Vector drawing software suggestions?

[DirtDawg]

Hey all.
I've been trying to find a decent vector drawing program for Linux. OppenOffice Draw seems okay, but a little strange (the bezeir curve function works oddly). I think it's pretty much for pie charts and the like. I've also tried Inkscape, which is promising, but I find the lack of a layers pallette disturbing (unless there is one I just can't find). I also can't figure out how to change layer opacity.
There's alot of great art from the Linux community so I wondered if anyone has any suggestions? What's your favorite?
Many thanks.

[Perfect Storm]

Have you tried Gimp? It's one of the best.

[wulf]

I've been using Inkscape a bit over the past few weeks and I've been really impressed with that.

One thing it doesn't seem to have is the concept of layers, at least not in the same way as packages like the Gimp or, as I recall it, Adobe Illustrator. Each item or group floats on it's own "layer" - you can adjust the transparency of each one via the alpha channel but, once grouped together, you can't adjust overall transparency independently of colour.

However, I think it could certainly be called a "decent" vector graphics package.

What kind of drawings are you wanting to do, and what tools are you used to on other OS's?

Wulf

[Yukonjack]

SODIPODI is pretty good once you get use to it. I used it before and I like it.
sudo apt-get install sodipodi

Vector based drawing program
Sodipodi loads and saves a subset of SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)
format, a standard maintained by the WWW consortium.

Sodipodi user interface should be familiar from CorelDraw and similar
drawing programs. There are rectangles, ellipses, text items, bitmap
images and freehand curves.
As an added bonus both vector and bitmap objects can have alpha
transparency and can be arbitrarily transformed.

Sodipodi supports multiple opened files and multiple views per file.
Graphics can be printed and exported to png bitmaps.

[DirtDawg]

Have you tried Gimp? It's one of the best.
Not for vector art I haven't. I assumed the vector tools were for selection purposes mainly. Perhaps I'm wrong? By the way, GIMP is amazing. I'm completely astounded with it's quality.

I've been using Inkscape a bit over the past few weeks and I've been really impressed with that... However, I think it could certainly be called a "decent" vector graphics package.
Yeah I've been impressed with it too. I didn't think about my original post implying Inkscape wasn't decent. It's (plenty) more than decent. I'll choose my words more carefully next time.


One thing it doesn't seem to have is the concept of layers, at least not in the same way as packages like the Gimp or, as I recall it, Adobe Illustrator. Each item or group floats on it's own "layer". What kind of drawings are you wanting to do, and what tools are you used to on other OS's?
Here's the part I can't get used to. I usually draw several objects on several layers, then sort them out in the end so, for example, a hand doesn't end up under an arm or an eye under a head or whatever. I'm used to doing this in pallette form as opposed to highlighting each individual layer in the workspace, then rearranging the orders piece by piece.
I learned to use vectors in Illustrator. Interestngly (or maybe not ), the very reason I have Ubuntu Linux now was because I wanted to check out Inkscape, but Mandrake 9.1 just wouldn't run it. Best decision I ever made. Anyway, I've found, in general, open source software is designed with the end user in mind more than most commercial products (my guess is because it's designed by end users. I love it!). So in short, I have a windows machine and Illustrator, but I like working on Linux much, much better. If I could switch my entire work space to Linux, I would.

SODIPODI is pretty good once you get use to it.
Cool. I'll check this one out.

Thanks!

[wulf]

I don't think Inkscape comes quite as close to Illustrator as The Gimp does to Photoshop... yet! If you've got Illustrator, it might be worth checking out Crossover Office (I think that's the right name); I believe that boasted full support for some Adobe products as well as MS Office.

One thing I like about Inkscape is how you can also interact with the underlying XML of the SVG file. It's possible that you could get layer like control by looking at those aspects (Item Properties, XML view) and getting into the habit of giving the object sensible names and group names. I can also see how the Inkscape developers might be able to make use of that to create a layers effect. Of course, I've been working on relatively simple things so far, like some icons and logos, so I rarely need more than about ten or so objects in a design - it might be more complex if you have fifty or a hundred shapes floating about!

I'm certainly looking foward to seeing how it develops in future.

Wulf

[Perfect Storm]

Yep, it's called crossover office. The latest version is 4.1 if you're willing to spend $39.95 for standard and $74.95 for Pro.
But again at a idealist point of view it would be great to support those programs there's for linux instead.
But it's up to you.

[Quest-Master]

Guys, get the backported .40 Inkscape from the Ubuntu Backports project.

It's totally amazing and has.. layers!

[xsos]

i use inkscape, it is awesome tool i like, you must try it

[detonish]

i use inkscape, it is awesome tool i like, you must try it

I've installed it. The first thing I needed to do was to open an Illustrator file (.ai), but I got the following error:

Couldn't load Perl module Image::Magick. Images will be skipped.
Can't locate Image/Magick.pm in @INC (@INC contains: /etc/perl /usr/local/lib/perl/5.8.8 /usr/local/share/perl/5.8.8 /usr/lib/perl5 /usr/share/perl5 /usr/lib/perl/5.8 /usr/share/perl/5.8 /usr/local/lib/site_perl .) at (eval 1) line 1.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at (eval 1) line 1.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

David