"create package" to embed/collect fonts and bitmaps

[dcberg]

Like in InDesign, Inkscape should have a "Create
Package" menu item that copies all the linked images
and used fonts into one folder with the name of the file.
This makes it a lot easier to share files with other
people and to clean up, when you messed around in the
process of creating your document.
This button of course also changes the references of
linked images to the newly created images.

[Luke-hutchison (luke-hutchison)]

These items can also be embedded directly in the SVG -- see,
for example, rfe 1224283.

[dcberg (david-sipsolutions)]

I know, they can but I think creating a package is the
better alternative. Packages easily let you edit any
embedded files with any software.
It is one of the main reasons, I hate MS-Word: It embeds
files instead of just linking them like OOo (once you unpack
the tar.bz (which an swx file is), the images are seperated
from the rest).

[Luke-hutchison (luke-hutchison)]

I know what you mean, I've used that feature of OOo's format
many times. There are benefits to both packaged and
embedded systems. What I really don't like is linked data
where the links to objects are in different files entirely,
whether or not they're in the same directory. OOo links
images by default if you drag them into a document, but
"embeds" them (by including them in the file package) if you
use the Insert menu. I have taken OOo presentations
somewhere on disk several times, only to find out I had
linked files that weren't on the disk! Really annoying...

So regardless of whether everything is in a package that's
just a renamed .zip file or not, things should never be
linked by default when saved, it's too easy to break the
links by moving the .svg or whatever it links to.

Another point -- it might be great to have File-Roller
support opening SVG files with mime-encoded embedded objects
as an archive. That way it would be trivial to pull out the
parts you need to edit. I think I'll create a file-roller
bug about that.

[jimmac (jimmac)]

This is a design idea, that would seem more elegant to me:

Just like with vaccum defs, I believe this simply belongs to
the save dialog.

[ ] Include unused defs
[x] Copy imported bitmaps

There may be a more clever way, but saving a foobar.svg file
would simply create a foobar subdirectory and including the
bitmaps using relative paths.

Additional bitmap imports in a file saved with this property
would automatically copy the imported bitmap to the target
dir and use relative paths.

[dcberg (david-sipsolutions)]

This sounds good to me, Jimmac!
However, I'd ask the developers to provide a "Save a Copy"
then, because that's what you'll mostly when wrapping
everything up.
Usually it's not for your own use but for sending it to
somebody and you want the pictures to stay where they are on
your harddrive.

[Horkana-users (horkana-users)]

Essentially we already have this in the form of Inkview
files, if a single self contained zipped package is what you
want.
Inkview collects all the output files together and puts them
in a JAR (which is a special type of Zip file with extra
manifest/index information.

On the developer mailing lists Alexandre Prokoudine
mentioned a feature in other applications called "Collect
for output" (amongst other things)

Presenting it as a Save option seems like by far the
cleanest and most straightforward way to do this that has
been suggested so far (and has the obvious advantages of
already having been done).

[Horkana-users (horkana-users)]

forgot to include the link to the mailing list where this
issue was discussed
http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/message.php?msg_id=12861809

and to be clear I think we should include some kind of
"Inkview Package" on the save list after Inkscape SVG and
Plain SVG rather than cluttering the dialog with options or
adding yet another File menu item. (I suspect this will
also be the easiest for developers to implement.)

-- Alan Horkan

[Bug Importer (bug-importer)]

could this not be done in a fashion similar to how the open
document formats work?

I suppose it is maybe a better approach to create a standard
svg package format, and then look to inkscape to implement it?

i.e. a specific file/directory structure stored in a zip file?

for e.g.

root
|--/META-INF/
|-content.xml
|-mimetype
|--/BITMAPS/
|--/BITMAPS/file1.png
|--/FONTS/
|--/FONTS/typeface.ttf

[Bug Importer (bug-importer)]

Like I said we already have something simliar to what you
suggest in the form of inkview files.
Your suggestions might bring it a little closer to
OpenDocument but inkscape does already have the zip +
manifest (jar) and the other changes to the directory
structure might be workable especially if there was some
obvious advantage to be gained like better interoperability
with existing tools.

- Alan H. (horkana)

[Buliabyak-users (buliabyak-users)]

Aaron, does this work already?

[grey tomorrow (gtomorrow)]

Hi - thanks for reporting this bug, I've manually migrated it to Inkscape's new bug tracker on GitLab, and closed it here.

Please feel free to file new bugs about the issues you're seeing at
http://inkscape.org/report .

Moved to: https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inbox/issues/2244
Closed by: https://gitlab.com/greytomorrow