1INKSCAPE(1) Inkscape INKSCAPE(1)
2
6 Inkscape - an SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) editing program.
7
9 "inkscape [options] [filename ...]"
10 options:
12 -?, --help
14 --usage
15 -V, --version
16 -f, --file=FILENAME
18 -e, --export-png=FILENAME
20 -a, --export-area=x0:y0:x1:y1
21 -C, --export-area-canvas
22 -D, --export-area-drawing
23 --export-area-snap
24 -i, --export-id=ID
25 -j, --export-id-only
26 -t, --export-use-hints
27 -b, --export-background=COLOR
28 -y, --export-background-opacity=VALUE
29 -d, --export-dpi=DPI
30 -w, --export-width=WIDTH
31 -h, --export-height=HEIGHT
32 -P, --export-ps=FILENAME
34 -E, --export-eps=FILENAME
35 -A, --export-pdf=FILENAME
36 -T, --export-text-to-path
38 --export-ignore-filters
39 -l, --export-plain-svg=FILENAME
41 -p, --print=PRINTER
43 -I, --query-id=ID
45 -X, --query-x
46 -Y, --query-y
47 -W, --query-width
48 -H, --query-height
49 -S, --query-all
50 -x, --extension-directory
52 --verb-list
54 --verb=VERB-ID
55 --select=OBJECT-ID
56 --shell
58 -g, --with-gui
60 -z, --without-gui
61 --vacuum-defs
63 --g-fatal-warnings
65
67 Inkscape is a GUI editor for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format
68 drawing files, with capabilities similar to Adobe Illustrator,
69 CorelDraw, Xara Xtreme, etc. Inkscape features include versatile
70 shapes, bezier paths, freehand drawing, multi-line text, text on path,
71 alpha blending, arbitrary affine transforms, gradient and pattern
72 fills, node editing, many export and import formats including PNG and
73 PDF, grouping, layers, live clones, and a lot more. The interface is
74 designed to be comfortable and efficient for skilled users, while
75 remaining conformant to GNOME standards so that users familiar with
76 other GNOME applications can learn its interface rapidly.
77 SVG is a W3C standard XML format for 2D vector drawing. It allows
79 defining objects in the drawing using points, paths, and primitive
80 shapes. Colors, fonts, stroke width, and so forth are specified as
81 `style' attributes to these objects. The intent is that since SVG is a
82 standard, and since its files are text/xml, it will be possible to use
83 SVG files in a sizeable number of programs and for a wide range of
84 uses.
85 Inkscape uses SVG as its native document format, and has the goal of
87 becoming the most fully compliant drawing program for SVG files
88 available in the Open Source community.
89
91 -?, --help
92 Show help message
93 -V, --version
95 Show Inkscape version and build date.
96 -a x0:y0:x1:y1, --export-area=x0:y0:x1:y1
98 In PNG export, set the exported area in SVG user units
99 (anonymous length units normally used in Inkscape SVG). The
100 default is to export the entire document canvas. The point
101 (0,0) is the lower-left corner.
102 -C, --export-area-canvas
104 In PNG, PDF, PS, and EPS export, exported area is the canvas
105 (page). This is the default for PNG, PDF, and PS, so you don't
106 need to specify this unless you are using --export-id to export
107 a specific object. In EPS, however, this is not the default;
108 moreover, for EPS, the specification of the format does not
109 allow its bounding box to extend beyond its content. This
110 means that when --export-area-canvas is used with EPS export,
111 the canvas bounding box will be trimmed inwards to the bounding
112 box of the content if it is smaller.
113 -D, --export-area-drawing
115 In PNG, PDF, PS, and EPS export, exported area is the drawing
116 (not canvas), i.e. the bounding box of all objects of the
117 document (or of the exported object if --export-id is used).
118 With this option, the exported image will display all the
119 visible objects of the document without margins or cropping.
120 This is the default export area for EPS. For PNG, it can be
121 used in combination with --export-use-hints.
122 --export-area-snap
124 For PNG export, snap the export area outwards to the nearest
125 integer SVG user unit (px) values. If you are using the default
126 export resolution of 90 dpi and your graphics are pixel-snapped
127 to minimize antialiasing, this switch allows you to preserve
128 this alignment even if you are exporting some object's bounding
129 box (with --export-id or --export-area-drawing) which is itself
130 not pixel-aligned.
131 -b COLOR, --export-background=COLOR
133 Background color of exported PNG. This may be any SVG
134 supported color string, for example "#ff007f" or "rgb(255, 0,
135 128)". If not set, then the page color set in Inkscape in the
136 Document Options dialog will be used (stored in the pagecolor=
137 attribute of sodipodi:namedview).
138 -d DPI, --export-dpi=DPI
140 The resolution used for PNG export. It is also used for
141 fallback rasterization of filtered objects when exporting to
142 PS, EPS, or PDF (unless you specify --export-ignore-filters to
143 suppress rasterization). The default is 90 dpi, which
144 corresponds to 1 SVG user unit (px, also called "user unit")
145 exporting to 1 bitmap pixel. This value overrides the DPI hint
146 if used with --export-use-hints.
147 -e FILENAME, --export-png=FILENAME
149 Specify the filename for PNG export. If it already exists, the
150 file will be overwritten without asking.
151 -f FILENAME, --file=FILENAME
153 Open specified document(s). Option string may be omitted, i.e.
154 you can list the filenames without -f.
155 -g, --with-gui
157 Try to use the GUI (on Unix, use the X server even if $DISPLAY
158 is not set).
159 -h HEIGHT, --export-height=HEIGHT
161 The height of generated bitmap in pixels. This value overrides
162 the --export-dpi setting (or the DPI hint if used with
163 --export-use-hints).
164 -i ID, --export-id=ID
166 For PNG, PS, EPS, and PDF export, the id attribute value of the
167 object that you want to export from the document; all other
168 objects are not exported. By default the exported area is the
169 bounding box of the object; you can override this using
170 --export-area (PNG only) or --export-area-canvas.
171 -j, --export-id-only
173 Only export to PNG the object whose id is given in --export-id.
174 All other objects are hidden and won't show in export even if
175 they overlay the exported object. Without --export-id, this
176 option is ignored. For PDF export, this is the default, so this
177 option has no effect.
178 -l, --export-plain-svg=FILENAME
180 Export document(s) to plain SVG format, without sodipodi: or
181 inkscape: namespaces and without RDF metadata.
182 -x, --extension-directory
184 Lists the current extension directory that Inkscape is
185 configured to use and then exits. This is used for external
186 extension to use the same configuration as the original
187 Inkscape installation.
188 --verb-list
190 Lists all the verbs that are available in Inkscape by ID. This
191 ID can be used in defining keymaps or menus. It can also be
192 used with the --verb command line option.
193 --verb=VERB-ID, --select=OBJECT-ID
195 These two options work together to provide some basic scripting
196 for Inkscape from the command line. They both can occur as
197 many times as needed on the command line and are executed in
198 order on every document that is specified.
199 The --verb command will execute a specific verb as if it was
201 called from a menu or button. Dialogs will appear if that is
202 part of the verb. To get a list of the verb IDs available, use
203 the --verb-list command line option.
204 The --select command will cause objects that have the ID
206 specified to be selected. This allows various verbs to act
207 upon them. To remove all the selections use
208 --verb=EditDeselect. The object IDs available are dependent on
209 the document specified to load.
210 -p PRINTER, --print=PRINTER
212 Print document(s) to the specified printer using `lpr -P
213 PRINTER'. Alternatively, use `| COMMAND' to specify a
214 different command to pipe to, or use `> FILENAME' to write the
215 PostScript output to a file instead of printing. Remember to
216 do appropriate quoting for your shell, e.g.
217 inkscape --print='| ps2pdf - mydoc.pdf' mydoc.svg
219 -t, --export-use-hints
221 Use export filename and DPI hints stored in the exported object
222 (only with --export-id). These hints are set automatically
223 when you export selection from within Inkscape. So, for
224 example, if you export a shape with id="path231" as
225 /home/me/shape.png at 300 dpi from document.svg using Inkscape
226 GUI, and save the document, then later you will be able to
227 reexport that shape to the same file with the same resolution
228 simply with
229 inkscape -i path231 -t document.svg
231 If you use --export-dpi, --export-width, or --export-height
233 with this option, then the DPI hint will be ignored and the
234 value from the command line will be used. If you use
235 --export-png with this option, then the filename hint will be
236 ignored and the filename from the command line will be used.
237 -w WIDTH, --export-width=WIDTH
239 The width of generated bitmap in pixels. This value overrides
240 the --export-dpi setting (or the DPI hint if used with
241 --export-use-hints).
242 -y VALUE, --export-background-opacity=VALUE
244 Opacity of the background of exported PNG. This may be a value
245 either between 0.0 and 1.0 (0.0 meaning full transparency, 1.0
246 full opacity) or greater than 1 up to 255 (255 meaning full
247 opacity). If not set and the -b option is not used, then the
248 page opacity set in Inkscape in the Document Options dialog
249 will be used (stored in the inkscape:pageopacity= attribute of
250 sodipodi:namedview). If not set but the -b option is used,
251 then the value of 255 (full opacity) will be used.
252 -P FILENAME, --export-ps=FILENAME
254 Export document(s) to PostScript format. Note that PostScript
255 does not support transparency, so any transparent objects in
256 the original SVG will be automatically rasterized. Used fonts
257 are subset and embedded. The default export area is canvas; you
258 can set it to drawing by --export-area-drawing. You can specify
259 --export-id to export a single object (all other are hidden);
260 in that case export area is that object's bounding box, but can
261 be set to canvas by --export-area-canvas.
262 -E FILENAME, --export-eps=FILENAME
264 Export document(s) to Encapsulated PostScript format. Note that
265 PostScript does not support transparency, so any transparent
266 objects in the original SVG will be automatically rasterized.
267 Used fonts are subset and embedded. The default export area is
268 drawing; you can set it to canvas, however see
269 --export-area-canvas for applicable limitation. You can specify
270 --export-id to export a single object (all other are hidden).
271 -A FILENAME, --export-pdf=FILENAME
273 Export document(s) to PDF format. This format preserves the
274 transparency in the original SVG. Used fonts are subset and
275 embedded. The default export area is canvas; you can set it to
276 drawing by --export-area-drawing. You can specify --export-id
277 to export a single object (all other are hidden); in that case
278 export area is that object's bounding box, but can be set to
279 canvas by --export-area-canvas.
280 -T, --export-text-to-path
282 Convert text objects to paths on export, where applicable (for
283 PS, EPS, and PDF export).
284 --export-ignore-filters
286 Export filtered objects (e.g. those with blur) as vectors,
287 ignoring the filters (for PS, EPS, and PDF export). By
288 default, all filtered objects are rasterized at --export-dpi
289 (default 90 dpi), preserving the appearance.
290 -I, --query-id
292 Set the ID of the object whose dimensions are queried. If not
293 set, query options will return the dimensions of the drawing
294 (i.e. all document objects), not the page or viewbox
295 -X, --query-x
297 Query the X coordinate of the drawing or, if specified, of the
298 object with --query-id. The returned value is in px (SVG user
299 units).
300 -Y, --query-y
302 Query the Y coordinate of the drawing or, if specified, of the
303 object with --query-id. The returned value is in px (SVG user
304 units).
305 -W, --query-width
307 Query the width of the drawing or, if specified, of the object
308 with --query-id. The returned value is in px (SVG user units).
309 -H, --query-height
311 Query the height of the drawing or, if specified, of the object
312 with --query-id. The returned value is in px (SVG user units).
313 -S, --query-all
315 Prints a comma delimited listing of all objects in the SVG
316 document with IDs defined, along with their x, y, width, and
317 height values.
318 --shell With this parameter, Inkscape will enter an interactive command
320 line shell mode. In this mode, you type in commands at the
321 prompt and Inkscape executes them, without you having to run a
322 new copy of Inkscape for each command. This feature is mostly
323 useful for scripting and server uses: it adds no new
324 capabilities but allows you to improve the speed and memory
325 requirements of any script that repeatedly calls Inkscape to
326 perform command line tasks (such as export or conversions).
327 Each command in shell mode must be a complete valid Inkscape
328 command line but without the Inkscape program name, for example
329 "file.svg --export-pdf=file.pdf".
330 --vacuum-defs
332 Remove all unused items from the <lt>defs<gt> section of the
333 SVG file. If this option is invoked in conjunction with
334 --export-plain-svg, only the exported file will be affected.
335 If it is used alone, the specified file will be modified in
336 place.
337 -z, --without-gui
339 Do not open the GUI (on Unix, do not use X server); only
340 process the files from console. This is assumed for -p, -e,
341 -l, and --vacuum-defs options.
342 --g-fatal-warnings
344 This standard GTK option forces any warnings, usually harmless,
345 to cause Inkscape to abort (useful for debugging).
346 --usage Display a brief usage message.
348
350 The main configuration file is located in
351 ~/.config/Inkscape/preferences.xml; it stores a variety of
352 customization settings that you can change in Inkscape (mostly in the
353 Inkscape Preferences dialog). Also in the subdirectories there, you
354 can place your own:
355 $HOME/.config/Inkscape/extensions/ - extension effects.
357 $HOME/.config/Inkscape/icons/ - icons.
359 $HOME/.config/Inkscape/keys/ - keyboard maps.
361 $HOME/.config/Inkscape/templates/ - new file templates.
363
365 The program returns zero on success or non-zero on failure.
366 A variety of error messages and warnings may be printed to STDERR or
368 STDOUT. If the program behaves erratically with a particular SVG file
369 or crashes, it is useful to look at this output for clues.
370
372 While obviously Inkscape is primarily intended as a GUI application, it
373 can be used for doing SVG processing on the command line as well.
374 Open an SVG file in the GUI:
376 inkscape filename.svg
378 Print an SVG file from the command line:
380 inkscape filename.svg -p '| lpr'
382 Export an SVG file into PNG with the default resolution of 90dpi (one
384 SVG user unit translates to one bitmap pixel):
385 inkscape filename.svg --export-png=filename.png
387 Same, but force the PNG file to be 600x400 pixels:
389 inkscape filename.svg --export-png=filename.png -w600 -h400
391 Same, but export the drawing (bounding box of all objects), not the
393 page:
394 inkscape filename.svg --export-png=filename.png --export-area-drawing
396 Export to PNG the object with id="text1555", using the output filename
398 and the resolution that were used for that object last time when it was
399 exported from the GUI:
400 inkscape filename.svg --export-id=text1555 --export-use-hints
402 Same, but use the default 90 dpi resolution, specify the filename, and
404 snap the exported area outwards to the nearest whole SVG user unit
405 values (to preserve pixel-alignment of objects and thus minimize
406 aliasing):
407 inkscape filename.svg --export-id=text1555 --export-png=text.png --export-snap-area
409 Convert an Inkscape SVG document to plain SVG:
411 inkscape filename1.svg --export-plain-svg=filename2.svg
413 Convert an SVG document to EPS, converting all texts to paths:
415 inkscape filename.svg --export-eps=filename.eps --export-text-to-path
417 Query the width of the object with id="text1555":
419 inkscape filename.svg --query-width --query-id text1555
421 Duplicate the object with id="path1555", rotate the duplicate 90
423 degrees, save SVG, and quit:
424 inkscape filename.svg --select=path1555 --verb=EditDuplicate --verb=ObjectRotate90 --verb=FileSave --verb=FileClose
426
428 DISPLAY to get the default host and display number.
429 TMPDIR to set the default path of the directory to use for temporary
431 files. The directory must exist.
432
434 To load different icons sets instead of the default
435 $PREFIX/share/inkscape/icons/icons.svg file, the directory
436 $HOME/.inkscape/icons/ is used. Icons are loaded by name (e.g.
437 fill_none.svg), or if not found, then from icons.svg. If the icon is
438 not loaded from either of those locations, it falls back to the default
439 system location.
440 The needed icons are loaded from SVG files by searching for the SVG id
442 with the matching icon name. (For example, to load the "fill_none"
443 icon from a file, the bounding box seen for SVG id "fill_none" is
444 rendered as the icon, whether it comes from fill_none.svg or
445 icons.svg.)
446
448 The canonical place to find Inkscape info is at
449 http://www.inkscape.org/. The website has news, documentation,
450 tutorials, examples, mailing list archives, the latest released version
451 of the program, bugs and feature requests databases, forums, and more.
452
454 potrace, cairo, rsvg(1), batik, ghostscript, pstoedit.
455 SVG compliance test suite: http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/Test/
457 SVG validator: http://jiggles.w3.org/svgvalidator/
459 Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.1 Specification W3C Recommendation 14
461 January 2003 <http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG11/>
462 Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.2 Specification W3C Working Draft 13
464 November 2003 <http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG12/>
465 SVG 1.1/1.2/2.0 Requirements W3C Working Draft 22 April 2002
467 <http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG2Reqs/>
468 Document Object Model (DOM): Level 2 Core Arnaud Le Hors et al editors,
470 W3C <http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-2-Core/>
471
473 To learn Inkscape's GUI operation, read the tutorials in Help >
474 Tutorials.
475 Apart from SVG, Inkscape can import (File > Import) most bitmap formats
477 (PNG, BMP, JPG, XPM, GIF, etc.), plain text (requires Perl), PS and EPS
478 (requires Ghostscript), PDF and AI format (AI version 9.0 or newer).
479 Inkscape exports 32-bit PNG images (File > Export) as well as AI, PS,
481 EPS, PDF, DXF, and several other formats via File > Save as.
482 Inkscape can use the pressure and tilt of a graphic tablet pen for
484 width, angle, and force of action of several tools, including the
485 Calligraphic pen.
486 Inkscape includes a GUI front-end to the Potrace bitmap tracing engine
488 (http://potrace.sf.net) which is embedded into Inkscape.
489 Inkscape can use external scripts (stdin-to-stdout filters) that are
491 represented by commands in the Extensions menu. A script can have a GUI
492 dialog for setting various parameters and can get the IDs of the
493 selected objects on which to act via the command line. Inkscape comes
494 with an assortment of effects written in Python.
495
497 To get a complete list of keyboard and mouse shortcuts, view
498 doc/keys.html, or use the Keys and Mouse command in Help menu.
499
501 Many bugs are known; please refer to the website (inkscape.org) for
502 reviewing the reported ones and to report newly found issues. See also
503 the Known Issues section in the Release Notes for your version (file
504 `NEWS').
505
507 This codebase owes its existence to a large number of contributors
508 throughout its various incarnations. The following list is certainly
509 incomplete, but serves to recognize the many shoulders on which this
510 application sits:
511 Maximilian Albert, Josh Andler, Jean-François Barraud, Bill Baxter,
513 John Bintz, Arpad Biro, Nicholas Bishop, Joshua L. Blocher, Henrik
514 Bohre, Boldewyn, Daniel Borgmann, Bastien Bouclet, Gustav Broberg,
515 Christopher Brown, Hans Breuer, Marcus Brubaker, Luca Bruno, Nicu
516 Buculei, Bulia Byak, Ian Caldwell, Gail Carmichael, Ed Catmur, Chema
517 Celorio, Johan Ceuppens, Zbigniew Chyla, Alexander Clausen, John Cliff,
518 Kees Cook, Ben Cromwell, Robert Crosbie, Jon Cruz, Aurélie De-Cooman,
519 Milosz Derezynski, Daniel Díaz, Bruno Dilly, Larry Doolittle, Tim
520 Dwyer, Maxim V. Dziumanenko, Johan Engelen, Miklos Erdelyi, Ulf
521 Erikson, Noé Falzon, Frank Felfe, Andrew Fitzsimon, Edward Flick,
522 Marcin Floryan, Fred, Ben Fowler, Cedric Gemy, Steren Giannini, Olivier
523 Gondouin, Ted Gould, Toine de Greef, Michael Grosberg, Bryce
524 Harrington, Dale Harvey, Aurélio Heckert, Carl Hetherington, Jos Hirth,
525 Thomas Holder, Joel Holdsworth, Alan Horkan, Karl Ove Hufthammer,
526 Richard Hughes, Nathan Hurst, inductiveload, Thomas Ingham, Jean-
527 Olivier Irisson, Bob Jamison, jEsuSdA, Lauris Kaplinski, Lynn Kerby,
528 Niko Kiirala, James Kilfiger, Jason Kivlighn, Adrian Knoth, Krzysztof
529 Kosin´ski, Petr Kovar, Raph Levien, Diederik van Lierop, Nicklas
530 Lindgren, Vitaly Lipatov, Ivan Louette, Colin Marquardt, Dmitry G.
531 Mastrukov, Matiphas, Michael Meeks, Federico Mena, MenTaLguY, Aubanel
532 Monnier, Tim Mooney, Derek P. Moore, Peter Moulder, Jörg Müller,
533 Yukihiro Nakai, Victor Navez, Christian Neumair, Andreas Nilsson,
534 Mitsuru Oka, Marten Owens, Alvin Penner, Jon Phillips, Zdenko Podobny,
535 Alexandre Prokoudine, Jean-René Reinhard, Alexey Remizov, Frederic
536 Rodrigo, Hugo Rodrigues, Juarez Rudsatz, Xavier Conde Rueda, Felipe
537 Corrêa da Silva Sanches, Aurélio A. Heckert, Christian Schaller, Marco
538 Scholten, Tom von Schwerdtner, Shivaken, Michael Sloan, Danilo Šegan,
539 Boštjan Špeticˇ, Aaron Spike, Kaushik Sridharan, Ralf Stephan, Dariusz
540 Stojek, Pat Suwalski, Adib Taraben, Hugh Tebby, Jonas Termeau, David
541 Turner, Andre Twupack, Aleksandar Uroševic´, Lucas Vieites, Michael
542 Wybrow, Daniel Yacob, David Yip, Masatake Yamato
543 This man page was put together by Bryce Harrington
545 <brycehar@bryceharrington.com>.
546
548 The codebase that would become Inkscape began life in 1999 as the
549 program Gill, the GNOME Illustrator application, created by Raph
550 Levien. The stated objective for Gill was to eventually support all of
551 SVG. Raph implemented the PostScript bezier imaging model, including
552 stroking and filling, line cap style, line join style, text, etc.
553 Raph's Gill page is at http://www.levien.com/svg/. Work on Gill
554 appears to have slowed or ceased in 2000.
555 The next incarnation of the codebase was to become the highly popular
557 program Sodipodi, led by Lauris Kaplinski. The codebase was turned
558 into a powerful illustration program over the course of several year's
559 work, adding several new features, multi-lingual support, porting to
560 Windows and other operating systems, and eliminating dependencies.
561 Inkscape was formed in 2003 by four active Sodipodi developers, Bryce
563 Harrington, MenTaLguY, Nathan Hurst, and Ted Gould, wanting to take a
564 different direction with the codebase in terms of focus on SVG
565 compliance, interface look-and-feel, and a desire to open development
566 opportunities to more participants. The project progressed rapidly,
567 gaining a number of very active contributors and features.
568 Much work in the early days of the project focused on code
570 stabilization and internationalization. The original renderer
571 inherited from Sodipodi was laced with a number of mathematical corner
572 cases which led to unexpected crashes when the program was pushed
573 beyond routine uses; this renderer was replaced with Livarot which,
574 while not perfect either, was significantly less error prone. The
575 project also adopted a practice of committing code frequently, and
576 encouraging users to run developmental snapshots of the program; this
577 helped identify new bugs swiftly, and ensure it was easy for users to
578 verify the fixes. As a result, Inkscape releases have generally earned
579 a reputation for being robust and reliable.
580 Similarly, efforts were taken to internationalize and localize the
582 interface, which has helped the program gain contributors worldwide.
583 Inkscape has had a beneficial impact on the visual attractiveness of
585 Open Source in general, by providing a tool for creating and sharing
586 icons, splash screens, website art, and so on. In a way, despite being
587 "just an drawing program", Inkscape has played an important role in
588 making Open Source more visually stimulating to larger audiences.
589
591 Copyright (C) 1999–2008 by Authors.
592 Inkscape is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
594 under the terms of the GPL.
595Inkscape-0.47 2009-06-25 INKSCAPE(1)