1INKSCAPE(1) Inkscape Commands Manual INKSCAPE(1)
2
6 Inkscape - an SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) editing program.
7
9 "inkscape [options] [filename_1 filename_2 ...]"
10 options:
12 -?, --help
14 --help-all
15 --help-gapplication
16 --help-gtk
17 -V, --version
19 --debug-info
20 --system-data-directory
21 --user-data-directory
22 -p, --pipe
24 -n, --pages=PAGE[,PAGE]
25 --pdf-poppler
26 --convert-dpi-method=METHOD
27 --no-convert-text-baseline-spacing
28 -o, --export-filename=FILENAME
30 --export-overwrite
31 --export-type=TYPE[,TYPE]*
32 --export-extension=EXTENSION-ID
33 -C, --export-area-page
35 -D, --export-area-drawing
36 -a, --export-area=x0:y0:x1:y1
37 --export-area-snap
38 -d, --export-dpi=DPI
39 -w, --export-width=WIDTH
40 -h, --export-height=HEIGHT
41 --export-margin=MARGIN
42 --export-page=all|n[,a-b]
44 -i, --export-id=OBJECT-ID[;OBJECT-ID]*
45 -j, --export-id-only
46 -l, --export-plain-svg
47 --export-png-color-mode=COLORMODE
48 --export-png-use-dithering=BOOLEAN
49 --export-ps-level=LEVEL
50 --export-pdf-version=VERSION
51 -T, --export-text-to-path
52 --export-latex
53 --export-ignore-filters
54 -t, --export-use-hints
55 -b, --export-background=COLOR
56 -y, --export-background-opacity=VALUE
57 -I, --query-id=OBJECT-ID[,OBJECT-ID]*
59 -S, --query-all
60 -X, --query-x
61 -Y, --query-y
62 -W, --query-width
63 -H, --query-height
64 --vacuum-defs
66 --select=OBJECT-ID[,OBJECT-ID]*
67 --actions=ACTION(:ARG)[;ACTION(:ARG)]*
68 --action-list
69 --actions-file=FILENAME
70 -g, --with-gui
72 -q, --active-window
73 --display=DISPLAY
74 --app-id-tag=TAG
75 --batch-process
76 --shell
77
79 Inkscape is a Free and open source vector graphics editor. It offers a
80 rich set of features and is widely used for both artistic and technical
81 illustrations such as cartoons, clip art, logos, typography,
82 diagramming and flowcharting. It uses vector graphics to allow for
83 sharp printouts and renderings at unlimited resolution and is not bound
84 to a fixed number of pixels like raster graphics. Inkscape uses the
85 standardized SVG file format as its main format, which is supported by
86 many other applications including web browsers.
87 The interface is designed to be comfortable and efficient for skilled
89 users, while remaining conformant to GNOME standards so that users
90 familiar with other GNOME applications can learn its interface rapidly.
91 SVG is a W3C standard XML format for 2D vector drawing. It allows
93 defining objects in the drawing using points, paths, and primitive
94 shapes. Colors, fonts, stroke width, and so forth are specified as
95 `style' attributes to these objects. The intent is that since SVG is a
96 standard, and since its files are text/xml, it will be possible to use
97 SVG files in a sizeable number of programs and for a wide range of
98 uses.
99 Inkscape uses SVG as its native document format, and has the goal of
101 becoming the most fully compliant drawing program for SVG files
102 available in the Open Source community.
103
105 -?, --help
106 Shows a help message.
107 --help-all
109 Shows all help options.
110 --help-gapplication
112 Shows the GApplication options.
113 --help-gtk
115 Shows the GTK+ options.
116 -V, --version
118 Shows the Inkscape version and build date.
119 --debug-info
121 Prints technical information including Inkscape version,
122 dependency versions and operating system. This Information is
123 useful when debugging issues with Inkscape and should be
124 included whenever filing a bug report.
125 --system-data-directory
127 Prints the system data directory where data files that ship
128 with Inkscape are stored. This includes files which Inkscape
129 requires to run (like unit definitions, built-in key maps,
130 files describing UI layout, icon themes, etc.), core
131 extensions, stock resources (filters, fonts, markers, color
132 palettes, symbols, templates) and documentation (SVG example
133 files, tutorials).
134 The location in which Inkscape expects the system data
136 directory can be overridden with the INKSCAPE_DATADIR
137 environment variable.
138 --user-data-directory
140 Prints the user profile directory where user-specific data
141 files and preferences are stored. Custom extensions and
142 resources (filters, fonts, markers, color palettes, symbols,
143 templates) should be installed into their respective
144 subdirectories in this directory. In addition placing a file
145 with a name identical to one in the system data directory here
146 allows to override most presets from the system data directory
147 (e.g. default templates, UI files, etc.).
148 The default location of the profile directory can be overridden
150 with the INKSCAPE_PROFILE_DIR environment variable.
151 -p, --pipe
153 Reads input file from standard input (stdin).
154 --pages=PAGE
156 Imports the given comma separated list of pages from a PDF, or
157 multi page SVG file.
158 This replaces the --pdf-page from previous Inkscape versions.
160 --pdf-poppler
162 By default Inkscape imports PDF files via an internal (poppler-
163 derived) library. Text is stored as text. Meshes are converted
164 to tiles. Use --pdf-poppler to import via an external (poppler
165 with cairo backend) library instead. Text consists of groups
166 containing cloned glyphs where each glyph is a path. Images
167 are stored internally. Meshes cause entire document to be
168 rendered as a raster image.
169 --convert-dpi-method=METHOD
171 Choose method used to rescale legacy (pre-0.92) files which
172 render slightly smaller due to the switch from 90 DPI to 96 DPI
173 when interpreting lengths expressed in units of pixels.
174 Possible values are "none" (no change, document will render at
175 94% of its original size), "scale-viewbox" (document will be
176 rescaled globally, individual lengths will stay untouched) and
177 "scale-document" (each length will be re-scaled individually).
178 --no-convert-text-baseline-spacing
180 Do not automatically fix text baselines in legacy (pre-0.92)
181 files on opening. Inkscape 0.92 adopts the CSS standard
182 definition for the 'line-height' property, which differs from
183 past versions. By default, the line height values in files
184 created prior to Inkscape 0.92 will be adjusted on loading to
185 preserve the intended text layout. This command line option
186 will skip that adjustment.
187 -o, --export-filename=FILENAME
189 Sets the name of the output file. The default is to re-use the
190 name of the input file. If --export-type is also used, the
191 file extension will be adjusted (or added) as appropriate.
192 Otherwise the file type to export will be inferred from the
193 extension of the specified filename.
194 Usage of the special filename "-" makes Inkscape write the
196 image data to standard output (stdout).
197 --export-overwrite
199 Overwrites input file.
200 --export-type=TYPE[,TYPE]*
202 Specify the file type to export. Possible values: svg, png, ps,
203 eps, pdf, emf, wmf and every file type for which an export
204 extension exists. It is possible to export more than one file
205 type at a time.
206 Note that PostScript does not support transparency, so any
208 transparent objects in the original SVG will be automatically
209 rasterized. Used fonts are subset and embedded. The default
210 export area is page; you can set it to drawing by
211 --export-area-drawing.
212 Note that PDF format preserves the transparency in the original
214 SVG.
215 --export-extension=EXTENSION-ID
217 Allows to specify an output extension that will be used for
218 exporting, which is especially relevant if there is more than
219 one export option for a given file type. If set, the file
220 extension in --export-filename and --export-type may be
221 omitted. Additionally, if set, only one file type may be given
222 in --export-type.
223 -C, --export-area-page
225 In SVG, PNG, PDF, PS exported area is the page. This is the
226 default for SVG, PNG, PDF, and PS, so you don't need to specify
227 this unless you are using --export-id to export a specific
228 object. For EPS this option is currently not supported.
229 -D, --export-area-drawing
231 In SVG, PNG, PDF, PS, and EPS export, exported area is the
232 drawing (not page), i.e. the bounding box of all objects of the
233 document (or of the exported object if --export-id is used).
234 With this option, the exported image will display all the
235 visible objects of the document without margins or cropping.
236 This is the default export area for EPS. For PNG, it can be
237 used in combination with --export-use-hints.
238 -a x0:y0:x1:y1, --export-area=x0:y0:x1:y1
240 In PNG export, set the exported area of the document, specified
241 in px (1/96 in). The default is to export the entire document
242 page. The point (0,0) is the lower-left corner.
243 --export-area-snap
245 For PNG export, snap the export area outwards to the nearest
246 integer px values. If you are using the default export
247 resolution of 96 dpi and your graphics are pixel-snapped to
248 minimize antialiasing, this switch allows you to preserve this
249 alignment even if you are exporting some object's bounding box
250 (with --export-id or --export-area-drawing) which is itself not
251 pixel-aligned.
252 -d DPI, --export-dpi=DPI
254 The resolution used for PNG export. It is also used for
255 fallback rasterization of filtered objects when exporting to
256 PS, EPS, or PDF (unless you specify --export-ignore-filters to
257 suppress rasterization). The default is 96 dpi, which
258 corresponds to 1 SVG user unit (px, also called "user unit")
259 exporting to 1 bitmap pixel. This value overrides the DPI hint
260 if used with --export-use-hints.
261 -w WIDTH, --export-width=WIDTH
263 The width of generated bitmap in pixels. This value overrides
264 the --export-dpi setting (or the DPI hint if used with
265 --export-use-hints).
266 -h HEIGHT, --export-height=HEIGHT
268 The height of generated bitmap in pixels. This value overrides
269 the --export-dpi setting (or the DPI hint if used with
270 --export-use-hints).
271 --export-margin=MARGIN
273 Adds a margin around the exported area. The size of the margin
274 is specified in units of page size (for SVG) or millimeters
275 (for PS/PDF). The option currently has no effect for other
276 export formats.
277 -i ID, --export-page=all|n[,a-b]*
279 Exports the selected pages only. If more than one page is
280 specified then the resulting document may contain multiple
281 pages if the format supports it.
282 Value can be a comma separated list of page numbers, or page
284 ranges of two numbers separated by a dash. The keyword 'all'
285 can be used to indicate all pages would be exported.
286 -i ID, --export-id=OBJECT-ID[;OBJECT-ID]*
288 For PNG, PS, EPS, PDF and plain SVG export, the id attribute
289 value of the object(s) that you want to export from the
290 document; all other objects are not exported. By default the
291 exported area is the bounding box of the object; you can
292 override this using --export-area (PNG only) or
293 --export-area-page.
294 If you specify many values with a semicolon separated list of
296 objects, each one will be exported separately. In this case the
297 exported files will be named this way:
298 [input_filename]_[ID].[export_type]
299 -j, --export-id-only
301 For PNG, PS, EPS, PDF and plain SVG export, only export the
302 object whose id is given in --export-id. All other objects are
303 hidden and won't show in export even if they overlay the
304 exported object. Without --export-id, this option is ignored.
305 -l, --export-plain-svg
307 Export document(s) to plain SVG format, without sodipodi: or
308 inkscape: namespaces and without RDF metadata. Use the
309 --export-filename option to specify the filename.
310 --export-png-color-mode=COLORMODE
312 Sets the color mode (bit depth and color type) for exported
313 bitmaps
314 (Gray_1/Gray_2/Gray_4/Gray_8/Gray_16/RGB_8/RGB_16/GrayAlpha_8/GrayAlpha_16/RGBA_8/RGBA_16)
315 --export-png-use-dithering=false|true
317 Forces dithering or disables it (the Inkscape build must
318 support dithering for this).
319 --export-ps-level=LEVEL
321 Set language version for PS and EPS export. PostScript level 2
322 or 3 is supported. Default is 3.
323 --export-pdf-version=VERSION
325 Select the PDF version of the exported PDF file. This option
326 basically exposes the PDF version selector found in the PDF-
327 export dialog of the GUI. You must provide one of the versions
328 from that combo-box, e.g. "1.4". The default pdf export version
329 is "1.4".
330 -T, --export-text-to-path
332 Convert text objects to paths on export, where applicable (for
333 PS, EPS, PDF and SVG export).
334 --export-latex
336 (for PS, EPS, and PDF export) Used for creating images for
337 LaTeX documents, where the image's text is typeset by LaTeX.
338 When exporting to PDF/PS/EPS format, this option splits the
339 output into a PDF/PS/EPS file (e.g. as specified by
340 --export-type) and a LaTeX file. Text will not be output in the
341 PDF/PS/EPS file, but instead will appear in the LaTeX file.
342 This LaTeX file includes the PDF/PS/EPS. Inputting
343 (\input{image.tex}) the LaTeX file in your LaTeX document will
344 show the image and all text will be typeset by LaTeX. See the
345 resulting LaTeX file for more information. Also see GNUPlot's
346 `epslatex' output terminal.
347 --export-ignore-filters
349 Export filtered objects (e.g. those with blur) as vectors,
350 ignoring the filters (for PS, EPS, and PDF export). By
351 default, all filtered objects are rasterized at --export-dpi
352 (default 96 dpi), preserving the appearance.
353 -t, --export-use-hints
355 While exporting to PNG, use export filename and DPI hints
356 stored in the exported object (only with --export-id). These
357 hints are set automatically when you export selection from
358 within Inkscape. So, for example, if you export a shape with
359 id="path231" as /home/me/shape.png at 300 dpi from document.svg
360 using Inkscape GUI, and save the document, then later you will
361 be able to reexport that shape to the same file with the same
362 resolution simply with
363 inkscape -i path231 -t document.svg
365 If you use --export-dpi, --export-width, or --export-height
367 with this option, then the DPI hint will be ignored and the
368 value from the command line will be used. If you use
369 --export-filename with this option, then the filename hint will
370 be ignored and the filename from the command line will be used.
371 -b COLOR, --export-background=COLOR
373 Background color of exported PNG. This may be any SVG
374 supported color string, for example "#ff007f" or "rgb(255, 0,
375 128)". If not set, then the page color set in Inkscape in the
376 Document Properties dialog will be used (stored in the
377 pagecolor= attribute of sodipodi:namedview).
378 -y VALUE, --export-background-opacity=VALUE
380 Opacity of the background of exported PNG. This may be a value
381 either between 0.0 and 1.0 (0.0 meaning full transparency, 1.0
382 full opacity) or greater than 1 up to 255 (255 meaning full
383 opacity). If not set and the -b option is not used, then the
384 page opacity set in Inkscape in the Document Properties dialog
385 will be used (stored in the inkscape:pageopacity= attribute of
386 sodipodi:namedview). If not set but the -b option is used,
387 then the value of 255 (full opacity) will be used.
388 -I, --query-id=OBJECT-ID[,OBJECT-ID]*
390 Set the ID(s) of the object(s) whose dimensions are queried in
391 a comma-separated list. If not set, query options will return
392 the dimensions of the drawing (i.e. all document objects), not
393 the page or viewbox.
394 If you specify many values with a comma separated list of
396 objects, any geometry query (e.g. --query-x) will return a
397 comma separated list of values corresponding to the list of
398 objects in --query-id.
399 -S, --query-all
401 Prints a comma delimited listing of all objects in the SVG
402 document with IDs defined, along with their x, y, width, and
403 height values.
404 -X, --query-x
406 Query the X coordinate of the drawing or, if specified, of the
407 object with --query-id. The returned value is in px (SVG user
408 units).
409 -Y, --query-y
411 Query the Y coordinate of the drawing or, if specified, of the
412 object with --query-id. The returned value is in px (SVG user
413 units).
414 -W, --query-width
416 Query the width of the drawing or, if specified, of the object
417 with --query-id. The returned value is in px (SVG user units).
418 -H, --query-height
420 Query the height of the drawing or, if specified, of the object
421 with --query-id. The returned value is in px (SVG user units).
422 --vacuum-defs
424 Remove all unused items from the "<defs>" section of the SVG
425 file. If this option is invoked in conjunction with
426 --export-plain-svg, only the exported file will be affected.
427 If it is used alone, the specified file will be modified in
428 place.
429 --select=OBJECT-ID[,OBJECT-ID]*
431 The --select command will cause objects that have the ID
432 specified to be selected. You can select many objects width a
433 comma separated list. This allows various verbs to act upon
434 them. To remove all the selections use "--verb=EditDeselect".
435 The object IDs available are dependent on the document
436 specified to load.
437 --actions=ACTION(:ARG)[;ACTION(:ARG)]*
439 Actions are a new method to call functions with an optional
440 single parameter. To get a list of the action IDs available,
441 use the --action-list command line option. Eventually all
442 verbs will be replaced by actions. Temporarily, any verb can
443 be used as an action (without a parameter). Note, most verbs
444 require a GUI (even if they don't use it). To close the GUI
445 automatically at the end of processing, use --batch-process.
446 In addition all export options have matching actions (remove
447 the '--' in front of the option and replace '=' with ':').
448 If only actions are used --batch-process must be used.
450 Export can be forced at any point with the export-do action.
452 This allows one to do multiple exports on a single file.
453 --action-list
455 Prints a list of all available actions.
456 --actions-file=FILENAME
458 Execute all actions listed in the file. The file contents must
459 be formatted using the syntax of --actions. This option
460 overrides the --actions argument when both are given.
461 -g, --with-gui
463 Try to use the GUI (on Unix, use the X server even if $DISPLAY
464 is not set).
465 -q, --active-window
467 Instead of launching a new Inkscape process, this will run the
468 command in the most recently focused Inkscape document.
469 --display=DISPLAY
471 Sets the X display to use for the Inkscape window.
472 --app-id-tag=TAG
474 Creates a unique instance of Inkscape with the application ID
475 'org.inkscape.Inkscape.TAG'. This is useful to separate the
476 Inkscape instances when running different Inkscape versions or
477 using different preferences files concurrently.
478 --batch-process
480 Close GUI after executing all actions or verbs.
481 --shell With this parameter, Inkscape will enter an interactive command
483 line shell mode. In this mode, you type in commands at the
484 prompt and Inkscape executes them, without you having to run a
485 new copy of Inkscape for each command. This feature is mostly
486 useful for scripting and server uses: it adds no new
487 capabilities but allows you to improve the speed and memory
488 requirements of any script that repeatedly calls Inkscape to
489 perform command line tasks (such as export or conversions).
490 In shell mode Inkscape expects a sequence of actions (or verbs)
492 as input. They will be processed line by line, that means
493 typically when pressing enter. It is possible (but not
494 necessary) to put all actions on a single line.
495 This option can be combined with the --active-window parameter,
497 to execute the shell commands in an already opened Inkscape
498 document.
499 The following example opens a file and exports it into two
501 different formats, then opens another file and exports a single
502 object:
503 file-open:file1.svg; export-type:pdf; export-do; export-type:png; export-do
505 file-open:file2.svg; export-id:rect2; export-id-only; export-filename:rect_only.svg; export-do
506
508 The main configuration file is located in
509 ~/.config/inkscape/preferences.xml; it stores a variety of
510 customization settings that you can change in Inkscape (mostly in the
511 Inkscape Preferences dialog). Also in the subdirectories there, you
512 can place your own:
513 $HOME/.config/inkscape/extensions/ - extensions.
515 $HOME/.config/inkscape/fonts/ - fonts.
517 $HOME/.config/inkscape/icons/ - icon sets.
519 $HOME/.config/inkscape/keys/ - keyboard maps.
521 $HOME/.config/inkscape/paint/ - patterns and hatches.
523 $HOME/.config/inkscape/palettes/ - palettes.
525 $HOME/.config/inkscape/symbols/ - symbol files.
527 $HOME/.config/inkscape/templates/ - new file templates.
529 $HOME/.config/inkscape/ui/ - user interface files.
531
533 The program returns zero on success or non-zero on failure.
534 A variety of error messages and warnings may be printed to STDERR or
536 STDOUT. If the program behaves erratically with a particular SVG file
537 or crashes, it is useful to look at this output for clues.
538
540 While obviously Inkscape is primarily intended as a GUI application, it
541 can be used for doing SVG processing on the command line as well.
542 Open an SVG file in the GUI:
544 inkscape filename.svg
546 Export an SVG file into PNG with the default resolution of 96 dpi (one
548 SVG user unit translates to one bitmap pixel):
549 inkscape --export-filename=filename.png filename.svg
551 Same, but force the PNG file to be 600x400 pixels:
553 inkscape --export-filename=filename.png -w 600 -h 400 filename.svg
555 Same, but export the drawing (bounding box of all objects), not the
557 page:
558 inkscape --export-filename=filename.png --export-area-drawing filename.svg
560 Export two different files into four distinct file formats each:
562 inkscape --export-type=png,ps,eps,pdf filename1.svg filename2.svg
564 Export to PNG the object with id="text1555", using the output filename
566 and the resolution that were used for that object last time when it was
567 exported from the GUI:
568 inkscape --export-id=text1555 --export-use-hints filename.svg
570 Same, but use the default 96 dpi resolution, specify the filename, and
572 snap the exported area outwards to the nearest whole SVG user unit
573 values (to preserve pixel-alignment of objects and thus minimize
574 aliasing):
575 inkscape --export-id=text1555 --export-filename=text.png --export-area-snap filename.svg
577 Convert an Inkscape SVG document to plain SVG:
579 inkscape --export-plain-svg --export-filename=filename2.svg filename1.svg
581 Convert an SVG document to EPS, converting all texts to paths:
583 inkscape --export-filename=filename.eps --export-text-to-path filename.svg
585 Query the width of the object with id="text1555":
587 inkscape --query-width --query-id=text1555 filename.svg
589 Duplicate the objects with id="path1555" and id="rect835", rotate the
591 duplicates 90 degrees, save SVG, and quit:
592 inkscape --select=path1555,rect835 --actions="duplicate;object-rotate-90-cw" --export-overwrite filename.svg
594 Select all objects with ellipse tag, rotate them 30 degrees, save the
596 file, and quit.
597 inkscape --actions="select-by-element:ellipse;transform-rotate:30" --export-overwrite filename.svg
599 Export the object with the ID MyTriangle with a semi transparent purple
601 background to the file triangle_purple.png and with a red background to
602 the file triangle_red.png.
603 inkscape --actions="export-id:MyTriangle; export-id-only; export-background:purple; export-background-opacity:0.5;export-filename:triangle_purple.png; export-do; export-background:red; export-background-opacity:1; export-filename:triangle_red.png; export-do" filename.svg
605 Read an SVG from standard input (stdin) and export it to PDF format:
607 cat filename.svg | inkscape --pipe --export-filename=filename.pdf
609 Export an SVG to PNG format and write it to standard output (stdout),
611 then convert it to JPG format with ImageMagick's convert program:
612 inkscape --export-type=png --export-filename=- filename.svg | convert - filename.jpg
614 Same as above, but also reading from a pipe (--export-filename can be
616 omitted in this case)
617 cat filename.svg | inkscape --pipe --export-type=png | convert - filename.jpg
619
621 INKSCAPE_PROFILE_DIR
622 Set a custom location for the user profile directory.
623 INKSCAPE_DATADIR
625 Set a custom location for the Inkscape data directory (e.g.
626 $PREFIX/share if Inkscape's shared files are in
627 $PREFIX/share/inkscape).
628 INKSCAPE_LOCALEDIR
630 Set a custom location for the translation catalog.
631 For more details see also
633 <http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/Environment_variables>
634
636 The canonical place to find Inkscape info is at
637 <https://www.inkscape.org/>. The website has news, documentation,
638 tutorials, examples, mailing list archives, the latest released version
639 of the program, bugs and feature requests databases, forums, and more.
640
642 potrace, cairo, rsvg, batik, ghostscript, pstoedit.
643 SVG compliance test suite:
645 <https://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/WG/wiki/Test_Suite_Overview>
646 SVG validator: <https://validator.w3.org/>
648 Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.1 Specification W3C Recommendation 16
650 August 2011 <https://www.w3.org/TR/SVG11/>
651 Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.2 Specification W3C Working Draft 13
653 April 2005 <https://www.w3.org/TR/SVG12/>
654 Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 2 Specification W3C Candidate
656 Recommendation 15 September 2016 <https://www.w3.org/TR/SVG2/>
657 Document Object Model (DOM): Level 2 Core W3C Recommendation 13
659 November 2000 <https://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-2-Core/>
660
662 To learn Inkscape's GUI operation, read the manual in Help > Inkscape
663 manual, and the tutorials in Help > Tutorials.
664 Apart from SVG, Inkscape can import (File > Import) most bitmap formats
666 (PNG, BMP, JPG, XPM, GIF, etc.), plain text (requires Perl), PS and EPS
667 (requires Ghostscript), PDF and AI format (AI version 9.0 or newer).
668 Inkscape exports 32-bit PNG images (File > Export PNG Image) as well as
670 AI, PS, EPS, PDF, DXF, and several other formats via File > Save as.
671 Inkscape can use the pressure and tilt of a graphic tablet pen for
673 width, angle, and force of action of several tools, including the
674 Calligraphic pen.
675 Inkscape includes a GUI front-end to the Potrace bitmap tracing engine
677 (<http://potrace.sf.net>) which is embedded into Inkscape.
678 Inkscape can use external scripts (stdin-to-stdout filters) that are
680 represented by commands in the Extensions menu. A script can have a GUI
681 dialog for setting various parameters and can get the IDs of the
682 selected objects on which to act via the command line. Inkscape comes
683 with an assortment of effects written in Python.
684
686 To get a complete list of keyboard and mouse shortcuts, view
687 doc/keys.html, or use the Keys and Mouse command in Help menu.
688
690 Many bugs are known; please refer to the website
691 (<https://www.inkscape.org/>) for reviewing the reported ones and to
692 report newly found issues. See also the Known Issues section in the
693 Release Notes for your version (file `NEWS').
694
696 The codebase that would become Inkscape began life in 1999 as the
697 program Gill, the GNOME Illustrator application, created by Raph
698 Levien. The stated objective for Gill was to eventually support all of
699 SVG. Raph implemented the PostScript bezier imaging model, including
700 stroking and filling, line cap style, line join style, text, etc.
701 Raph's Gill page is at <http://www.levien.com/svg/>. Work on Gill
702 appears to have slowed or ceased in 2000.
703 The next incarnation of the codebase was to become the highly popular
705 program Sodipodi, led by Lauris Kaplinski. The codebase was turned
706 into a powerful illustration program over the course of several year's
707 work, adding several new features, multi-lingual support, porting to
708 Windows and other operating systems, and eliminating dependencies.
709 Inkscape was formed in 2003 by four active Sodipodi developers, Bryce
711 Harrington, MenTaLguY, Nathan Hurst, and Ted Gould, wanting to take a
712 different direction with the codebase in terms of focus on SVG
713 compliance, interface look-and-feel, and a desire to open development
714 opportunities to more participants. The project progressed rapidly,
715 gaining a number of very active contributors and features.
716 Much work in the early days of the project focused on code
718 stabilization and internationalization. The original renderer
719 inherited from Sodipodi was laced with a number of mathematical corner
720 cases which led to unexpected crashes when the program was pushed
721 beyond routine uses; this renderer was replaced with Livarot which,
722 while not perfect either, was significantly less error prone. The
723 project also adopted a practice of committing code frequently, and
724 encouraging users to run developmental snapshots of the program; this
725 helped identify new bugs swiftly, and ensure it was easy for users to
726 verify the fixes. As a result, Inkscape releases have generally earned
727 a reputation for being robust and reliable.
728 Similarly, efforts were taken to internationalize and localize the
730 interface, which has helped the program gain contributors worldwide.
731 Inkscape has had a beneficial impact on the visual attractiveness of
733 Open Source in general, by providing a tool for creating and sharing
734 icons, splash screens, website art, and so on. In a way, despite being
735 "just an drawing program", Inkscape has played an important role in
736 making Open Source more visually stimulating to larger audiences.
737
739 This codebase owes its existence to a large number of contributors
740 throughout its various incarnations. The following list is certainly
741 incomplete, but serves to recognize the many shoulders on which this
742 application sits:
743 Maximilian Albert, Joshua A. Andler, Tavmjong Bah, Pierre Barbry-Blot,
745 Jean-François Barraud, Campbell Barton, Bill Baxter, John Beard, John
746 Bintz, Arpad Biro, Nicholas Bishop, Joshua L. Blocher, Hanno Böck,
747 Tomasz Boczkowski, Adrian Boguszewski, Henrik Bohre, Boldewyn, Daniel
748 Borgmann, Bastien Bouclet, Hans Breuer, Gustav Broberg, Christopher
749 Brown, Marcus Brubaker, Luca Bruno, Brynn, Nicu Buculei, Bulia Byak,
750 Pierre Caclin, Ian Caldwell, Gail Carmichael, Ed Catmur, Chema Celorio,
751 Jabiertxo Arraiza Cenoz, Johan Ceuppens, Zbigniew Chyla, Alexander
752 Clausen, John Cliff, Kees Cook, Ben Cromwell, Jon Cruz, Aurélie De-
753 Cooman, Kris De Gussem, Milosz Derezynski, Daniel Díaz, Bruno Dilly,
754 Larry Doolittle, Nicolas Dufour, Tim Dwyer, Maxim V. Dziumanenko,
755 Moritz Eberl, Johan Engelen, Miklos Erdelyi, Ulf Erikson, Noé Falzon,
756 Sebastian Faubel, Frank Felfe, Andrew Fitzsimon, Edward Flick, Marcin
757 Floryan, Fred, Ben Fowler, Cedric Gemy, Steren Giannini, Olivier
758 Gondouin, Ted Gould, Toine de Greef, Michael Grosberg, Bryce
759 Harrington, Dale Harvey, Aurélio Adnauer Heckert, René de Hesselle,
760 Carl Hetherington, Jos Hirth, Hannes Hochreiner, Thomas Holder, Joel
761 Holdsworth, Christoffer Holmstedt, Alan Horkan, Karl Ove Hufthammer,
762 Richard Hughes, Nathan Hurst, inductiveload, Thomas Ingham, Jean-
763 Olivier Irisson, Bob Jamison, Ted Janeczko, Marc Jeanmougin, jEsuSdA,
764 Lauris Kaplinski, Lynn Kerby, Niko Kiirala, James Kilfiger, Nikita
765 Kitaev, Jason Kivlighn, Adrian Knoth, Krzysztof Kosiński, Petr Kovar,
766 Michael Kowalski, Benoît Lavorata, Alex Leone, Julien Leray, Raph
767 Levien, Diederik van Lierop, Nicklas Lindgren, Vitaly Lipatov, Ivan
768 Louette, Fernando Lucchesi Bastos Jurema, Pierre-Antoine Marc, Aurel-
769 Aimé Marmion, Colin Marquardt, Craig Marshall, Ivan Masár, Dmitry G.
770 Mastrukov, David Mathog, Matiphas, Patrick McDermott, Michael Meeks,
771 Federico Mena, MenTaLguY, Aubanel Monnier, Vincent Montagne, Tim
772 Mooney, Derek P. Moore, Chris Morgan, Peter Moulder, Jörg Müller,
773 Yukihiro Nakai, Victor Navez, Jonathan Neuhauser, Christian Neumair,
774 Nick, Andreas Nilsson, Mitsuru Oka, Vinícius dos Santos Oliveira,
775 Martin Owens, PBS, Alvin Penner, Matthew Petroff, Jon Phillips, Zdenko
776 Podobny, Alexandre Prokoudine, Jean-René Reinhard, Alexey Remizov,
777 Frederic Rodrigo, Hugo Rodrigues, Jean Franco Amoni Rodríguez, Juarez
778 Rudsatz, Xavier Conde Rueda, Felipe Corrêa da Silva Sanches, Christian
779 Schaller, Marco Scholten, Tom von Schwerdtner, Markus Schwienbacher,
780 Danilo Šegan, Abhishek Sharma, Tim Sheridan, Shivaken, Rafał
781 Siejakowski, Michael Sloan, John Smith, Sandra Snan, Boštjan Špetič,
782 Aaron Spike, Kaushik Sridharan, Ralf Stephan, Dariusz Stojek, Patrick
783 Storz, Martin Sucha, Sushant A.A., ~suv, Pat Suwalski, Adib Taraben,
784 Parcly Taxel, Hugh Tebby, Jonas Termeau, David Turner, Andre Twupack,
785 Aleksandar Urošević, Alex Valavanis, Joakim Verona, Lucas Vieites,
786 Daniel Wagenaar, Liam P. White, Sebastian Wüst, Michael Wybrow, Gellule
787 Xg, Daniel Yacob, Masatake Yamato, David Yip
788
790 Copyright (C) 1999-2023 by Authors.
791 Inkscape is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
793 under the terms of the GPL version 2 or later.
7941.3.2 2023-11-29 INKSCAPE(1)