Tag: inkscape

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Exploring Openclipart.org: A Treasure Trove of Free Vector Images

I am not a talented artist, but I enjoy using graphics for greeting cards, posters, and occasionally hoodies or t-shirts. When I need an image of a creature such as a cow, horse, or eagle, I turn to Openclipart.org. This unique platform is dedicated to providing a vast collection of free-to-use vector graphics. Launched in 2004, the site has grown into one of the largest repositories of clipart, featuring thousands of contributions from artists worldwide.

Why Choose Openclipart.org?

1. Completely Free and Open

One of the standout features of Openclipart.org is its commitment to open access. All images on the platform are released into the public domain, which means you can use them for any purpose—personal, educational, or commercial—without any concerns about copyright restrictions. This liberating approach empowers users to incorporate visual elements confidently into their projects.

2. Extensive and Diverse Collection

The diversity of clipart available on Openclipart.org is truly impressive. There’s something for everyone, from simple icons and logos to intricate illustrations and themed collections. Whether you’re designing a website, creating educational materials, or crafting a presentation, you’ll find an abundance of resources to enhance your work.

3. User-Friendly Interface

Navigating Openclipart.org is a breeze, thanks to its intuitive and user-friendly interface. The site offers robust search functionality, allowing you to quickly find the perfect image. Categories and tags further streamline the process, making it easy to explore and discover new artwork.

4. Community-Driven

Openclipart.org thrives on community contributions. Artists from all walks of life share their creations, fostering a collaborative and supportive environment. This sense of community not only enriches the platform but also encourages creativity and learning among users.

5. Customization and Versatility

The vector format of the clipart ensures that the images are easily scalable and editable. Whether you need to tweak colors, resize elements, or combine multiple graphics, Openclipart.org’s resources provide the flexibility to tailor images to your specific needs.

Recently I have been looking for a way to give a special birthday present to a friend. My friend lives on a dairy farm. I wanted to incorporate a cow into my design that could be used on a hoodie. I could easily download a vector graphic image of a cow from Openclipart.org. I used Inkscape to add text around the picture, and I saved the complete design as a vector graphic. I love using vector graphics in my designs because they can be easily resized and incorporated into other without danger of pixelation or distortion.

Screen picture by Don Watkins CC by SA 4.0

Conclusion

Openclipart.org is more than just a repository of clipart; It’s a community of clipart and artists willing to share their work so that others may enjoy it too. Next time you’re in need of visual inspiration or an image for one of your own creations I suggest you head over to Openclipart.org to find the perfect image to elevate your project.

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Having fun with Inkscape

Inkscape is one of my favorite open-source graphic design tools. It has an intuitive interface that is relatively easy to master. As I learned to use Inkscape, I became familiar with vector graphics. I appreciated their usefulness in various projects, such as posters, t-shirts, hoodies, and any items that feature graphics. Vector graphics consist of paths defined by mathematical formulas, allowing them to be infinitely scalable without losing quality. It remains crisp and clear whether you shrink an image to fit a postage stamp or enlarge it to billboard size.

One way I like to use Inkscape is to put text on paths in my creations. This is not as intuitive, and I want to provide you with a short how-to to help you get started on your own Inkscape journey to creating creative graphics for your projects.

First you need to install Inkscape on your computer if it is not installed. On Linux, you can do that by entering the following command:

$ sudo dnf install inkscape (Fedora/OpenSuse)

or 

$ sudo apt install inkscape (on Ubuntu/Debian)

You can install Inkscape on macOS and Windows.

Open the application once it is installed, and you will be presented with a workspace that looks like a page.

Screen picture by Don Watkins CC by SA 4.0

I will demonstrate a quick way to put text on a circular path. Once the workspace is open above, I will choose the ‘Ellipse’ tool, the fourth option from the top of the left-hand menu.

Screen picture by Don Watkins CC by SA 4.0

You can see that I have created an ellipse. Now, I am going to use the text tool that is symbolized by the letter ‘A’ about halfway down the toolbar on the left to add some text.

Screen picture by Don Watkins CC by SA 4.0

Now I am going to highlight the text and use the ‘center’ tool at the top to center the text In the text box.

Screen picture by Don Watkins CC by SA 4.0

Now I am going to drag my mouse pointer while depressing the left mouse button to select the text and the ellipse. This selects all the objects. After the objects are selected I am going to go to the ‘Text’ menu on the menu bar and select ‘Put on Path’.

You can see in the picture below that my text has been added to the elliptical object.

Screen picture by Don Watkins CC by SA 4.0

I want to move the text to the top of the ellipse and I do this by selecting ‘Object Rotate’ button at the top menu.

This moves the text to the top of the ellipse.

Screen picture by Don Watkins CC by SA 4.0

If you want the text positioned at the bottom of the ellipse, select ‘Object flip vertical’ to achieve this.

Whether you leave the text at the top or the bottom, you can change the color of the ellipse to white to make it disappear by selecting only the ellipse and one of the light colors at the bottom of the program window.

Be sure to save your work by going to the ‘File’ menu and choosing ‘Save.’ This saves your graphic in the default ‘.svg’ vector graphic format.

Screen picture by Don Watkins CC by SA 4.0

You can opt to ‘Export’ the graphic by choosing that option from the ‘File’ menu at the left and choosing one of the export options displayed at the far right of the graphic.

Screen picture by Don Watkins CC by SA 4.0

Inkscape is a powerful tool; for information and ideas, you can use the learning tools on the project website.

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Celebrating the Holidays with Open Source

The holiday season is upon us once again, and this year I decided to celebrate in an open source way. Like a particular famous holiday busybody, I have a long list (and I do intend to check it twice) of holiday tasks: create a greeting card (with addressed envelopers) to send to family and friends, make a photo montage or video to a suitably festive song, and decorate my virtual office. There are plenty of open source applications and resources making my job easier. Here’s what I use.

Inkscape and clip art

One of my favorite resources is FreeSVG.org (formerly Openclipart.org). It’s easy to find your favorite holiday, including Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year’s, and more. The clip art is all contributed by users like you and me, and Creative Commons Zero (CC0), so you don’t even need to provide attribution. When possible, I still do give attribution, to ensure that FreeSVG and its artists get visibility.

Here’s an example of some clip art from FreeSVG:

A cartoon of a brown cornucopia with red apples, an orange pumpkin, and brown nuts spilling out

Using Inkscape’s Text to Path tool, I added my own text to the image, which I used on a card. With a little more preparation, I could also use the graphic on some custom cups or placemats.

A cartoon of a brown cornucopia with red apples, an orange pumpkin, and brown nuts spilling out, with the words "We Give Thanks" in an arch over the top

Word processing

LibreOffice Writer can be used to create greeting cards and posters for use around your home or distributing to your friends and family. Create a database of your family and friends using LibreOffice Calc and then use that resource to simplify making mailing labels with the mail merge function.

Creative Commons pictures and graphics

There’s also art on search.creativecommons.org. Mind the license type: give proper credit to anything requiring attribution. This image (“Thanksgiving Dealies”) came from the Creative Commons image search. It’s by Martin Cathrae and is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, so it can be adapted, reused, and shared under the same license.

A candlelight centerpiece using pumpkin shells as flower holders for small red and yellow floral bouquets.

I took this same image and added some of my own text to it with GIMP. You can use Inkscape to do the same thing. 

A candlelight centerpiece using pumpkin shells as flower holders for small red and yellow floral bouquets, with the words "Happy Holidays" at the top left of the image

Creative Commons offers plenty of image options that would make for a festive background during your next video conference.

Videos and live streaming

You can also incorporate images like these along with some of your own and create a short video clip using OpenShot video editor. You can easily add narration by recording a separate voice track using Audacity. Sound effects can be added in Audacity, saved to file, and imported into a soundtrack on OpenShot video editor. Find legal background music to add to your video.

Livestream your holiday gatherings with Open Broadcaster Software. It’s easy to use OBS to present an engaging holiday show for your friends and family using the software, or you can save the program as a Matroska or MP4 file for later viewing.

Reading material

Project Gutenberg is an excellent source of free holiday reading material to share. Dickens’ Christmas Carol is one such resource that is easily read on the web or downloaded as an EPUB or in a format for your favorite eReader. You can also find royalty-free reading materials, like “The Feast of Lights” from Librivox, in mp3 format so they can be downloaded and played in your favorite browser or media player.

Holiday fun

The most important aspect of the holiday season is that they’re relaxing and fun times with friends and family. If you’ve got family members curious about computers, take a moment to share some of your favorite open source resources with them.