How to Install Inkscape – Vector Graphics Editor for Ubuntu Linux

Martin6

4 years ago

How to install Inkscape on Ubuntu Linux. Inkscape is a vector design tool and vector graphics editor for Ubuntu Linux. It offers a rich set of features and is widely used for both artistic and technical illustrations such as cartoons, clip art, logos, typography, diagramming and flowcharting.

It uses vector graphics to allow for sharp printouts and renderings at unlimited resolution and is not bound to a fixed number of pixels like raster graphics. Inkscape uses the standardized SVG file format as its main format, which is supported by many other applications including web browsers.

Object creation

Drawing: pencil tool (freehand drawing with simple paths), pen tool (creating Bézier curves and straight lines), calligraphy tool (freehand drawing using filled paths representing calligraphic strokes)
Shape tools: rectangles (may have rounded corners), ellipses (includes circles, arcs, segments), stars/polygons (can be rounded and/or randomized), spirals
Text tool (multi-line text, full on-canvas editing)
Embedded bitmaps (with a command to create and embed bitmaps of selected objects)
Clones (“live” linked copies of objects), including a tool to create patterns and arrangements of clones

Object manipulation

Transformations (moving, scaling, rotating, skewing), both interactively and by specifying exact numeric values
Z-order operations (raising and lowering)
Grouping objects (“select in group” without ungrouping, or “enter the group” making it a temporary layer)
Layers (lock and/or hide individual layers, rearrange them, etc; layers can form a hierarchical tree)
Alignment and distribution commands

Fill and stroke

Color selector (RGB, HSL, CMYK, color wheel, CMS)
Color picker tool
Copy/paste style
A gradient editor capable of multi-stop gradients
Pattern fills (bitmap/vectors)
Dashed strokes, with many predefined dash patterns
Path markers (ending, middle and/or beginning marks, e.g. arrowheads)

Operations on paths

Node editing: moving nodes and Bezier handles, node alignment and distribution, etc.
Converting to path (for text objects or shapes), including converting stroke to path
Boolean operations
Path simplification, with variable threshold
Path insetting and outsetting, including dynamic and linked offset objects
Bitmap tracing (both color and monochrome paths)

Text support

Multi-line text
Uses any installed outline fonts, including right-to-left scripts
Kerning, letterspacing, linespacing adjustments
Text on path (both text and path remain editable)
Text in shape (fill shape following stroke)

Rendering

Fully anti-aliased display
Alpha transparency support for display and PNG export
Complete “as you drag” rendering of objects during interactive transformations

File formats

Perfectly compliant SVG format file generation and editing
Live watching and editing the document tree in the XML editor
PNG, OpenDocument Drawing, DXF, sk1, PDF, EPS and PostScript export formats and more
Command line options for export and conversions

Inkscape 1.0 Release

This latest version is available for Linux, Windows and macOS. All macOS users will notice that this latest version is labelled as ‘preview’, which means that additional improvements are scheduled for the next versions. Overall, 1.0 delivers a smoother, higher performance experience on Linux and Windows, and a better system integration (no more XQuartz!) on macOS.

Customizable themes, icons, fonts & UI

For users interested in customizing their user interface, Inkscape 1.0 allows for plenty of tinkering. From menus and toolbars to page sizes and custom font directories, there is lots to discover. Choose from your installed themes to give Inkscape a dark or bright interface, and select one of the available icon sets, which include customizable single-color icons and the newly-designed multicolor icon set. The new dialog for saving the current file as a template, with keywords and title, allows you to always have the template you need available.

The user interface has been changed to utilize a more recent version of GTK+ (GTK+ 3). This is a collection of user interface building blocks that Inkscape uses to draw the user interface on the screen. This new version brings many improvements, especially for users of HiDPI (high resolution) screens.

Inkscape now supports HiDPI (high resolution) screens natively. This means that icons and node handles will no longer be tiny on monitors with large pixel dimensions, and the canvas will no longer look blurry.

Important Changes and Improvements:

Theming support and more new customization options
Better HiDPI (high resolution) screen support
Native support for macOS with a signed and notarized .dmg file
Coordinate origin in top left corner by default
Canvas rotation and mirroring
On-Canvas alignment of objects
Split view and X-Ray modes
PowerPencil for drawing editable, variable width strokes with a pressure sensitive graphics tablet
New PNG export options
Integrated centerline tracing for vectorizing line drawings
Searchable Symbols dialog
New Live Path Effect (LPE) selection dialog
New Corners (Fillet/chamfer) LPE, (lossless) Boolean Operation LPE (experimental), Offset LPE and Measure Segments LPE (and more!)
Path operations, deselection of a large number of paths as well as grouping/ungrouping are much faster now
Much improved text line-height settings
Variable fonts support (only if compiled with pango library version >= 1.41.1)
Browser-compatible flowed text
Extensions programming interface updated, with many new options – Note: this introduces breaking changes, some third-party extensions will have to be updated to work with Inkscape 1.0
Python 3 support for extensions

General Changes and Improvements:

General User Interface: Modernized GUI Toolkit
General User Interface: Window position / size / behavior
General User Interface: High Resolution Screens
General User Interface: Tool box
General User Interface: Improved number entry fields
Canvas: Y-Axis Inversion
Canvas: Canvas Rotation
Canvas: Canvas Mirroring
Canvas: Pinch-to-zoom
Canvas: Duplicate Guides
Canvas: Context menu
Canvas: Snapping
View: Center view on page
View: Split View Mode
View: X-Ray Mode
View: Visible Hairlines Display Mode
Paths: Changed behavior of Stroke to Path
Paths: Unlinking Clones for Path Operations
Tools: Bézier Tool
Tools: Calligraphy Tool
Tools: Circle Tool
Tools: Eraser
Tools: Measurement Tool
Tools: Pencil Tool
Tools: PowerPencil
Tools: Selection Tool
Tools: On-Canvas Alignment
Tools: Text Tool
Live Path Effects: New Live Path Effects
Live Path Effects: Dashed Stroke LPE
Live Path Effects: Ellipse from Points
Live Path Effects: Corners (Fillet/Chamfer) LPE
Live Path Effects: Measure Segments LPE
Live Path Effects: Offset
Live Path Effects: Power Clip and Power Mask
Import / Export: Linking and embedding SVG files
Import / Export: Mesh Gradient Polyfill
Import / Export: SVG 1.1 compatibility
Import / Export: Export PNG images
Import / Export: PDF Export
Import / Export: (E)PS Export
Import / Export: OpenClipart Import Removed

PDF export, text & document fixes for designing

Designers will appreciate being able to export PDFs with clickable links and metadata. They can enjoy new palettes and mesh gradients that work in the web browser, as well as the handy on-canvas alignment for objects.

When it comes to wrangling text in Inkscape, variable font support, browser-compatible flowed text, simplified, yet powerful line-height settings will make that a joy. New templates for different screen sizes, margin guides and a colorful checkerboard background are now available.

Inkscape 1.0 even features an extension for creating interactive mockups to simulate user interaction with an app in the web browser for presentations to clients and usability testing.