Version 0.3 has been released!! You can find it, and subsequent versions, in the new
Ponyscape-Vectors group! Be sure to +Watch that group to get notified of new releases, and feel free to join if you use Ponyscape to vector!
Hi Everypony!
It is with great pleasure that I announce the release of Ponyscape v0.2! This is the continuation of my work on tweaking Inkscape to add new features and make it more user friendly! This new version adds a few very useful features, and updates the base to the latest revision of Inkscape. I also was able to fix a few bugs and submitted a patch to upstream Inkscape (which got accepted!). I've been working on this version, and have been concurrently working on a couple of vectors which I will hopefully get around to uploading soon.
I have compiled binary packages for both Windows and Linux Mint 14 (should also work on Ubuntu 12.10). To use, download the zip file and extract it with 7zip (or winrar on Windows), and run either ponyscape.exe (Windows) or bin/inkscape (Linux). You can download them here:
Windows:
www.mediafire.com/?jdyd6dfhrw6…md5: 0288d16be62b1507e9045eca23f2f1a9
Linux Mint 14:
www.mediafire.com/?i0saien2l2m…md5: d8daceb64730923df0c83539b4534ec5
Alternatively, you can download the Inkscape source code, apply my patch file, and compile from scratch. I can confirm that compiling works on both Windows and Linux, and it should hopefully work on Mac OS as well. You can grab the patch here:
Source patch:
www.mediafire.com/?scfpc9yac8t…md5: 68a3723a1c3f71f2f435d248a22188eb
To apply the patch, first download the Inkscape source code using bazaar. Detailed instructions on doing this and compiling the Inkscape source code can be found on the Inkscape wiki here:
wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.p… . Once you have the Inkscape source code, apply the patch file by running "patch -p0 < ponyscape.0.2.patch" from a command line in the root directory of the source code. If you are on Windows, here's detailed instructions on getting the patch program and patching source code:
drupal.org/node/60179 . Compile Inkscape according to the instructions on their wiki, and hopefully everything runs smoothly!
Please note that this software is still somewhat experimental... I encourage you to use it, but please remember to save often (enabling autosave is also a good idea). If you come across any issues, want to give feedback, or have an idea for a future version of Ponyscape, feel free to email me at flutterguy317@gmail.com .
I would like to give a huuuuge thank you to
Atmospark,
RainbowRage12, and
Mahaugher for beta-testing this and my previous Ponyscape version. You guys are amazing!!
In addition to the new features in Ponyscape v0.1 (
flutterguy317.deviantart.com/j… ), here are some interesting things in this new version (green is from upstream Inkscape, blue is custom):
Keyboard shortcut editor! You can finally change keyboard shortcuts without having to dig around in configuration files. Great addition on the part of the Inkscape development team.
Group clipping bug fixes. There was a bug where if you clipped an object, then grouped it with other objects, and tried to use the group as a clip it wouldn't work. This is fixed in upstream Inkscape due to a patch that I submitted.
Added "Fill-Between-Strokes" path effect. This allows you to create a fill between 1 or 2 strokes. I've replaced the "Clone original path (LPE)" menu item with "Fill between strokes (LPE)" as this new path effect does exactly the same thing when only one stroke is selected (I added this as a new effect to keep backwards compatability with Inkscape). I also changed the default keyboard shortcut to Alt-Ctrl-F as Alt-Ctrl-D is the default keybinding for "show desktop" on most Linux environments.
Tweaks to the add path effect dialog. Powerstroke is now the default selected path effect. Additionally, pressing enter when a list item is selected will add the path effect.
Inverse clipping. This works similar to normal clipping, but instead of constraining what is being clipped to the clipping path, it removes the clipping path from the object which is being clipped. It's a bit difficult to explain, but if you give it a try, it should hopefully be self-explanatory. To add an inverse clip, select your clipping path and object to be clipped, right click, and click "Set Inverse Clip". PLEASE NOTE THAT INVERSE CLIPPING IS CURRENTLY NOT COMPATIBLE WITH ANY OTHER VECTORING SOFTWARE, SO IF YOU USE IT YOU SHOULD LINK BACK TO PONYSCAPE SO OTHERS CAN OPEN YOUR FILES. I am currently working on a solution for inverse clipping which is either backwards compatible with SVG 1.1 or forwards compatible with SVG 2.0, however it is near impossible with the SVG 1.1 standard, and SVG 2.0 is currently just a draft.
Attach path experimental path effect. This is a work-in-progress and probably will be taken out of path-effects and placed elsewhere, but feel free to try it if you want. It basically will attach a path to a point on another path (essentially snapping it there, even if either path is changed). My goal is to add this functionality pre-path-effects, so the "fill between strokes" path effect can be used in conjunction with it. This could be very useful when animation is introduced as it could be used to create a pseudo-bone system.
Some more minor tweaks. You can now launch the width dialog for powerstroke nodes by holding Shift instead of Alt (this is because Alt moves windows by default on most Linux environments). Additionally, I changed the ponyscape logo to have Caramel Curve (my OC) popping her head out (although I haven't changed the official icon).
That's about it! Expect more in the future, my next goal will be to tackle the layers and swatches dialogs so hopefully that will make Ponyscape extremely easy for anyone to use! I will probably be doing a livestream at some point on the new features, so stay tuned for an announcement about that!
And now a quick legal disclosure (only because I have to
). This software is provided as-is and without any warranty. Misuse of this software or use of this software in an illegal nature is in no way the fault of the developer or the upstream Inkscape development team. The developers are not responsible for any loss or damages that may occur while using the software. This software is licensed under the GPL version 2.0, a copy of which will be provided upon request. Inkscape itself is licensed under the GPL, and is free and open-source software, meaning I am allowed to modify and redistribute the source code and/or binaries.
I hope you enjoy this release of Ponyscape and that it helps any pony vector artists out there! I will be continuously working on tweaking Ponyscape to add helpful new features, so expect to see more releases in the future!
Merry Christmas (to those who celebrate it), and Happy Hearth's Warming!!
-flutterguy317
