Editing Inkscape and WaterColorBot
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
== Introduction == | == Introduction == | ||
− | There are three main | + | There are three main software interfaces for driving the WaterColorBot: [[RoboPaint]], [[RoboPaint RT]], and the WaterColorBot extensions for Inkscape. This page is about the latter. |
Inkscape is a superb, free vector graphics editor, for which we have written an extension (a plugin) to control the WaterColorBot. Our extension provides a fine grain level of control over exactly what will be painted, but more-or-less requires that you create the artwork within Inkscape to take full advantage of the features. The most important thing to know is that the Inkscape extension will paint all of the paths (lines) within your drawing. It will not automatically fill in any regions; any region that you wish to fill with paint will have to have (for example) a hatch fill that consists of lines, in order for the area to be colored in. | Inkscape is a superb, free vector graphics editor, for which we have written an extension (a plugin) to control the WaterColorBot. Our extension provides a fine grain level of control over exactly what will be painted, but more-or-less requires that you create the artwork within Inkscape to take full advantage of the features. The most important thing to know is that the Inkscape extension will paint all of the paths (lines) within your drawing. It will not automatically fill in any regions; any region that you wish to fill with paint will have to have (for example) a hatch fill that consists of lines, in order for the area to be colored in. | ||
− | Inkscape is also capable of importing artwork in PDF format (as well as tracing bitmap graphics to some extent), and saving as SVG graphics that can be used with RoboPaint. Users who have experience with the Eggbot (and its Inkscape based driver) may wish to start with this application, before trying the others. | + | Inkscape is also capable of importing artwork in PDF format (as well as tracing bitmap graphics to some extent), and saving as SVG graphics that can be used with RoboPaint. Users who have experience with the Eggbot (and its Inkscape based driver) may wish to start with this application, before trying the others. |
+ | |||
== Getting the software == | == Getting the software == | ||
− | |||
− | If you | + | Installing Inkscape: |
+ | * Begin by downloading and installing the latest version of Inkscape, version 0.48.2 or newer. You can find Inkscape [http://inkscape.org/download/?lang=en here]. | ||
+ | * If you are using a Mac (MacOS version 10.6-10.8: Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion), download and install the latest release of [http://xquartz.macosforge.org/trac/wiki XQuartz] | ||
− | + | Installing the extensions | |
+ | * Make sure that you've already installed Inkscape | ||
+ | * Download the software from [https://github.com/evil-mad/wcb-ink/releases our github repository]. | ||
+ | * Mac & Windows: Please use the dedicated installer for your platform. | ||
+ | * Linux: Please manually install the extensions | ||
− | |||
− | The biggest difference between the | + | Manual installation of extensions for Linux: |
+ | * Download source code zip file from [https://github.com/evil-mad/wcb-ink/releases our github repository] and unzip | ||
+ | * Move or copy the contents of the "extensions" directory into $HOME/.config/inkscape/extensions | ||
+ | * Move or copy the contents of the "templates" directory into $HOME/.config/inkscape/templates | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | USB Driver (Windows only): | ||
+ | * A USB driver is also required for Windows. | ||
+ | * We recommend that you install [[RoboPaint]] on your computer rather than directly installing the driver, as RoboPaint's installer also installs the USB driver. (You do not need to-- and in fact should not --run RoboPaint at the same time as you are driving the WaterColorBot from Inkscape.) | ||
+ | |||
+ | == Special information for Eggbot users == | ||
+ | |||
+ | The WaterColorBot Control extension is based on our [[Eggbot Control]] extension that operates the Eggbot. If you have had some experience with the Eggbot, you will find most controls to be the same. In particular, you may have had some experience with making a multi-color drawing with the Eggbot, by putting paths that you want to print in different colors on different layers. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The biggest difference between the two machines is that since the WaterColorBot can perform automatic paint color changes-- unlike the Eggbot --it ''requires'' that you use multiple named layers when multicolor painting is enabled. | ||
Line 30: | Line 49: | ||
=== The WaterColorBot Template / Making a new document === | === The WaterColorBot Template / Making a new document === | ||
− | A WaterColorBot template is included with the software installation. To create a new document pre-formatted for the WaterColorBot, select from the menu: File > | + | A WaterColorBot template is included with the software installation. To create a new document pre-formatted for the WaterColorBot, select from the menu: File > New > WaterColorBot. |
The template is pre-sized at 11" wide x 8" tall, matching the printable area of the WaterColorBot (that is, for a sheet of 9x12 paper, without the margins shown). The template also comes pre-formatted with a layer structure that may help save you some time in preparing your document. | The template is pre-sized at 11" wide x 8" tall, matching the printable area of the WaterColorBot (that is, for a sheet of 9x12 paper, without the margins shown). The template also comes pre-formatted with a layer structure that may help save you some time in preparing your document. | ||
+ | |||
=== Default paint layers === | === Default paint layers === | ||
Line 120: | Line 140: | ||
This new extension (still in beta test) can automatically assign colored paths to layers, making it possible for the WaterColorBot to semi-automatically paint them. | This new extension (still in beta test) can automatically assign colored paths to layers, making it possible for the WaterColorBot to semi-automatically paint them. | ||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
− |