Ipe (program)
Encyclopedia
Ipe extensible drawing editor is a free vector graphics editor
for creating figures in PDF or EPS
format. It can be used for making small figures for inclusion into LaTeX
documents as well as making multi-page PDF presentations.
It is developed by Otfried Cheong since 1993 and initially worked on SGI
workstations only. Ipe 6 was released in 2003 which changed the file format into XML code embedded into PDF and EPS files. Ipe 7 was released in 2009. Ipe 7 (see below) can be compiled under Windows, Mac OS X and Unix but binaries are available for many distributions.
Ipe lets users draw geometric objects such as polylines, arcs and spline curves and text. Ipe supports use of layers and multiple pages. It can paste bitmap images from clipboard or import from JPEG
or BMP
, and also through a conversion software it can import PDF figures generated by other software. It differentiates itself from similar programs by including advanced snapping tools and the ability to directly include LaTeX
text and equations. Ipe is extensible by use of ipelets, which are plugins written in C++
or Lua
.
. This is useful for creating figures to be included in scientific documents which often contain equations. It also results in the same font being used for both the text and figures of the document. This is often not the case if other drawing programs are used.
Vector graphics editor
A vector graphics editor is a computer program that allows users to compose and edit vector graphics images interactively on a computer and save them in one of many popular vector graphics formats, such as EPS, PDF, WMF, SVG, or VML....
for creating figures in PDF or EPS
Encapsulated PostScript
Encapsulated PostScript, or EPS, is a DSC-conforming PostScript document with additional restrictions which is intended to be usable as a graphics file format...
format. It can be used for making small figures for inclusion into LaTeX
LaTeX
LaTeX is a document markup language and document preparation system for the TeX typesetting program. Within the typesetting system, its name is styled as . The term LaTeX refers only to the language in which documents are written, not to the editor used to write those documents. In order to...
documents as well as making multi-page PDF presentations.
It is developed by Otfried Cheong since 1993 and initially worked on SGI
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...
workstations only. Ipe 6 was released in 2003 which changed the file format into XML code embedded into PDF and EPS files. Ipe 7 was released in 2009. Ipe 7 (see below) can be compiled under Windows, Mac OS X and Unix but binaries are available for many distributions.
Ipe lets users draw geometric objects such as polylines, arcs and spline curves and text. Ipe supports use of layers and multiple pages. It can paste bitmap images from clipboard or import from JPEG
JPEG
In computing, JPEG . The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. JPEG typically achieves 10:1 compression with little perceptible loss in image quality....
or BMP
Bitmap
In computer graphics, a bitmap or pixmap is a type of memory organization or image file format used to store digital images. The term bitmap comes from the computer programming terminology, meaning just a map of bits, a spatially mapped array of bits. Now, along with pixmap, it commonly refers to...
, and also through a conversion software it can import PDF figures generated by other software. It differentiates itself from similar programs by including advanced snapping tools and the ability to directly include LaTeX
LaTeX
LaTeX is a document markup language and document preparation system for the TeX typesetting program. Within the typesetting system, its name is styled as . The term LaTeX refers only to the language in which documents are written, not to the editor used to write those documents. In order to...
text and equations. Ipe is extensible by use of ipelets, which are plugins written in C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
or Lua
Lua
Lua may refer to:* Lua , a Roman goddess* Lua , a traditional Hawaiian martial art* Lua , a lightweight, extensible programming language* Lua , a single by the folk rock band Bright Eyes...
.
Snapping
Several advanced snapping modes can be turned on in order to facilitate producing accurate figures. The current snap location is indicated by a small red cross near the mouse cursor. The following features can be snapped to.- Vertices
- Boundaries (lines)
- Intersections between lines. This includes curved lines.
- A grid
- Angles
LaTeX
IPE allows the user to insert text objects containing LaTeX code. This is converted to vector graphics by parsing the output of pdfTeXPdfTeX
The computer program pdfTeX is an extension of Knuth's typesetting program TeX, and was originally written and developed into a publicly usable product by Hàn Thế Thành as a part of the work for his PhD thesis at the Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University, Brno...
. This is useful for creating figures to be included in scientific documents which often contain equations. It also results in the same font being used for both the text and figures of the document. This is often not the case if other drawing programs are used.
IPE 7
IPE 7 is the current version of IPE. The core graphics functionality has been separated into a library libipe. The frontend is now written in Lua and includes powerful and well-documented plugin system. Plugins can be written in Lua or C++. New features include support for clipping paths, gradients, transparency and tiling patterns. Binaries are available for Windows as well as for some Linux distribution. The OS/X Ipe.app bundle (since version 7.1.1) can be built and shared but is not officially maintained by Otfried Cheong (see the Ipe7 wiki site).External links
- Ipe7 Wiki
- Article on Ipe published in PracTex Journal
- The OS/X FinkFinkThe Fink project is an effort to port and package open-source Unix programs to Mac OS X. Fink uses dpkg and APT , as well as its own frontend program, fink ....
distributions contain Ipe 6. http://pdb.finkproject.org/pdb/package.php/ipe6)