Hello,
It seems a new version of Inkscape is out? (https://inkscape.org/en/download/)
Or there is the developers versions? (https://drive.google.com/a/aitechnology ... p=sharing#)

A couple questions:
One - regardless of which version I go with, do I uninstall my current version first? then do I install the new version?
Two - what happens to any old extensions? are they lost? Do I have to reinstall them?
Three- If i go with the developers version, on that google drive which one do I chose? There are lots of files.
Four- Will all my old inkscape files still be compatible?

thanks
a

The developers are very close to releasing the next new stable version 0.91.

Afaict, all the various packages (Linux, Windows, Mac, and even new this time will be some 64-bit versions, although I don't remember at the moment which operating systems for the 64-bit) don't get posted at the same moment, or even week, or sometimes months apart (in the past). If possible, they do try to pick a "release date" when they announce the release. But in reality, the files may have been uploaded days or weeks before the announement date. At least that's my understanding.

Sometimes "your version" will be ready before others, and you could download it before the announcement. But I don't feel c omfortable saying which files are ready, and which aren't. Imo, it's best to wait for the announcement, unless you are sure you know what you need.

By all indications, the release is getting close. Thanksgiving was first proposed, but that's passed. The next comment I've heard is maybe the end of the year. But it still could be a couple of months after that.

You surely can get 0.91 pre2 as a development ("experimental") version. I thought I saw a 0.91pre3 somewhere, but I could be mistaken on that. But definitely 0.91pre2 is available -- https://inkscape.org/en/download/. Personally the dev version is too crashy for me. But a LOT of people use it in their everyday work.

1 - All I can tell you about uninstalling, is regarding Windows. If you want to install the new version in the same folder as the old version, you definitely need to uninstall the old version first. [edit -- if you're using the .exe installer, it will probably want to install in the same folder -- also forgot this http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php ... version.3F] If you have some reason, or you just want to have more than one version installed, you can do that. They just need to be installed into separate folders in Program Files(x86) or Program Files. I would guess it's a similar story for Linux and Mac, but I honestly don't know. They are very different systems!

2 - Unless you delete them (extensions) while uninstalling the old version, they will stay, and be available for you to use in the new version. The only reason you would delete them, afaiu, is if you need to make what's called a "clean install". That means deleting every last trace of the old version. But afaik, that's not commonly needed. Normally extensions and filters that you installed yourself (assuming it was done properly) will still be there in the new version.

3 - I have no idea which file you would need. I don't see any 0.91 stable on that google link you gave, though.

4 - All your old files will be 100% compatible with the new version, except in the rare instance of some new bug affecting something you used in your files, which hasn't been discovered yet.

I hope I got all that right folks

Hello Brynn,
Thanks so much for your very thorough reply!!

You're right...it's not clear which one of the google doc page you should pick..


I hope this works...I'm trying to uninstall one version right now...then reinstall (as it seems the version I had was already outdated...)

best
a

update - it worked, and now I can use the "new" rearrange/swap function..
I'm tempted now to use the developer versions...but I should wait it sounds like...so you wouldn't use the developers versions which aren't ready yet?
best
a

NOTE: So I previously had .48 then I donwloaded .48.5
The problem with the newer version was it couldn't open up a certain document with complicated clipped images (I didn't make the file to start with) and a lot of guides. or correction, it opened them but the base imagery was clipped. I know I'm being vague however I'd prefer not to download that file so I can't really explain bette.
Anyway, so I landed up redownloading the old version into a different folder and now have two versions on my machine. The old version is only for those files.

My point is...well..that's it.
thanks
a

I'm tempted now to use the developer versions...but I should wait it sounds like...so you wouldn't use the developers versions which aren't ready yet?

If the dev version had some new feature or tool that needed, I definitely would not hesitate to install it! For my day to day use though, I would not use the dev version. If I found a tool or feature that didn't seem to work, I wouldn't know if I was doing something wrong, or if some developer was just working on that tool.

But as I said before (or thought I did) many professionals use a development version in their day to day work. It's a functional file. You just have to remember that it's work in progress. Depending on the day you download it, various feature may or may not work. But if you go back a month later, and download it again, it probably is a slightly different version. Features that didn't work in the old version might be fixed in that newer version. Or maybe a different tool or feature is being worked on now. You just have to remember that's the file where developers test their work.

You should download from inkscape.org, rather than that google page. I think that page does contain official versions, but I would stick with the website (which redirects you to Sourceforge).

So you have a file that opens in an older version, but won't open in a newer version?? Interesting.....it's hard to say what's the problem, without seeing the file.

thanks for your thoughts...

"So you have a file that opens in an older version, but won't open in a newer version?? Interesting.....it's hard to say what's the problem, without seeing the file."
So the file "opens" however there's a base image which doesn't open up the right way. And yes, you're right it is hard to know what the problem is without my posting the file...so...I took the file and stripped off the contents (the words and pictures, as that was fine). I kept the base green and blue background, as that's causing the problem.
So, if you open in .48 the blue and green background covers the entire page (which it's supposed to).
If you open in .48.5 the blue and green background is clipped...that is there seems to be a white border on the top and bottom. It's almost like the blue and green part is like a pattern fill when opened in the newer version...

Oh wait...I don't see how to attach my svg here?? So before you or anyone can even offer their thoughts, can you first tell me how I post an svg in a reply?

thanks,a

ait wrote:Oh wait...I don't see how to attach my svg here?? So before you or anyone can even offer their thoughts, can you first tell me how I post an svg in a reply?

Attach using tools below textarea in reply page:

OOOH...thank you...I just didn't see the full editor.

So if you download the test file you'll see it opens differently in .48 and .48.5

But..now I tried downloading it but it's too big...so i think I'll have to let this go..
sorry.
a

You can also link to files uploaded to a free storage site like Dropbox, Google docs, etc.


https://dl.dropbox.com/s/imvortjajve7uex/orbit1.svg

ok, here's my attempt at using dropbox..
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mr3trlt1d41pqet/test.svg?dl=0

so if you download the file you should see different results using .48 and .48.5

or at least I did...
thanks
a

The renderer has changed.
The new version displays raster images interpolated, while the old one not.

Another change I know of is related to gradients. The older /current stabile/ renders gradients with no more than 1024 steps, which got improved.
See this test image.

There seems to be a bit of odd contents in the test file... text with no characters, flowed text with no content, the image height/width are opposite the raw bitmap, and two filled rectangular paths outside the page. (?)

Hello Lazur and Tyler,
Lazur: In terms of the rendering I can see that in the newer version the green is rendered clearer.
Tyler: I'm a bit confused, the file didn't have (to my knowledge) text and flowed text. However I did delete some text so that I could post the file. The biggest difference I saw is that when the file is opened in the new version of inkscape the green box has large white blocks on top and bottom. [And they don't seem to be solid or actually filled with color. They're just spaces.]

Note: This file was created originally by someone else so I'm not entirely sure how it was set up in the first place..

I guess the question is...is there anything I can do to open this file in the newer version of inkscape? Or should I just be content with having two versions of inkscape (keeping the old one only for these files)?
thanks
a

Howdy,

It would be helpful to upload the original file... I presume the original file has private information, so the next-best option might be to open the file in TextPad (or similar) and replace the private text elements with alternate text, being careful to not alter any other aspects of the file before saving as another filename.

If there are embedded images with identifiable elements, it might not be workable in the public forum, but you could send the file to a member(s) so the file is not available to the entire world.

thank you for your comments (Lazur and Tyler).
I think for now I'll just keep both inkscape versions..
although...I may be postponing an inevitable problem.
Regarding sending the original file, I'm afraid that could be problematic...

Also, I was re-reading Tyler's comments about the "two filled rectangular paths outside the page" and wanted to note that that was what I meant when I said there are white "blocks" on the top and bottom of the green.

thanks for the help...I'm sorry I can't post or even email an original.
a

Update:
So I was working in the older version of inkscape and had imported a jpg and wanted to clip set it. After having some trouble (which is another topic) I decided to copy the image and the shape I was using to clip into a fresh file. I opened a fresh file in the New inkscape copied the picture over. BUT it put those same extra spaces at the top and bottom like I saw with the imported jpg before.

[Note - I was able to do to a clip set on that image and when I did the spaces went away...]

I then tried re importing the jpg from my hard drive into this fresh file which was the new inkscape (and not copying it from the other file, which was the older inkscape) and wouldn't you know, there wasn't the extra space and the clipping worked.
I was even able to copy that picture back to my old file...

Conclusion: as was mentioned before, something is happening to imported jpg (and maybe other forms).

Sorry I can't be more technical about the reasons...I'm just saying I saw the same thing..
best
a

ait wrote:Conclusion: as was mentioned before, something is happening to imported jpg (and maybe other forms).

Yes, this is true - bitmap images imported in upcoming 0.91 (or in 0.91pre3, the newer pre-release version you actually installed and used, according to the version info in the provided sample SVG file, but incorrectly identified in earlier comments as 0.48.5) get an additional attribute in the SVG source that was missing in the stable 0.48.x series and earlier versions. This attribute determines how the image is rendered when it has been resized without keeping the aspect ratio.

The new renderer in upcoming 0.91 has also seen a change and will now render non-uniformly scaled bitmap images based on the value of that same attribute. The result is that older Inkscape SVG files with imported bitmap images (embedded or linked doesn't matter) might render differently in 0.91. The bonus point on the other hand is that SVG files with imported bitmap images created Inkscape 0.91 are now conformant to the SVG specification and will render the same in other SVG viewers.

To ease issues like yours (when using pre-release builds of 0.91, or the new release version once it is out), you could download and install the extension attached to this report:

• Bug #1357808 “trunk: add extension to fix rendering of non-uniformly scaled bitmap images”

(Note: the extension hasn't been reviewed yet, and it might well be that the final version of Inkscape 0.91, or a later bug-fix release will have a built-in solution for this).

Thanks Suv for your thoughts...
I'm not sure how to code in the extension...
Regardless, for now I'll content myself with having two versions on my computer (and you are right...I thought I had downloaded .48.5 but no, it's .91)
best
a