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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."
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
Apparently, EXIF data is kept in JPEG files from version 1.3.16, which should be what you're after.
What would put GIMP on the map is an easier interface (although 1.3 is a vast improvement, it still ain't photoshop)
Also, if you want a good vector graphics editor for free, try SodiPodi. It's good. Especially for a 0.3 level program.
P.S. This isn't meant to be rude to GIMP. It's being compared only to THE BEST. They actually have a better interface than most other programs that compete with Photoshop (that is, programs that I've tried).
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.
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