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What Is Inkscape?

Open-source vector graphics tool with object creation and manipulation, rendering, text support, fill and stroke functionality.

Who Uses Inkscape?

The Inkscape application is used by design professionals across a wide variety of industries (marketing/branding, engineering/CAD, web graphics, cartooning).

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Reviews of Inkscape

Average score

Overall
4.4
Ease of Use
3.9
Customer Service
4.0
Features
4.3
Value for Money
4.8

Reviews by company size (employees)

  • <50
  • 51-200
  • 201-1,000
  • >1,001
Gustavo
Gustavo
Director in Portugal
Verified LinkedIn User
Marketing & Advertising, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Outstanding

5.0 3 years ago

Comments: I really like Inkscape, and for everyone looking for a vector design software I will advise this hands down.

Pros:

This is by far one of the best designing tools in the market, and even better this happens to be open source. Inkscape offers a set of tools meant to design freely, effortlessly and with a lower learning curve than other alternatives. Drawing or even editing vectors is very nice, and everything works smooth without overcharging any computer resource.

Cons:

I wish it has native Ilustrator files support, but there is not. Anyway, you can solve very easy this by changing the Ilustrator files to PDF. Then there is not a big deal about this.

Jeffrey
Owner in US
Computer & Network Security, Self Employed
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

The use of Inkscape.

5.0 4 months ago

Comments: Since I am predominantly a Linux user this program works well for me. I have used Adobe illustrator in windows on certain projects and I get just the same clean crisp duck with you could get it is much lighter on your resources so it performs faster the learning curve is very small I suggest that you actually graphic designer try it.

Pros:

My experience using Inkscape started about 11 years ago I did not have the money to pay for Adobe illustrator being a graphic designer I needed a tool that would give me the same functionality. as Adobe illustrator in my use of Inkscape I found that it had several features that Adobe illustrator lacked such as plugins that would allow you to do tracing and a lot more, I have enjoyed using it I think it is a very professional piece of software. Also, the learning curve is much lower than Adobe illustrator you can open up the program and give right to work.

Cons:

The cons of using Inkscape I have found are very few 1 is that when opening up a program Inkscape does not have tabs in its layout so if you start a new project it opens up a totally new window. I myself prefer layout of tabs it is a much cleaner look and it does not clutter up your desktop.

Verified Reviewer
Verified LinkedIn User
Marketing & Advertising, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 1-5 months
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

You get what you pay for.

3.0 5 years ago

Comments: Inkscape is a great solution for someone working alone or wanting to learn principles of vector graphic creation. I was surprised at how robust it is. That said, I need to be able output artwork and formats that my printers are going to easily be able to work with, without loss of I was surprised at how robust it is. That said, I need to be able to output artwork and formats that my printers are going to easily be able to work with, without loss of fidelity in translation.

Pros:

Number one, I appreciated that it was available free of charge. For a product that is open source, it has some powerful functionality.

Cons:

At the end of the day, working in a collaborative varmint or environments, it’s important to be working with similar tools. In my case, working with multiple teams of creatives means It is much easier to collaborate if we’re all using the same tool.

Rodrigo
Rodrigo
Owner/Developer in Brazil
Verified LinkedIn User
Computer Software, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Great for SVG

4.0 4 years ago

Comments: Years ago I started using Inkscape seriously, to create things like logos and baners, after a short learning curve, the tool became very useful, and its use was almost daily for a while. However, when I started trying to create derivative works, from resources bought in asset stores, which usually come as AI or EPS, I started having problems. Today I use it in conjunction with the paid tools, because its support for SVG is really great, and some quick tasks are done in an easier way than in other software, such as converting to PNG, which is much less bureaucratic.

Pros:

The fact that Inkscape is free software and is great for editing SVG format makes it an indispensable tool.

Cons:

The most important thing for commercial use, which makes it impractical to use Inkscape alone is the limited support for .AI and .EPS files, as these are popular formats for distributing content in asset stores.

Lisandro
Lisandro
Head of Marketing in Dominican Republic
Verified LinkedIn User
E-Learning, 2–10 Employees
Used the Software for: 2+ years
Reviewer Source

Alternatives Considered:

Without Inkscape I would have fail as a designer

4.0 5 years ago

Comments: Right now, Inkscape is indispensable for me and my design career. Even though Inkscape is an open-source and free application, that doesn't mean it's inferior to paid alternatives in any way. Sure, Illustrator has its great set of features, but Inkscape is nowhere lesser. I have not needed to switch to any other alternative. It gets the job done really well! Love it!

Pros:

It is very easy to use. It has a very friendly interface. It's really feature-packed. It has some out-of-the-box features equivalent to those in Adobe Illustrator but for free! It's open-source and get updated regularly. I love you can even work with PDF files natively. Also, I rely on the "trace bitmap" feature a lot: it's great to reuse royalty-free bitmaps on a quick design or just for inspiration. Inkscape is amazing and free!

Cons:

I WISH it supported the Adobe Illustrator format (ai) but it's too much to ask as that is a proprietary file format. Also, some fundamental actions are complicated to implement: for example, setting default document properties shouldn't require to save a file in a specific folder or exporting your artwork as a .jpeg file shouldn't require an extension; those actions should be more straight forward.