trunk/pages/index.html

title: Skencil, a vector drawing program

<h2>Latest news</h2>

<p>
<!--
 <b>2005-:</b> <a href="news.html#newsIDx"
        ></a>
        <br />
-->
 <b>2005-03-10:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID12"
        >Experimental binary packages for 0.6.17pre3</a>
        <br />
 <b>2005-01-20:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID11"
        >Waratah plant drawing new in gallery</a>
        <br />
 <b>2004-12-06:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID10"
        >German Manual updated</a>
        <br />
 <b>2004-11-11:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID9"
        >Screenshots updated; BuildImage 1.0</a>
        <br />
 <b>2004-09-28:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID8"
        >New Add-ons: skLaTeX, Calendar, 
        Equal-area proj, PolygloText, Autoshapes</a>
        <br />

</p>

<p><a href="news.html">More news...</a></p>

<h2>Introduction to Skencil</h2>

<p>Skencil is a Free Software interactive vector drawing
appliction. Known to run on
<a href="platforms.html">GNU/Linux and other
UNIX-compatible systems</a>, it is a flexible and
powerful tool for illustrations, diagrams and other
purposes.</p>

<p>A somewhat unique (for a drawing program) feature of
Skencil is that it is implemented almost completely in a
very high-level, interpreted language,
<a href="links.html">Python</a>. Python is powerful,
object-oriented and yet easy to use.</p>
<hr />


<p>Just a few highlights about Skencil's features</p>

<ul>
  <li>B&eacute;zier Curves</li>

  <li>Transformed text and images</li>

  <li>B&eacute;zier curves, rectangles and ellipses can
  be used as guides</li>

  <li>Gradient fills</li>

  <li>Blend groups</li>

  <li>Writes EPS files</li>

  <li><a href="features.html#N2">Text along a
  path</a></li>

  <li><a href="features.html">many more...</a></li>
</ul>


<h2>Status</h2>

<p>The current stable release is 0.6.16. Skencil is quite
usable already, even for production use, in my opinion.
The low version number is mainly due to lack of some
important features such as good text support.</p>

<p>The 0.6.x series will likely see minor improvements
over time, but no major changes to the core. There may be
more improvements in the import and export filters,
though.</p>

<p>Real development takes place in the unstable 0.7.x
<a href="devel.html">developer series</a>. Among the
major goals of this series is a port to GTK+, better text
support and a multi document interface.</p>

<p>The 0.7.x series of Skencil also supports more operating systems
(including Microsoft Windows) because GTK+ is ported to many platforms.</p>


<h2>Features</h2>
<p>In addition to the standard features (rectangles, ellipses, curves, text
etc.) that you expect from a vector drawing program, Skencil also has some
more advanced features like possibility to bend text along a path. See the
<a href="features.html">features page</a> for a comprehensive list of
features.</p>

<h2>Requirements</h2>

<p>Apart from the sources of Skencil, you need some
additional software. See the
<a href="download.html">download page</a> for details
on what software and where you can get it.</p>

<p>For Skencil to work properly with transformed text,
you also need an X-server capable of scaling and
transforming fonts. (XFree86 does support this.
Otherwise, you need X11R6 as far as I know).</p>

<p>Skencil currently supports only TrueColor visuals with
depths of 15, 16, 24 or 32 bits and 8-bit PseudoColor
visuals.</p>

<h2><a name="N2" id="N2">Contact &amp; Mailing
list</a></h2>

<p>There's a mailing list for all Skencil-related topics.
You can subscribe to it via the web-interface at
<a href="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sketch-list">
http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sketch-list</a>
or by sending a mail with the word subscribe in the
subject to
<a href="mailto:[email protected]?subject=subscribe">
[email protected]</a>.</p>

<p>You can also
<a href="mailto:[email protected]">contact
me directly</a>, although I'd prefer to discuss things on
the mailing list.</p>

<p>If you want to report bugs, please have a look at the
<a href="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=100828&amp;group_id=828&amp;func=browse">
bug tracker</a> first.</p>

<p>New versions are announced on the mailing list, on the
SourceForge
<a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/sketch">Skencil
page</a> and on
<a href="http://freshmeat.net/">freshmeat</a>.</p>

<h2>License</h2>

<p>Skencil itself is published under the terms of the
<a href="LGPL">GNU Library General Public License
(LGPL)</a>. Some of the code distributed with Skencil is
not directly part of Skencil and is distributed under a
Python-style license.</p>

<p>I've put it under the LGPL, because many parts of
Skencil can be used as a library (and are used by Skencil
that way), and the LGPL is less restrictive than the
normal GNU General Public License when it comes to
distributing an LGPL'ed library with software covered by
a different license.</p>
1	jpaalasm	606	title: Skencil, a vector drawing program
2
3			<h2>Latest news</h2>
4
5			<p>
6			<!--
7	bernhard	629	<b>2005-:</b> <a href="news.html#newsIDx"
8			></a>
9	bernhard	626	<br />
10	jpaalasm	606	-->
11	bernhard	631	<b>2005-03-10:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID12"
12			>Experimental binary packages for 0.6.17pre3</a>
13			<br />
14	bernhard	629	<b>2005-01-20:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID11"
15			>Waratah plant drawing new in gallery</a>
16			<br />
17	bernhard	626	<b>2004-12-06:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID10"
18			>German Manual updated</a>
19			<br />
20	bernhard	625	<b>2004-11-11:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID9"
21			>Screenshots updated; BuildImage 1.0</a>
22			<br />
23	bernhard	618	<b>2004-09-28:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID8"
24			>New Add-ons: skLaTeX, Calendar,
25			Equal-area proj, PolygloText, Autoshapes</a>
26	bernhard	625	<br />
27	jpaalasm	606
28			</p>
29
30			<p><a href="news.html">More news...</a></p>
31
32			<h2>Introduction to Skencil</h2>
33
34			<p>Skencil is a Free Software interactive vector drawing
35			appliction. Known to run on
36			<a href="platforms.html">GNU/Linux and other
37			UNIX-compatible systems</a>, it is a flexible and
38			powerful tool for illustrations, diagrams and other
39			purposes.</p>
40
41			<p>A somewhat unique (for a drawing program) feature of
42			Skencil is that it is implemented almost completely in a
43			very high-level, interpreted language,
44			<a href="links.html">Python</a>. Python is powerful,
45			object-oriented and yet easy to use.</p>
46			<hr />
47
48
49			<p>Just a few highlights about Skencil's features</p>
50
51			<ul>
52			<li>Bézier Curves</li>
53
54			<li>Transformed text and images</li>
55
56			<li>Bézier curves, rectangles and ellipses can
57			be used as guides</li>
58
59			<li>Gradient fills</li>
60
61			<li>Blend groups</li>
62
63			<li>Writes EPS files</li>
64
65			<li><a href="features.html#N2">Text along a
66			path</a></li>
67
68			<li><a href="features.html">many more...</a></li>
69			</ul>
70
71
72			<h2>Status</h2>
73
74			<p>The current stable release is 0.6.16. Skencil is quite
75			usable already, even for production use, in my opinion.
76			The low version number is mainly due to lack of some
77			important features such as good text support.</p>
78
79			<p>The 0.6.x series will likely see minor improvements
80			over time, but no major changes to the core. There may be
81			more improvements in the import and export filters,
82			though.</p>
83
84			<p>Real development takes place in the unstable 0.7.x
85			<a href="devel.html">developer series</a>. Among the
86			major goals of this series is a port to GTK+, better text
87			support and a multi document interface.</p>
88
89			<p>The 0.7.x series of Skencil also supports more operating systems
90			(including Microsoft Windows) because GTK+ is ported to many platforms.</p>
91
92
93			<h2>Features</h2>
94			<p>In addition to the standard features (rectangles, ellipses, curves, text
95			etc.) that you expect from a vector drawing program, Skencil also has some
96			more advanced features like possibility to bend text along a path. See the
97			<a href="features.html">features page</a> for a comprehensive list of
98			features.</p>
99
100			<h2>Requirements</h2>
101
102			<p>Apart from the sources of Skencil, you need some
103			additional software. See the
104			<a href="download.html">download page</a> for details
105			on what software and where you can get it.</p>
106
107			<p>For Skencil to work properly with transformed text,
108			you also need an X-server capable of scaling and
109			transforming fonts. (XFree86 does support this.
110			Otherwise, you need X11R6 as far as I know).</p>
111
112			<p>Skencil currently supports only TrueColor visuals with
113			depths of 15, 16, 24 or 32 bits and 8-bit PseudoColor
114			visuals.</p>
115
116			<h2><a name="N2" id="N2">Contact & Mailing
117			list</a></h2>
118
119			<p>There's a mailing list for all Skencil-related topics.
120			You can subscribe to it via the web-interface at
121			<a href="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sketch-list">
122			http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sketch-list</a>
123			or by sending a mail with the word subscribe in the
124			subject to
125			<a href="mailto:[email protected]?subject=subscribe">
126			[email protected]</a>.</p>
127
128			<p>You can also
129			<a href="mailto:[email protected]">contact
130			me directly</a>, although I'd prefer to discuss things on
131			the mailing list.</p>
132
133			<p>If you want to report bugs, please have a look at the
134			<a href="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=100828&group_id=828&func=browse">
135			bug tracker</a> first.</p>
136
137			<p>New versions are announced on the mailing list, on the
138			SourceForge
139			<a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/sketch">Skencil
140			page</a> and on
141			<a href="http://freshmeat.net/">freshmeat</a>.</p>
142
143			<h2>License</h2>
144
145			<p>Skencil itself is published under the terms of the
146			<a href="LGPL">GNU Library General Public License
147			(LGPL)</a>. Some of the code distributed with Skencil is
148			not directly part of Skencil and is distributed under a
149			Python-style license.</p>
150
151			<p>I've put it under the LGPL, because many parts of
152			Skencil can be used as a library (and are used by Skencil
153			that way), and the LGPL is less restrictive than the
154			normal GNU General Public License when it comes to
155			distributing an LGPL'ed library with software covered by
156			a different license.</p>
Name	Value
svn:eol-style	native
svn:executable	*
svn:keywords	Author Date Id Revision