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What you’ll find inside Inkscape version 1.2

May 16, 2022, 9:12 p.m.

Inkscape 1.2 About Screen by Chris Hildenbrand, CC-By-SA 4.0

A few new features and comebacks to whet your appetite

Our annual Spring release has left the building! From offering multiple pages to making tiling super easy and fun, Inkscape 1.2 has something for everyone seeking to Draw Freely.

What’s not making a comeback are many of the bugs that were fixed thanks to everyone who tested the earlier versions and shared their feedback with the Inkscape teams. This helps us to improve the program between alpha, beta and final releases.

While we cannot possibly mention everything inside version 1.2 in an article, we suggest a test drive of the actual software. Before you download it – or as it’s downloading – we suggest checking out our Inkscape 1.2 video specially prepared to demonstrate some of the most popular new features and updates.

If you’re ready now, you can download Inkscape 1.2 here:

Get Inkscape 1.2 for Linux, Windows or macOS!

If you’re curious to learn a little more about what you’ll find inside, keep reading.

Starting your adventure...

Multiple Page Documents

This is one of the features that Inkscapers have been clamoring for over the past few years. It is finally here. Create standard or custom-size pages in the same document, name them, arrange them, and export them in a variety of different formats – including saving as a multi-page PDF. This same functionality allows for importing a multi-page PDF, too. From content creators to web page developers, here’s to adding as many pages as needed for the ideas in your head.

Color Palette & Swatches

If customizing color palettes is part of your workflow, you’ll appreciate the versatility and simplicity – not to mention the jazzy design elements – that are part of Inkscape 1.2. Change the size, reconfigure the colors, and scroll through what’s available. This tool will make you want to pay attention to color now.

Choosing a color palette with preview and adjusting its display

Layers and Object Dialog

Fused Layers and Objects dialog with colors and new icons

Inkscape’s devs have worked to design a merged Layers and Object dialog in 1.2, which will enable an easier workflow when it comes to setting up your document and to organizing and quickly finding which object is on which layer. Specific icons help identify the type of object and you can even customize the layer and object colors for the perfect visual work environment.

New ‘Tiling’ Live Path Effect

This new Live Path Effect (LPE) offers you hours, maybe even days, of exploration if you want to test out all the options, from changing horizontal and vertical spacing, scaling and rotation interpolation, and more. Or it’s a shortcut to quickly copy large numbers of objects and create interesting grids and patterns and variations.

Align and Distribute

In an effort to bring tools together to provide for a more efficient workflow, we’ve brought 'Arrange' into the 'Align and Distribute' Dialog, which has three tabs with user-friendly names and smaller icons.

Alignment and Distribution snapping

Thanks to an Inkscape summer student, version 1.2 now has two new modes of on-canvas snapping, which make aligning objects just the way you want so much easier to achieve! To unlock all the possibilities, head to preferences and enable the labelling option.

Gradient Editing

Once you’ve chosen those colors, it’s time to welcome back the new and improved gradient editor, with its home in the 'Fill and Stroke' Dialog Box, the new one-stop shop. Create your custom gradient, name it and see a list of the gradients within the document.

The gradient editor is back in Fill and Stroke dialog! — The gradient editor is back in 'Fill and Stroke' dialog!

Editable Markers

This is one of those features that you didn’t know you needed – to be able to edit a marker on the end of a line. Now you change the distance and orientation of a marker, in addition to the size and angle, and simply have fun with the new markers now available.

Extensions

Thanks to the hard work of volunteers, Inkscape has been able to update its extensions to better connect them with version 1.2 and polished many rough extension edges.

What’s new among extensions is the Clipart Importer, which allows you to search and download SVG resources from Wikimedia, Open Clipart and other online sources, including, of course, the Inkscape Community.

Finally, when it’s time to export your creation...

Export Dialog

Batch Export: export multiple resolutions, file formats and objects in one go!

There’s now an amazing choice for exporting your creation out of Inkscape 1.2. It starts with the choice between a simple or batch export. A simple export can take the form of any format that you can save as – from Inkscape SVG, SVG and Optimized PNG to JPG, TIFF and PDF and many more! Batch exporting takes things to a whole new level. Icon makers, select the objects you want to export, at what resolution, name them, and the format for each selection and then click on export.

After that, it’s up to you to choose your next Inkscape adventure.

Well, that’s only some of what you’ll find in our latest version of Inkscape! For all new features and more information on specific details – and more GIFs, head here to continue reading the Inkscape 1.2 Release Notes.

Built with the power of a team of mostly volunteers, this open source vector graphics editor represents the work of many hearts and hands from around the world, ensuring that Inkscape remains available free for everyone to download and enjoy.

Download Inkscape 1.2 for Linux, Windows or macOS!

Draw Freely.

Inkscape

Draw Freely.