Inkscape Beginner's Guide PDF
Preview Inkscape Beginner's Guide
Inkscape Beginner's Guide Create attractive layout designs, logos, brochures, icons, and more using the Inkscape vector graphics editor Bethany Hiitola BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI Inkscape Beginner's Guide Copyright © 2012 Packt Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews. Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book. Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information. First published: May 2012 Production Reference: 1170512 Published by Packt Publishing Ltd. Livery Place 35 Livery Street Birmingham B3 2PB, UK. ISBN 978-1-84951-720-1 www.packtpub.com Cover Image by Asher Wishkerman ([email protected]) Credits Author Project Coordinator Bethany Hiitola Joel Goveya Reviewers Proofreader Mark Bystry Chris Brown Jose Olarte III Richard Querin Indexer Monica Ajmera Mehta Sylvia Slokker Graphics Acquisition Editor Manu Joseph Sarah Cullington Valentina D'Souza Lead Technical Editor Hithesh Uchil Production Coordinator Melwyn D'Sa Technical Editors Ankita Shashi Cover Work Melwyn D'Sa Manali Mehta Manasi Poonthottam Copy Editors Leonard D'Silva Laxmi Subramanian About the Author Bethany Hiitola is a working writer. She has worked as a technical writer and multimedia developer for over 12 years. She spends the rest of her time as a wife, mother, and caretaker to pets. She has written more user manuals than she can count, essays, short stories, academic papers, press releases, and feature articles. More details about her writing and life are at her website: www.bethanyhiitola.com Without you Matt, this book wouldn't have been possible. You are my everything. About the Reviewers Mark Bystry is a design engineer by trade. He is also an open source software enthusiast with a penchant for graphic art. Drawing and illustration, 3D modeling, desktop publishing, photography, and videography are just a few of his many interests. Those things also spill into his daily work duties. Mark has come to rely on Inkscape as well as several other leading open source applications to achieve a full range of graphic tasks. Several years ago Mark teamed up with his online pal, Richard Querin, when they recognized a void within the Inkscape user community, specifically the lack of educational information dedicated to the use of Inkscape. Their vision was of a series of instructional videos geared towards beginners. Since that time Richard and Mark have made over one hundred videos demonstrating various functions within the application. Though their video series has tapered off, mainly due to their insatiable need to explore all that the technological world has to offer, they still remain avid users of Inkscape and continue to guide novice users in the achievement of their goals. Jose Olarte III is a graphic designer and photographer from Baguio City, Philippines. He specializes in: user interface design for web, mobile and desktop platforms; print design for magazines and other publications; logo and icon design. When he's not busy pushing pixels and stretching ems, he gets his social fix by tweeting away his thoughts: twitter.com/ brownspank I would like to thank my wife Vanessa for putting up with my extended hours and sharing my passion for work, without which I wouldn't have the strength and motivation to move forward with my creative endeavors. Richard Querin is a practicing structural engineer with a passion for graphic design, photography, and other creative pursuits. He has contributed graphic design work to several different free and open source projects including websites, mobile and desktop applications, conference graphics, and print advertisements. He has also done numerous Inkscape video tutorials as a co-contributor to the screencasters.heathenx.org website. I would like to thank my family for putting up with my creative antics and providing me the time and space to take on creative pursuits such as these. Thanks also go to my friend and Inkscape compatriot Mark Bystry for his help throughout the years and to Joel Goveya for his patience when it came to getting my reviews back. And finally, a special thanks to my wonderful daughter Emily for making fatherhood an absolute delight. Sylvia Slokker is a graphics freelancer and IT professional. She started her career in web design and development in 2001, abandoning the career path of process engineer after almost 10 years. Sylvia moved continents to chase a dream and currently works as a web developer in Australia. She has been creating vector designs since 1994, using both commercial as well as open source software. Nowadays, she uses Inkscape almost exclusively for all her vector work. Sylvia writes tutorials for the web under the nickname Syllie and runs: verysimpledesigns.com as a tutorial site for the novice Inkscape artist. www.PacktPub.com Support files, eBooks, discount offers and more You might want to visit www.PacktPub.com for support files and downloads related to your book. Did you know that Packt offers eBook versions of every book published, with PDF and ePub files available? You can upgrade to the eBook version at www.PacktPub.com and as a print book customer, you are entitled to a discount on the eBook copy. Get in touch with us at [email protected] for more details. At www.PacktPub.com, you can also read a collection of free technical articles, sign up for a range of free newsletters and receive exclusive discounts and offers on Packt books and eBooks. http://PacktLib.PacktPub.com Do you need instant solutions to your IT questions? PacktLib is Packt's online digital book library. 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Table of Contents Preface 1 Chapter 1: Getting Started with Vector Graphics 7 What are vector graphics? 8 Programs that use vector graphics 8 Vector formats 9 Scalable Vector Graphics 9 Advantages of an open-standard vector format 10 Additional advantages of SVG vector images over proprietary formats 10 Disadvantages of vector graphics over non-vector formats 11 Determining when to use vector or rasterized graphics 11 Time for action – basic design 12 Time for action – vector versus rasterized images 13 Time for action – building brochure files 14 Summary 16 Chapter 2: Installing and Opening Inkscape 17 Inkscape's features 17 Installing Inkscape 18 Time for action – downloading Inkscape 19 Troubleshooting installation 20 The basics of the software 21 Time for action – getting started with Inkscape 22 Understanding a new document 28 Time for action – learning more about the main screen 28 Summary 34 Chapter 3: How to Manage Files 35 Creating new files 35 Using predefined-sized document dimensions 36
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