Linux

Inkscape

October 30, 2014 by Andy Voelker
Categories: Design & VisualizationMultimediaProductivity & Utility

Availability: Free Download
Comparable: Illustrator

Inkscape is professional quality vector graphics software which runs on Linux, MacOS, and Windows. It is used by design professionals and hobbyists worldwide, for creating a wide variety of graphics such as illustrations, icons, logos, diagrams, maps and web graphics. Inkscape uses the W3C open standard SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) as its native format, and is free and open-source software.

Inkscape has sophisticated drawing tools with capabilities comparable to Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW and Xara Xtreme. It can import and export various file formats, including SVG, AI, EPS, PDF, PS and PNG. It has a comprehensive feature set, a simple interface, multi-lingual support and is designed to be extensible; users can customize Inkscape’s functionality with add-ons.

Tags: graphicsvector

Scribus

October 30, 2014 by Andy Voelker
Categories: Productivity & Utility

Scribus-logo

Availability: Free Download
Comparable:  Microsoft Publisher, InDesign

Scribus is a cross-platform (available on Linux, MacOS, and Windows), open source desktop publishing program that features professional page layout, press-ready output, and new approaches to page design.  It was loosely modeled after Microsoft Publisher.Underneath a modern and user-friendly interface, Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as color separations, CMYK and spot colors, ICC color management, and versatile PDF creation.

Tags: desktop publishing

Blender

October 30, 2014 by Andy Voelker
Categories: Analysis & ModelingMultimedia

blenderLogo

Availability: Free Download
Comparable: After Effects, Sketchup

Blender is a free and open source 3D animation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation. Advanced users employ Blender’s API for Python scripting to customize the application and write specialized tools; often these are included in Blender’s future releases. Blender is well suited to individuals and small studios who benefit from its unified pipeline and responsive development process. Examples from many Blender-based projects are available in the showcase.

Blender is cross-platform and runs equally well on Linux, Windows and Macintosh computers. Its interface uses OpenGL to provide a consistent experience. To confirm specific compatibility, the list of supported platformsindicates those regularly tested by the development team.

As a community-driven project under the GNU General Public License (GPL), the public is empowered to make small and large changes to the code base, which leads to new features, responsive bug fixes, and better usability. Blender has no price tag, but you can invest, participate, and help to advance a powerful collaborative tool: Blender is your own 3D software.