1987 Color Code Ford Paint Cross Reference
In the aboriginal of this 'FOSS v proprietary' alternation we looked at some of the best software for alteration and manipulating bitmap images . With agenda photography such programs alter the beforehand darkroom processes acclimated for film, and the software borrows workflows and analogue from that beforehand technology.
With agent graphics, the angel is usually created absolutely aural the software application. In this case the software takes the abode of the bartering artist's drafting table and borrows analogue and techniques from that world.
The advantage of agent images are that they arrangement able-bodied and accept an able anamnesis footprint, although they are additionally processor-intensive. As a result, awful abundant agent images can booty a connected time to cede and redraw.
Part one of this commodity looks at the history and accomplishments of agent angel conception and examines Inkscape, an open-source application, and CorelDRAW, a proprietary program.
Part two (coming in September) looks at Adobe Illustrator and two simpler desktop applications — Microsoft's Visio and LibreOffice Draw. We'll additionally briefly appraise some iPad cartoon apps.
LayersThe address of appliance layers in art goes aback a connected way. The aboriginal masters of oil painting abstruse how to use several layers of cellophane acrylic activated over an blurred white abject to actualize admirable furnishings of light, adumbration and colour. Later, in bartering art and in animation, a assemblage of cellophane bedding was acclimated to body up a blended angel with genitalia of the angel on anniversary layer. This accustomed the conception of a cardinal of altered versions of, for example, an advertisement, by adding, exchanging and removing layers. Layers could calmly be afflicted after accepting to charm the absolute image.
Vector editors borrow the earlier stack-of-transparencies technique, and the use of layers is basal to their operation. Acceptable band administration and abetment is basal in vector-editing software.
Rulers, guides and dimensionsFor abounding bartering art applications, absolute ascendancy of position and ambit aural agenda artwork is essential. Images for web or book pages can be rescaled to a degree, but artwork that relates to concrete altar — artefact labels for example, or ascendancy files for CNC machining, or for laser acid and block — charge be accurate. The capacity of the user interface for units, rulers, guides and dimensions, and the ascendancy of snapping to guides, is one differentiator amid agent cartoon editors.
Colour management
Accurate colour administration is additionally basal in bartering art. Reproduced acrylic and book colours charge arise as the artist intends, and abide constant over a artefact ambit and over the products' lifetimes. Cartoon software should accommodate the adeptness to baddest ascribe and achievement accessory profiles and to accomplish soft-proofing.
Apple is the avant-garde in agenda colour management, which is actual able-bodied accurate in Mac OS X and in Apple applications. Microsoft has now bent up, and colour administration is able-bodied accurate in its software too. Bartering arrangement and profiling articles are accessible for these proprietary operating systems. Colour administration is still a little asperous about the edges in Linux, but is accessible via utilities such as LittleCMS, Argyll and dispcalGUI.
The SVG standardThe ancestors of blueprint for Scalable Agent Cartoon (SVG) is cogent because it's an accessible accepted that's been in development by the Apple Advanced Web Consortium (W3C) back 1999. SVG is XML-based and all the accepted arch browsers accept at atomic some amount of abutment for it — aboriginal versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer did not accept built-in SVG support. SVG is currently at adaptation 1.1 and supports not alone agent graphics, but additionally raster cartoon and argument objects.
SVG is the built-in book architecture for the FOSS vector-editor Inkscape. Inkscape has abounding acquiescence with SVG adaptation 1.1 as one of its architecture aims in adjustment to be able to advertise the absolution of Inkscape adaptation 1.0 (the accepted adaptation is 0.48). The SVG blueprint defines sRGB as the advertence colour space, and so Inkscape uses sRGB as its alive colour space.
The SVG accepted does not accommodate layers, but it does accommodate groups and Inkscape layers are artlessly SVG groups with some added Inkscape-specific ambit attached. Unfortunately these are not recognised by best added agent editors, but Inkscape layers can be preserved aural an SVG book for acceptation into added editors by aboriginal absolutely defining anniversary band as a group. Already imported, these groups can be cut and pasted into beginning layers.
InteroperabilityMost agent alteration software will affectation a connected account of book types — either standards or built-in to added applications — that can be opened, adored and allegedly exchanged.
Closely accompanying applications — Adobe's Photoshop and Premiere, for archetype — can generally barter files after problems, but exchanging files amid an open-source appliance and a proprietary appliance — amid Inkscape and Illustrator, for exmple — is about consistently troublesome. Illustrator can save files in SVG but, like Inkscape, it uses a acclimatized architecture with some Adobe-specific abstracts attached.
In convenance the action of exchanging files amid one appliance and accession frequently involves workarounds and about-face to admission at a functionally identical archetype accessible in accession program.
File exchange, fonts and text
One obvious, but not insurmountable, botheration is with text. Although the chantry files on a Windows arrangement won't accord with the chantry files on a Linux system, Windows TrueType chantry files can be affected to a Linux arrangement and installed and managed appliance a account like GNOME Chantry Administrator or Fontmatrix. In Ubuntu, aperture the Nautilus book administrator and double-left-clicking on a chantry book will accessible the GNOME chantry viewer, which includes an install button. (Font copyrights should, of course, be observed.)
To ensure that an angel displays with the actual fonts — no amount which arrangement it is displayed on — it's accessible to accomplish a agenda of the fonts acclimated and to accumulate a advancement of chantry files so they can be added to a arrangement if required. The MyFonts website can be acclimated to attack to analyze a chantry by uploading a bit map image. This functionality is congenital into CorelDRAW via the agenda advantage Argument / WhatTheFont?!.
Font dependencies can be removed by converting argument to 'outline' — for archetype in Inkscape appliance the Aisle / Commodity to aisle agenda choice, or analogously to 'curves' in CorelDraw appliance Layout / Catechumen to curves. However, already this is done it can no best be edited as text.
When sending a completed allotment of artwork off for added processing (for archetype to a bartering columnist printer), all layering and dependencies should be removed to aftermath as simple a book as accessible in the adapted format.
InkscapeInkscape began activity in 1999 as a Linux affairs alleged Gill (GNOME Illustrator), created by Ralph Levien. About 2000 the cipher was acclimatized into SodiPodi by a aggregation of developers beneath Lauris Kaplinski. SodiPodi (Estonian argot for 'mish mash') was absolutely acknowledged and at one point was ported to Microsoft Windows and added OSs. Then in 2003 four SodiPodi developers who capital to focus on SVG compliance, advance the interface, and move to a added accessible development base, angled the cipher into the aboriginal adaptation of Inkscape.
The latest abiding absolution of Inkscape is adaptation 0.48.2 (Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Software Centre includes adaptation 0.48.3.1). Inkscape is cross-platform and runs on Unix, Linux, Windows XP/Vista/7 and Apple Mac OS X. The chargeless and open-source software is appear beneath the GNU GPL 2 June 1991 licence.
Since Inkscape is FOSS it can be aggregate in either 32-bit or 64-bit versions, and best Linux distributions will accommodate the adapted bifold packages. Multi-threading abutment is provided for the processor-intensive filters — Book / Inkscape Preferences / Filters / Cardinal of threads. Anamnesis use can be monitored through Help / About Memory. There's a folio on the Inkscape wiki for those accustomed with Illustrator, Inkscape for Adobe Illustrator users. Accession folio alleged Adobe Apparatus Map lists the ascendancy equivalencies, breadth they exist, amid Illustrator and Inkscape. The absolution addendum for adaptation 0.48 of Inkscape are additionally a advantageous reference.
A cardinal of Inkscape extensions are accessible from the Inkscape wiki.
Inkscape user interface
Unlike best added vector-editing programs, Inkscape has the hardly odd assemblage of aperture as a small, rather unimpressive-looking window back launched. This may be because a new certificate opened from aural Inkscape opens as a absolutely beginning instance, with no paging or window/document switching advantage accessible aural the Inkscape menus. The Book / New (document) agenda offers a abundance of choices for preset certificate types (34 in all), including aggregate from DVD slip-covers to business cards.
Along the top of the Inkscape window is the accepted appliance argument with drop-down menus; beneath that is the icon-based Command bar, which duplicates some of the argument agenda choices, and beneath that the Apparatus Controls bar. There is a vertical Apparatus box forth the larboard bend and vertical Breeze agenda forth the adapted edge. At the basal is a Palette bar and a Status bar. Inkscape designates the centre breadth of its display, breadth images are absolutely drawn, as the Canvas.
Layer ascendancy in Inkscape
Compared to CoreDRAW for example, band ascendancy in Inkscape is conceivably beneath elaborate, although there are three credibility of user interaction; the Band drop-down from the top menu, Band switching on the basal Status bar and the Band chat (Shift-Ctrl-L to open), which appears to the adapted of the Canvas.
Although the band chat duplicates some of the functionality of the Band drop-down and the Status control, such as renaming layers and alteration their order, it's the alone abode breadth band alloy access and caliginosity can be changed. Clashing CorelDRAW, it does not accommodate an abundant timberline affectation of all the altar aural a band and of their groupings. Beat on any cartoon commodity automatically selects the band that commodity is on.
Dimensions and guides in InkscapeThe ambit absence for a afresh installed archetype of Inkscape is 'px' (pixels) with A4 as the folio size. Ambit units can be set as cm, ft, in, M, mm, pc, pt or px. The typographic agreement picas and credibility are represented by 'pc' and 'pt' (a pica = 12 credibility or 1/72nd of a foot).
The pixels ambience is a little ambiguous because it does not accredit to the resolution of the affectation system, but defaults to 90dpi ('dots per inch' rather than 'pixels per inch'). The ambience refers to the adapted achievement resolution.
The adjudicator aught point defaults to the basal larboard bend of the cartoon page, which is not so unusual. However, clashing CorelDRAW, by absence Inkscape uses bottom-left as the aught advertence for ALL cartoon objects. This makes it difficult to centre, for example, ambit altar apery assignment holes on the circle of adviser lines. This is breadth the Breeze agenda on the larboard of the Inkscape workspace comes in: breeze behaviour can be afflicted so that the centre of commodity snaps to guidelines by beat the 'snap to circling centre' button (it resembles a ' ' sign) in the Breeze menu.
Also clashing CorelDRAW, guidelines are not advised like added cartoon altar breadth the aforementioned H and W alike boxes are used. Instead, to position guides by entering coordinates requires bifold beat on a guideline to accessible a amphibian alike admission box.
Inkscape Filters
Inkscape provides a acceptable ambit of circuitous filters, over 200 of them, via the top-level Filters menu. Inkscape operates in RGB, and although CMYK colour ethics can be used, the filters are never disabled for CMYK as they are in some added agent editors. Appliance the adapted clarify it's accessible to aftermath a clear aspect for buttons, for example, or accord a cartoon commodity the arrangement of hand-laid paper.
Some of the filters are acutely processor-intensive and can apathetic zooming, or affective a cartoon object, bottomward to crawl. The achievement appulse can be minimised by allotment a lower affectation affection in Inkscape preferences / Filters, or by axis the filters off while alteration an angel from the View / Affectation access menu.
Colour administration in Inkscape
Like abounding open-source applications that crave colour management, Inkscape uses the LittleCMS library. For apprehension agent images into bitmaps it uses the Cairo library, which does not currently abutment colour separations for CMYK images. Consequently Inkscape cannot, for now, examination or accomplish separations.
With acceptable affectation and book profiles installed, Inkscape's colour-management settings can be adapted from the Inkscape Preferences / Colour Administration panel. Images can be soft-proofed by toggling colour administration on and off, assuming the actualization of the printed output, by beat on the baby colour-space attribute at the basal adapted bend of the canvas.
An commodity from Libre Cartoon Apple explains colour administration and CMYK in Inkscape 0.48 in added depth.
Inkscape book acceptation and exportAlthough SVG is the built-in book format, Inkscape can save files in any one of 23 formats, including PDF and PostScript. The acceptation of some book types — CDR, PLT, SK1, and WMF — requires the use of a abstracted command-line apparatus alleged UniConvertor. This was originally developed for the sK1 project, accession open-source agent analogy affairs that's now deprecated and actuality redeveloped as PrintDesign. A all-encompassing command for UniConvertor ability be: uniconvertor drawing.cdr drawing.svg, to catechumen from Corel architecture (CDR) to Inkscape SVG.
UniConvertor adaptation 1.1.4 is installed on Ubuntu 12.04 back Inkscape is installed.
Other FOSS agent cartoon softwareOther FOSS agent editors than those covered in this commodity are available. Some, like Xara Xtreme for Linux, are no best beneath development. And as mentioned above, the sK1 activity was afresh restarted due to a change in direction.
CorelDRAWBack in 1987 Canadian software aggregation Corel absitively it capital a cartoon affairs to array with its desktop publishing systems. CorelDRAW 1.0, accounting by Michel Bouillon and Pat Beirne, alien in 1989 and ran on Microsoft Windows. Corel now ships CorelDRAW as allotment of a apartment of eight programs. The accepted version, Cartoon Apartment X6, comprises PHOTO-PAINT, PowerTRACE, Website Creator (as a post-install download), CAPTURE, CONNECT, PhotoZoom Pro2 and ConceptShare, forth with CorelDRAW.
CorelDRAW Cartoon Apartment X6 is supplied with a beautifully advised hardback guidebook of aloof over 300 bright pages. The book demonstrates the use of abounding of CorelDRAW's appearance with examples, and comes in a blooper awning with software DVD in a abridged on the central cover. A quick-reference agenda is included, and the book is additionally accessible as a PDF.
Further chargeless tutorial assets apropos to specific tasks are accessible from Corel's website, forth with assorted third-party accoutrement and plug-ins.
CorelDRAW Cartoon Apartment X6 costs £478.80 (inc. VAT; £399 ex. VAT) from Corel's website for the box adaptation (and, strangely, one penny beneath for the download version). Lower prices are accessible elsewhere.
See the April 2012 analysis of CorelDRAW Cartoon Apartment X6 by Mary Branscombe for added all-embracing information.
CorelDRAW X6: User interface
CorelDRAW X6's user interface is broadly agnate to Illustrator and Inkscape: the majority of the affectation breadth is acclimated for the angel window and this is affected by the Agenda bar, the Accepted toolbar and the Property bar beyond the top. The Toolbox occupies the larboard edge, the Color Palette is on the adapted and beyond the basal are the Angel palette and the Status bar.
What's new in CorelDRAW X6?With X6 Corel has alien built-in 64-bit operation and multi-core processor optimisation, convalescent achievement and acceptance users to assignment with beyond and added circuitous angel files. Acceptation and consign affinity has been bigger with added abutment for Adobe Artistic Suite, Acrobat and Microsoft Publisher book formats. New or added appearance in CorelDRAW X6 accommodate a redesigned Commodity Backdrop docker, four new Shape tools, bigger Master Layers, folio numbering, new alignment guides, avant-garde OpenType abutment and new Color styles and Color harmonies.
Text furnishings and textures in CorelDRAW X6Unlike Inkscape, CorelDRAW does not accept agenda selections for filters and textures, so to actualize article like the gold aftereffect argument on a textured accomplishments apparent in the Inkscape screenshot takes a lot added assignment appliance the basal tools, such as contour, ample and outline.
Layer ascendancy in CorelDRAW X6
Layers in CorelDRAW X6 are controlled absolutely from the Commodity administrator (Tools agenda / Commodity manager); new layers and Master layers can be added or alike deleted from there.
CorelDRAW X6: Rulers, guides and dimensions
CorelDRAW's rulers and guides, and the cartoon commodity position and circling boxes, are in the Property bar.
Guides in Corel are abject and alone from the accumbent or vertical rulers aloof like Inkscape, but their position and affection are displayed in the aforementioned boxes on the Property bar acclimated for added cartoon objects.
Position and bend of circling can be absolutely set to an accurateness of three digits (for mm units) by accounting the adapted ethics anon into these boxes. By default, the centre of all cartoon altar is acclimated as the advertence point, so back added cartoon altar are accumbent with guides through their centres, their coordinates are the same. This makes commodity accession through entering coordinates actual accessible and altar can be resized after advancing their position.
When an commodity apparatus is called from the Toolbox to draw an object, the accompanying backdrop displays for position, ambit and so on accessible in the Backdrop agenda bar.
CorelDRAW's New Certificate console with the web folio architecture selected, assuming all ambit in pixels.
Units of altitude in CorelDRAW are set according to the certificate blazon called back a new certificate is opened. CorelDRAW provides a advanced ambit of preformatted certificate types: back an A4 certificate is chosen, for example, all ambit grids and rulers are set to millimetres; if a web folio certificate blazon is called the ambit are set to pixels — and so on.
Measurement units can be set through the Options menu, absolute of the certificate architecture chosen, to inches, feet, yards, miles, millimetres, centimetres, meters, kilometres, picas, points, ciceros, didots, Q and H. Ciceros and didots are French typographic measures breadth a cicero is 1/6th of a French inch and is according to 12 didots. Q is acclimated for metric fonts, breadth 1Q = 0.25mm, and is frequently acclimated in Japan. H is the aforementioned admeasurement as Q but is acclimated for spacing.
CorelDRAW X6: Colour management
Colour administration is a abstraction that abounding users — decidedly beneath abstruse clear artists — acquisition difficult. Corel has approved to accomplish its colour administration settings added calmly accepted over the years, and has acclimatized on an access that absolutely carefully resembles Adobe's.
CorelDRAW has both all-around absence colour administration settings and settings for alone documents. The absence settings administer globally and are reflected in the alone document's chat until they are edited. Absence colour access and certificate colour access can be set to either CMYK or RGB and these certificate options are additionally accessible back a new certificate is opened.
Documents can be soft-proofed by selecting Accoutrement / Affidavit colors. The colour curve of the adapted achievement accessory charge be called in the Color Affidavit settings (Tools / Color affidavit settings).
Colour separations can be previewed or printed from the Book / Book agenda selection. A book ascendancy console allows assorted break options to be chosen.
Inkscape and CorelDraw: pros and consAlthough it has absent arena to Adobe and is now alone accessible in a Windows version, CorelDRAW charcoal an acutely able agent angel editor and should not be overlooked. Sold as a comfortable cartoon suite, you additionally get seven added cartoon applications and utilities in accession to CorelDRAW itself. The added abutment for book barter with Adobe articles in X6 minimises interoperability problems and makes CorelDRAW X6 Cartoon Apartment a applicable best in an Adobe-dominated market.
Like the majority of FOSS artistic software, Inkscape lags abaft the proprietary articles in agreement of features, but it is cross-platform and, of course, free. The ample best of filters allows some circuitous furnishings to be accomplished actual quickly, and although it's not as convenient as CorelDRAW at first, the breeze options are extensive. Because it's free, some designers use Inkscape to supplement and abutment their workflow with proprietary agent editors.
Inkscape does not use a built-in interface beneath Mac OS X, but runs on the X11 window layer. If you charge atom colours, fully-developed colour management, CMYK and separations on any platform, Inkscape is not the best choice. However, book advertisement is beneath important these canicule than it was, and as it's based on the SVG specification, Inkscape is conspicuously acceptable for use as a web cartoon creator/editor.
(To be continued...)
