Inkscape - Free Vector Graphics tool for OS X

[sebpayne]

As with my OpenOffice.org tutorial, here is the same thing but for running Inkscape. Inkscape is an open source vector graphics tool that is first class! Works very well under X11 (ignoring the interface that is) and does a great job for me! Obviously, you need X11 installed. This post explains how to do that.

Any problems, comment or PM me!

Seb

 

[techound1]

Thanks for sharing!

I'm a little ignorant on what constitutes vector graphics. CAD stuff is vector but this tool sounds more like photoshop. Which commercial program(s) is it comperable to?

 

[mduser63]

Thanks for sharing!

I'm a little ignorant on what constitutes vector graphics. CAD stuff is vector but this tool sounds more like photoshop. Which commercial program(s) is it comperable to?

It would be most comparable to Adobe Illustrator. Vector graphics describe objects using vectors, so a line is an object with a length, position, color, thickness, etc. In a bitmap graphics app (like Photoshop), the same line would not be defined that way, the whole image is just defined as a bunch of different colored pixels. In a vector app, (generally) everything you do is completely reversible/modifiable. Another characteristic of vector drawing is that you can zoom in forever and objects never get grainy, whereas in a bitmap drawing, if you zoom in, the pixels just get enlarged and things start looking really grainy/pixellated quickly.

(I might note that Photoshop now has a lot of vector capabilities, but it's still primarily a bitmap editor. Illustrator can also do some things with bitmap graphics, though it's primarily a vector graphics editor.)