Vector graphics are becoming more and more popular and in demand on the market every year. True, advanced editors (for example, products from Adobe) cost a lot of money. One of the most successful vector editors that you can download absolutely free is Inkscape. Let’s get to know him better.
What it is
Inkscape is a free vector editor, a multifunctional tool for creating and working with artistic and technical graphics.
The development of the program began back in 2003, it replaced the outdated editor Sodipodi. Today Inscape is often compared to the famous Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw, but earlier this program was the leader in its field.
Most commonly Inkscape is used for:
- high-quality printing and creation of posters, business cards, logos;
- creating technical illustrations;
- Web graphics (for example, drawing banners, icons for applications, and website buttons) are also used in graphics for games.
The ability to scale images without losing quality is a vector graphics feature that many designers use in their work.
As a cross-platform editor, Inkscape is open source, allowing any user to make the necessary adjustments to the program.
Feature of Inkscape is the use of the open format Scalable Vector Graphics. Despite the fact that the work in the program takes place exclusively in SVG, Inscape supports dozens of other formats: PDF, AI, JPEG, PNG, GIF and others.
SVG is based on the XML markup language. This allows developers to write additional extensions, thereby significantly increasing the functionality.
The program works on Windows (versions 7, 8.1, 10), MacOS (32 or 64 bit) and Linux.
How to download and install a software product
Inkscape is completely free software . The easiest and most reliable way is to download it from the official website (there is a Russian language). By clicking on the “Download” tab, you will find many versions of the program for different software. On the same tab, you can view and immediately download the add-ons necessary for convenient work. Moreover, it is possible to download the source code and build the program yourself (who is interested in it and who has certain skills).
System requirements:
- CPU (processor): from 1.5 GHz;
- graphics adapter: any 3D with 64 Mb VRAM;
- RAM: more than 512 MB;
- free memory: 250 MB;
- controller: mouse / tablet.
You will also need a monitor with a resolution of 1024×768 and Internet access.
How to use Inkscape
The editor has an impressive set of tools that allows you to create images of any complexity, but a novice designer may face some difficulties. Lack of knowledge of basic techniques limits the creative flow and complicates the process of using the program.
Inkscape interface
Let’s take a closer look at the program interface. When we open Inkscape, we see a canvas and a lot of tools. There are 5 main areas:
- The main menu contains all the main functions (editing, working with text, filters, and so on).
- The toolbar contains icons for some of the editor commands, thus making it easier to work with the tools.
- Tool properties – here you can change the standard tool parameters.
- The snapping options bar and command bar let you choose whether you want to automatically snap one object to another.
- Color swatches and the status bar help you orient shapes in color, fill, or stroke. The status bar allows you to adjust the scale by zooming in and out of the work area.
Work with text
Inkscape works well with texts:
- select the “Text Objects” tool;
- specify the required properties (add font, size);
- set the pointer in the right place, if necessary, you can move it;
- write the desired text.
To add new fonts, go to the folder with the installed program, open 51-local.conf in any text editor, \ etc \ fonts \ conf.d directory, add a line with the address of the required font set C: \ Users \ user \ AppData \ Roaming \ Monotype \ skyfonts-Google> and save.
Creating shapes
Shape tools include rectangle, ellipse, star, spiral, and more.
Let’s try to get started, for example, click on the rectangle tool in the left menu, click on the canvas, and rectangles of a certain shade appear on the canvas (depending on the color set). If you have just white shapes, you need to change the colors and opacity.
Likewise, you can draw a circle, ellipse, spiral, and other objects that can be easily found in the side left panel.
You can use the Arrows tool at any time.
Inkscape has a very useful tool – variable line width (helps to create unusual drawings and text). You can also find many hatch options under the Contour Effects menu tab.
Actions on figures include:
- moving;
- turn;
Inkscape plugins are called filters and extensions. Using them, it turns out to achieve a much better effect. You can download it from the developers website or make it yourself.
To create a transparent background, open “File”, then “Document Properties” and select a background color. The alpha channel should be 0. The next step is “File” → “Export Bitmap” (Shift + Ctrl + E) and save as PNG.
When creating a graphic image, sometimes it becomes necessary to use only a part of the drawing. You can do it this way:
- Choose “Rectangles and Squares”.
- Select the image along the desired contour.
- Switch to the “Selection and Transform” mode.
- Hold down the Shift button and left-click on the selected fragment.
- Go to the “Object” menu and select “Install”.
As a result, we get the selected area of the image.
Also, you may need to change the orientation of the stage (by default – portrait). To do this, open the “Document Properties” on the “Page” tab and change the orientation to portrait.
For simplified drawing and drawing of shapes, Inkscape provides guides that “pull” working tools, allowing you to position the tool exactly on them.
Working with bitmaps
If you need to add a raster fragment or an image, you need to vectorize it by turning it into an SVG element : mark the object that you want to convert into outlines, select the “Outlines” command, then “Vectorize raster …” (Shift + Alt + B).
To reverse the process, go to the File menu, Export to Raster.
Grouping objects
Inkscape allows you to combine different objects into a group. With further transformation and movement, the program will perceive everything as a single object. To do this, select the objects and press Ctrl + G (select “Object”, item “Group”). The groups themselves can be combined with each other. To change one element, it is not necessary to split the group, click on the object while holding down Ctrl, and you can work with the object separately. To ungroup a group, select the desired object and press Shift + Ctrl + G (Object menu, Ungroup item).
Saving the result is no different from any other editors. The only thing that is important not to forget is to specify the format in which you want to export the file.
Inkscape is a powerful tool that offers a significant set of vector graphics tools. Intuitive interface, many essential features and constant updates from developers. What do you think of this editor? Did you have any difficulties in working with the program? Share your thoughts in the comments.
