I just found out about this program and I wanted to see if what I need to do is possible before delving too far. I did a quick search but did not find the exact answer to my question.

I am thinking of using Inkscape to create a character sheet for a roleplaying game. I want to employ layers to offer people different options to see on the same page. When I save/export/print this to PDF, I'd like the layers preserved so when it is opened in Adobe Reader, the user can turn on/off the layers they want to. Is this function part of Inkscape?

Thanks,
John

Welcome John!

1. Inkscape has layers.
2. Inkscape can export a PDF (or technically Save As).
But I don't know if the layers are preserved. I'll do a quick test and report back with results. And actually I think I might have seen something in the manual that I had not noticed before. So I'll look and see if there's something there first. I'll post again soon

Edit
Ok, the manual info did not say anything about layers. My test indicates that the layers are not preserved. When I open the new PDF in Adobe Reader, all the layer options are grayed out and don't work. I tried opening the new PDF in Inkscape, just to see what happens. All the layers are compressed into a single layer (the layer's name is the name of the file) and all the objects are grouped.

However, there still may be a way to use Inkscape. I noticed in the manual some info about saving as XCF, which is the native format for The GIMP. (http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL ... port-Other and scroll down almost to the bottom) It sounds like layers can be preserved when saving as XCF. I know absolutely nothing about GIMP's ability to save or export PDF. But I do have The GIMP, so next I'm going to test that. IIR my GIMP version is not current, so I may have to do some research, and possibly upgrade. But The GIMP is another open source graphics program (raster graphics), so upgrading is not a problem.

The only thing I'm not clear about, with saving as XCF, whether the drawing will still be vector. I know that GIMP can create and handle....well, at least the basic vector elements. But opening the SVG in GIMP might be better than saving as XCF. .....I'll just have to experiment I guess, or probably I'll start with The GIMP's manual. And actually at this point, I'm assuming that GIMP can save or export a PDF. I'm pretty sure though, since PDF seems to be almost a univerally accepted format (for graphics).

And speaking of other graphics program, there's one called Irfanview, which is basically raster, but very versatile, and can handle many graphics formats. (Also it's free, but I don't think open source.) I think it can handle some vector content, but I'm much less sure about it than I am of GIMP.

Anyway, I'm off to experiment some more

Ok, a couple of surprises. The last stable release for The GIMP was released just a month ago! So I'm not so outdated there. Next surprise, my version 2.6 apparently canNOT save or export PDF! I was sure that it could, but I was wrong. However, the new version 2.8 does have a new plugin for exporting PDFs. From here: http://www.gimp.org/release-notes/gimp-2.8.html about halfway down the page:

"A Cairo based PDF exporter was implemented. While being somewhat simplistic the exporter saves text, embedding fonts into the final PDF file, and attempts to convert all flat filled areas to vector objects. Developer: Barak Itkin"

It doesn't mention layers, and since it's described by the GIMP website as "somwhat simplistic" I'm guessing it won't retain layers. But I haven't actually tried it yet. And now something has come up on the home front, and I won't be able to upgrade and test until later today or tomorrow. Someone else may well post with definitive info about alternatives, before I can test.

But I will have a quick look at Irfanview (which I may or may not have the current version). I'll be really surprised if it can't save or export PDFs. At this point, I have no clue about layers, and won't be able to test right away. But I'll have a quick look, and post again if I learn anything helpful.

Edit
Ok, Irfanview does both open and save as PDF. When I tried to open my layered SVG test doc, I got an error message, prompting my to install a plug-in. So that will have to wait as well.

And a final thought for the moment. I suspect that your question has already been answered somewhere in the forum, so you might do some searching. I want to do some testing, just for my own edification. But I'm pretty sure I've seen the question asked and answered (just can't remember it). (What better way to remember something than to actually do it )