Save $599 on Adobe Illustrator® by Using
Inkscape Instead! Win or Mac X or Linux
Inkscape is a FREE Scalable Vector Graphics Drawing Program JUST LIKE Freehand® or Illustrator® or CorelDraw® - but without the Huge $599 Price tag!
Inkscape is an Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, Freehand, CorelDraw, or Xara X using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format. Supported SVG features include shapes, paths, text, markers, clones, alpha blending, transforms, gradients, patterns, and grouping. Inkscape also supports Creative Commons meta-data, node editing, layers, complex path operations, bitmap tracing, text-on-path, flowed text, direct XML editing, and more. It imports formats such as JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and others and exports PNG as well as multiple vector-based formats.
Inkscape's main goal is to create a powerful and convenient drawing tool fully compliant with XML, SVG, and CSS standards. We also aim to maintain a thriving user and developer community by using open, community-oriented development
Downloads available For:
Gnu/Linux
Linux based Free Desktop Systems
Windows
Microsoft's Windows Desktop
Mac OS X
Apple's Mac OS X Desktop
Source
The raw code ready to compile
Overview
Inkscape is an open-source vector graphics editor similar to Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Freehand, or Xara X. What sets Inkscape apart is its use of Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), an open XML-based W3C standard, as the native format.
For Designers of all Kinds
The design process may begin by doodles on a napkin, a sketched mindmap, a photo of a memorable object, or a mockup in software which really wouldn't work to complete the project. Inkscape can take you from this stage to a final, professional-grade design format which is ready for publication on the web or in physical form.
If you are new to the process of creating vector graphics it may feel different, but you will quickly be pleased by the flexibility, and power Inkscape offers. Vector design is often the preferred method of image creation for logos, illustrations and art which require high scalability. The Inkscape application is used across a wide variety of industries (marketing/branding, engineering/CAD, web graphics, cartooning) and individual uses.
There are many learning resources available, take advantage of them!
Professional Publishing
All Inkscape projects may be exported in formats friendly to web browsers or commercial printer rooms. It is cross-platform, which means it is easy to run on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux distributions. Visit the Download page to install or share this application now.
Free Community
Inkscape is free! By this, we mean it is free of cost, free to use and distribute, and open to peek into the source code. The Download page lists released builds as well as some developmental and source code links.
The software development of Inkscape adheres to opensource standards, and is intended to provide the user community with a solid, usable product. The process is an open, community-oriented development which focuses on a small core and extensibility. The historic baseline is the Sodipodi Hydra codebase. Please consider joining us if you have an interest, skill or positive voice you would like to offer. Visit our Contribute page to learn more.
Features of Inkscape
Object creation
Drawing: pencil tool (freehand drawing with simple paths), pen tool (creating Bézier curves and straight lines), calligraphy tool (freehand drawing using filled paths representing calligraphic strokes)
Shape tools: rectangles (may have rounded corners), ellipses (includes circles, arcs, segments), stars/polygons (can be rounded and/or randomized), spirals
Text tool (multi-line text, full on-canvas editing)
Embedded bitmaps (with a command to create and embed bitmaps of selected objects)
Clones ("live" linked copies of objects), including a tool to create patterns and arrangements of clones
Object manipulation
Transformations (moving, scaling, rotating, skewing), both interactively and by specifying exact numeric values
Z-order operations (raising and lowering)
Grouping objects ("select in group" without ungrouping, or "enter the group" making it a temporary layer)
Layers (lock and/or hide individual layers, rearrange them, etc; layers can form a hierarchical tree)
Alignment and distribution commands
Fill and stroke
Color selector (RGB, HSL, CMYK, color wheel, CMS)
Color picker tool
Copy/paste style
A gradient editor capable of multi-stop gradients
Pattern fills (bitmap/vectors)
Dashed strokes, with many predefined dash patterns
Path markers (ending, middle and/or beginning marks, e.g. arrowheads)
Operations on paths
Node editing: moving nodes and Bezier handles, node alignment and distribution, etc.
Converting to path (for text objects or shapes), including converting stroke to path
Boolean operations
Path simplification, with variable threshold
Path insetting and outsetting, including dynamic and linked offset objects
Bitmap tracing (both color and monochrome paths)
Text support
Multi-line text
Uses any installed outline fonts, including right-to-left scripts
Kerning, letterspacing, linespacing adjustments
Text on path (both text and path remain editable)
Text in shape (fill shape following stroke)
Rendering
Fully anti-aliased display
Alpha transparency support for display and PNG export
Complete "as you drag" rendering of objects during interactive transformations
File formats
Perfectly compliant SVG format file generation and editing
Live watching and editing the document tree in the XML editor
PNG, OpenDocument Drawing, DXF, sk1, PDF, EPS and PostScript export formats and more
Command line options for export and conversions
http://www.inkscape.org