A Guide to Inkscape/Glossary

This is the glossary which includes terms within the book that are either newly introduced, uncommon, or specialized.

3

3D

In graphics, 3-D (three dimensions) describes an object that provides a visual sense of depth. The open source software Blender is a 3-D based graphic editor.

A

Access Keys

An access key is an alphanumeric key—sometimes called a hot key that users can use instead of a pointing device (mouse cursor) to activate interactive commands. With a few standard exceptions, an access key interacts to a underlined character in a control title (label). For example, to open the File menu, for which the access key is typically F, the user would press ALT+F. Access keys are associated only with controls that have text titles (labels).

Alpha

In computer graphics, Alpha combining is the process of merging a foreground (top) object with a background (bottom) object to create the appearance of partial or full transparency. Inkscape applies Alpha values to an object's fill and stroke separately.

Alignment

Lines up selected objects, basic alignments are typically horizontal (x) or vertical (y). The Snap Controls bar has 15 different snap modes which provide far beyond basic alignments.

B

Baseline

For text, the baseline is where most characters (i.e., "x/z") rest. Some characters like "j/q" go below the baseline. By default Inkscape aligns characters to a common baseline. The baseline icon is a very small square at the bottom left corner (default) of the bounding box when the text object is selected.

Bevel

TO DO

Bézier curve

A Bézier curve is a math defined curve used in two-dimensional (x/y) graphic applications. The curve is defined by four vector based positions: the start position and the end position ("cusp nodes" in Inkscape) and two separate middle points ("node handles" in Inkscape). The shape of a Bézier curve can be changed by; (1) moving the node handles (2) dragging the path segment between the two cusp nodes.

Bitmap

A bitmap is a display space and the color for each pixel or "bit" in the display space. GIF, JPEG and PNG are examples of graphic image file types that are based on bit maps. Because a bit map uses a fixed or raster graphics method of specifying an image, the image cannot have its size scaled larger without losing sharpness. A vector graphic is designed to be rescaled without any impact on the graphics sharpness. Vector graphics are being used more due the lossless nature of the file and are considered a compliment to bitmap editors. Many websites use a combination of vector graphics and bitmap images.

Blogs

Are websites that provide information on many topics, and that are allowed by the hosting provider. Blog postings are published in reverse dated order and sometimes allow readers to post comments and ratings. Here is an example link (2016) to an Inkscape Blog.

Blur

TO DO

Bounding Box

Is a rectangular box border around an object or multiple selected objects (shape, paths or text) that can be moved (dragged), flipped, rotated, skewed or scaled. Most graphic editors use either dashed or dotted lines to mark the bound box.

Bump

TO DO

Buttons

In the Inkscape Graphic User Interface (GUI), a button starts an action when it is clicked. A button that is grayed out is not available due to no object selection or a disabled/unavailable edit based on the selected object(s).

C

Calligraphy

is made up of two partnered, sub-paths which make variable height nodes. This allows the resulting line to have a variable heights, the fill is solid with no stroke coloring.

Canvas

The Canvas area is where objects are created, centered within the canvas there is a page area. Some artist create their objects in the canvas area before moving them into the page area.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

TO DO

Check boxes

TO DO

Clip

Clipping objects uses any combination of ‘path’, ‘text’ and 'shapes' to serve as the upper outline, where everything "below" and on the "inside" of the upper outline is allowed to show through but everything on the outside is cut away and not shown. While images can be a lower item and clipped, images cannot be the topmost item and set a clip of a lower object.

Clipboard

TO DO

CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, key)

TO DO

Connector

A line connecting two objects, one which sticks to them even when the objects are moved.

D

Dialogs

TO DO

dpi (dots per inch)

1) In computer monitors, dots per inch (dpi) is the amount of sharpness of an object. The dpi for a given image (photograph) sharpness will lower when displayed on a larger monitor. By some users the term "dots per inch" is used for image sharpness from printers, and is replaced by the term "pixels per inch (ppi)" for monitor sharpness.

2) In personal home printing, dots per inch (dpi) is the usual sharpness for images on paper. Most home printers print up to 600dpi, for higher quality image (photograph) printing is done at a commercial print store.

Drop Shadow

Is an effect where an object is repeated behind itself to create the illusion that the object is floating over the background.

Duotone (a.k.a. Twotone)

A duotone is an object made up of two colors. A duotone is created by placing a less than (<) 100% opacity, two color (i.e. green and red) object on top of a grayscale object/background.

E

Emoji

An emoji (a.k.a. emoticon) is a small image that refers to a facial expression, an activity, an idea and even more items. The Text tool can create emojis using Unicode values. While in the text tool enter the following:

• Ctrl+U, then type 1F600, and press ↵ Enter (watch the Statusbar notification area) and a smile emoji 😀 character will be created, have fun!

Extensions (Extras)

Inkscape currently provides a majority of its extensions with python scripts, the scripts add features to the software. Types of extensions that currently exist for Inkscape (v0.91):

• Input (read a file/data)
• Output (write a file/data)
• Effect (change contents in the file/document)
• Print (output to an external device)

F

Feedback

TO DO

Filters

Filters are special effects that can be applied to an image or object. Filters can vary from real simple to very complex. Inkscape has hundreds of filters, some of the more complex filters will display a sub-menu to increase its ease of use.

Fill

The painting the inside of an object or the inside of the characters in a text string.

Flat Design

TO DO

Font

A font is a set of text characters with specific styles and sizes. The type design for a font set is referred to as the typeface, variations of this type design form a typeface family.

An example;

Arial is a typeface family, Arial italic is a typeface, which leads to a Arial italic 10-point font (set). So when someone asks "What font is that? the reply should be "Its Arial italic at 10 points."

G

GIF (Graphics Interface Format)

Is a 1987 patented compression standard for bitmap graphics, and is supported by the majority of web browsers. GIF Version89a (1989) added background transparency, metadata and enhanced the animation feature, which is a sequence of bitmaps within a single GIF file.

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

Is a feature rich, open source application for creating and manipulating graphic images (photos) that runs on Linux, Unix-based operating systems, Windows and Mac OS X

Glyph

A glyph represents a unit of rendered (to display, show) content within a font. Often, there is a one-to-one match between characters to be drawn and matching glyphs (e.g., often, the character "A" is rendered using a single glyph). But other times multiple glyphs are used to render a single character (e.g., use of accents é) or a single glyph can be used to render multiple characters (e.g., ligatures). A ligature occurs where two or more characters are joined as a single glyph. The & (ampersand) glyph was originally formed from the combination of the two letters E and t &.

Grids

A grid is an arrangment made from a series of intersecting (criss-crossing) straight; vertical, horizontal, and angled lines used to organize the placement and measurement of objects. The grid serves as a framework to assist the user in the organizition of multiple graphic items (images, shapes, text, paragraphs, etc.) in an ease-of-use method.

Guides

Guides (a.k.a. Guidelines) help with the alignment settings of text and objects. The placement of guides are all user defined, unlike grids which uses pre-defined placement and is universal to the file. Like grids, guides do not print.

Gradient

A gradient is a gradual mix of colors and of a single color from a 100% opaque (full) to 0% (no color). It is also good way to create a smooth color change across one or more objects.

H

Handles

A small rectangle or circle that enables the user to control shape handles. While Shapes have handles in Inkscape, Path nodes also have handles and are referred to as node handles.

Help (Assistance)

TO DO

HSL (Hue Saturation Lightness)

HSL is a color model for managing colors under the labels of:

• Hue - rainbow of colors range (no black, white, and gray)
• Saturation - gray depth/intensity range to Hue (full) color.
• Lightness - range from black (0) to pure color (128) to white (255).(1)

(1) Most graphic software providers use a numeric-value range of 0 to 255 for HSL settings, and was used as an example to show the Lightness values from black to full color to white.

I

Illustration

An illustration is a decoration, clarification or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for placement in published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video games and films.

Inverse Color

Is the opposite of another color, also referred to as contrasting colors. The Color Wheel color model is a simple way to find an inverse color. Here are a couple of inverse colors:

White

is the inverse color of black.

Blue

is the inverse color of

yellow

.

Icons

Icons are symbols that appear on most software application user interfaces and are used to graphically represent a command. A common example is a scissor symbol ✂ to represent cutting (removing) an object.

J

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

JPEG (often pronounced jaypeg) file format is specified in ISO standard 10918, the standard includes 29 distinct coding processes, with compression being one of its key features. Not all JPEG capable application use all 29 codings. Together with the Graphic Interchange Format (GIF) and Portable Network Graphics (PNG) file formats, JPEG is one of the image file formats supported on the World Wide Web, usually with the file suffix of ".jpg".

K

Kerning

Is how the position of characters in text boxes are changed. The character position changes, help increase the appearance of the text. Here are a few letter combinations (To) (ff) (WA) (AV) that sometimes need kerning adjustments.

Left default character position, right after kerning edit

The kerning example graphic shows how kerning is also helpful when using multiple fonts in the same text box.

L

Layer

In graphic applications a layer is a way of organizing complicated and many objects in a file. Imagine a set of objects stacked on top of each other. If you want to make a change to one of the lower items, it will take alot of object moving and may lead to alot of boredom. Here is an example of how to use layers. The bottom layer is be the background color of a web banner. The layer above the background may have objects that decorate the banners edges, like flowers or shooting stars. The layer above the decorations may have text, like a slogan or motto. And the highest layer may have a logo or image. Placing related objects in their own layer is useful because they allow you to lock/unlock and view/hide layers you are not currently working on. Once your are done editing items in a layer, you can lock (no editing) it, but you still want to view (not hide) the items in the layer. So when you are working the decorations layer the other layers are viewable, but locked so there is no risk of accidently changing an item in another layer. The more complex the graphic, the more layers should be used.

Lorem Ipsum

Creates an effect string of filler text that displays Latin characters. It is used as a place holder for text dependant publications like the front page of a newspaper, slide show and a flyer. This effect assist the artist as it allows the creation of graphics involved in desktop publishing, without having to 'wait' on actual text to complete the graphic design portion of the file. Flowed text is another compliment edit for the Lorem Ipsum effect/extension.

Lossless

Lossless compression is a term that describes the compression of a file. All of the original data is untouched when the file is uncompressed. The GIF image file is a format that uses lossless compression.

The opposite of lossless is lossy compression which reduces a file by permanently removing some of its data. When the file is uncompressed not all the original data is restored. The JPEG image file, used for photographs and other images, has edit based lossy compression. That can make a trade-off between file size and image quality when the compression rate is set.

M

Mask

TO DO

Menu bar

TO DO

Menu types

TO DO

Drop Down menus : TO DO

Popup menus : TO DO

sub-menus : TO DO

Mouseover (a.k.a. Hover, Rollover)

Is is a graphical feedback item that is activated when the user moves or "hovers" the pointer over a software's user interface buttons (icons), numeric-value boxes and other software graphics (guides, snapping, etc) all referred to as trigger items. Once a user interface item is triggered by a mouseover, it will provide feedback by generating a button tooltip. The tip should provide a short, easy to understand description of the button's feature and (if applicable) its assigned shortcut key.

N

Node

A point on a path or shape at which the path or shape can be changed.

Notification Display Area

TO DO

Numeric-value boxes

TO DO

O

Opacity

TO DO

Openclipart Library

TO DO

OpenDyslexic Font

OpenDyslexic is a open source font created to increase readability for readers with dyslexia. The typeface includes regular, bold, italic, and bold-italic styles. OpenDyslexic is free for Commercial and Personal use.

P

Palette

TO DO

Panning

TO DO

Paths

TODO

Pictograph

TO DO

Pixel

TO DO

Pixelated

TO DO

PNG (Portable Network Graphics)

TO DO

Properties

TO DO

Prefernces

TO DO

R

Raster

TO DO

Rectangular Coordinates

TO DO

Render

TO DO

Rollover (a.k.a. Mouse-over)

TO DO

Rubberband

TO DO

RGB (Red Green Blue)

TO DO

S

Scalable Font

TO DO

Scans

TO DO

Screen Captures (Screen Shots)

TO DO

Scripts

TO DO

Scrollbars

TO DO

Shapes

TO DO

Spin Boxes

TO DO

Stamp

TO DO

Statusbar

TO DO

Stroke

TO DO

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)

TO DO

T

Template

TO DO

Text Styling

TO DO

Texture

TO DO

Thumbnail

TO DO

Tooltip

TO DO

U

Unicode

TO DO

W

Wallpapers

TO DO

WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get)

TO DO

X

X and Y Coordinates

TO DO

XML (Extensible Markup Language)

TO DO

XML Editor

TO DO

Z

Z-order

TO DO

Zoom

TO DO