Do you think that your website could do with more visual appeal? Are you looking to spice it up with attractive designs and effects? Enter Inkscape 0.48 Essentials for Web Designers--the only book specifically tailored to using Inkscape for web design. This book will teach you how to effectively use the fascinating new Inkscape vector graphics editor, which, despite being in version 0.48 and having no dearth of competitors, has already separated itself from the competition. Learn everything you need to know about enhancing your website--from site layouts to templates and animations--whether you are looking for a new website design or just some eye-candy.

The Inkscape graphics editor is powerful, but getting started is often difficult. Inkscape 0.48 Essentials for Web Designers walks you through the challenge of using Inkscape from a web design perspective in the easiest way possible..

The first book to unlock the potential of Inkscape for web design, it begins with an introduction to the basics of Inkscape and then journeys you through implementing them in your website one by one.

Learn to build your first website design using Inkscape. Create web page and desktop wallpapers with repeating pattern backgrounds and swirling designs. Incorporate icons and interactive maps on your website. Style and graphically manipulate text--from simple headings to shadowing, following paths, reflections, 3D effects, and more. Enhance your web pages using flowcharts, diagrams, and site maps and learn how to export them. Spruce it all up using animations.

This book will teach you all that and more, in a simple effective manner; and what's more--you'll have fun doing it.

What you will learn from this book

• What Inkscape is and how it can be used for web design
• Everything about site layouts--from architecting a website to exporting image files
• Adding illustrative and web-ready diagrams, maps, designs to your website
• Importing, manipulating, and rendering trace and raster images for your web page
• Tips and Tricks for "tracing" bitmap images to convert them into full vector graphics for both photographs and logos
• Text editing and styling--kerning, rotating, moving letters from the baseline, reflection, following paths, shadows, the perspective tool, and cool envelope effects
• Icon and button design principles and how to add them to your website
• Creating simple and effective animated GIFs for your web page with GIMP
• Incorporating animated banners, advertisements, and scrolling text in your website
• The basics of XML and SVG coding

Approach

This book is written in a clear conversational style, which emphasizes a practical learn-by-doing approach. Packed with illustrations and examples, this book will make the task of using Inkscape simple and straightforward.

Who this book is written for

This book is written for web designers who want to add attractive visual elements to their website. It assumes no previous knowledge of Inkscape. General familiarity with vector graphics programming is recommended but not required. It will also be a useful guide for experienced Inkscape users who want to learn how to apply their skills to website design.