Inkscape review: It's all in the UI (NewsForge) [LWN.net]

NewsForge reviews Inkscape. "One obvious interface choice in Inkscape is a reliance on keyboard and mouse button combinations rather than a straight point and click interface. This choice is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, once the combinations are learned, they are far more efficient than relying on a menu or toolbars. As much as possible, they keep your mouse on the drawing, and your hands on the keyboard. On the other hand, they mean a learning curve steep enough for a cardiovascular workout."

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Inkscape review: It's all in the UI (NewsForge)

Posted Sep 23, 2005 19:16 UTC (Fri) by drag (subscriber, #31333) [Link]

I've played around with inkscape a bit and from what I've seen it's very nice.

The only real complaint is that it can be very slow. Especially if you zoom in tight to do detail work it can chug even on a very fast computer. What they need is maybe a 'preview' line option while you work a line then render the image when your finished tweaking it. Right now every little movement you do gets rendered with all transparencies with every little detail.

But I can live with that... :)

One thing that I especially like is how when you use it you get little tooltips at the bottom of the window. It's enough out of the way that I didn't even notice it for a couple hours.. but that's nice because it's out of the way. It's very handy for learning and being reminded of keyboard combos.. like 'is it ctrl or alt or shift I have to press to zoom out?' With just a glance it's obvious what the answer is.

Inkscape review: It's all in the UI (NewsForge)

Posted Sep 26, 2005 16:32 UTC (Mon) by msalsbury (guest, #32686) [Link]

I recently took a look at Inkscape, from the perspective of whether a user of Macromedia FreeHand on the Macintosh would find it a reasonable replacement. In general, I found the interface pretty intuitive and as another reader noted, the tool tips they provide are unobtrusive and quite helpful. If you're interested in reading the whole discussion, feel free to visit the article on my web site at: http://mikesalsbury.com/mambo/content/view/231/2/