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>2005-10-30:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID16"
        >New Gallery Image: Anna04</a>
        <br />
 <b>2005-09-20:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID15"
        >Build notes for Mac OS X</a>
        <br />
 <b>2005-07-12:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID14"
        >New Binaries and request for packaging help</a>
        <br />
 <b>2005-06-19:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID13"
        >New stable version, Skencil 0.6.17</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 />

</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 0.6.17. 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	bh	644	<b>2005-10-30:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID16"
12			>New Gallery Image: Anna04</a>
13			<br />
14	bernhard	641	<b>2005-09-20:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID15"
15			>Build notes for Mac OS X</a>
16			<br />
17	bernhard	637	<b>2005-07-12:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID14"
18			>New Binaries and request for packaging help</a>
19			<br />
20	bh	634	<b>2005-06-19:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID13"
21			>New stable version, Skencil 0.6.17</a>
22			<br />
23	bernhard	631	<b>2005-03-10:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID12"
24			>Experimental binary packages for 0.6.17pre3</a>
25			<br />
26	bernhard	629	<b>2005-01-20:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID11"
27			>Waratah plant drawing new in gallery</a>
28			<br />
29	bernhard	626	<b>2004-12-06:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID10"
30			>German Manual updated</a>
31			<br />
32	jpaalasm	606
33			</p>
34
35			<p><a href="news.html">More news...</a></p>
36
37			<h2>Introduction to Skencil</h2>
38
39			<p>Skencil is a Free Software interactive vector drawing
40			appliction. Known to run on
41			<a href="platforms.html">GNU/Linux and other
42			UNIX-compatible systems</a>, it is a flexible and
43			powerful tool for illustrations, diagrams and other
44			purposes.</p>
45
46			<p>A somewhat unique (for a drawing program) feature of
47			Skencil is that it is implemented almost completely in a
48			very high-level, interpreted language,
49			<a href="links.html">Python</a>. Python is powerful,
50			object-oriented and yet easy to use.</p>
51			<hr />
52
53
54			<p>Just a few highlights about Skencil's features</p>
55
56			<ul>
57			<li>Bézier Curves</li>
58
59			<li>Transformed text and images</li>
60
61			<li>Bézier curves, rectangles and ellipses can
62			be used as guides</li>
63
64			<li>Gradient fills</li>
65
66			<li>Blend groups</li>
67
68			<li>Writes EPS files</li>
69
70			<li><a href="features.html#N2">Text along a
71			path</a></li>
72
73			<li><a href="features.html">many more...</a></li>
74			</ul>
75
76
77			<h2>Status</h2>
78
79	bernhard	638	<p>The current stable release is 0.6.17. Skencil is quite
80	jpaalasm	606	usable already, even for production use, in my opinion.
81			The low version number is mainly due to lack of some
82			important features such as good text support.</p>
83
84			<p>The 0.6.x series will likely see minor improvements
85			over time, but no major changes to the core. There may be
86			more improvements in the import and export filters,
87			though.</p>
88
89			<p>Real development takes place in the unstable 0.7.x
90			<a href="devel.html">developer series</a>. Among the
91			major goals of this series is a port to GTK+, better text
92			support and a multi document interface.</p>
93
94			<p>The 0.7.x series of Skencil also supports more operating systems
95			(including Microsoft Windows) because GTK+ is ported to many platforms.</p>
96
97
98			<h2>Features</h2>
99			<p>In addition to the standard features (rectangles, ellipses, curves, text
100			etc.) that you expect from a vector drawing program, Skencil also has some
101			more advanced features like possibility to bend text along a path. See the
102			<a href="features.html">features page</a> for a comprehensive list of
103			features.</p>
104
105			<h2>Requirements</h2>
106
107			<p>Apart from the sources of Skencil, you need some
108			additional software. See the
109			<a href="download.html">download page</a> for details
110			on what software and where you can get it.</p>
111
112			<p>For Skencil to work properly with transformed text,
113			you also need an X-server capable of scaling and
114			transforming fonts. (XFree86 does support this.
115			Otherwise, you need X11R6 as far as I know).</p>
116
117			<p>Skencil currently supports only TrueColor visuals with
118			depths of 15, 16, 24 or 32 bits and 8-bit PseudoColor
119			visuals.</p>
120
121			<h2><a name="N2" id="N2">Contact & Mailing
122			list</a></h2>
123
124			<p>There's a mailing list for all Skencil-related topics.
125			You can subscribe to it via the web-interface at
126			<a href="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sketch-list">
127			http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sketch-list</a>
128			or by sending a mail with the word subscribe in the
129			subject to
130			<a href="mailto:[email protected]?subject=subscribe">
131			[email protected]</a>.</p>
132
133			<p>You can also
134			<a href="mailto:[email protected]">contact
135			me directly</a>, although I'd prefer to discuss things on
136			the mailing list.</p>
137
138			<p>If you want to report bugs, please have a look at the
139			<a href="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=100828&group_id=828&func=browse">
140			bug tracker</a> first.</p>
141
142			<p>New versions are announced on the mailing list, on the
143			SourceForge
144			<a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/sketch">Skencil
145			page</a> and on
146			<a href="http://freshmeat.net/">freshmeat</a>.</p>
147
148			<h2>License</h2>
149
150			<p>Skencil itself is published under the terms of the
151			<a href="LGPL">GNU Library General Public License
152			(LGPL)</a>. Some of the code distributed with Skencil is
153			not directly part of Skencil and is distributed under a
154			Python-style license.</p>
155
156			<p>I've put it under the LGPL, because many parts of
157			Skencil can be used as a library (and are used by Skencil
158			that way), and the LGPL is less restrictive than the
159			normal GNU General Public License when it comes to
160			distributing an LGPL'ed library with software covered by
161			a different license.</p>
Name	Value
svn:eol-style	native
svn:executable	*
svn:keywords	Author Date Id Revision