Inkscape is a professional solution for creating beautiful and scalable vector graphics. The best part is that itโs completely free, open-source software that gives you the tools to design all sorts of visualsโlogos, illustrations, icons, maps, and moreโwithout needing to spend a dime on expensive software.
Today marks the incredible 21st anniversary of this amazing software, and we can’t miss out. But before we go any further, we’d like to introduce our readers to the story behind its creation briefly.
Inkscapeโs journey began in 2003, sparked by the vision of a small group of developers passionate about creating a free and open-source alternative to proprietary vector graphics software. The idea behind Inkscape was simple yet ambitious: to build a powerful, user-friendly, and entirely free vector graphics tool that could empower anyone, anywhere, to create.
The origins of Inkscape can be traced to another open-source project called Sodipodi, an early attempt at creating a vector graphics editor based on the W3C’s Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format. However, while Sodipodi laid some foundational work, four developers saw the potential for a more feature-rich, community-focused program.
After a friendly split from the original Sodipodi project, they decided to start fresh with Inkscape, bringing new ideas, a different development philosophy, and a focus on creating a collaborative community. And so, on November 6, 2003, one of them, Bryce Harrington, posted the following message, bringing the new project to life:
Nathan, mental, Ted and myself have decided to embark on our own direction with the Sodipodi codebase. We have recently reworked the Sodipodi codebase to build with a C++ compiler and renamed it ‘Inkscape’. We have also set up a project on Sourceforge and established a new website at http://www.inkscape.org.
Twenty-one years later, Inkscape stands as a symbol of creative freedom and accessibility, embodying the original vision of its founders and proving that open-source software can compete on a global stage.
The software now supports all the advanced tools required for a professional graphics tool and is seamless in integration with other open-source and proprietary applications, making it a highly competitive choice in the vector graphics field.
As our readers might guess, being heavily open-source supporters at linuxiac.com, Inkscape is essential for crafting nearly every graphic image you see here. Alongside GIMP, our go-to for raster editing, Inkscape plays a vital role in shaping our visual identity.
It’s hard to describe how delighted we are to have such a fantastic professional solution in our hands that we can rely on to create our visual identity. If you havenโt given it a try yet, you absolutely should. The software is sure to exceed your expectations, and the recently released v1.4 is better than ever.
So, thank you for all, and happy 21st birthday, Inkscape! Keep drawing freely!
