examples

Simple Inkscape Scripting Examples

This directory provides a number of examples demonstrating the breadth of Simple Inkscape Scripting's capabilities.

Recommended document parameters

The examples in this directory generally assume a "user unit" is about the size of a pixel (roughly 1/100" or 1/4 mm) and that the page size is at least 600×600 user units. See Units for a detailed explanation of how units and viewboxes work in SVG and Inkscape.

If some of the output from the examples appears with abnormally thick lines or crowded shapes or comes out much larger than the page size, use Inkscape's Document Properties dialog box to alter the page size and scale/viewbox, e.g. to a page of 1024×768px and a viewbox of 1024×768. The following Simple Inkscape Scripting code automates that task:

canvas.true_width = 1024
canvas.true_height = 768
canvas.viewbox = [0, 0, 1024, 768]

List of examples

Example	Description
Animation	Demonstrate how to create an SVG SMIL animation.
Binary tree	Draw a binary tree. The canvas should be about as wide as A4 or U.S. Letter paper to avoid node overlap in the deepest level of the tree.
Boolean ops	Apply Boolean path operations to various objects.
Brick pyramid	Draw a brick pyramid.
Chalkboard	Draw a chalkboard with a repeated message written on it.
Clipping path	Demonstrate how to apply a clipping path to a number of objects.
Clone wave	Draw a wave of cloned objects.
Drop shadow	Draw a circle with a drop shadow.
Ellipses	Draw concentric ellipses.
Gradient template	Show how to reuse a gradient pattern.
Guides	Place guides in the document
Holes	Draw a few shapes with holes in them.
Html	Embed HTML code within an SVG image.
Hyperlinks	Create a set of graphical hyperlinks.
Image spiral	Draw a spiral out of Inkscape logos downloaded from the Web.
Inkex paths	Show how to draw a path using the functions provided by the inkex.paths module (https://tinyurl.com/2p9dna4f) as an alternative to path commands expressed as alternating strings and floats.
Linear gradient	Fill a shape with a gradient pattern.
Markers	Draw arrows with begin, middle, and ending markers.
Mask	Demonstrate how to apply a mask to a number of objects.
Metadata	Add metadata to an image.
Move rectangles	Move all rectangles in the image 2cm to the right. All other shapes are left alone.
New layer	Add a layer to an image.
Overlapping circles	Draw an array of hundreds of overlapping circles.
Path effects	Demonstrate the application of live path effects to a curve.
Pixels to rectangles	Show how to use the Python Imaging Library to convert each pixel of a bitmapped image to a colored rectangle.
Poly by angle	Draw (possibly self-intersecting) polygons.
Screen vs print	Create a printable page that is differently sized and disjoint from the main canvas.
Sierpinski triangle	Draw a colorful Sierpinski triangle.
Speedometer	Draw an unnumbered speedometer.
Star groups	Draw rows of stars with the stars in each row grouped together.
Stroke to path	Invoke Inkscape's Path → Stroke to Path function.
Text flow	Flow text into a frame.
Text path	Place text on a curved path.
Turtle spiral	Create a path using turtle graphics and render it.
Units	Demonstrate the use of explicitly specified units .

Notes

• Animation produces an animated SVG image, but Inkscape has no mechanism for rendering animations. Save the resulting SVG file and open it in a Web browser to watch the animation.

• Poly by angle only defines a function; it does not by itself draw anything on the page. Read the header comments for usage instructions.