Inkscape, Guide to a Vector Drawing Program

 Published by  Mark on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 in Inkscape

THE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE to the Inkscape program.

The web-based version is linked directly to under the program’s Help menu. This book is both an introduction and reference for the Inkscape drawing program. 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.

Topics covered in this book are

  1. # Introduction

    * How to Use This Book
    * Vector Graphics
    * SVG
    * The Inkscape Program
    * Help

    # 1. Quick Start

    * The Anatomy of the Inkscape Window
    o Dockable Dialogs
    * The Swedish Flag – A Short Example
    * The European Flag – A More Elaborate Example
    * A Hiking Club Logo – An Exercise in Paths
    * The Northern Pacific Railway Logo – A Tracing Example
    * A Box for Cards – An Isometric Projection
    * A Can of Soup – A Three-Dimension Drawing with Gradients
    * A Vine Design – A Tiling Example
    * A Neon Sign – Animation
    * A Bank Note – Security Features
    * A Bottle – Photorealism

    # 2. Files

    * Opening and Saving Files
    * Importing Files
    o Open Clip Art Library
    * Exporting Files
    o Exporting PNG (Portable Network Graphic) Files
    o Exporting Other File Types
    * Printing Files
    * Vacuuming Files

    # 3. Changing the View

    * Panning the Canvas
    * Zooming the Canvas
    * Miscellaneous View Commands
    o Hide/Show
    o Hide/Show Dialogs
    o Outline
    o Full Screen Mode
    o Switch Windows
    o Duplicate Window
    o Icon Preview

    # 4. Editing Basics

    * Undo and Redo
    * Selecting Objects
    o Selecting with the Mouse
    o Selecting with the Keyboard
    o Selecting with the Find Dialog
    * Copying, Pasting, and Deleting Objects
    * Clones
    * Ordering Objects (Z-order)
    * Groups
    * Layers
    o Layers Dialog
    o Layers Menu
    o Status Bar

    # 5. Positioning and Transforming

    * Inkscape Coordinates
    * Transformations
    o Transforms with the Mouse
    o Transforms with the Keyboard
    o Transforms with the Tool Controls Bar
    o Transforms with the Transform Dialog
    o Transforms with Paste Size Commands
    o Transforms with the XML Editor
    * Snapping
    o Targets
    o Snap Parameters
    * Alignment and Distribution of Objects
    o Align
    o Distribute: Uniform
    o Distribute: Non-Uniform
    o Distribute: Remove Overlaps
    o Rows and Columns

    # 6. Geometric Shapes

    * Rectangles and Squares
    * 3D Boxes
    o Perspectives
    o Attributes
    * Ellipses, Circles, and Arcs
    * Regular Polygons and Stars
    * Spirals

    # 7. Paths

    * Bezier Curves
    * Creating Paths
    o The Freehand Tool
    o The Bezier Tool
    o The Calligraphy Tool
    o Paths from Other Objects
    * Editing Paths
    o Using the Node Tool
    o Path Offset Commands
    o Miscellaneous Path Commands
    * Path Operations
    * Live Path Effects (LPE)
    o Bend Path
    o Pattern Along Path
    o Gears
    o Stitch Sub-Paths

    # 8. Text

    * Creating Text
    o Entering Regular Text
    o Entering Flowed Text
    * Selecting Text
    * Editing Text
    * Formatting Text
    o Formatting with the Tool Controls
    o Formatting with the Keyboard
    o Formatting with the Text and Font Dialog
    * Kerning, Shifting, and Rotating Characters
    o Kerning and Shifting
    o Rotating
    * Text on a Path
    * Text in a Shape

    # 9. Attributes

    * Fill and Stroke Paint
    o Flat (Solid) Colors
    o Gradients
    o Patterns
    o Fill Rule
    * Stroke Style
    o Stroke Width
    o Join Style
    o Cap Style
    o Dashes
    o Markers
    o Complex Strokes

    # 10. Tweak Tool

    * Tweaking Paths
    * Tweaking Colors

    # 11. Paint Bucket Tool

    * Simple Use
    * Filling Fidelity
    * Filling Multiple Regions
    * Closing Gaps
    * Adding to a Fill

    # 12. Clipping and Masking

    * Clipping
    * Masking

    # 13. Filter Effects

    * Basic Use
    * Filter Effects Dialog
    o Adding a Filter
    o Defining a Filter
    o Applying a Filter
    * Mini Tutorial – A Drop Shadow
    * Color Filter Primitives
    o Color Matrix
    o Component Transfer
    * Compositing Filter Primitives
    o Blend
    o Composite
    o Merge
    * Fill Filter Primitives
    o Flood
    o Image
    o Tile
    o Turbulence
    * Lighting Filters Primitives
    o Distant Light Source
    o Point Light Source
    o Spot Light Source
    * Pixel Manipulation Filter Primitives
    o Convolve Matrix
    o Displacement Map
    o Gaussian Blur
    o Morphology
    o Offset
    * Complex Examples
    o Emboss
    o Neon
    o Stereoscopic Pictures
    o Solar Flare

    # 14. XML Editor

    * Basic Usage
    * Editing XML Nodes
    * Examples
    o Adding Color to a Marker Arrow
    o Underlined Text

    # 15. Tiling

    * Symmetry Tab
    * Shift Tab
    * Scale Tab
    * Rotation Tab
    * Blur and Opacity Tab
    o Blur
    o Opacity
    * Color Tab
    * Trace
    * Tricks

    # 16. Tracing Bitmaps

    * Single Scans
    o Brightness Cutoff
    o Edge Detection
    o Color Quantization
    * Multiple Scans
    o Brightness Steps
    o Colors
    o Grays
    o Options
    * Common Options
    * SIOX

    # 17. Connectors

    * Creating Connectors
    * Modifying Connectors
    * Routing Connectors

    # 18. Effects

    * Color
    o Desaturate
    o Brighter
    o Custom
    o Darker
    o Grayscale
    o Less Hue
    o Less Light
    o Less Saturation
    o More Hue
    o More Light
    o More Saturation
    o Negative
    o Randomize
    o Remove Blue
    o Remove Red
    o Remove Green
    o Replace
    * Export
    o Export Group
    * Fretboard Designer
    * Generate from Path
    o Blur Edge
    o Dimensions
    o Extrude
    o Inside/Outside Halo
    o Interpolate
    o Pattern Along Path
    * Template
    o Perfect-Bound Cover
    * Images
    o Extract One Image
    o Embed All Images
    * Modify Path
    o Add Nodes
    o Color Markers to Match Stroke
    o Edge 3D
    o Envelope
    o Flatten Bezier
    o Fractalize
    o Jitter Nodes
    o Fractal (Koch)
    o Perspective
    o Radius Randomizer
    o Rubber Stretch
    o Straighten Segments
    o Whirl
    * Raster
    * Render
    o Barcode
    o Function Plotter
    o Gear
    o Grid
    o LaTeX Formula
    o L-System (Fractal-Lindenmayer)
    o Random Tree
    o Spirograph
    * Text
    o Lorem Ipsum
    o Replace Text
    o Change Case
    * Visualize Path
    o Measure Path
    o Draw Handles
    o Number Nodes

    # 19. SVG and the Web

    * Simple SVG Display
    o Using Object Tags
    o Using Name Spaces
    * Adding Links
    * Using Style Sheets
    * Simple Animation

    # 20. Customization

    * Inkscape Preferences Dialog
    * Inkscape Configuration Files
    o Preferences
    o Custom Templates
    o Custom Swatches or Palettes
    o Custom Markers
    o Custom Keyboard Shortcuts

    # 21. Using the Command Line

    * General Options
    * Export Options
    o Format Options
    o Export Region Options
    o Export Property Options
    * Query Options

    # 22. Challenges

    * Red Spiral
    * Knot
    * Squares
    * Pine Cone
    * Spiral Gyral

    # A. Inkview
    # B. File Format

    * Default Template File
    * SVG Groups with Objects
    * Groups of Objects
    * Paths
    * Defs

    # C. Spheres

    * Sphere with Gradient Shading and Shadow
    * Sphere with Hatched Shading and Shadow
    * Sphere with Dot Shading and Shadow
    * Sphere with Text Shading and Shadow

    # D. List of Dialogs
    # E. Tips for Illustrator Converts

The complete guide can be found when you click on  “Help->Inkscape Manual” on your Inkscape application Menu item or by directly visiting http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/index.php

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