Inkscape 1.0 beta - MacOS support

Digital Media
#1

After decades, Inkscape is finally approaching version 1. It emerged from alpha to beta and is undergoing testing.

The most impactful change i see is native support for mac osX. No longer do you need to use the older version 0.92.2 & xquartz (this is no longer supported in the current release of mac os as they move to only 64 bit apps) or run it as a windows app in parallels or bootcamp.

Installation is very straight forward. I am new to mac os x and was able to figure it. Attached is a super handy video how-to.

Release highlights and details:
https://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/Release_notes/1.0
Some changes I really like are:

  1. changing the y axis so the origin is in the upper left
  2. making all lines visible
    Visible Hairlines Display Mode
    "This new display mode is available in the menu under “View > Display Mode > Visible Hairlines”. It ensures that all lines of nonzero width are visible (with a minimum visible line width), regardless of zoom level, while still drawing everything else normally.
    “This is especially useful for some CNC machines like laser cutters and vinyl cutters which use hairlines to denote cut lines.”
  • esp handy for the epilog zing

Big changes to the Live Path Effects.
Some neat effects here are:

  1. Mirroring
  2. Rulers!! Create custom rulers along any path in your choice of units and marks
  3. Embroidery Stitching. WHAT???
  4. Fillets and Chamfers!!!
  5. Hershey text - vast new powers

Theming
Template creation - saving your settings is now easy, with the ability to save several templates/default doc settings.

100s of updates!

I’ll put some classes on the basics of vectoring so you can create art and designs for the lasers, vinyl cutter, plasma cutter, cnc routers… I am also working on other classes to explore many of the options avail. Like Text. Flowing into spaces, shapes, curving it, using it on paths, creating offsets. I will be adding more examples and practice exercises to the classes so you can practice more easily (not be forced to create random images on the spot).

Download:
https://inkscape.org/release/inkscape-1.0/?latest=1

Install video:

6 Likes
#2

We had some classes on illustrator for the vinyl cutter.

In your opinion regardless of free or pay software.
How do you think inkscape and illustrator stack up against each other for all the 2d cnc machines.

Inkscape vs illustror

  • Vinyl Cutter
  • Cricut
  • Plasma Cutter
  • Multicam the 2D CAD not CAM part
  • Lasers
  • Impact Printer
    ect…
1 Like
#3

I cannot do a feature to feature comparison as I have not really used Illustrator since CS2.

I do find Inkscape incredibly powerful, and are so many features that I have yet to learn. The vector features are very easy to access and rich.

Once you have a good vector image, you can use it on any of the tools above + the Shapeoko. Except maybe the impact printer. The Metza software is very dated and does not work with current AI files or SVGs

A great place to learn about Design and working with vectors as well as bitmap image editing is:

Nick uses Inkscape and Gimp, but the ideas and techniques translate well to Illustrator and Photoshop.