 124
Clones .................................................................................................................................. 125
Ordering Objects (Z-order) ....................................................................................................... 126
Groups ................................................................................................................................. 126
Layers .................................................................................................................................. 127
Layers Dialog ................................................................................................................. 127
Layers Menu .................................................................................................................. 128
Status Bar ...................................................................................................................... 129
5. Positioning and Transforming ........................................................................................................ 130
Inkscape Coordinates ............................................................................................................... 130
Transformations ...................................................................................................................... 131
Transforms with the Mouse ............................................................................................... 132
Transforms with the Keyboard ........................................................................................... 133
Transforms with the Tool Controls Bar ............................................................................... 134
Transforms with the Transform Dialog ................................................................................ 135
Transforms with Paste Size Commands ............................................................................... 137
Transforms with the XML Editor ....................................................................................... 138
Snapping ............................................................................................................................... 138
Targets .......................................................................................................................... 138
Snap Parameters .............................................................................................................. 141
Alignment and Distribution of Objects ........................................................................................ 142
Align ........................................................................................................................... 143
Distribute: Uniform ........................................................................................................ 144
Distribute: Non-Uniform ................................................................................................. 144
Distribute: Remove Overlaps ............................................................................................ 145
Rows and Columns ........................................................................................................ 145
6. Geometric Shapes ........................................................................................................................ 147
Rectangles and Squares ............................................................................................................ 147
3D Boxes .............................................................................................................................. 149
Perspectives ................................................................................................................... 150
Attributes ....................................................................................................................... 151
Ellipses, Circles, and Arcs ........................................................................................................ 152
Regular Polygons and Stars ..................................................................................................... 153
Spirals .................................................................................................................................. 155
7. Paths ........................................................................................................................................ 158
Bezier Curves ........................................................................................................................ 158
Creating Paths ....................................................................................................................... 159
The Freehand Tool ......................................................................................................... 159
The Bezier Tool ............................................................................................................. 160
The Calligraphy Tool ...................................................................................................... 162
Paths from Other Objects ................................................................................................ 167
Editing Paths ......................................................................................................................... 168
Using the Node Tool ....................................................................................................... 168
Path Offset Commands ................................................................................................... 176
Miscellaneous Path Commands .......................................................................................... 176
Path Operations ..................................................................................................................... 177
Live Path Effects (LPE) .......................................................................................................... 179
Bend Path ..................................................................................................................... 180
Pattern Along Path ......................................................................................................... 180
Gears ........................................................................................................................... 182
Stitch Sub-Paths ............................................................................................................. 183
8. Text ......................................................................................................................................... 187
Creating Text .......................................................................................................................... 187
Entering Regular Text ...................................................................................................... 188
Entering Flowed Text ....................................................................................................... 188
Selecting Text ......................................................................................................................... 188
Editing Text ........................................................................................................................... 189
Formatting Text ...................................................................................................................... 189
Formatting with the Tool Controls ...................................................................................... 190
Formatting with the Keyboard ........................................................................................... 191
Formatting with the Text and Font Dialog ........................................................................... 191
Kerning, Shifting, and Rotating Characters .................................................................................. 192
Kerning and Shifting ....................................................................................................... 193
Rotating ......................................................................................................................... 193
Text on a Path ........................................................................................................................ 193
Text in a Shape ...................................................................................................................... 195
9. Attributes ................................................................................................................................ 197
Fill and Stroke Paint ................................................................................................................ 197
Flat (Solid) Colors ........................................................................................................... 198
Gradients ...................................................................................................................... 207
Patterns ........................................................................................................................ 214
Fill Rule ....................................................................................................................... 218
Stroke Style .......................................................................................................................... 219
Stroke Width .................................................................................................................. 219
Join Style ..................................................................................................................... 219
Cap Style ..................................................................................................................... 220
Dashes ......................................................................................................................... 221
Markers ......................................................................................................................... 221
Complex Strokes ............................................................................................................ 222
10. Tweak Tool .............................................................................................................................. 224
Tweaking Paths ..................................................................................................................... 224
Tweaking Colors .................................................................................................................... 226
11. Paint Bucket Tool ..................................................................................................................... 227
Simple Use ............................................................................................................................ 227
Filling Fidelity ........................................................................................................................ 228
Filling Multiple Regions ........................................................................................................... 229
Closing Gaps .......................................................................................................................... 229
Adding to a Fill ...................................................................................................................... 230
12. Clipping and Masking ............................................................................................................... 231
Clipping ............................................................................................................................... 231
Masking ............................................................................................................................... 231
13. Filter Effects ............................................................................................................................. 233
Basic Use .............................................................................................................................. 233
Filter Effects Dialog ................................................................................................................ 234
Adding a Filter ............................................................................................................... 234
Defining a Filter ............................................................................................................. 234
Applying a Filter ............................................................................................................. 234
Mini Tutorial - A Drop Shadow ............................................................................................... 235
Color Filter Primitives ............................................................................................................. 238
Color Matrix ................................................................................................................. 238
Component Transfer ....................................................................................................... 239
Compositing Filter Primitives .................................................................................................... 240
Blend ........................................................................................................................... 240
Composite .................................................................................................................... 243
Merge .......................................................................................................................... 244
Fill Filter Primitives ................................................................................................................ 244
Flood ........................................................................................................................... 244
Image ........................................................................................................................... 244
Tile .............................................................................................................................. 245
Turbulence .................................................................................................................... 245
Lighting Filters Primitives ........................................................................................................ 247
Distant Light Source ........................................................................................................ 249
Point Light Source .......................................................................................................... 249
Spot Light Source ........................................................................................................... 250
Pixel Manipulation Filter Primitives ........................................................................................... 250
Convolve Matrix ............................................................................................................ 250
Displacement Map ......................................................................................................... 254
Gaussian Blur ................................................................................................................ 255
Morphology .................................................................................................................. 258
Offset ........................................................................................................................... 258
Complex Examples .................................................................................................................. 259
Emboss .......................................................................................................................... 259
Neon ............................................................................................................................. 259
Stereoscopic Pictures ....................................................................................................... 260
Solar Flare ..................................................................................................................... 261
14. XML Editor .............................................................................................................................. 263
Basic Usage ........................................................................................................................... 263
Editing XML Nodes ................................................................................................................ 264
Examples .............................................................................................................................. 265
Adding Color to a Marker Arrow ...................................................................................... 265
Underlined Text ............................................................................................................. 265
15. Tiling .................................................................................................................................... 267
Symmetry Tab ....................................................................................................................... 268
Shift Tab .............................................................................................................................. 271
Scale Tab .............................................................................................................................. 274
Rotation Tab ......................................................................................................................... 277
Blur and Opacity Tab .............................................................................................................. 278
Blur ............................................................................................................................. 279
Opacity ........................................................................................................................ 280
Color Tab ............................................................................................................................. 280
Trace .................................................................................................................................. 282
Tricks ................................................................................................................................. 287
16. Tracing Bitmaps ........................................................................................................................ 290
Single Scans ........................................................................................................................... 292
Brightness Cutoff ............................................................................................................ 292
Edge Detection ............................................................................................................... 293
Color Quantization .......................................................................................................... 293
Multiple Scans ........................................................................................................................ 294
Brightness Steps .............................................................................................................. 294
Colors ........................................................................................................................... 295
Grays ............................................................................................................................ 295
Options .......................................................................................................................... 296
Common Options .................................................................................................................... 297
SIOX .................................................................................................................................. 298
17. Connectors ............................................................................................................................... 299
Creating Connectors ............................................................................................................... 299
Modifying Connectors ............................................................................................................ 300
Routing Connectors ................................................................................................................ 300
18. Effects .................................................................................................................................... 301
Color .................................................................................................................................. 302
Desaturate ..................................................................................................................... 302
Brighter ........................................................................................................................ 302
Custom ........................................................................................................................ 303
Darker .......................................................................................................................... 303
Grayscale ...................................................................................................................... 304
Less Hue ...................................................................................................................... 304
Less Light .................................................................................................................... 305
Less Saturation .............................................................................................................. 305
More Hue ..................................................................................................................... 306
More Light ................................................................................................................... 306
More Saturation ............................................................................................................. 307
Negative ....................................................................................................................... 307
Randomize .................................................................................................................... 308
Remove Blue ................................................................................................................ 308
Remove Red ................................................................................................................. 309
Remove Green ............................................................................................................... 309
Replace ........................................................................................................................ 310
Export .................................................................................................................................. 310
Export Group ................................................................................................................ 310
Fretboard Designer ................................................................................................................. 311
Generate from Path ................................................................................................................. 311
Blur Edge ..................................................................................................................... 311
Dimensions ................................................................................................................... 311
Extrude ........................................................................................................................ 312
Inside/Outside Halo ........................................................................................................ 313
Interpolate .................................................................................................................... 314
Pattern Along Path ......................................................................................................... 315
Template ............................................................................................................................... 321
Perfect-Bound Cover ....................................................................................................... 321
Images ................................................................................................................................. 322
Extract One Image .......................................................................................................... 322
Embed All Images ........................................................................................................... 322
Modify Path ........................................................................................................................... 322
Add Nodes ................................................................................................................... 322
Color Markers to Match Stroke ........................................................................................ 323
Edge 3D ....................................................................................................................... 323
Envelope ........................................................................................................................ 324
Flatten Bezier ................................................................................................................ 324
Fractalize ...................................................................................................................... 325
Jitter Nodes ................................................................................................................... 326
Fractal (Koch) ............................................................................................................... 327
Perspective .................................................................................................................... 328
Radius Randomizer ........................................................................................................ 329
Rubber Stretch ............................................................................................................... 329
Straighten Segments ....................................................................................................... 329
Whirl ........................................................................................................................... 331
Raster ................................................................................................................................. 332
Render ................................................................................................................................. 334
Barcode ........................................................................................................................ 334
Function Plotter ............................................................................................................. 335
Gear ............................................................................................................................ 336
Grid ............................................................................................................................. 337
LaTeX Formula ............................................................................................................. 337
L-System (Fractal-Lindenmayer) ....................................................................................... 338
Random Tree ................................................................................................................ 339
Spirograph .................................................................................................................... 339
Text .................................................................................................................................... 342
Lorem Ipsum ................................................................................................................. 342
Replace Text ................................................................................................................. 342
Change Case ................................................................................................................. 343
Visualize Path ......................................................................................................................... 343
Measure Path ................................................................................................................ 343
Draw Handles ............................................................................................................... 344
Number Nodes .............................................................................................................. 344
19. SVG and the Web ...................................................................................................................... 345
Simple SVG Display ............................................................................................................... 345
Using Object Tags .......................................................................................................... 345
Using Name Spaces ......................................................................................................... 346
Adding Links ........................................................................................................................ 348
Using Style Sheets ................................................................................................................. 349
Simple Animation .................................................................................................................. 351
20. Customization ........................................................................................................................... 353
Inkscape Preferences Dialog .................................................................................................... 353
Inkscape Configuration Files ..................................................................................................... 353
Preferences ..................................................................................................................... 354
Custom Templates ........................................................................................................... 355
Custom Swatches or Palettes ............................................................................................. 355
Custom Markers .............................................................................................................. 355
Custom Keyboard Shortcuts .............................................................................................. 356
21. Using the Command Line ............................................................................................................ 358
General Options ...................................................................................................................... 358
Export Options ...................................................................................................................... 359
Format Options ............................................................................................................... 359
Export Region Options ..................................................................................................... 360
Export Property Options ................................................................................................... 361
Query Options ........................................................................................................................ 361
22. Challenges ............................................................................................................................... 363
Red Spiral ............................................................................................................................ 363
Knot ................................................................................................................................... 363
Squares ............................................................................................................................... 364
Pine Cone ............................................................................................................................. 364
Spiral Gyral .......................................................................................................................... 365
A. Inkview .................................................................................................................................... 366
B. File Format ............................................................................................................................... 367
Default Template File .............................................................................................................. 367
SVG Groups with Objects ........................................................................................................ 368
Groups of Objects ................................................................................................................... 368
Paths .................................................................................................................................... 369
Defs ..................................................................................................................................... 370
C. Spheres .................................................................................................................................... 371
Sphere with Gradient Shading and Shadow .................................................................................. 371
Sphere with Hatched Shading and Shadow .................................................................................. 371
Sphere with Dot Shading and Shadow ........................................................................................ 372
Sphere with Text Shading and Shadow ....................................................................................... 372
D. Solutions for Challenges .............................................................................................................. 373
Red Spiral .............................................................................................................................. 373
Knot .................................................................................................................................... 375
Squares ................................................................................................................................. 377
Pine Cone .............................................................................................................................. 378
Spiral Gyral ........................................................................................................................... 380
E. List of Dialogs ........................................................................................................................... 381
F. Tips for Illustrator Converts .......................................................................................................... 383
Key Mappings ........................................................................................................................ 383
Terminology ........................................................................................................................... 383
Glossary ....................................................................................................................................... 385
Index ........................................................................................................................................... 389
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