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View Full Version : Finally Switched Over - Inkscape > Illustrator!


acelin
July 9th, 2008, 05:12 AM
So I have been stuck on Vista for a while - I could never part with Adobe Illustrator. However, I was messing around with Inkscape trying to learn it, and realized how advanced it really is. I can do things in Inkscape that I never could do in Adobe- I have so much more control over my art.

So officially, I have switched over. Havent turned on Windows in quite a few days!

I feel so free in the computer now... and my passion for Ubuntu has grown exponentially I have switched over 16 people this week- 16! They all love it and keep on giving me thanks for freeing them too.
smartboyathome
July 9th, 2008, 05:15 AM
The only tool I want from Illustrator is the Mesh tool, so I can do gradients along paths.
acelin
July 9th, 2008, 05:18 AM
That would be cool- do I hear plug in? lol
smartboyathome
July 9th, 2008, 05:21 AM
That would be cool- do I hear plug in? lol

Do I hear needs to be supported by the svg standards? I don't think that is. :( If it could be made as a plugin, though, that would be great! :D
acelin
July 9th, 2008, 05:23 AM
Wait- I can do gradients on paths...
smartboyathome
July 9th, 2008, 05:25 AM
Wait- I can do gradients on paths...
In Inkscape? If so, tell me how. :D
acelin
July 9th, 2008, 05:29 AM
I hope this is what you meant...

When you create a path, right click it and go to "Fill and Stroke." Then go to Stroke paint on the sidebar that pops up and select the gradient button to make the path a gradient.
smartboyathome
July 9th, 2008, 05:38 AM
Not what I meant. You can create "basic" gradients (ie linear or polar gradients), but not along "paths" (ie, haev a gradient which "squiggles").
acelin
July 9th, 2008, 05:39 AM
I see what you mean...
mrgnash
July 9th, 2008, 07:01 AM
Inkscape is great, and much easier to pick up than Illustrator... but I still find that there is a dearth of tutorials and such to help use vector-newbies to really get to grips with it and start turning out some presentable pieces.
mcduck
July 9th, 2008, 07:55 AM
Not what I meant. You can create "basic" gradients (ie linear or polar gradients), but not along "paths" (ie, haev a gradient which "squiggles").

I'm pretty sure that mesh gradients are in Inkscape. Might be in development version or something, but I have definitely seen this on some of it's feature lists..

edit: Ok, I checked from their site and it's not included yet, although it is under development and some code is already available:

Inkscape 0.45 does not yet have gradient meshes. But with the addition of Gaussian Blur, this feature suddenly got within reach - so watch future versions for news in this area. This screenshot (SVG file here) explains the approach Inkscape will likely take to implement this feature in a fully SVG-compatible way. Some of the code to be used for gradient meshes is currently in a separate library available from lib2geom.sourceforge.net.