The short version

Inkscape is a desktop application for drawing with vectors — shapes described by coordinates and curves rather than pixels. Its native document is a plain SVG file, the same format browsers render, which makes it a natural fit for web graphics, icons, cut files and anything that has to scale from a sticker to a banner.

What is in the toolbox

  • Shape tools — rectangles, ellipses, stars, spirals and 3D boxes, all still editable as shapes after you draw them.
  • Path tools — the pencil, Bezier pen and calligraphy tool, plus the node editor for reshaping curves. See working with paths.
  • Boolean and path operations — union, difference, intersection, offset, and Live Path Effects that stay editable.
  • Text — regular text, text on a path and flowed text in a frame, covered in text and typography.
  • Fills and strokes — flat color, linear and radial gradients, mesh gradients, patterns, markers and dash patterns.
  • Organization — layers, groups, clones, symbols, alignment and distribution, snapping and guides.
  • Tracing — turn a scanned drawing or photo into paths with the bitmap trace dialog.
  • The XML editor — direct access to the underlying SVG, which is unusual among design tools and very useful when a file has to satisfy a machine.

Getting files in and out

Inkscape reads and writes SVG, and imports or exports PDF, EPS, PS, AI, DXF, PNG and more; raster export supports per-object and per-selection output at a chosen DPI. Details and the settings that matter for print and for cutting machines are in the export guide.

Extensions

Much of the program's reach comes from extensions — Python scripts that add generators, layout helpers, laser and plotter output and format converters. Several ship with the installer; more are published by the community. Because they are ordinary scripts, an in-house extension for a repetitive production step is realistic to write.

Where it fits, and where it does not

Inkscape is strong at SVG-native work: illustration, logos, diagrams, icon sets, laser and vinyl cut files, and print artwork prepared as PDF. It is not a photo editor, not a page-layout application for long documents, and not a CAD program, although it exports DXF for simple parts. Multi-hundred-object files with heavy filters can slow the canvas down; flattening or splitting artwork helps.

If you are choosing between it and a paid editor, start with how vector graphics work and what the license allows, then try a real project — the free download makes evaluation cheap.