[Inkscape] Introduction to Inkscape

Originally I had the plan to create some tutorials on the functions and tricks that we can use in Inkscape, but in the long run I saw that it was better to create a series of articles on the basic handling and its qualities.

It is alarming to realize the little documentation in Spanish that exists, and we think that nobody (myself included) is born knowing the use of these programs, and it can be useful to anyone who wants to venture into the world of digital design with Open Source technologies. So as «mini-manuals» and most of all practical post (because we don't like to study theory ~ _ ~) let's go deeper into using this wonderful design software.

About Inkscape

good to start this you should do a basic intro (elementary school teacher style) of what is Inkscape.

as it says verbatim on its website:

Inkscape is an open source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, Freehand, CorelDraw or Xara X, using the standard of the W3C: the file format Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG). Supported features include: shapes, strokes, text, markers, clones, alpha channel blends, transformations, gradients, patterns, and groupings. Inkscape also supports meta-data Creative Commons, editing nodes, layers, complex operations with strokes, vectorization of graphic files, text in strokes, text alignment, direct XML editing and much more. It can import formats such as Postscript, EPS, JPEG, PNG, and TIFF and exports PNG as well as many vector-based formats.

Basically it is an editor of vector graphics multiplatform, with a wide range of functions that make Inkscape a powerful tool and all this under a GPL license.

Once your presentation is done, we are going to know the basics of its interface, in order to better manage ourselves in the following posts.

The default interface is made up of the following elements:

1. Menu bar
2. Command Bar
3. Control Bar
4. Rules, Guides and Grids
5. Toolbox
6. Adjustment Bar
7. Color palette
8. Status bar
9. Zoom
10. Work Area (although the space is practically infinite)

It is also possible to add or remove bars to our liking, we can change several parameters of this in  File> Inkscape Preferences> Interfaz.

Menu and Command Bar

Inkscape like many applications GTK, has by default a menu with the most essential functions such as archive, edit, etc… Also contains menus related to design and drawing.

The command bar is the one that appears below the menus. It contains shortcuts to common commands that we could otherwise execute with an intricate combination of keys, it contains controls to manipulate documents and objects in the drawing. typical commands like open, save, new, undo, redo and others are located here.

Toolbox

This section contains a basic set of utilities to make our drawing. Utilities for drawing painting and manipulating shapes and objects seems like a very rudimentary selection, but amazing things can be accomplished with these simple tools. Here these tools and their functions:

Control bar

This bar changes content depending on the tool, showing different options associated with said utility and the possible manipulation capabilities of an object.

Work area

It is the area where all the action happens. In it appears an A4 size sheet and where the user creates, so it is the most important area of ​​the interface. Note that the "page" is an attempt to demilitarize an area to be able to export or print; these borders in no way restrict the SVG image we are working on. we can configure the page size (or even delete the page) from File> document properties.

Rules

They are graduated sections at the top and left of the work area, arranged to measure the area vertically and horizontally, the unit of measurement can be defined in File> Document Properties tab Página, we can also define the page size and others.

Guides

They are user-defined "magnetic" guides, which can be easily created by clicking on a ruler and pulling to the desired position. To remove a guideline we simply "return" it by pulling it towards the ruler.

Grids

Guide lines can be helpful, but if we need a lot of them, it is more useful to use a grid. We can activate it by pressing # (Shift + 3 or AltGr + 3 generally) or in the menu View> Grid. There are 2 types of grids:

rectangular

is the common grid in which horizontal and vertical lines intersect

axonometric

This type allows the user to define the angle of the lines, which can be interesting for technical and / or architectural drawing. We can define its angle in File> document properties, In the tab Rack.

Settings bar

It contains different settings for objects and images, especially useful when using the tool to edit path nodes or control handles.

Color palette

it is the fastest way to apply color to shapes and objects. It is located at the bottom of the window and we can select the desired color in combination with the tools Fill, Freehand Stroke, BrushEtc. ...

Status Bar

is the bar that appears at the bottom of the window and contains various information such as:

• object color indicator
• layer selector
• notifications
• pointer coordinate indicator
• and the zoom factor

And so concludes this small introduction to Inkscape, with this we already have a basic image of how the interface is built, and in future installments we will make use of these tools in a practical way.

Source: FLOSS Manuals