The incoming version of Inkscape is a brilliantly engineered masterpiece designed to punch Adobe Illustrator in the face.

The scale of Inkscape 1.5 is hard to put into words.

  • A full port from GTK 3 to GTK 4
  • A new rendering engine
  • The Unified Font Browser becoming default,
  • Document Tabs being introduced,
  • Many long-standing issues finally being addressed,
  • New and changed dependencies across multiple target platforms.
  • UI/UX improvements

GTK 4 unlocks several possibilities, but it also exacts its own costs. This transition is definitely being felt in the amount and complexity of the work the developers have had to undertake.

Inkscape developers have been pouring their nights and weekends into 1.5 but they are currently feeling overwhelmed.

If you’re a C++ developer, particularly with graphics experience, Inkscape could use your help in pushing 1.5 forward.

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/work_items

Adobe has unlimited ressources. Inkscape relies on us

🙏🙏🙏

  • SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de
    0·
    19 hours ago

    Every time I had to use inkscape I had the urge to throw my computer into the trash compactor

    I really hope they can improve the usability. But I’m probably also not their target audience when I need to use it once a year

  • HerbGrower@slrpnk.net
    0·
    2 days ago

    I dont do much graphical stuff in general but inkscape (and gimp) has been nice to use when I have needed it.

  • Koarnine@pawb.social
    0·
    2 days ago

    I love love love Inkscape, use it on a daily basis. This is so exciting, is there a way to donate perhaps?

  • pikl@lemmy.world
    0·
    2 days ago

    Inkscape sucks, there’s no helping it until somebody decides the fill tool is important enough to work on. Affinity is the replacement everyone was waiting for. Just get the registration bypass and block their domains like everyone has done with adobe for the past 20+ years.

  • CoopaLoopa@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    0·
    2 days ago

    I realize this is a FOSS post, but does anyone also use Affinity?

    It’s been my go-to for vectors and layouts. Not sure if there are other things that Inkscape does better.

      • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
        0·
        21 hours ago

        Oooof I feel you so much on this. Getting rug-pulled by Substance Painter/Designer “jOiNiNg TeH aDoBe FaMiLy” right after I dropped like $200 bucks on it was enough to make me drop learning it and figure out every other way to do it instead.

        Blender has caught up quite well, for the stuff I do.

        I never want to invest time and money into some black box software just waiting to betray me like ever again.

    • ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.netEnglish
      0·
      2 days ago

      Affinity only works (easily) on Windows and Mac, from what I know it’s difficult to get running on Linux.

      Affinity was also bought out by a large investment company, so while it may be the better option now, it’s virtually guaranteed to become just as enshittified as Adobe if they become popular. Only FLOSS protects us long-term.

      • CoopaLoopa@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        0·
        2 days ago

        Yeah, I know it’s owned by Canva.

        They’ve added a bunch of AI stuff that’s behind their subscription, but for at least the last year, the program has been getting regularly improved with the promise of an iPad app soon™.

        It will for sure turn to shit in the future, but is pretty good in its current state.

        • PokerChips@programming.dev
          0·
          2 days ago

          I would assume that budding artists would have better time spent learning the techniques of a lasting open source tool like inkscape rather than a proprietary tool that will eventually disappoint you and waste your time.

    • mcv@lemmy.zip
      0·
      20 hours ago

      I recently started using it for RPG maps. I tried using Krita at first, but it can’t snap to a hex grid properly. I got very frustrated working on digital maps until I discovered Inkscape. It has a very different approach where you create individual hex polygons and clone them, but they snap perfectly and the workflow is far more convenient.

  • spartanatreyu@programming.dev
    0·
    2 days ago

    I love the idea of inkscape but can’t get into it due to a continent sized papercut:

    I can’t put my cursor on part of the image then scroll to zoom in or out, not even holding a button while scrolling.

    The only zoom it lets me do is drag a box on the screen (which is useless for fine details, or annoying when I only want to zoom in a few %), or zoom in/out by a large fixed amount then need to pan to find where I wanted to focus on in the first place.

    I sure hope the new version fixes that.

    Otherwise, I’m holding out for graphite

    • Nindelofocho@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      2 days ago

      That is weird ive always zoomed with i think ctrl+scrollwheel its almost my main way of navigation: zoom out from cursor move cursor where I want to zoom and then scroll back in

    • Slashme@lemmy.world
      0·
      2 days ago

      I primarily zoom in incscape in two ways:

      1. Using the mouse - it zooms to mouse position, so control-scroll is brilliant - even for navigating: scroll out until you see where you want to go, put the mouse there and scroll in.

      2. Using the keyboard (this is incredibly powerful):

      • 3: Fit selected object in the window
      • 4: Fit all objects in the window
      • 5: Fit the page in the window
      • 6: Fit page width.
      • 1 and 2: I seldom use these, but they’re for 50% zoom and 100% zoom.
        • and -: They zoom in and out.

      So often, I’ll click on an object, then press 3 to fit in in the window, and then hit - a few times to see the context better. Perfect.

    • schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de
      0·
      2 days ago

      Not sure I understood your problem well and I don’t have Inkscape in front of me right now, but I am pretty sure Ctrl+scrollwheel does zoom?!

  • shawarma@lemmygrad.ml
    0·
    2 days ago

    i’ve got c++ and graphics experience but i don’t think i’ve ever used inkscape. i’ll dig through the list and see if there’s a way for me to be useful here.

    also is there a way to see what issues are actually blocking 1.5? this is a list of 2000 things.

  • antianarchist@sopuli.xyz
    0·
    2 days ago

    Thanks for the info! Unfortunately I cannot help with the C++ part, but maybe I can improve something with the ci/cd/cs pipeline. Also I hope 1.5 is going to run smooth on linux with GTK4

  • Kangae_Hishiryo@scribe.disroot.org
    0·
    2 days ago

    I’m not programmer but I’m music producer. I could create one song for them so they can make a video looking to reach more people. Also I can create some SFX for them, like for the UI, the splash screen, etc.

    But I also feel insecure whether they’ll welcome this or if I’ll only add burden to them.

    Any advice? I really want to start contributing to FOSS projects but at the same time I don’t really feel prepared.

  • Hanrahan@slrpnk.netEnglish
    0·
    2 days ago

    im no developer but am a casual Inkscape user, love it. What’s the best way to chip in a few $ to help?

    • lordziv@lemmy.nz
      0·
      2 days ago

      A lot of Open Source projects like this will usually have a sponsor button on their GitHub repo where you can choose an amount to give but I think you might need a GitHub account first :)

  • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
    0·
    2 days ago

    If you’re a C++ developer, particularly with graphics experience, Inkscape could use your help in pushing 1.5 forward. https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/work_items Adobe has unlimited resources. Inkscape relies on us

    I definitely don’t fit that criteria, but, we could always stand to pitch a few bucks towards our favorite open source projects to help them thrive! Even in these trying times, we could all skip 1 or takeout coffees for this! :)

    Edit: This header picture tho… adventurer has like 6 swords sticking up through him? This isn’t slop, right? :( I’m looking really closely but I can’t tell anymore.

    • ztpq@slrpnk.net
      0·
      2 days ago

      Yeah the monster’s horns don’t make any sense either and the arms are off too.

      I’m gonna guess OP just took an existing image without looking too closely. It happens, unfortunately a lot nowadays with how the internet is being flooded.

  • MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip
    0·
    2 days ago
    • A full port from GTK 3 to GTK 4

    Uh oh. Will it work outside of Gnome? Menubar toggle-able?

    Then again, the software itself isn’t made by Gnome (unlike Gtk, and SimpleScan, Pavucontrol), so that’s likely the case.