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>2006-03-08:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID19"
        >Debian Sarge backport available</a>
        <br />
 <b>2006-02-18:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID18"
        >Daniel Baumann official Debian Maintainer</a>
        <br />
 <b>2006-01-03:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID17"
        >New Softproof plugin (colour management);
        updated Debian packages and screenshots</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	derearl	654	<b>2006-03-08:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID19"
12			>Debian Sarge backport available</a>
13			<br />
14	bernhard	652	<b>2006-02-18:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID18"
15	bernhard	653	>Daniel Baumann official Debian Maintainer</a>
16	bernhard	652	<br />
17	bernhard	648	<b>2006-01-03:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID17"
18			>New Softproof plugin (colour management);
19			updated Debian packages and screenshots</a>
20			<br />
21	bh	644	<b>2005-10-30:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID16"
22			>New Gallery Image: Anna04</a>
23			<br />
24	bernhard	641	<b>2005-09-20:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID15"
25			>Build notes for Mac OS X</a>
26			<br />
27	bernhard	637	<b>2005-07-12:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID14"
28			>New Binaries and request for packaging help</a>
29			<br />
30	bh	634	<b>2005-06-19:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID13"
31			>New stable version, Skencil 0.6.17</a>
32			<br />
33	bernhard	631	<b>2005-03-10:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID12"
34			>Experimental binary packages for 0.6.17pre3</a>
35			<br />
36	bernhard	629	<b>2005-01-20:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID11"
37			>Waratah plant drawing new in gallery</a>
38			<br />
39	bernhard	626	<b>2004-12-06:</b> <a href="news.html#newsID10"
40			>German Manual updated</a>
41			<br />
42	jpaalasm	606
43			</p>
44
45			<p><a href="news.html">More news...</a></p>
46
47			<h2>Introduction to Skencil</h2>
48
49			<p>Skencil is a Free Software interactive vector drawing
50			appliction. Known to run on
51			<a href="platforms.html">GNU/Linux and other
52			UNIX-compatible systems</a>, it is a flexible and
53			powerful tool for illustrations, diagrams and other
54			purposes.</p>
55
56			<p>A somewhat unique (for a drawing program) feature of
57			Skencil is that it is implemented almost completely in a
58			very high-level, interpreted language,
59			<a href="links.html">Python</a>. Python is powerful,
60			object-oriented and yet easy to use.</p>
61			<hr />
62
63
64			<p>Just a few highlights about Skencil's features</p>
65
66			<ul>
67			<li>Bézier Curves</li>
68
69			<li>Transformed text and images</li>
70
71			<li>Bézier curves, rectangles and ellipses can
72			be used as guides</li>
73
74			<li>Gradient fills</li>
75
76			<li>Blend groups</li>
77
78			<li>Writes EPS files</li>
79
80			<li><a href="features.html#N2">Text along a
81			path</a></li>
82
83			<li><a href="features.html">many more...</a></li>
84			</ul>
85
86
87			<h2>Status</h2>
88
89	bernhard	638	<p>The current stable release is 0.6.17. Skencil is quite
90	jpaalasm	606	usable already, even for production use, in my opinion.
91			The low version number is mainly due to lack of some
92			important features such as good text support.</p>
93
94			<p>The 0.6.x series will likely see minor improvements
95			over time, but no major changes to the core. There may be
96			more improvements in the import and export filters,
97			though.</p>
98
99			<p>Real development takes place in the unstable 0.7.x
100			<a href="devel.html">developer series</a>. Among the
101			major goals of this series is a port to GTK+, better text
102			support and a multi document interface.</p>
103
104			<p>The 0.7.x series of Skencil also supports more operating systems
105			(including Microsoft Windows) because GTK+ is ported to many platforms.</p>
106
107
108			<h2>Features</h2>
109			<p>In addition to the standard features (rectangles, ellipses, curves, text
110			etc.) that you expect from a vector drawing program, Skencil also has some
111			more advanced features like possibility to bend text along a path. See the
112			<a href="features.html">features page</a> for a comprehensive list of
113			features.</p>
114
115			<h2>Requirements</h2>
116
117			<p>Apart from the sources of Skencil, you need some
118			additional software. See the
119			<a href="download.html">download page</a> for details
120			on what software and where you can get it.</p>
121
122			<p>For Skencil to work properly with transformed text,
123			you also need an X-server capable of scaling and
124			transforming fonts. (XFree86 does support this.
125			Otherwise, you need X11R6 as far as I know).</p>
126
127			<p>Skencil currently supports only TrueColor visuals with
128			depths of 15, 16, 24 or 32 bits and 8-bit PseudoColor
129			visuals.</p>
130
131			<h2><a name="N2" id="N2">Contact & Mailing
132			list</a></h2>
133
134			<p>There's a mailing list for all Skencil-related topics.
135			You can subscribe to it via the web-interface at
136			<a href="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sketch-list">
137			http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sketch-list</a>
138			or by sending a mail with the word subscribe in the
139			subject to
140			<a href="mailto:[email protected]?subject=subscribe">
141			[email protected]</a>.</p>
142
143			<p>You can also
144			<a href="mailto:[email protected]">contact
145			me directly</a>, although I'd prefer to discuss things on
146			the mailing list.</p>
147
148			<p>If you want to report bugs, please have a look at the
149			<a href="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=100828&group_id=828&func=browse">
150			bug tracker</a> first.</p>
151
152			<p>New versions are announced on the mailing list, on the
153			SourceForge
154			<a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/sketch">Skencil
155			page</a> and on
156			<a href="http://freshmeat.net/">freshmeat</a>.</p>
157
158			<h2>License</h2>
159
160			<p>Skencil itself is published under the terms of the
161			<a href="LGPL">GNU Library General Public License
162			(LGPL)</a>. Some of the code distributed with Skencil is
163			not directly part of Skencil and is distributed under a
164			Python-style license.</p>
165
166			<p>I've put it under the LGPL, because many parts of
167			Skencil can be used as a library (and are used by Skencil
168			that way), and the LGPL is less restrictive than the
169			normal GNU General Public License when it comes to
170			distributing an LGPL'ed library with software covered by
171			a different license.</p>
Name	Value
svn:eol-style	native
svn:executable	*
svn:keywords	Author Date Id Revision