There are literally thousands of practical uses for the free and open source Inkscape vector graphics editor. Here, we get a glimpse at how mapmakers can use it in combination with another FOSS tool.
The Video Screening Room
Michele Tobias, an environmental scientist with the California Department of Parks and Recreation, gave a fascinating talk last month at the FOSS4G North America conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. She spoke about cartography and Inkscape, explaining the process of bringing GIS (geographic information systems) software data into Inkscape. Her tips and insights are available for all to learn from in this YouTube video. Viewing this video, you not only learn some GIS, you learn some Inkscape features too.
The GIS software she references in this presentation, QGIS, is itself open source.
Three cheers for YouTube making it so easy to share such presentations. What did we ever do without such a convenient video hosting site?
For the past 10 years, Phil has been working at a public library in the Washington D.C.-area, helping youth and adults use the 28 public Linux stations the library offers seven days a week. He also writes for MAKE magazine, Opensource.com and TechSoup Libraries. Suggest videos by contacting Phil on Twitter or at pshapiro@his.com.
