Tutorials

How-to's and tips-n-tricks

How to use math input in GIMP
by Alexandre Prokoudine

How to do simple calculations in the spinbox widgets where you input numeric values

Mastering Inkscape in 2018
by Alexandre Prokoudine

What’s best among books, courses, and tutorials on the free/libre vector graphics editor

How to view reference images in GIMP
by Alexandre Prokoudine

GIMP has no reference image viewer. Fortunately, there a simple way to work around this.

Angled guides and snapping for Inkscape beginners
by Alexandre Prokoudine

Inkscape's v0.46 was the first version that got angled guides. Along with advanced snapping introduced in later versions it makes accomplishing certain tasks much easier. Let's see how.

How to beautify FontForge’s user interface
by Alexandre Prokoudine

By default FontForge doesn't really match the typical look of a modern desktop application. If you like the font editing features, but dislike the interface, there's a cure.

Studying type design with Fontmatrix
by Alexandre Prokoudine

Type design is something that never lets you go once got a basic grasp of it. And studying how other people do it is an important part of getting there.

Toy plug-in for GIMP simplifies creating tilt-shift fakes
by Alexandre Prokoudine

Type design is something that never lets you go once got a basic grasp of it. And studying how other people do it is an important part of getting there.

Exchanging colors between GIMP, Inkscape and Gpick
by Alexandre Prokoudine

The review of Gpick mentioned that you can drop colors from Gpick to either Inkscape or GIMP. What it doesn't mention is that you can freely drag and drop colors between those three applications.

Advanced ways to create guides in GIMP
by Alexandre Prokoudine

The review of Gpick mentioned that you can drop colors from Gpick to either Inkscape or GIMP. What it doesn't mention is that you can freely drag and drop colors between those three applications.

How to get crisper text out of Inkscape
by Alexandre Prokoudine

Presumably most Inkscape users rely on the default PNG exporting method only. But there's more than one way to do it.

Washed-out and golden skintones effect in darktable
by Alexandre Prokoudine

A fellow darktable contributor asked about the washed-out effect he discovered in one of my pictures. Here is how I do it.

Create lens distorsion models with Hugin’s lens calibrator
by Alexandre Prokoudine

If your lens is missing in LensFun database, you can create it thanks to lens calibration app from newly released version of Hugin, a free panorama stitcher. Learn how to do it.

How to get CMYK colors from Inkscape to Scribus for printing
by Alexandre Prokoudine

Interview with Inkscape developers

How to save all visible content in GIMP
by Alexandre Prokoudine

In this GIMP tutorial, we introduce you to the concept of projections and explain how to save everything visible in GIMP's image window to a file

Using color tools presets in GIMP
by Alexandre Prokoudine

Learn how to use color tools presets to preserve favourite settings of Levels, Curves and suchlike for further use across sessions.

How to save and restore selections in GIMP
by Alexandre Prokoudine

Sometimes when you work on a complex project in GIMP, you carefully construct a very precise selection you might need later, so how do you save it?

Split toning with GIMP and darktable
by Alexandre Prokoudine

In this tutorial we'll explain what sepia actually is, and how this effect is best achieved in GIMP and darktable.

How to create your own templates for Inkscape
by Alexandre Prokoudine

Interview with Inkscape developers

Inkscape: embedding or linking images?
by Alexandre Prokoudine

This article explains the difference between embedding and linking in Inkscape and advices when to use each of them.

How to paint angel wings with GIMP
by Alexandre Prokoudine

This tutorial explains using Smudge tool to paint angle-like wings in GIMP. No filters (like Gaussian blur) are required for postprocessing, albeit you can try adjust the result.

How to draw an eye in anime style with Inkscape
by Maxim Grafskiy

Learn how to draw a classic anime-style eye using Inkscape.

How to create layer effects in Inkscape
by Alexandre Prokoudine

With built-in XML editor, a bit of grey hair, and slight headache you will learn to create a kind of layers effects in Inkscape to apply same SVG filter to all a objects of a layer in your drawing.

How to draw a computer first-aid kit with Inkscape
by Yuriy Apostol

Learn how to use the 3D Box tool in Inkscape to create a base for a complex object in perspective and draw complex shadows.

First steps with Ramen
by Ildar Akhmetgaleev

There is less than a handful of free compositing tools around, and Ramen sounds like a very promising project. In this tutorial we introduce you to basics of using it.

How to draw a snowman with Inkscape
by Yuriy Apostol

With this Inkscape tutorial you will learn to draw a 3D looking snowman, but ultimately you will get a grasp of creating shadows and reflections the right way.

Add an acrylic image effect to photos in Inkscape
by Serge Timakov

This is a rather simple tutorial on drawing a stunning Mac-like clock in Inkscape using boolean path operations and gradient fills for nice smooth highlights.

Drawing Mac look-alike clock in Inkscape
by Maxim Grafskiy

This is a rather simple tutorial on drawing a stunning Mac-like clock in Inkscape using boolean path operations and gradient fills for nice smooth highlights.