Inkscape 0.48 Illustrator's Cookbook

Inkscape 0.48 Illustrator's Cookbook

Overview of this book

Inkscape is an open source vector graphics editor with an intuitive user interface that has enough depth to make quality graphic designs with an attractive layout comparable to what you would make using Illustrator or CorelDraw. But choosing the right tool and the best approach to creating the desired effect can be challenging. Inkscape 0.48 Illustrator's Cookbook makes it super-easy for you to make your own vector-based graphics with the powerful Inkscape editor. Inkscape 0.48 Illustrator's Cookbook provides you with the latest recipes to quickly create scalable vector graphics. Recipes in this book teach you about some of the most useful time-saving features in Inkscape accompanied by a list of keyboard shortcuts that you can easily memorize. In addition to covering use of Inkscape tools and their advanced features, examples from the recipes uncover solutions to common graphics problems. The book starts off with familiarizing you with the tools and techniques in Inkscape that you can use to draw 2D shapes, calligraphic shapes, and 3D boxes easily. It then guides you through the most common color-changing steps performed in Inkscape along with some convenient procedures that can save your time when dealing with colors. It explains drawing using linear and radial gradients, which are irreplaceable, usage of clones to create interesting effects in illustrations, and live-path effects that can help you speed up constructing a shape and make the process more natural. You will learn how to make those tweaks on some of the ready-made filters, and in the final recipe we will create a filter from scratch. This practical book also contains recipes showing how to use Inkscape as a raster editor and how to achieve photo-realistic effects in Inkscape. For each important technique and skill, you'll see some simple recipes, then some more advanced recipes followed by an explanation of how Inkscape works to produce the desired effects in your illustrations. By the end of this book you will be confident enough to create your own vector-based graphics with Inkscape.

Inkscape 0.48 Illustrator's Cookbook

Credits

About the Authors

About the Reviewer

www.PacktPub.com

Preface

Free Chapter

Creating and Editing Objects

Introduction

Creating and editing 2D geometric shapes

Creating freehand and straight lines

Editing paths using the Node tool

Creating paths using the Pen (Bezier) tool

Creating smooth paths with Spiro Spline

Creating calligraphic shapes

Using the Eraser tool

Creating and editing 3D boxes

Creating and editing text

Clipping

Masking

Path operations

Editing Colors

Introduction

Changing fill and stroke color using a palette

Making objects partially transparent

Creating linear gradients

Recreating HAL 9000 using radial gradients

Patterns

Picking and assigning colors with the Dropper tool

Adjusting hue, lightness, saturation, and stroke width using Color Gestures

Different color icon sets using RGB Barrel

Speeding Up Your Workflow

Introduction

Autosaving documents

Designing plate rims using Layers

Geometric illusions using Grids

Creating a simple flashlight using Guides

Creating a stylized flower using Snapping

Leaflet design using Align and Distribute

Creating your own custom color swatches

Creating your own color palette

More time-saving tips

Importing drawings from OpenClipArt

Creating and Editing Clones

Introduction

Drawing clock dial markers using clones

Drawing a colorful grid of tiled clones

Changing icon colors using tiled clones

Drawing clock dial markers using tiled clones

Creating halftones using tiled clones

Creating a bokeh effect using tiled clones

Creating a kaleidoscopic pattern using tiled clones

Drawing a tree with cloned leaves using the Spray tool

Clipping with clones

Live Path Effects

Introduction

Bending paths

Using Pattern Along Path

Using Envelope Deformation

Interpolating sub-paths

Stitching sub-paths

Creating gears

Creating hatches (rough)

Generating VonKoch fractals

Extensions

Introduction

Setting Color Markers to Match Stroke

Using Whirl

Rendering 3D polyhedrons and wireframe spheres

Rendering barcodes

Rendering calendars

Using Render Grid, Cartesian Grid, and Polar Grid

Rendering spirographs

Rendering L-systems

Rendering functions and parametric curves

Rendering printing marks

Playing "connect the dots" with Number Nodes

Creating irregular edges

SVG Filters

Introduction

Blurring

Creating irregular edges using filters

Using lighting effects

Creating a red wax seal

Creating a brushed steel effect

Creating a water surface effect

Filtering all objects in a layer

Creating your own filter from scratch

Putting it All Together

Introduction

Creating a wallpaper

Exporting a wallpaper in different formats

Hatching over a photo using the Calligraphy tool

Creating a coloring book using the Paint Bucket tool

Rail sleepers using markers

Creating a woven straw mat

Assembling a modern chair using the 3D Box tool

Creating a flow chart using connectors

Raster and Almost Raster

Introduction

Exporting to PNG with different dpi

Importing raster images of different dpi

Isolating part of a raster image

Using raster extensions

Creating gradient meshes

Painting a mosaic using the Tweak tool

Tracing bitmaps

Manually tracing a red wax seal

Creating a photorealistic mobile phone

Web Graphics Preparation

Introduction

Creating "Aqua" style buttons

Creating a reflection effect

Creating curled stickers

Creating a golden award with a ribbon

Repeating backgrounds using Tiled Clones

Creating a button to use with the CSS Sliding Doors technique

Creating rollover images

Creating small icons and favicons

Creating a 960 Grid System template

Creating a web page mockup

Slicing a web page mockup for website use

SVG in Websites

Introduction

Creating an interactive map for a web game

Creating an editable business chart

Creating a navigation menu

Creating an interactive physics simulation

Creating a slideshow presentation with JessyInk

Draw Freely

Introduction

Compiling the document metadata

Command-line interface (CLI)

Compiling development builds on Linux

Modifying an existing extension - Darker extended

Creating an extension - object guides

Customer Reviews

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Creating smooth paths with Spiro Spline

Spiro Spline is implemented in Inkscape as a live path effect (LPE), but it is conveniently added to the Pencil and Pen tools. Although Spiro Spline was developed for creating fonts, we can use it to quickly and easily create smooth paths.

We will see what the Spiro modes in those tools have to offer in this recipe.

How to do it...

The following steps show how to create a smooth path using Spiro Spline:

1. Select the Pencil tool (F6 or P). On the toolbar, select the Create Spiro path button and set Smoothing: to 50.
2. Create a curved shape by writing out the letter "S" as if we were drawing on a sheet of paper.
3. Switch to Node tool (F2 or N) and turn on the path outline by clicking on the Show path outline (without path effects) toolbar button. You will now see both the Spiro shape and the red outline (also called skeleton) of the regular path. The outline shows what the shape would look like without Spiro effect applied.
4. Make the handles visible by using the Show Bezier handles of selected nodes button and selecting all the nodes (Ctrl + A).
5. Try moving one of the handles. Notice how the red outline changes but the end result (the Spiro path) remains intact.
6. Move the nodes around and observe how the movements that affect the Spiro path shape always remain smooth.
7. Create a new node at the bottom of the shape by double-clicking on the outline. Notice that you can't do this by clicking on the Spiro path. The more nodes you add to the path the more the outline and Spiro shape look alike.
8. Select the node we just created and convert it to a cusp (corner) node by using the Make selected nodes corner (Shift + C) on the toolbar.
9. Move one of the handles so they aren't collinear any more. If the Spiro path doesn't change, also move the node so the Spiro path has a clear corner point at that node.
10. Create two more nodes that are adjacent to each other by double-clicking on the outline.
11. Select both nodes and convert the segment into a line by using the Make selected segments lines button (Shift + L). Notice how this segment is also a straight line in Spiro shape but it smoothly transitions into adjacent segments.
12. Select one of the nodes from the straight line and add its adjacent smooth node to the selection.
13. Convert them to cusp (corner) nodes by using the toolbar button or Shift + C, then use the same option to retract the handles. Since the handles were changed they were no longer collinear so the segment became a straight line even in the Spiro path.
14. Convert the Spiro path to a regular path using the Object to Path option (Shift + Ctrl + C). We now have the shape we desired but without the Spiro editing ability.

How it works...

As we can see from this example, Spiro paths are affected by the node handles only as far as determining the node type. Collinear handles determine smoothness of the nodes by the curve points in Spiro path. If the handles aren't collinear the Spiro point will be a corner point. The overall shape of a Spiro path is determined by the node types and its positions.

Inkscape 0.48 Illustrator's Cookbook

Inkscape 0.48 Illustrator's Cookbook

Overview of this book

Related Content you might be interested in

Current Title:

Inkscape 0.48 Illustrator's Cookbook

Creating smooth paths with Spiro Spline

How to do it...

How it works...

See also