Inkscape: Guide to a Vector Drawing Program, Second Edition

Inkscape: Guide to a Vector Drawing Program, Second Edition

by Tavmjong Bah
Released July 2008
Publisher(s): Pearson
ISBN: 9780137006281

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Book description

    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.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. About the Author
  4. Overview of What Is in This Short Cut
  5. Introduction
    1. How to Use This Book
    2. Vector Graphics
    3. SVG
    4. The Inkscape Program
    5. Help
  6. 1. Quick Start
    1. The Anatomy of the Inkscape Window
      1. Dockable Dialogs
    2. The Swedish Flag - A Short Example
      1. Procedure 1.1. Drawing the Swedish Flag
    3. The European Flag - A More Elaborate Example
      1. Procedure 1.2. Drawing the European Union Flag
    4. A Hiking Club Logo - An Exercise in Paths
      1. Procedure 1.3. Creating the Fuji Hiking and Mountaineering Club Logo
    5. The Northern Pacific Railway Logo - A Tracing Example
      1. Procedure 1.4. Creating the Northern Pacific Logo
    6. A Box for Cards - An Isometric Projection
      1. Procedure 1.5. Creating an Isometric Projection
    7. A Can of Soup - A Three-Dimension Drawing with Gradients
      1. Procedure 1.6. Drawing a Soup Can
    8. A Vine Design - A Tiling Example
      1. Procedure 1.7. Creating a Tile Pattern
    9. A Neon Sign - Animation
      1. Procedure 1.8. Creating a Neon Sign
    10. A Bank Note - Security Features
      1. Procedure 1.9. Drawing a Bank Note
    11. A Bottle - Photorealism
      1. Procedure 1.10. Drawing a Bottle
  7. 2. Files
    1. Opening and Saving Files
    2. Importing Files
      1. Open Clip Art Library
    3. Exporting Files
      1. Exporting PNG (Portable Network Graphic) Files
      2. Exporting Other File Types
    4. Printing Files
    5. Vacuuming Files
  8. 3. Changing the View
    1. Panning the Canvas
    2. Zooming the Canvas
    3. Miscellaneous View Commands
      1. Hide/Show
      2. Hide/Show Dialogs
      3. Outline
      4. Full Screen Mode
      5. Switch Windows
      6. Duplicate Window
      7. Icon Preview
  9. 4. Editing Basics
    1. Undo and Redo
    2. Selecting Objects
      1. Selecting with the Mouse
      2. Selecting with the Keyboard
      3. Selecting with the Find Dialog
    3. Copying, Pasting, and Deleting Objects
    4. Clones
    5. Ordering Objects (Z-order)
    6. Groups
    7. Layers
      1. Layers Dialog
      2. Layers Menu
      3. Status Bar
  10. 5. Positioning and Transforming
    1. Inkscape Coordinates
    2. Transformations
      1. Transforms with the Mouse
        1. Translations
        2. Scaling, Rotating, and Skewing
          1. Scaling
          2. Rotating and Skewing
      2. Transforms with the Keyboard
        1. Translations
        2. Scaling
        3. Rotation
        4. Flipping
      3. Transforms with the Tool Controls Bar
      4. Transforms with the Transform Dialog
        1. Move Tab
        2. Scale Tab
        3. Rotate Tab
        4. Skew Tab
        5. Matrix Tab
      5. Transforms with Paste Size Commands
      6. Transforms with the XML Editor
    3. Snapping
      1. Targets
        1. Guides
        2. Grid
      2. Snap Parameters
    4. Alignment and Distribution of Objects
      1. Align
      2. Distribute: Uniform
      3. Distribute: Non-Uniform
      4. Distribute: Remove Overlaps
      5. Rows and Columns
  11. 6. Geometric Shapes
    1. Rectangles and Squares
    2. 3D Boxes
      1. Perspectives
      2. Attributes
    3. Ellipses, Circles, and Arcs
    4. Regular Polygons and Stars
    5. Spirals
  12. 7. Paths
    1. Bezier Curves
    2. Creating Paths
      1. The Freehand Tool
      2. The Bezier Tool
      3. The Calligraphy Tool
        1. Using a Tablet
        2. Hatchings
      4. Paths from Other Objects
        1. Object to Path
        2. Stroke to Path
    3. Editing Paths
      1. Using the Node Tool
        1. Selecting Nodes
        2. Editing Nodes with the Mouse
          1. Nodes
          2. Handles
        3. Editing Nodes with the Keyboard
          1. Translations
          2. Scaling Handles
          3. Rotating Handles
        4. Using the Node Tool-Tool Controls
        5. Editing Nodes with the Align and Distribute Dialog
        6. Sculpting Nodes
      2. Path Offset Commands
      3. Miscellaneous Path Commands
    4. Path Operations
    5. Live Path Effects (LPE)
      1. Bend Path
      2. Pattern Along Path
      3. Gears
      4. Stitch Sub-Paths
  13. 8. Text
    1. Creating Text
      1. Entering Regular Text
      2. Entering Flowed Text
    2. Selecting Text
    3. Editing Text
    4. Formatting Text
      1. Formatting with the Tool Controls
      2. Formatting with the Keyboard
      3. Formatting with the Text and Font Dialog
    5. Kerning, Shifting, and Rotating Characters
      1. Kerning and Shifting
      2. Rotating
    6. Text on a Path
    7. Text in a Shape
  14. 9. Attributes
    1. Fill and Stroke Paint
      1. Flat (Solid) Colors
        1. Fill and Stroke Dialog - Color
        2. RGB
        3. HSL
        4. CMYK
        5. Wheel
        6. CMS
        7. Palette and Swatches Dialog
        8. Style Indicator
        9. Display
        10. Fill Indicator Pop-up Menu
        11. Color Gestures
        12. Dropper Tool
      2. Gradients
        1. Attaching Gradients to Objects
        2. Editing Stops
        3. Onscreen Editing
        4. Using the Gradient Editor Dialog
        5. Adjusting Gradients
      3. Patterns
        1. Creating Patterns
        2. Using Patterns
        3. Adjusting Patterns
        4. Hatchings
      4. Fill Rule
    2. Stroke Style
      1. Stroke Width
      2. Join Style
      3. Cap Style
      4. Dashes
      5. Markers
      6. Complex Strokes
  15. 10. Tweak Tool
    1. Tweaking Paths
    2. Tweaking Colors
  16. 11. Paint Bucket Tool
    1. Simple Use
    2. Filling Fidelity
    3. Filling Multiple Regions
    4. Closing Gaps
    5. Adding to a Fill
  17. 12. Clipping and Masking
    1. Clipping
    2. Masking
  18. 13. Filter Effects
    1. Basic Use
    2. Filter Effects Dialog
      1. Adding a Filter
      2. Defining a Filter
      3. Applying a Filter
    3. Mini Tutorial - A Drop Shadow
      1. Procedure 13.1. Drop Shadow
    4. Color Filter Primitives
      1. Color Matrix
      2. Component Transfer
    5. Compositing Filter Primitives
      1. Blend
      2. Composite
      3. Merge
    6. Fill Filter Primitives
      1. Flood
      2. Image
      3. Tile
      4. Turbulence
    7. Lighting Filters Primitives
      1. Distant Light Source
      2. Point Light Source
      3. Spot Light Source
    8. Pixel Manipulation Filter Primitives
      1. Convolve Matrix
        1. Examples
          1. Edge Detection
          2. Sharpen
          3. Unsharpen
          4. Emboss
      2. Displacement Map
      3. Gaussian Blur
        1. Blurring with the Fill and Stroke Dialog
        2. Blurring with the Filter Effects dialog
        3. Blurring Examples
          1. Drop Shadow
          2. Gradient Blurring
          3. Clipping and Masking
          4. Tile Clones
      4. Morphology
      5. Offset
    9. Complex Examples
      1. Emboss
      2. Neon
      3. Stereoscopic Pictures
      4. Solar Flare
  19. 14. XML Editor
    1. Basic Usage
    2. Editing XML Nodes
    3. Examples
      1. Adding Color to a Marker Arrow
      2. Underlined Text
  20. 15. Tiling
    1. Symmetry Tab
    2. Shift Tab
    3. Scale Tab
    4. Rotation Tab
    5. Blur and Opacity Tab
      1. Blur
      2. Opacity
    6. Color Tab
    7. Trace
    8. Tricks
  21. 16. Tracing Bitmaps
    1. Single Scans
      1. Brightness Cutoff
      2. Edge Detection
      3. Color Quantization
    2. Multiple Scans
      1. Brightness Steps
      2. Colors
      3. Grays
      4. Options
    3. Common Options
    4. SIOX
  22. 17. Connectors
    1. Creating Connectors
    2. Modifying Connectors
    3. Routing Connectors
  23. 18. Effects
    1. Color
      1. Desaturate
      2. Brighter
      3. Custom
      4. Darker
      5. Grayscale
      6. Less Hue
      7. Less Light
      8. Less Saturation
      9. More Hue
      10. More Light
      11. More Saturation
      12. Negative
      13. Randomize
      14. Remove Blue
      15. Remove Red
      16. Remove Green
      17. Replace
    2. Export
      1. Export Group
    3. Fretboard Designer
    4. Generate from Path
      1. Blur Edge
      2. Dimensions
      3. Extrude
      4. Inside/Outside Halo
      5. Interpolate
      6. Pattern Along Path
    5. Template
      1. Perfect-Bound Cover
    6. Images
      1. Extract One Image
      2. Embed All Images
    7. Modify Path
      1. Add Nodes
      2. Color Markers to Match Stroke
      3. Edge 3D
      4. Envelope
      5. Flatten Bezier
      6. Fractalize
      7. Jitter Nodes
      8. Fractal (Koch)
      9. Perspective
      10. Radius Randomizer
      11. Rubber Stretch
      12. Straighten Segments
      13. Whirl
    8. Raster
    9. Render
      1. Barcode
      2. Function Plotter
      3. Gear
      4. Grid
      5. LaTeX Formula
      6. L-System (Fractal-Lindenmayer)
      7. Random Tree
      8. Spirograph
    10. Text
      1. Lorem Ipsum
      2. Replace Text
      3. Change Case
    11. Visualize Path
      1. Measure Path
      2. Draw Handles
      3. Number Nodes
  24. 19. SVG and the Web
    1. Simple SVG Display
      1. Using Object Tags
      2. Using Name Spaces
    2. Adding Links
    3. Using Style Sheets
    4. Simple Animation
  25. 20. Customization
    1. Inkscape Preferences Dialog
    2. Inkscape Configuration Files
      1. Preferences
        1. Alternative Alt Key
        2. Outline Mode Colors
        3. SVG Output
      2. Custom Templates
      3. Custom Swatches or Palettes
      4. Custom Markers
      5. Custom Keyboard Shortcuts
  26. 21. Using the Command Line
    1. General Options
    2. Export Options
      1. Format Options
      2. Export Region Options
      3. Export Property Options
    3. Query Options
  27. 22. Challenges
    1. Red Spiral
    2. Knot
    3. Squares
    4. Pine Cone
    5. Spiral Gyral
  28. A. Inkview
  29. B. File Format
    1. Default Template File
    2. SVG Groups with Objects
    3. Groups of Objects
    4. Paths
    5. Defs
  30. C. Spheres
    1. Sphere with Gradient Shading and Shadow
    2. Sphere with Hatched Shading and Shadow
    3. Sphere with Dot Shading and Shadow
    4. Sphere with Text Shading and Shadow
  31. D. Solutions for Challenges
    1. Red Spiral
      1. Procedure D.1. Drawing the Spiral
    2. Knot
      1. Procedure D.2. Drawing the Knot
    3. Squares
    4. Pine Cone
    5. Spiral Gyral
  32. E. List of Dialogs
  33. F. Tips for Illustrator Converts
    1. Key Mappings
    2. Terminology
    3. Illustrator to Inkscape
  34. Glossary

Product information

  • Title: Inkscape: Guide to a Vector Drawing Program, Second Edition
  • Author(s): Tavmjong Bah
  • Release date: July 2008
  • Publisher(s): Pearson
  • ISBN: 9780137006281