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GIMP goes SVG
An anonymous reader writes "The GIMP developers released a new snapshot in the development series. Version 1.3.21 (aka the path to excellence release) features an improved path tool with superb path stroking and adds SVG support. You can now export your GIMP paths to SVG and the new SVG import plug-in not only renders Scalable Vector Graphics for you at the desired resolution, it also imports SVG paths as GIMP paths."
Gimp now Works like Photoshop AND Illustrator.
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The addition of vector graphics definitely pushes Gimp over the edge. I used to use Gimp for all sorts of little images, but occasionally had to opt for something commercial because many print corporations only use vector graphics.
Way to go Gimp! If doing practically everything photoshop can do for free didn't put Gimp on the map. The addition of SVG ought to.
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
The look of www.gimp.org will be changing.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
Get an SVG enabled Mozilla build and start playing with it. It's fun.
How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life
Your message is nothing but a sea of errors.
First, it's "layman's." (Lamens? Is that a brand of ramen noodles or something?)
Secondly, no, this announcement does NOT mean GIMP works like Photoshop AND Illustrator. Nothing of the sort, not even close. ALL this means is that GIMP can now save into a scalable vector format designed for the web. The decidedly low- to mid-tier GIMP project still has a long way to go before it even touches Photoshop, let alone Illustrator (although, so as not to seem like *too* much of a troll, I will say that GIMP is pretty darn good as a basic image editor. Can't beat the price, for sure).
I understand it's exciting to post on Slashdot and all, but, you seriously just posted a message that does not contain a single correct statement. That's pretty... err, lame.
There is also a rudimentary plugin now which handles CMYK color separations here. Also, the MacGIMP site had a story on the SVG changes as well before it was posted on Slashdot.
http://tinyurl.com/4ny52
The answer for the three questions is:
All that was added is the ability to
import and export raster files encapsulated
as SVG - AND import and export Gimp vector - The Bezier Paths existing in gimp 1.2.x.
-><- no
Apparently, EXIF data is kept in JPEG files from version 1.3.16, which should be what you're after.
It's only confusing if you're an unskilled idiot. Instead of blathering on about things you can't grasp, fuck off why don't you?
I made the transistion from Photoshop to GIMP (with 20 years of graphic design experience behind me) with no trouble. The only people who seem to have problems with it are people who either don't "get" computer based illustration or have no artistic background. GIMP is far more than a basic paint program. I dare you to use Microsoft paint to edit images with the flexibility and speed that GIMP offers. I challenge ANYONE to do this. It's simply not possible. The GIMP toolset is fully featured and usable by anyone with a clue regarding computers and graphic design. Anyone who disagrees has obviously not worked with real graphic design. I wouldn't use GIMP for print work quite yet, but it's amazing for web graphics and stuff to be displayed on screen. And remember professional graphic design != printing 100% of the time. Again, I say go fuck off.
1) I can't comment on this one. I hope they are working together.
2) Again, good question.
3) Macromedia Fireworks has had vector and bitmap graphics side by side for some time now. It isn't too great for large file sizes, but it is pretty awesome otherwise. I hope GIMP can compare to it. Once you get used to the Macromedia way of doing things, it is pretty easy to use. Your point is well taken, however, it can be confusing to edit bother vector and bitmap graphics with the same program.
The GIMP is on the road for a 2.0 release that shall happen this year. Actually, this 1.3.21 release shall be the last one before the 2.0pre release series.
Do not miss the new GIMP site, taht will soon replace the contents in www.gimp.org: mmaybe.gimp.org .
-><- no
I believe it uses librsvg. The fastest and most complaint SVG renderer out there.
(Maintained by my good friend and fellow AbiWord developer Dom Lachowicz)
Martin
CMYK is now supported in this version. By the time this branch becomes "stable", it should have almost all of the features that people have been complaining about.
http://mmmaybe.gimp.org/ has more info.
This is not flamebait, but why instead of focusing development efforts on stuff that has marginal appeal at best, the developers don't try to implement the #1 missing feature in GIMP (for photo retouching, IMHO of course)
Adjustment layers! (with masks)
and no, you can't really 'emulate' them with the currently available toolset unfortunately (remember that they have masks and are non-destructive).
I love GIMP but the absence of this feature (which is not exactly a new thing, even PSPro has it!) is really killing me...
-- the cake is a lie
> 1) Did they waste time writing it all themselves, or are they interworking with SodiPodi? SodiPodi is an excellent piece of software if you want to edit SVG.
We (or rather Sven) used rsvg to read and render the SVG as a bitmap.
> 2) Does it just import them and make paths, or is it a full-featured SVG editor? Someone else commented on it now being Photoshop+Illustrator, but that's a whole different thing. Photoshop also supports importing SVG and AI format, it just doesn't edit them. (see question three)
It just imports SVG to a rastermap, and exports paths to SVG. There is no support for the funky stuff like gradient fills, object groups, etc. This is not a vector graphics program.
> 3) Does it make this simple?
Yes. You load your SVG, specifying the size of the bounding box, and there you go.
Cheers,
Dave.
It's a development release - it'll probably get fixed fairly soon.
RTM - This linked right from their front page:
http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32/
Wow, that would be a neat idea. If only we had an open color management solution for X11 ... we could call is "Xcms" ... when we're done, we'll roll it into a system called "X11R5"! Gosh, it could even support ICC profiles. That would be swell.
(Sorry, unnecessary snarkyness. I agree that there is no good UI, nor tools, for color management in X11. However it should be noted that X11 has complete color management support built-in. It's just that nobody uses it on Linux. I bet if I peeked in SGI's X distribution, it would be loaded with color management features.)
Fastest? Maybe. Entirely compliant? Hah! In my dreams ;-)
Yes, the Gimp has stolen my RSVG plugin. No doubt Sven and Yosh have since souped it up.
Best regards,
Dom
GIMP-1.3 is actually a lot less messy and even considered to be more stable than the 1.2 releases.
If it crashed on you, you should have tried to obtain a stack trace and file a bug-report then at bugzilla.gnome.org. If you don't do that, the GIMP developers have no chance to fix the bug that hit you.
BTW, the next version will be called 2.0, not 1.4.
Bah! I tried to submit to them a Script-Fu scheme script to export SVG months ago, back at the beginning of the year to export indexed images to SVG. I never heard back from anyone.
If anyone would like, I'm making it available here. Save it in your shared/scripts directory with the other scm files. Then flatten your images to indexed and go Script-Fu -> File -> Export SVG. Enjoy! (And if any of you have any weight with the GIMP team and still want to include it in the distro, you're welcome.)
And if you still want to use Mozilla and try out Adobe's SVG plugin it is now possible with the 6.0 beta plugin.
Since it don't install itself automatically you have to copy the files from some "shared files/adobe" directory to "Mozilla/plugins", just search for "NPSVG6.dll" and "NPSVG6.zip"
It's rudimentary import and export. GIMP doesn't work with CMYK internally yet, all is RGB and 8 bits per channel. And color management is missing, so not so great for pro work.
Actually, the newest rev of Macromedia's Firewworks mixes raster and vector graphics quite well.
That program is the one reason I have to boot a Windows machine now and then. There is nothing I have found that is faster for producing web interface mock-ups. It doesn't have the same range of power as Photoshop + Illustrator, or for raster even The Gimp, but I can do basic work, and 90% of non-print stuff is basic work, in about 1/10th the time.
If The Gimp gets decent vector editing capabilities, I can finally get rid of the annoying Windows machine I keep around just for this.
7. What we cannot speak about we must pass over in silence.
Offering some kind of MDI interface for the GIMP has been suggested several years ago. This may be a good solution, as long as it is optional because some people prefer the current interface.
You can find some discussion about that in bug report #7379. The feature may be implemented in GIMP 3.0, or earlier if I find enough spare time to implement it or (more likely) if someone else takes the job and implements this feature.
Note that version 1.3.x and the upcoming version 2.0 offer the option of displaying a menu bar in the image windows, if this is what you are interested in. But if you want a shared menu bar on top of a big container window and a shared status bar at the bottom of that window, then you will have to wait until someone implements a real MDI solution.
-Raphaël
One of the goals of adding SVG support in the GIMP was to allow better cooperation between the GIMP and Sodipodi or other vector-based applications.
Until recently, if you were using Sodipodi, you had to convert your SVG file to a bitmap format (such as PNG) before being able to load it in the GIMP. Now it is possible to import the SVG file directly into the GIMP and make some minor adjustments before creating the final image. You can also convert some parts of the SVG (imported as paths in the GIMP) to selections and apply more complex effects that what SVG would allow.
Note that the SVG support in the GIMP is only due to the integration of the SVG plug-in that had been available since a while as part of libsvg. So it's nothing really new, although including it as part of the default GIMP distribution seems to make a significant difference.
-Raphaël
I don't know why you're angry at The GIMP for that. Pantone won't license the trademark/relevent patents for The GIMP to (lawfully) implement Pantone support.
You can certainly make GIMP palettes with pantone color names for RGB approximations, but don't distribute them to anyone or Pantone, Inc.'s lawyers will come down on you HARD.
DNA just wants to be free...