Write Inkscape extensions that modify objects

Accumulations

There is one problem with the extension. I realized quite early on that the effect was accumulative, that is – when the script applies a new deformation to a path, it applies it to the previously deformed path. This means that, over time, your object will become more and more deformed (Figure 4).

Figure 4: The rectangles in the first frame (left) and the last frame (right) of this animation should be deformed to the same degree. Since deformation is accumulative, the rectangle in the last frame is noticeably more deformed.

This is not what I wanted, but I also thought "Interesting," so I decided to make it an option, hence the accumulate parameter on line 8 in tremble.inx (Listing 3). However, I have not figured out how to avoid the accumulation, so, for the moment the extension acts as if it is always on.

That said, as long as the radius is relatively small and the clip short, it shouldn't be too noticeable. When I hit on the solution, I will update the code. If you find this extension useful, you will be able to download the updated version from my GitLab account [4].

Either way, that is not the point of the article. The point was always to show off the power of Inkscape's extension toolkit, and very powerful it is.

All it needs now is comprehensive documentation to match. Have fun!

Infos

  1. "Magic Circle: Write your own extensions for Inkscape" by Paul Brown, Linux Magazine, issue 239, October 2020, pg. 88, https://www.linux-magazine.com/Issues/2020/239/Magic-Circle
  2. How to make wobbly text using After Effects: https://youtu.be/XXDxkMOCKgQ
  3. Inkscape's available Doxygen documentation for extensions, which includes source code: http://inkscape.gitlab.io/inkscape/doxygen-extensions/
  4. Paul Brown's Linux Magazine GitLab repository: https://gitlab.com/linux-magazine

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