New Inkscape developers

I haven't gotten much code done for Inkscape lately. Small bugfixes here and there, but nothing big really. Most of my time has gone into developing a 4k intro for Assembly 2007 and helping out new Inkscape developers.

Yes, indeed. There are two new guys, who have jumped into developing filters for Inkscape. Thanks to them, we have three new filter primitives implemented in Inkscape: feConvolveMatrix, feDiffuseLighting and feSpecularLighting. Once again, these open up new possibilities for artists using Inkscape.

Now I propably should toss in some examples using these new filters. I don't have any, so I'll toss in the Filter effects example from SVG specification. It shows one possible use for these lighting effects. Actually, Inkscape is almost able to render that one correctly, only feMerge filter primitive is missing.

For feConvolveMatrix then, it can be used for effects like blur, edge detection, embossing, sharpening.

That 4k intro even has a connection to Inkscape: the engine is able to render bezier shapes and I've used Inkscape for designing those shapes. More of that later, so I don't spoil it for anyone ;)