18 June 2005 - SVG, Inkscape
Topics
SVG and Inkscape (by Abdulmajed Dakkak (a.k.a. "QoD"))
Attendance
8
Presentation Resources
Meeting Announcement (txt)
Meeting Flyer (html)
Presentation document (PDF) (OpenDoc)
Meeting Notes
The meeting convened at 2:30pm and ended around 5:00pm. At this meeting, Abdul (aka QoD) gave an informative presentation on SVG graphics and Inkscape. Inkscape is a powerful open-source drawing application similar to Adobe Illustrator. It is used to create graphics in SVG format.
SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is a format specified by the W3C for describing 2D graphics in XML. SVG is different than most other graphics formats because it is vector based instead of raster based. In raster formats like BMP or JPEG, the file is simply a map which defines each pixel and its color. In vector formats like SVG, the file is an XML document which defines points, lines, and objects within the drawing, along with their properties. Because SVG uses these objects instead of pixel information, SVG drawings can be scaled to very large sizes without becoming blocky.
SVG support is currently available for browsers via the Adobe SVG viewer. Native SVG support will be included in the next version of Mozilla Firefox (Deer Park), which is currently under development. KDE currently has SVG wallpaper support in version 3.4, and is working on SVG icon support for version 3.5. GNOME has SVG icon support and there are quite a few SVG icon sets available.
Abdul covered the basics of Inkscape, and demonstrated using the tools to create all of the available object types. He demonstrated how to modify object properties and showed how these changes appeared in the resulting XML code. He went over how to create shadows, gradients, and transparency. He showed some sample drawings and talked about how you can create nearly anything just by using the tools available. Overall it was a very informative presentation.
The current stable version of Inkscape is .41. Inkscape is available for free download at the project website, www.inkscape.org. Binaries are available in RPM and Autopackage format for Linux, and in EXE format for Windows. The project website also includes more information on Inkscape, along with links to SVG clip art galleries.
The next TALUG meeting is scheduled for Saturday, July 16th, with the topic TBA.
