Slashdot Mirror
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."
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.
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
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.
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.)
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