For example, you can change your canvas size using a variety of commonly used template sizes (just like in Illustrator – highlighted by blue in the photo above). The canvas is simply the final area of your document where your art is displayed). Although, more specifically, the document refers mostly to all of the elements of your canvas – such as the units that your canvas is displayed in, the canvas size, and the background color. Once the Document Properties dialogue is opened, you can choose from a variety of options to edit your canvas (quick note to avoid confusion – document and canvas are essentially interchangeable terms. You can watch the video version of this tutorial directly below, or skip over the video to get to the article (available in multiple languages). I will follow the same format for each task – with a description of how to perform the task in Illustrator, followed by a description of how to perform the same, or similar, task in Inkscape. In this article, I compare 3 of what I consider to be the most common or important features in Illustrator with similar features in Inkscape. Luckily, though, I have decided to take on the task of breaking down the barriers for designers who either need to switch to Inkscape for financial reasons, or simply want to give this new program a try without needing to totally relearn a complicated vector program from scratch. Plus, you don’t know what the program can or can’t do. With Inkscape, you may not be sure where to start as the laws of the program are a bit different. And the program’s features and capabilities have been committed to memory – so you know exactly what you can and can’t do with the program. This is especially true for people who use Illustrator so much that the user interface, including the location of all the program’s various tools and menus, has become second nature to navigate.

For a busy designer, this can make switching programs seemingly unrealistic and frustrating. In other words, Inkscape isn’t all that bad – and it doesn’t require a premium subscription.īut of course, like any other program, Inkscape has its own way of doing things that differs from how Illustrator does things. Illustrator, at the time of this article, is certainly the industry standard when it comes to vector art, but Inkscape is a fascinating free alternative that can actually act as a viable alternative.

Inkscape and Adobe Illustrator are two scalable vector graphics programs that rely on mathematical formulas to draw precise and infinitely scalable vector art and designs.

Inkscape stroke to path alternative