Topic: Inkscape

Talk title: Introducing Inkscape - freely create print-ready scientific figures and posters
Presenter: Johannes Keyser johannes.keyser@sport.uni-giessen.de
Date: 22 June 2022
Notes by: Christian Krippes and Johannes Keyser
License: CC0 1.0 Universal, see https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Download and Install

Inkscape can be installed on MacOs, Windows and Linux. More info about the current version can be found at https://inkscape.org/release/.

Inkscape is a free, open source software to work with vector graphics.
Inkscape produces W3C compliant SVG files.
Fundamentally, Inkscape creates icons, images and figures as vector graphics, not as rasterized images with pixels. In Inkscape, you can easily draw paths that are ultimately described as mathematical functions and thus look perfect at any zoom level. That means your drawings are scalable, interoperable, and have clean appearance of those etc. More information on vector graphics on Wikipedia.
Great free alternative to Adobe Illustrator.

For drawings of experiment setups: For example, to “re-draw” old scientific figures of low quality to reuse/extend them in your presentation or publication.
For data plots: You can rearrange, scale, simplify, or combine content of plots that you exported from your analysis software.
For creation of icons/drawings for your presentation slides: Easily copy & paste into e.g. Powerpoint or LibreOffice.
For annotation of photographs or other raster-based images (e.g. from a microscope) with text, arrows, etc.
For machine tools: Inkscape’s path-based drawings can also be used for physical tools like lasercutter, router, 3D-printer or cross-stitch-machines in the MAGIE Makerspace!
For creating scientific posters, e.g. using the JLU design guidelines (available here; HRZ login required).

For web/editing, keep it SVG - it’s an open standard by the W3C.
- Basically all browsers render SVGs nowadays.
- Note that SVG is a “text file” based on XML: You can hack around even via text editing.
For digital reading: Use PDF for highest compatibility.
For printing: Use PDF, and render text as paths, to avoid missing/mismatching fonts.
- Note there’s no support yet for CMYK conversion, see more info in FAQ here.
As a last resort, you can export to PNG bitmap; use other tools to convert to other formats.

When working with Inkscape, use an actual mouse with a wheel, and learn the effects of the keys Ctrl and Shift.
You can render LaTeX formulas, e.g. with the tool Extensions -> Render -> LaTeX….
Often, imported objects are nested in a group that must be undone before you can edit properly. More possible cases are listed here in the FAQ.
For justified text (e.g. on a poster), you need to create flowed text instead of simple/plain text. Flowed text is created by clicking and dragging with the Text tool, while a simple click creates plain text. Before you print: Convert all texts to paths, to avoid missing fonts on the printer’s side. For more info, read here.
Beware of gradient fills: They currently are not universally supported by all programs. The safest route is to avoid them for now when you want to print.

Inkscape extension Scientific Inkscape helps with resizing etc. Same Plugin on GitHub
Unfortunately, the JLU style guide recommends proprietary fonts Foundry Form Sans or Calibri. Instead, you can use the freely licensed font Carlito that basically looks the same; e.g. https://fontlibrary.org/en/font/carlito.
As an aside: Johannes used the tool key-mon to show his keyboard and mouse usage during his presentation. (It is available only for Linux.)