Greetings, and a question about line drawings for patents.

[cfg]

Hello Inkscape users. I haven't downloaded Inkscape yet, and thought I should post my question first. I would like to patent an invention. I am new to the process, but I know I'll need a (simple) drawing program moving forward. There are many options for design programs (free and paid for) but I am well aware of the fact that many CAD programs would have a steep learning curve and would likely contain many functions I would never use.

In any event, in my research I came across Inkscape as a possible program for patent drawings. My question is, is Inkscape a good choice for making drawings that looks like these?

[brynn]

Welcome to the forum!

Oh, Inkscape would be an excellent program for that!  However, even though it might not have as many features as a CAD program, there still will be a learning curve.  Inkscape does call itself a professional vector graphics tool, and we finally see the long awaited version 1.0 on the horizon!

There's a graphics program called GIMP, which is primarily a raster graphics program, but it does have some simple vector tools.  If you want simplicity, you might prefer that.  (Although note that the tools don't work exactly like Inkscape's tools.)

However, assuming your invention would need a drawing similar to what you showed, I would still recommend Inkscape first.  That's because, as you start to learn, and you gain more and more skills, I think you'll end up being happy that Inkscape has more advanced features than you thought you needed at first.

If the drawing of your invention would be less detailed or less complex than what you showed, you could probably get by with GIMP.

If you go with Inkscape, I would start with Help menu > Tutorials > Basic, Shapes, and Advanced.  Don't worry, the one titled advanced really isn't advanced.  It's actually the introduction to the tools you would need to make such a drawing.  It's probably the one you need most.

After that, move to other tutorials, such as you can find on the Home tab, above.  There, I have tutorials organized generally by skill level.  So you can start with  the Beginners block, and pick out the tutorials that you need.  And move on to the Intermediate block when you're ready.  Also, in Help menu > Inkscape Manual, find the Quick Start chapter.  That's a short series of tutorials as well.  One of them in particular would be good for you (drawing the logo for a hiking club, I don't remember the exact title).

And finally, I guess this is my opinion, but you'll probably want to try out some programs before you make a decision.  I always advocate for new Inkscape users to jump in with both feet!

[cfg]

Thank you for the reply brynn. On average, I'd say the drawings I would be doing are less sophisticated than shown, but producing adequate results in the shortest span of time is my priority right now. In the past, I have made simple technical drawings by hand, but I don't think it's viable moving forward. I have a program I downloaded ages ago called FreeCad, and thought it might fit the bill, but spending some time with it yesterday was frustrating and led me to consider some other program. Some research led me to Inkscape. I'll download Inkscape and give it a try. I'm glad there is a forum, and I am always grateful when experienced users or staff are willing to share their knowledge. It's worth mentioning that there does not appear to be any programs marketing themselves specifically to those needing to make only patent drawings. Maybe Inkscape might at some point give consideration trying to cater to this specific market of independent inventors down the road by creating a menu with special functions that would be geared toward patent drawings.

[brynn]

It's worth mentioning that there does not appear to be any programs marketing themselves specifically to those needing to make only patent drawings. Maybe Inkscape might at some point give consideration trying to cater to this specific market of independent inventors down the road by creating a menu with special functions that would be geared toward patent drawings.

Interesting.  Would you know what features are specific to patent drawings?  I would guess it largely depends on the specific product being patented.

But maybe you mean something more like organizing the tools or features, and using certain language which patent seekers would recognize?

Inkscape does have a future goal for creating different versions which are intended for certain groups of users.  For example, one which has only the particular features for people using various digital cutters.  Or maybe one specific for architecture, or one for artists.   Maybe one intended for beginners  -- that kind of thing.  So possibly one of those would be appropriate for patent seekers.  Although there's no specific plan yet, just the idea which seems to be widely acceptable.  For now, the development focus is on the long awaited version 1.0.

[cfg]

Off the top of my head, If I were designing a mode that catered to those doing patent drawings, I would have all functions that would not be used in such drawings hidden, for a clean and simple GUI. Instead of a text insertion function, there would be a "fig." button that inserts the word fig. (in a limited choice of four or five fonts most commonly used in patent drawings) with an automatically generated line starting from the word, that can be dragged to the corresponding part of the diagram, terminating with a little arrow as commonly seen in patent drawings. A smart function that can change the weight of all lines of a diagram simultaneously might be interesting, operating almost like the exposure function on a photocopier. A palette of lines that are found on patent drawings would be neat, like dashed lines, dotted lines, different weights, etc. A smart hatching function that puts hatching in a given boundary of a drawing would be interesting, like in this drawing:

[Lazur]

Hi,

There is the connector tools you can supposedly add labels to your drawings with, although having doubts if the results would be satisfactory.
Currently the only option to use "dynamic blocks", custom objects with interactive handles are possible by "live path effects". Takes codings skills to create a new path effect, yet alone knowing how to compile inkscape from the codes...
There is an issue tracker with a feature request section, where you could gain some attention for future development to add such a working feature.

The hatching is more or less a dead end as per se. It was somewhere planned to be included in one of the svg specs, don't know the actual status of it. That'd generate a "centerline fill" I guess, as opposed to pattern fills. Which pattern fills you can make your own in easy steps.


All in all I'm more concerned about those 3D drawings, because drawing-constructing, drafting- those with inkscape is similarly painful as using a drafting pen. As a middle ground you can try blender for modelling 3D, and that program can even render to line drawing svg-s to some extent.