Hello. I'm trying to figure whether inkscape is the right tool for me. The gallery is impressive and there are some tutorials, but I don't find stuff easily in Inkscape UI.

I'm trying to design some tokens for a boargame. Unfortunately Google Docs Draw (GDD) can not even attach text to path. I need a better tool. Here is a Google drawing with a rough sketch of what I'm trying to achieve: https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1a8U ... sp=sharing

What I seek (missing in GDD):
Ability to specify sizes in cm.
Easy grid adjustment and snapping.
Attach text to path.
Duplicate piece along path. (see hearts on the sketch), it is supposed to be arc aligned. And extendable to 5 hearts. And also the other icons are supposed to be duplicable along arc/spline.
Make copy of shape a reference rather than copy. (if I edit the original heart all hearts should change)
Textures, gradients.
Tutorial that explains the above (without assuming you are a genius/professional artist)

This would be a nice bonus:
Basic Scripting - control the number of shapes duplicated on path programaticaly.

Is Inkscape the right tool for me? If so link to beginner tutorials on points above is welcome. Thanks in advance.

Welcome aboard!

Most things you mentioned can be done easily in inkscape.

In the document's properties panel (Shift+Ctrl+D) you can set up the basic unit to cm,
create a grid if you wish, enable snapping to gridpoints.

If you draw anything, at the tool control bar row on the top, there are boxes where you can type in the right values of the position and dimension.
http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Anatomy.html

Also, there is an xml editor (Shift+Ctrl+X), where you can specify anything by typing, but that's not really necessary.

There is a snap bar where you can enable snapping to different kind of nodes, paths and so on.
There is also an align and distribute panel (Ctrl+Shift+A), that can help you.

Attaching text to path function is under Text menu.
Lot of things it can cover, but if I remember right here someone had kerning problems he couldn't solve with it.

Duplicating piece along path -the bend live path effect may do similar (I have no experience with it).
http://www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15762
If that's only on an arc, that can be done other ways as well -through the transformation panel (Ctrl+Shift+M), or through the xml editor.

You can create clones (Ctrl+Alt+C).

You can add textures -and create custom textures too-, linear and radial gradients.
No conic gradients yet.

You can create tiled clones (Edit>Clones>Create tiled clones) and use the bend live path effect on them (?).

Here is a good collection of tutorials to get an idea:
http://forum.inkscapecommunity.com/index.php


Another thing -you didn't mention but for printing your design you will possibly need it to be in cmyk colour mode.
That is a bit complicated, as inkscape doesn't support that by default, but there are some ways for making it.

Good luck!

Check out this extension - it sounds like exactly what you're looking for:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/299033/ ... evelopment

tuomo wrote:Check out this extension - it sounds like exactly what you're looking for:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/299033/ ... evelopment

Thanks, that looks highly relevant.