Write your own extensions for Inkscape
Tutorial – Inkscape Scripts
Inkscape's extensions add many useful features. Here's how to write your own.
Badly documented software is common. In fact, I'd say that for free software it is almost the norm. It is also what … er … "inspires" most of my Linux Magazine articles. I set out to do something, hit the wall of insufficient or non-existent documentation, doggedly try to do it anyway, and if I succeed, hey presto, an article.
Which brings me to Inkscape's extensions. Inkscape is a wonderful piece of software, a testament to how good free and open source, community-built applications can be. However, when I began exploring it, I found the documentation of the extension engine to be staggeringly bad. For starters, a link to a Python Effect Tutorial in the Inkscape wiki leads to an empty page ("[extensions under review]") that was last "modified" in 2008!
To add insult to injury, Inkscape was recently updated to version 1.0, after being in the 0.9x circle of hell for years. Much rejoicing was to be had. Alas, with the overhaul of looks and features came an overhaul of the scripting API, and you probably guessed what happened with the docs – nothing. The little documentation there is on the API is still for the old version and is completely obsolete.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Digital Autonomy
• How the Fediverse Found Parts for Its Platforms
• The Answer Was Already on the Shelf
• Changing the Chip Industry: How Public Investment Has Grown Open Silicon
• United Nations Open Source Portal Goes Live
• EU Open Source Strategy Plays Key Role in Tech Sovereignty Package
• France Says “Au Revoir” to Microsoft
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux 7.4 is "Much Healthier" Thanks to AI
At nearly 42 million lines, Linux 7.4 is the largest merge in the history of the kernel.
-
Working Exploit for a Linux Kernel Flaw Made Public
Even before a bug received its CVE identifier or an upstream fix, the local privilege escalation vulnerability exploit found its way into the wild.
-
r/opensource Bans AI-Assisted and AI-Related Projects
The de facto subreddit for all things open source has not only banned AI-related projects but also users who "don't speak English."
-
Bottlenecks Discovered by Meta Engineers Lead to Scalability Improvements
Thanks to a small group of engineers at Meta, the Linux kernel module kernfs has been improved, which has led to some serious gains.
-
PwnEscape Poses VM Vulnerability
A guest-to-host escape flaw in Linux KVM, named PwnEscape, might be yet another means of attacking Linux.
-
Linux Mint 27 Set for a Christmas Release
The developers behind Linux Mint have announced a Christmas release, and it looks like Santa's sack will be brimming with features.
-
Is Linus Torvalds Vibe Coding?
The creator of Linux has added AI into his process for Linux kernel development, and it's more than just for debugging.
-
openKylin 3.0 Released with Expanded AI Integration
The latest release features a pre-installed AI agent to help perform tasks.
-
DigitalOcean Ends Open Source Credits Program
In a change that has surprised many open source developers, DigitalOcean has decided to sunset its Open Source Credits Program.
-
Office 365 Available for Testing on Linux via Bottles
Linux users can now test the official Office 365, thanks to Mirko Brombin's work on Bottles.