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Inkscape

Score7.5 out of 10

16 Reviews and Ratings

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What is Inkscape?

Inkscape is a free and open source vector drawing app for Windows, MacOS & Linux, available for download free under the GPLv3+ license. The tools aims to support illustrators, designers, web designers or anyone wanting to create vector graphics.

Categories & Use Cases

Reviews

What users are saying about Inkscape.
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Inkscape a free vector graphics tool available for Linux Windows and MacOS

Luis Yoichi Morales
Senior Staff Researcher in Engineering at Standard Cognition (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Inkscape as the a free version of illustrator.

It is simple, easy to use and produce high quality vector graphics.
I have been using it to draw block diagrams and illustrations for papers.

I save the images as svg, but I export as pdf to be imported in latex.
Then the text of the figures and block diagrams is preserved as text and when printed the images have excellent quality.

Pros

  • Vector Graphics
  • Alpha coloring for graphics
  • Simple and easy to use

Cons

  • It could have more template figures
  • It can be difficult to find the documents properties bar
  • It might be hard to use at the beginning

Return on Investment

  • The tool is for free
  • Inkscape is available in Linux, MacOS and Windows
  • You can share vector graphics with colleagues using different OS seamlessly

Usability

Alternatives Considered

GIMP, Adobe Illustrator CC and Adobe PhotoShop

Other Software Used

GIMP, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe Illustrator CC, Adobe PhotoShop, Sketchbook

User Friendly.

Incentivized
CORINE OHARAView profile
Attorney in Legal at CorEtt Builders Corp. (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I do a lot of laser engraving for promotional products for our company. I can use Inkscape to convert illustrations to a usable format for my engraver. I've tried other products, but this is the most "user-friendly." It is very user-friendly compared to other products.

Pros

  • Convert PDFs
  • Provide higher resolution to images.
  • Provide easy-to-use fonts.

Cons

  • If an image is too high-quality, the program occasionally locks up.

Return on Investment

  • People like my promotional materials.
  • I have had people contact me for my information on the materials.
  • I have been able to purchase items for my business (construction) that would not have been available to me if I had not provided the promotional materials.

Usability

Ultimate Freedom of Design, modest learning curve.

Incentivized
Louis Schietekat
Managing Director in Information Technology at IP Braai (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Inkscape for all kinds of graphic design tasks. From thumbnail design for our YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn videos, to Logo conceptualization and Design. The tool is feature rich and powerful enough to realize just about all our graphic design ideas while not being too complex to use by a novice.

Pros

  • Creating mockups using all kinds of graphic elements together.
  • Creating Video thumbnails and thumbnail templates.
  • Online 'how to' resources help a great deal.

Cons

  • Background removal is a bit time consuming
  • Finetuning the color grading of an image
  • It takes some time to find the right image filter, perhaps an example per filer would help you choose the appropriate one.

Return on Investment

  • Building reusable graphic design templates reduces time taken on repeating design tasks such as video thumbnails.
  • Quickly making several design mockups allows us to conceptualize a design effectively before working on the finer details.
  • The "Draw Bezier curves and Straight lines" function allows one to quickly copy any shape to then manipulate and add your own spin on the design.

Alternatives Considered

Canva

Other Software Used

Shotcut, OBS Studio, CamScanner

Best free graphic designing software to start your career

Incentivized
Musab Nismy
Founder in Sales at Hatware (1-10 employees employees)

Pros

  • Many features, and easily accessible tools.
  • The keyboard shortcuts are very simple and efficient to use.
  • Open-source, so there are features to change the theme of the interface and make your workspace look cooler.

Cons

  • A few tools and features that can be found in other software are not available in Inkscape.
  • Inkscape cannot edit .eps files, which are a widely known file format that is used by all designers.
  • Inkscape doesn't support multiple artboard exports

Most Important Features

  • The fact that it is open-source and completely free.
  • It has almost the same features and tools as a paid software
  • Doesn't need a huge amount of RAM to run Inkscape, it can be used in almost any computer.

Return on Investment

  • Inkscape has eliminated our expense on graphic design software, which is great.
  • We can perform all necessary jobs in Inkscape, thus not needing for a better paid software
  • Although Inkscape is a great software, it is not recognized for professional use like Adobe Illustrator for example

Alternatives Considered

Adobe Illustrator CC

Other Software Used

Adobe Illustrator CC, Krita, Adobe PhotoShop, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite

Inkscape - the ideal solution for small startup businesses with limited resources for graphic illustrations.

Incentivized
David EdellView profile
President in Manufacturing at Bay Armour, LLC (1-10 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Drawing prototype devices and illustrations for products.

Pros

  • much like adobe illustrator
  • runs fast on my old workstation
  • donation based
  • very easy setup guide on startup
  • nice set of useful templates

Cons

  • startup screen could use close/minimize buttons

Most Important Features

  • enough templates to get a start on illustrations
  • sufficient import/export formats to achieve virtually any use.
  • nice manual along with tutorials for beginners through novices.

Return on Investment

  • fast, efficient illustrations
  • inexpensive (donation based) enough for a tiny business
  • now can make custom labels for test products using our in-house printer

Alternatives Considered

Adobe Illustrator CC

Other Software Used

Adobe Illustrator CC, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite