Installing software

Eggbot is designed to work well on Mac, Windows, and Linux computers. To use it, you'll need to install certain software on your computer.

The Eggbot software actually consists of several different parts:

1. Inkscape, the superb freeware vector graphics application
2. The Eggbot extensions for Inkscape, which let you control the Eggbot from within Inkscape
3. The Eggbot USB driver, on Windows systems.

The particulars of installation depend on the operating system:

Mac

1. Download and install the latest version of Inkscape (version 0.48 or newer) from the download page at Inkscape.org.

• There are different Inkscape installers for MacOS 10.4 and for 10.5 - 10.6. Pick the right one for your system.
• Install Inkscape in the default location, the main "Applications" folder.
• Note that inkscape is an X11 application, and will require that X11 or XQuartz is installed on your Mac.

For MacOS 10.5-10.6 (Leopard and Snow Leopard), download and install the latest version of XQuartz, unless you already have a working X11 install.

For MacOS 10.4, use the X11 that came on your system installer disks.

• If you need additional assistance for installing Inkscape, you may be able to find good advice at the the Inkscape wiki and/or the Inkscape Forums

2. Download and install the Eggbot extensions for Inkscape

• Recommended method: Download the latest version of the Mac installer package from the EggBotCode Google Code site. Run the installer (a standard Mac installer package) to install the Eggbot extensions. The installer requires MacOS 10.4 or newer.
• Alternate method, Manual installation: Download the latest version of the Inkscape extension (not the mac installer) from the EggBotCode Google Code site. Copy the entire contents of the Eggbot software archive to /Applications/Inkscape.app/Contents/Resources/extensions/ and restart Inkscape.

Note for MacOS 10.6: There is a known bug in Inkscape 0.47 and 0.48, in that extensions (even the built-in ones) do not work under snow leopard without patches. The installer contains a patch, so manual installation is not recommended on Snow Leopard. If you have solved this issue separately in one of several ways, you can use the manual installation method.

Note for MacOS 10.4: You may also need to install Python 2.5, if your system does not already have it.

Windows

Windows XP and newer:

We will be packaging the eggbot software in a Windows installer (for Inkscape 0.48), and will available from this site, coming soon. (Current target: late September 2010.) We have not tested earlier OS versions, manual installation is likely to be required.

• First, download and install Inkscape 0.48 from http://www.inkscape.org/.
• Next, download the Eggbot installer package from the downloads page of this site and run it.
• The eggbot submenu should appear in the Extensions menu of Inkscape after you restart Inkscape.

Installing the driver manually

First, download Inkscape 0.48 from the inkscape site, http://inkscape.org/ Then, download the latest version of the Inkscape extension ZIP archive from this site. Uncompress it, revealing a number of items including things like eggbot.inx and eggbot.py, and a folder called "serial."

Open up the*...Inkscape\share\extensions\* folder and copy over those items into that folder. After doing this, quit and restart Inkscape to make the Eggbot driver show up in the Extensions menu.

In order for windows to recognize the Eggbot USB device, you will probably also need The Driver info (INF) file. An installer for this is available separately.

Linux

The Eggbot extension for Inkscape has been developed and tested extensively under Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx). We expect it to work equally well in other distributions where Inkscape is known to work.

Ubuntu install instructions:

• Use the Ubuntu Software Center to install Inkscape 0.47 or newer (0.48 or newer is recommended.)
• Launch Inkscape from the Applications menu, and then quit it.
• Download the latest Inkscape extension .ZIP file from the downloads section of this site.
• From the "Places" menu, open your Home Folder.
• From the "View" menu select "Show hidden files" -- the .config folder should be visible.
• Place the contents of the ZIP archive inside .config/inkscape/extensions/
• Quit and restart Inkscape.