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Figure 7.17: Editing Image
You can now modify the image by using the tools available in the GIMP window.
Nice to Know:
You can drag and drop a colour from the toolbox or from a colour palette onto an image. This fills the current image or selection with the selected colour.
7.4 Drawing with Inkscape
Inkscape helps you draw illustrations for the Web, graphics for mobile phones, simple line drawings, cartoons, complex works of art, figures for chapters and books or organization charts.
Inkscape is a high-end graphic tool with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw or Xara X. It is multi-platform software that is freely available for the Linux, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X operating systems.
You can use it to rotate, re-size, skew, proportion, fill and stroke objects with a high level of precision. Advanced visual effects such as gradient and transparency are also available.
Inkscape is not part of the default graphics package in Ubuntu however, you can install this package from repositories.
7.4.1Installing Inkscape
Note:
There are two ways to install Inkscape. You can install this application from the repositories by using Synaptic Package Manager or from the Command Line Interface (CLI).
Your computer must be connected to the Internet while installing the application from the repositories.
1.On the System menu, point to Administration and click Synaptic Package Manager. The Synaptic Package Manager window opens.
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Figure 7.18: Launching Synaptic Package Manager
2.In the Synaptic Package Manager window, the left pane lists the categories of software and the right pane lists the packages in a category. Click Search. The Find dialogue box opens. Type Inkscape in the Search field and click Search. NOTE:
To view installed and uninstalled packages, click Status. For the source repository of the package, click Origin. Click Custom Filters to determine whether a package is broken or upgradeable. To return to the list of categories after searching the packages, click Sections.
Figure 7.19: Searching Inkscape
3.The Search results are displayed in the right pane of the Synaptic Package Manager window. Right-click Inkscape and select the Mark for Installation check box.
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Figure 7.20: Marking Inkscape for Installation
4.Click Apply on the toolbar to begin the installation process. A Summary dialogue box is displayed, which prompts you to confirm the changes. Click Apply to proceed with the installation.
Figure 7.21: Confirming Changes
5. After the installation is complete, click Close in the Changes applied dialogue box.
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Figure 7.22: Changes Applied Confirmation
To launch Inkscape, on the Applications menu, point to Graphics and click Inkscape Vector illustrator.
7.4.2Creating Vector Graphic Images Using InkScape
Note:
Page: This area enables you to specify various options for the output. For example, you can specify the Page dimensions for printing on A4 size paper. The Page adjusts accordingly and you can adjust the proportion the drawing relative to the Page.
Menu Bar: This toolbar provides menus such as file save and zoom. You can perform all operations in Inkscape by using the options listed on these menus.
Command Bar: This toolbar provides shortcuts to major operations on the menu bar.
Drawing Toolbar: This toolbar provides options to perform drawing operations. You can create basic shapes such as a rectangle, a square or an ellipse.
Tools Control Bar: This toolbar provides options specific to a tool on the Drawing toolbar. For example, if you select the polygon tool from the Drawing toolbar, the Tools Control Bar displays options to set the corners in the polygon.
Status Bar: This toolbar indicates the status of objects such as dimensions and layers. For example, when you roll the mouse over the window, the Status Bar indicates the position of the cursor relative to the window.
Vector drawing software uses standard notation to refer to shapes such as simple lines, rectangles and complicated shapes as objects.
Creating and Saving Objects Creating a new object in Inkscape requires extensive use of the Drawing toolbar. However, the options in this toolbar help you to create basic shapes. To create complex objects, you need to further edit, combine and manipulate these shapes.
1.Click the object button associated with the shape you want to draw. Point anywhere in the page where you want to start drawing the object.
2.Drag the cursor to the desired size of the object. The object is displayed in the page.
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Figure 7.23: Drawing an Object
The Tools Control Bar displays options to create the object. For example, if you are creating a rectangle, the toolbar provides the option to specify the height and the width of the rectangle.
3.After creating the shape, click Save on the Command Bar. The Select file to Save to dialogue box is displayed. Type the name of the file in the Name text box, specify the location where you want to save the file and click Save.
Figure 7.24: Saving an Object