Inkscape is avector graphics editorapplication for graphically editingSVG files. It is an open source, freely downloadable application, released under the terms of theGNU General Public License. It is available on Windows, macOS, and GNU/Linux.
→See alsoInkscape on Wikipedia for more information,commons:Inkscape for related media, andthe official site to download.
→SeeHelp:Vector graphics tutorial#Saving your work for Wikipedia for how to.
As well as the possibility of exporting in various formats, Inkscape allows you to save SVGs mainly in two different ways (since 0.47, you can also save as "Optimized Inkscape SVG" withScour implemented,which is in most casesmore preferred for Commons). At the drop-down box in the save dialogue, you can choose between "Inkscape SVG" and "Plain SVG". You should be aware of how these two options differ, and make an informed decision.
<inkscape:label>, shown in> Object > Object Properties.If it is important for you, it is possible to embed metadata, including author, full file description, license info and more. Even if someone takes your file and uses it on their website without attribution, the info will always be inside the file itself for anyone who looks at it.
Files saved as SVG by other programs (e.g. Adobe Illustrator) may have the same bugs as Inkscape SVGs. It is therefore often a good idea to open these files in Inkscape and then save them as plain SVG in order to clean out the bugs and other junk.
On the other hand, if you edit an Inkscape SVG file with another application, any Inkscape-specific labels may be lost.
If you think the file will need further editing in Inkscape, then save as an Inkscape SVG. On the other hand, saving as "Plain SVG" may lose information useful to you. You may wish to create a plain version just for uploading and keep a fancy master version for your own purposes, or to tell it is "stored in Inkscape SVG", tag your graphic with {{ Created with Inkscape | IMPORTANT = yes }} which gives:
or {{ Image generation | Im | + | s = }} which gives:
If you edit it with other software, and all Inkscape labels, metadata and other specific information are dismissed, then you could either upload a new version under another name (e.g., using{{Attrib}} or theOther versions section of{{Information}}), or you merge labels manually into the source code, such as withdiff utility or a merge program. But that could get time-consuming after major changes have been made to the paths.
When saving files to your own computer, you might also want to consider saving them as Compressed Inkscape SVG (binary SVG,.svgz). Remember, however, that Commons does not support this format.
Inkscape is able to embed images (which you imported by>File >Import) in PNG format:>Effects > Images > Embed all Images. If you embed a high-resolution image, then the SVG will get quite big. On the other hand, embedded small low-resolution bitmaps can cause bad quality of the rendered PNGs as they will be scaled as any bitmap. It runs againstCommons:Transition to SVG and such files are tagged{{BadSVG}}.
Inkscape is able to configured to put all attributes on the same line as the element tag, each attribute is separated by single space, you can enable it by checking "Inline attributes" from its Preferences (>Edit >Preferences >Input/Output >SVG output). This option will effectively reduce file size for some complex files even if you save file as Inkscape SVG.
→ See also:Help:SVG#Tagging SVG files, for an overview how to categorize and mark SVGs
 | Thisbitmap image was downsampled from anInkscape vectorial image, causing some loss of quality. Try asking the author for theSVG source. |
This image was created withInkscape .
IMPORTANT=yes option seeHandling Inkscape SVGInkscape directs users to the tutorials included in the program (access via Help > Tutorials).
<Path >Trace Bitmap using Potrace, seeHelp:SVG#Converters, tools for converting bitmaps to vector→ See also theofficial Inkscape Wiki, section "User Documentation". Alternatively, searching for "Inkscape tutorial" in your preferred Internet search engine, will yield some further tutorials.
If you find Wikimedia sites render your Inkscape-generated SVGs with incorrect or mangled text, please seeHelp:SVG#Fonts. The most likely problem is that the Wikimedia site may not support all fonts. You may find that very few fonts provided by Inkscape are in fact supported, or in some cases, none at all. Look for alist of free fonts here, although your Inkscape may have none of them.
Some Wikimedia-supported fonts available in Inkscape 0.45:
Some fonts available in Inkscape 0.45 that give least problems on Wikimedia sites:
The quick-and-dirty workaround is to convert text to paths; this makes the resulting SVG file less editable, but more likely to display correctly.
Mysterious rectangles (usually black) in Commons-rendered PNGs are almost always due to the presence of "flowtext" elements which are not compatible with the software used on Commons. This can be diagnosed atCommons:Commons SVG Checker. The solution is to unflow all text, and to delete empty flowed text elements (though it may be difficult to locate and select such within Inkscape). The unflow command can be found underText on the menu.
Text laid out along a curved arc is simply omitted in Commons-rendered PNGs. The quick-and-dirty workaround is to convert text to paths.
The most validating errors are not really harmful, they are simply from proprietary Inkscape/Sodipodi extensions. But to make Inkscape SVG files anyway valid according to the guidelines of W3C andits validator, these steps are required and work every time:
Now you can add the template{{ValidSVG}}.
If this still hasn't worked, then you can open the file in a text editor (Inkscape also includes its own XML editor). SVG files consist of XML code and this code can be edited.