I just tried Inkscape today in my quest to find a vector app that can handle what I'm after. It came so close. I was a bit taken back by the fact that there wasn't a variable line width brush or pen that was not calligraphic but a pressure sensitive line that is also tapered at it's beginning and end points. I think I can fudge the callighraphy tool to get close to what I need,..but perhaps if there were more setting for this, I could get that exact tapered pressure sensitive line that I'm after. The big deal killer for me is the lack of an eraser tool. I have a fast hand and I often make my lines overlap beyond another perpendicular line. Then I will go back and erase the extra portion of line that I don't want. Cannot see where Inkscape has anything resembling an eraser tool....UGH! Would like to see pressure sensitivity for the pencil tool too! (similar to SketchbookPro in it's variable width too)

ALL in all,..a very promising app here and I hope someday I can use it at a professional level for my work. Freehand had the best eraser tool out there for a vector app,..but the support for that app is gone now and I'm looking around for the future.

Thanks
Todd

would having a modifier key that made lines drawn with the calligraphy tool be subtracted from the current selection work?
ie the same as if you draw over an object and do path>subtract?
shift got set up to do a union, shouldnt be too hard to add a subtract. Main issue will be finding a key thats spare

Perhaps what you are referring to is really what Freehand did....Let me explain what it did and tell me if this is similar to what you are saying.....understanding the vector is based on math anyway...

In Freehand if I want to erase a line,...all I need to do is select that line...(the line must be selected)
and click on the eraser tool and wipe over the segment of line I want erased....while I'm doing this,...the tool shows a black blotch as you wipe over the area to keep you in line with where you are in your erasing process.

Behind the scenes I assume it basically is deleting the nodes that make up the line...Coolest thing too is that you can choose "select all " and the eraser tool will work on any of the lines on the work canvas.

If you can think of a solution that doesn't require an unnatural step or an extra set of steps to work,....I'm up for trying this.

Xara has a way which I really hate because it doesn't much make sense to me in the way I work, It will only erase while you are creating the stroke. I.E., while drawing the stroke you need to depress a shift A and while still holding the mouse move backward and it will subtract from the line. This defeats the purpose for me. I want to create the lines and erase thereafter.

thanks,
td

This thread addresses what you are trying to do with inkscape. And this documentation indicates how to do it. You will need a development version of inskcape and will need to use the to accomplish what you want. Using the shortcut keys will allow you to switch between tools effortlessly.

If using the tweak tool does not accomplish what you want then just do simple boolean operations to shape your object to your liking. Here is a video by heathenx that explains how to do boolean operations. And if that does not help then here is the documentation for further clarification.

I hope your need for an eraser tool does not allow you to not use inkscape, it truly is a very strong editor

TDolce wrote:Would like to see pressure sensitivity for the pencil tool too!

Assuming you mean line width varying depending on pressure, I'm not sure it's really feasible to add such a feature to the prencil tool. Lines produced by the pencil tool are stroked lines, which (because of the SVG specification) are necessarily of fixed width. In order to get variable width lines (as with the calligraphic pen tool), Inkscape has to produce a filled outline. These two things (stroked lines, and filled outlines) behave in very different ways, so having the pencil tool able to produce both is liable to confuse users.

Enhancing the calligraphic pen tool is a much more feasible option: more parameters to adjust + some useful presets (so that most users won't need to fiddle with the parameters).

sas wrote:

TDolce wrote:Would like to see pressure sensitivity for the pencil tool too!

Assuming you mean line width varying depending on pressure, I'm not sure it's really feasible to add such a feature to the prencil tool. Lines produced by the pencil tool are stroked lines, which (because of the SVG specification) are necessarily of fixed width. In order to get variable width lines (as with the calligraphic pen tool), Inkscape has to produce a filled outline. These two things (stroked lines, and filled outlines) behave in very different ways, so having the pencil tool able to produce both is liable to confuse users.

How about the pencil tool vary the alpha channel with pressure? Just a thought.

TDolce wrote:I just tried Inkscape today in my quest to find a vector app that can handle what I'm after. It came so close. I was a bit taken back by the fact that there wasn't a variable line width brush or pen that was not calligraphic but a pressure sensitive line that is also tapered at it's beginning and end points. I think I can fudge the callighraphy tool to get close to what I need,..but perhaps if there were more setting for this, I could get that exact tapered pressure sensitive line that I'm after. The big deal killer for me is the lack of an eraser tool. I have a fast hand and I often make my lines overlap beyond another perpendicular line. Then I will go back and erase the extra portion of line that I don't want. Cannot see where Inkscape has anything resembling an eraser tool....UGH! Would like to see pressure sensitivity for the pencil tool too! (similar to SketchbookPro in it's variable width too)

ALL in all,..a very promising app here and I hope someday I can use it at a professional level for my work. Freehand had the best eraser tool out there for a vector app,..but the support for that app is gone now and I'm looking around for the future.

Thanks
Todd

Inkscape does not have an erase tool because SVG does not have one. SVG describes the final image. It does not describe how that image was created.

The main problem I see with any erase tool is that when it's applied to a complex image, the update, that is, the on screen refresh may become slow. It may several seconds to several minutes to update the image. That just doesn't introduce flicker between images, it introduces jumps in erasing.

At the moment, consider creating a blob that overlays the part of the image you don't want and then use Path->Difference to get rid of it.

Tip: If you may have many objects that you will have to erase to the same outline, Copy (ctrl-C) the blob to the clipboard. Then then you want to Difference the next object, choose Edit->Paste in Place and then Path->Difference.

shawnhcorey wrote:How about the pencil tool vary the alpha channel with pressure?

The alpha for a stroke is mainly controlled by the 'stroke-opacity' and 'opacity' attributes, which don't allow for variation of alpha along the stroke. It's possible to get varying alpha by using a gradient, but that's not flexible enough in general (though it would work in simple cases). A pattern could do it, but I think it might require an excessive amount of SVG code.

TDolce wrote:I was a bit taken back by the fact that there wasn't a variable line width brush or pen that was not calligraphic but a pressure sensitive line that is also tapered at it's beginning and end points. I think I can fudge the callighraphy tool to get close to what I need,..but perhaps if there were more setting for this, I could get that exact tapered pressure sensitive line that I'm after.

I think you'll find that the calligraphy tool can do exactly what you are after. You just need to get to know the settings. If you need help configuring the setting for the effect you want, let us know.

The big deal killer for me is the lack of an eraser tool. I have a fast hand and I often make my lines overlap beyond another perpendicular line. Then I will go back and erase the extra portion of line that I don't want. Cannot see where Inkscape has anything resembling an eraser tool....UGH!

Simarilius wrote:would having a modifier key that made lines drawn with the calligraphy tool be subtracted from the current selection work?
ie the same as if you draw over an object and do path>subtract?
shift got set up to do a union, shouldnt be too hard to add a subtract. Main issue will be finding a key thats spare

YES!!! Please This is something I've been mean to suggest for a long time. At the same time, perhaps consider having a toggle on the Tool Control bar to enable each mode (Union, Subtraction, Normal) for extensive use without having to hold down a key - this is something Adobe users will be familiar with.

Would like to see pressure sensitivity for the pencil tool too! (similar to SketchbookPro in it's variable width too)

I think you'll find the Calligraphy tool will do exactly what you are looking for in pressure sensitive pencil tool.