Book Image

Inkscape Beginner's Guide

By : Bethany Hiitola
Book Image

Inkscape Beginner's Guide

By: Bethany Hiitola

Overview of this book

Learning to use Inkscape, an exciting open-source vector graphics program, broadens your software toolkit as a graphic designer. Using practical, real-world examples, you'll learn everything about the software and its capabilities so you'll be able to design anything from logos to websites.Inkscape Beginner's Guide is a practical step-by-step guide for learning this exciting vector graphics software. Not only will it take you through each menu item and toolbar, but you will also learn about creating complex shapes, text styling, filters, working with images, extensions, and the XML editoróall using real world examples.The book starts with an overview of vector graphics and how best to use them when designing for digital and print mediums. Then we install Inkscape and start learning all the ins and outs of the software. You'll build your first vector graphic while learning best practices for using layers, and build simple and complex objects with shapes and paths that will ultimately become exciting graphics to be used in your designs. Beyond designing sample logos and brochures while learning the software, you'll also learn how to use filters, install and use extensions, and the ins-and-outs of SVG and the XML Editor in Inkscape.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
14
B. Keyboard Shortcuts
15
C. Glossary of Terms
17
Index

Chapter 12. Using the XML Editor

Now we're ready to dig, just a little bit, into some code. We're going to learn about the XML Editor that is included within Inkscape. This feature helps us perform cool tricks that can help with global changes in web development and when working with a programming team that can also create scripts to automatically make some changes.

The goals of this chapter are to:

  • Learn how to access the XML Editor
  • Understand the basics of the SVG coding language Inkscape uses (which is an iteration of XML)
  • Learn how to edit some of the object XML code
  • Review the essentials for handing off files to make sure the XML/SVG code can be fully-functional and usable for any backend programming that needs to be done.

Let's first learn a bit about the editor.