Re: [XaraXtreme-dev] Xara Xtreme 4.0 released

["bulia byak" <buliabyak@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, Apr 3, 2008 at 5:57 PM, Philipp Schmieder
<WishMaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > Is there anything specific you dislike about Inkscape, other than speed?
>  Yes, e.g. bitmaps aren't easy to handle and its gradient functions are not as
>  good as Xara's.

Both these areas are improved in 0.46. Especially gradient handling.
Now it's all fully editable on canvas, complete drag and drop support,
all stops selectable and movable by keys or dragging, with lots of
small conveniences. Alt+dragging multiple stops is an easy way to
change the gradient profile. Ctrl+L simplifies a gradient just like it
simplifies a path, removing all redundant stops. In a word, working
with gradients is now just as easy as path editing. Plus, there are
some unique features: the new Tweak tool allows you to paint a color
directly over a part of a gradient, or randomize colors of stops.
Extremely handy for recoloring complex graphics.

For bitmaps, apart from the regulars like clipping, masking, and
feathering (easy using blur) we now have a long list of extensions for
standard bitmap effects (emboss, solarize, etc.) Not as interactive as
in Photoshop, but quite usable. Also, SVG filters provide
non-destructive changes of any object, including bitmaps, with effects
such as beveling, rippling, color transforms, sharpening, and tons of
others. These are not yet too user-friendly, but the power is there.
An easier UI for filters will certainly emerge in a future version,
although the powerful and detailed Filters dialog will also remain for
those who know how to use it.

(An aside: as I wrote on this list some time ago, Inkscape's approach
is to provide access to fundamentals first and work out the best UI
for them later, in a feedback cycle with users. In this way, we make
easy things easy and hard things possible. Xara's approach, in my
doubtlessly biased opinion, is a little different: to make easy things
easy and hard things pretty much impossible.)

-- 
bulia byak
Inkscape. Draw Freely.
http://www.inkscape.org