• Introduction
• Manual has moved!
• Why use Inkscape?
• Professional Software
• About this Book
• Installing Inkscape
• Windows
• Mac OS X
• Gnu/Linux
• Getting Around in Inkscape
• Interface
• Managing the Workspace
• Drawing with Geometrical Shapes
• Ways of Drawing with Inkscape
• Shape Tools
• The Selector Tool
• Squares and Rectangles
• Circles, Ellipses and Arcs
• Stars and Polygons
• Spirals
• 3D-Boxes
• Freehand Drawing
• Freehand Drawing
• The Pencil Tool
• The Pen Tool
• The Calligraphy Tool
• Boolean Operations
• About Nodes
• Editing Paths
• Stacking Order
• Align and Distribute
• The Node Tool
• Tracing an Image
• The Tweak Tool
• Color
• Colors
• The Color Palette
• The Fill And Stroke Dialog
• Custom Colors
• Copying a Color
• Creating Gradients
• Creating a Mesh Gradient
• Using Patterns
• Modifying Patterns
• Creating Custom Patterns
• Strokes
• Markers
• Ordering Markers, Stroke and Fill
• Customizing Markers
• Text
• Text
• Writing Text
• Styling Text
• Changing Text Color
• Moving and Rotating Letters
• Putting Text on a Path
• Flowing Text into a Frame
• Creating Custom Fonts
• Advanced Techniques
• Beyond the Basics
• Saving Your Work
• Exporting a PDF File
• Exporting a PNG File
• Exporting to other File Formats
• Importing Pictures into a Document
• Importing other File Formats
• Copying and Duplicating Objects
• Cloning Objects
• Customizing Keyboard Shortcuts
• Clipping and Masking
• Filters
• Extensions
• Live Path Effects
• Where to Go from Here
• Test Chapter (for trying out styling)

Saving Your Work

Inkscape is a stable software. However, some unfortunate actions can entrail a crash. The best way to prevent this from causing problems is to regularly save your drawing. For this reason, the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+s should be used frequently. When you first save your drawing, give your file a name of your choice, and select one of these extensions:

• .svg (Inkscape SVG): to keep all the data in your file, even the data that is only useful for editing with Inkscape, and no other editor
• .svg (Plain SVG): for sharing your drawing with other people, who might not use Inkscape, but use SVG, e.g. when they view a web page that uses a picture that you created.
• .svgz (compressed Inkscape / Plain SVG): compressed to save space on your harddisk.

Activating Autosave to prevent loss of work

If Inkscape closes unexpectedly, in most cases it creates a backup file that is available in the location that will be indicated in a short dialog window. The file name consists of the original file name with the time and date of the crash. It is recommended that (additionally to saving frequently) you activate Inkscape's autosave feature, which you can find in Edit > Preferences > Input/Output > Autosave.