pixel preview, rasterize without losing original

Bug #171541 reported by Bug Importer
34
This bug affects 3 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
Inkscape
Confirmed
Wishlist
Jon A. Cruz

Bug Description

For web design - one of the most handy features in
illustrator is to select some text and apply a
"Rasterize' effect to it. It remains editable text, but
it displays as if it was rasterised. you get a dialogue
with options for dpi and antialising.

This is great for making blocks of pixel font text -
rasterize arial 10pt in illustrator with antialising
off to see what it will look like in the browser.

it would also be handy to be able to apply rasterise to
any element.

Tags: renderer ui
Revision history for this message
Horkana-users (horkana-users) wrote :

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> apply rasterise to any element.

the existing feature "make bitmap copy" does the rasterizing
part

you can workaround the rest by duplicating the object and
keeping it around (perhaps on a hidden layer) after you
rasterize it.

the feature sounds interesting and it would certainly
streamline certian workflows so patches to imlement the
functionality you suggest would be very welcome but given
how similar results can be achieved in other ways it is
unlikely to be a high priority.

Revision history for this message
Bug Importer (bug-importer) wrote :

the 'bitmap copy' function does not give you any options
regarding the antialising (or an option to turn it off so
that blocks of text can be rendered as if they were on the
web).

at some point inkscape workin the way illustrators rasterise
works would be great - it is still editable as a normal
block of text or whatever, obviously if you make a change it
automatically re-rasterises it...

Revision history for this message
Horkana-users (horkana-users) wrote :

This suggests the feature is called "Pixel Preview" in Adobe
Illustrator 10
http://veerle.duoh.com/blog/comments/the_rasterize_effect_on_text_in_illustrator/

There is anther seperate feature called "Rasterize..." which
allows user to rasterize objects with all kinds of detailed
options, it might even make the current "Icon Preview" mode
redundant.

changing summary to help searchers who may be familiar with
Adobe illustrator (ie make sure the words rasterize, pixel,
and preview are all included in the summary).

interesting how the whole area of "Bitmap Copy" could be
approached quite differently.
given how illustrator uses the term Rasterize it seems odd
to use the term Bitmap in Inkscape, especially considering
the awkward phrasing "make a bitmap copy" when bitmap can
technically be used as a verb.

Revision history for this message
Ammega (ammega) wrote :

Originator: NO

Yes "Pixel Preview" is rather essential display option for raster icons
and raster interfaces creation. It's very handy in Adobe Illustrator to
edit path and view its every raster pixel dynamically.

Revision history for this message
Jon A. Cruz (jon-joncruz) wrote :

Originator: NO

This does sound very useful, and right in line with the icon editing
support I've been putting in.

vonHalenbach (lustik)
Changed in inkscape:
importance: Low → Wishlist
status: New → Confirmed
Revision history for this message
Wiggles (wiggles4) wrote :

Pixel preview is one of my favorite features in Illustrator (second to live effects), and I would love to see it in Inkscape. The icon preview, although useful, doesn't quite work for every image (also I would like to see the preview on-canvas).

Revision history for this message
DanHeywood (heywood-photography) wrote :

I, too, find Pixel Preview as it appears in Illustrator an essential feature. Recently, I've Been using Illustrator 10 to finish some of my Inkscape illustrations (I dislike Illustrator for initial design/drawing, but need to color manage/soft proof, and that doesn't function in 0.47 for Mac OS 10.4 Tiger). In using Illustrator, I discovered the Pixel Preview feature, and now I'd find it very difficult to turn back to working without it for certain kinds of illustrations. Exporting as a png to see the rasterized image takes much, much too long on the illustrations I create using masks with rasterized images (for texture) and blur.

Revision history for this message
Guillermo Espertino (Gez) (gespertino-gmail) wrote :

I wouldn't say it's an essential feature. You can work without that pixel preview for web without problems.
There's an extension called "pixel snap" that fits the objects to the pixel grid, and at 100% zoom in Inkscape you're seeing what you'll get in the exported bitmap at 90dpi.
The grid set to 1px steps + pixelsnap and a second view at 100% are enough for pixel perfect work, imho.

I do graphics for the web all the time and I didn't find that feature necessary at all.

Revision history for this message
DanHeywood (heywood-photography) wrote :

Wish I could edit my previous comment. I'd now say that for the way I often use Inkscape (using masked raster images for texturing my vector drawings), I find that what I see in inkscape is almost exactly what I get upon exporting to a png. Colors vary somewhat after exporting my Inkscape illustrations to png, but the texture is accurately displayed. I'd forgotten about this accuracy during my brief foray into finishing/texturing/masking my illustrations over in AI.

I can, however, see the value as to how useful a pixel preview type feature would be for raster icons or raster interface creation. But, Guillermo's suggestion for pixel snap sounds like it does the trick.

[As an aside: the pixel preview features as it functions in Illustrator 10 is definitely essential for the style of illustrating I have described I've been doing. My textured illustrations (a look achieved by using a linked png image and opacity mask) look significantly different without pixel preview engaged than when it is. It shows just what it looks like once exported to jpg.]

su_v (suv-lp)
tags: added: renderer ui
Revision history for this message
rerdavies (rerdavies) wrote :

The problem with pixel preview is that you can't control the size of the icons patches. I fequently do icon design for Android and Windows systems, and being able to accurately preview anti-aliasing effects for arbitrary sized graphics is an essential featur for me, for a graphics editor. The Icon Preview feature is nice, but it just doesn't cut it often enough that it's a deal breaker for my use of Inkscape, honestly. (I was trying to produce a 20x20 menu icon, earlier and am just work on a 36x20 icon, which I'd like to be able to PREVIEW on top of a screen-captured bitmap slice. The icon preview is useless for that. Also kind of suck for generating predominately white icons on a predominately black background (Android dark themes, or Windows WPF dark themes, for example).

The feature that I would REALLY like is pixel preview within the main window. Illustrator does it (effectively, with tricks). Expression Design does it. Macromedia Fireworks does it (all the time, honestly, but still, it allows use of vector graphics to generate bitmap artwork). Corel Draw does it. Inkscape doesn't.

The workflow for pixel snapping is difficult, to be perfectly frank. I have 0.5-pixel nudges set up now (for snapping of line widths). But it's a trying task to produce small icons with InkScape. A shame, because the rendering engine is great.

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