Submitting Your Inkscape Files to Stock Sites and Getting Them Approved

Inkscape's popularity has grown significantly over the past few years making its way into the professional sector, particularly with Animators and Game Developers. But what about creating professional vector work for stock art sites, similar to what you might find from an Illustrator professional?

One of the biggest benefits to Inkscape is the fact that it's completely free, which is great for vector artists just starting out, as it contains many of the features you can find in Adobe Illustrator.

However, it can still leave a lot to be desired when directly exporting to EPS (Encapsulated Postscript) for stock sites. In this tutorial we'll be discussing some of the follies of creating stock art using Inkscape, as well as workarounds!

Version Requirements

I recommend you keep a legacy version of Inkscape in a separate folder on your computer that's earlier than 0.47, due to the fact that as of this version as there are problems with open paths in EPS files:

Inkscape 0.46 Legacy File

I will explain a workaround for higher versions later on in the tutorial, but keep in mindthey will not work 100% of the time and may lead to your file being rejected.

1. Inkscape to EPS Inkscape Version 0.46

Step 1

First close your open paths. Select your unjoined nodes while Edit Paths by Node is active (F2).

Remove Fills — Open Paths are not acceptable for most sites unless they are unfilled open paths. If you're not sure if you have an open path, it never hurts to select the area around it and join the nodes just to be safe!

Step 2

Remove Fills from paths which are meant to stay open.

Select all your open shapes and go into your Object > Fill and Stroke.

Click the "X" button to remove the fill from these shapes, taking care to make sure no shapes you wanted filled were removed.

Step 3

Select File > Save As and Encapsulated Post Script (*.eps) as the file type. Unless you have text, leave all of the options unchecked

Save as EPS in ver 0.46 — Take care to note that you cannot export a drawing with gradient fills using this method. It will result in rasterized elements in your drawing, which may cause your file to be rejected.

Now if we take the EPS file into another program, there won't be any open paths.

2. Workarounds for Inkscape 0.47 and Above

Step 1

Download the extension files provided by the people at bugs.launchpad.

Simply right-click and select Save Link As. Download the files to your C:\Program Files\Inkscape\share\extensions folder. Its location may be change depending on where you installed Inkscape:

Save to Your Exstensions Folder — I have Windows 7 64 bit so my Inkscape Folder is Located under Program Files(x86) instead of just Program Files.

Step 2

When you restart Inkscape you will now have a new option in your Save As command called EPS Workaround.The dialogue box will look identical to the normal one in 0.47 and above.

Save as EPS in ver 0.47 — Check "Convert Texts to Paths" if you have text in the image, or else it will completely erase the text.Keep the settings the same as the image otherwise for maximum compatibility.

I have found that with this method, you can still end up with stray nodes. They are generally not problematic as they are unfilled, but if your file is rejected for unfilled paths after using this method, that is the most likely culprit.

3. The Illustrator Solution

If you're like me and you have Adobe Illustrator but just like using Inkscape for the interfacehere's how you can use them together to ensure clean files and keep your gradients intact.

This also allows you to save your file in Illustrator format (*.ai) which can help increase sales.

Step 1

Download the Select Menu Plug-in for your version of Illustrator from this website:

Select Menu Plugging

Put the selectMenu.aip into to your "Plug-ins" folder (if you already have Illustrator open you may need to restart).

Put selectmenu.aip in your plugins folder — This will add new objects to your **Select > Object** menu.

Step 2

Download the Close All Paths/Close Selected Paths

Close All/Selected Paths Script

Put the Close Selected Paths.js and Close All Paths.js into your Illustrator Presets/Scripts folder.

Put the Close All Paths and Close Selected Paths script into your scripts folder — You may need to restart Illustrator to access these scripts.

Step 3

Open your Inkscape SVG file in Adobe Illustrator and use the new Select > Object function, Open Paths.

Select Open Paths — I'm using Adobe Illustrator CS2. This may differ depending on your Illustrator version.

If none of the paths that light up are open and filled (i.e. they are just lines), you're in the clear. Skip to Step 5, If not, proceed with Step 4.

Step 4

Carefully select the paths you want to close using the Direct Selection Tool (A).

Closed Selected Paths — Using **Close All Paths** is not recommended unless you're sure there are no openpaths that are necessary (e.g. the eyes of this character are unfilled circles)

Step 5

Before saving your file as an EPS, check your Window > Links and make sure there are no links in the file.

These links represent rasterized elements and may cause an immediate rejection of your files. If you havea linked image after following this section of the tutorial, make sure you opened the SVG file in Illustrator and not an EPS file.

Now you can Save File > Save As > Illustrator EPS (*.eps)

4. Create Stock Wallpapers in Inkscape

There are special challenges at times when creating wallpapers in Inkscape if you needto include a source file. Most of these issues can be resolved at the start of the image, ratherthan after you've completed the image.

I won't be showing you how to make specific graphic elements for this tutorial beyondproperly setting up your background as it is more about getting your wallpaper ready for submission to stock art sites.

Step 1

Make sure you start off with the Artboard size you want before putting any graphic elements on it. I've run into issues where if you save the SVG file in Inkscape and then try to bring it into Illustrator and start messing with the Artboard size it willreject the changes.

I usually like to start big with my wallpapers, unfortunately Inkscape does not have a defaultsetting above 1600 x 1200.

Select File > New.

Create a new Inkscape File — I start with **1024 x 768** so if I forget to up size before starting, the proportions are still correct and I can sizeit up easily.

Step 2

Open your Document Properties (File > Document Properties (Shift-Control-D))

Make sure the Orientation is Landscape for a desktop wallpaper. Your size requirements may be different depending on what kind of device you're making it for but I tend to like 2048 x 1536 for its size and versatility.

Change the Document's Properties — I recommend setting a border color and checking off the **Border on top of drawing** option so thatit's easier to see if your drawing goes outside of the artboard. I also uncheck **Show border shadow** because I find itreally distracting when trying to make sure my artwork is not outside the borders.

Step 3

Make a box with the Rectangle Tool (F4)

Create a box — Make sure your Rx and Ry values are set to 0 otherwise your wallpaper will have a rounded edge. This will become your wallpaper base. Don't worry about the size, we will change that in the next step.

Step 4

Switch to Select and Transform Objects mode (F1) and change the size ofyour box to the size of the document page.

Change the Box Dimensions to the size of the Document — Make sure the padlock icon appears unlocked if you're working with a size that's notproportionally the same before you change the values.

Step 5

Set your Alignment Settings Relative to Page by opening the Align and Distribute Dialogue Box (Shift-Control-A) andselect Page from the drop down menu.

Step 6

Click Align Left Edges and Align Top Edges.

Align Top Edges — Alternatively you can use **Align Right** and **Bottom Edges** but I prefer Left and Top

Step 7

Lock the layer with the background by clicking the padlock icon next to the layerthat has the background.

Lock the Background Layer — You should separate important elements into layers and also be sure to properly name them.

Step 8

Add a new layer (Shift-Control-N) and draw the elements of your wallpaper, taking care to make sure they're inside the bounds of thepage.

Draw the Wallpaper Elements — Sometimes when you're zoomed out in Inkscape it can appear like your elements are outsidethe bounds, this is a minor bug but if you zoom in you will see it looks normal, otherwise re-align it.

Make use of the align function with elements that go to the edge of the page. Make sureno objects outside the bounds of the page, otherwise your file may be rejected.This is less of a concern with sites you are not submitting a source file to as you can crop the excess elements out of the image.

Step 9

One thing that can be tricky in Inkscape is trying to align a stroke with the edge of a page. I recommendbuilding shapes rather than relying on the edge of the stroke to line it up. If you are attempting to makea shape that goes across the entire page, avoid having a stroke on it where possible.

Whether you use a Butt Cap:

Or a Square Cap:

You can see there are problems aligning the stroke to the edge of the page, so it is preferableto build the shape you want for easy alignment using the Bezier Curve tool (Shift-F6) rather than rely on strokes for linesthat go across the page:

Shapes are preferable for alignment — Creating shapes mean you can make the nodes square with the edge of the page.

Try to avoid gradient fills and partial transparency when making wallpapers as well unless you are going to be finishing the file in Illustrator as in the previous section.

Step 10

Some strange things can happen to your EPS file when your item is a full page. For example if you bring this file into Illustrator after saving it as an EPS in version 0.46, we see this:

Disappearing Artboard when exporting from 0.46

If you go into File > Document Setup (Alt-Control-P) in Illustrator and change the artboard size,you will also notice it appears as though the wallpaper has been resized.

Fix your Artboard in the Document Properties

Wallpaper Size Change — The wallpaper changed sizes; you will need to resize and align it.

Step 11

Use the Object Properties input at the top of the screen to change the size of the image.

Then drag the object to the top left of the artboard, it should snap to the page.

Step 12

You can now save your file as an EPS using the settings we used before for saving in Illustrator.

Step 13

I also recommend saving it an Illustrator (*.ai) file using the following settings.

Save as an *.ai file — Saving as an *.ai file will ensure any work is not lost in case the EPS file becomes corrupted or lost,it's also helpful to people you are selling your work to.

5. Pros and Cons of Inkscape for Creating Stock Art

In this tutorial we've gone over many work arounds to help you save files for submitting to stock marketplaces. However let's just look at the pros and cons of using Inkscape for creating stock art.

Pros:

Interface that is easy to learn and use for new designers as well as Adobe professionals
Easy to install extensions that help make converting easier
Helpful community
Completely free for commercial work
Legacy versions are available on SourceForge if you do not like a change that was made

Cons:

Still best used in combination with Illustrator for maximum compatibility
Takes extra work to make sure you have clean files
Updates to solve the "Open Paths" issue in version 0.47 may take awhile to arrive

This may just be personal taste, but overall I find the user interface of Inkscape worth the little extra work to make sure my files are accepted.

Are You an Inkscape Convert?

You should now be well on your way to getting your files accepted by stock art sites.Each stock art site is different so you should always check their submission rules for EPS filesbefore submitting. It's always good to include an SVG file just as an extra since Illustratorusers can open these as well. Most sites don't require you to include the Illustrator file, but it also helps.

I hope that in the future Inkscape updates many of these issues. Inkscape isa wonderful tool that rivals many of the industry standards. For now, these workarounds willhelp you use Inkscape in a professional setting.