Digital artists, designers and vector illustrators among you may be be interested to know that an updated version of open source graphics app Inkscape is (sort of) out.

Inkscape 1.4.1 builds on the giant set of features last year’s release of Inkscape 1.4 brought with it with a number of worthwhile enhancements and bug fixes, plus two new features.

When opening Inkscape a new splash screen is shown during loading (it can be disabled) to let users (especially those on older/slower devices) know something is happening since they clicked or tapped on Inkscape icon to open it:

The welcome dialog which shows on launch adds a ‘close’ button, meaning it’s finally possible to quit the app (without using other means) if accidentally opened — or if the rush of creative ambition that made you open it evaporates once it has!

A simple thing long-requested…

Inkscape 1.4.1 uses collapsible groups in more toolbars so that the app can be used at 720p-size constrained widths (as older versions did). In theory this may help the app play nice when tiled/snapped to a screen edge.

Fixes to many of Inkscape’s tools make it in, like restored end-parentheses in Calligraphy tool tooltips, updating SVG attributes of circles when using the Ellipse tool, and nixing multiple ‘Options’ popovers plaguing the Measure tool.

Additionally, the Extensions > Modify Path -> Clean up path tool can now removes duplicate nodes and nodes closer than a set threshold, with the option to close paths and join subpaths when nodes are separated by less than set threshold(s).

The helpful Clean up Path tool picks up improvements

Ubuntu users running the Inkscape snap can print reliably (no more crashes, hurrah) after upgrading to this version, and no longer be left exasperated by the Export dialog now saving files to the correct location. It’s the little things, eh.

Other changes in Inkscape 1.4.1:

  • Significantly improved support for Affinity Designer files (.afdesign)
  • Status bar hint for guides updated to aid Guides dialog discoverability
  • PDF file import fixes, including proper character and word spacing
  • Moving with arrow keys works as expected for non integer values of nudge
  • Modular grid now renders with inverted Y axis
  • Loading colour palettes via Swatches dialog no longer crashes
  • Proper importing of .ase colour palettes using LAB colour space
  • Early support for importing Vectornator / Linearity Curve files (optional extension)
  • Layers and objects dialog now highlights children of selected groups
  • Negative bleed values added to the Printing Marks extension

For more details on these and other fixes to be found in this update see the Inkscape 1.4.1 release notes or read the official blog post.

How to install Inkscape 1.4.1

You can download Inkscape for Linux, Windows, and macOS from the official website, while existing users can update… however they normally update.

Ubuntu users can use the official Inkscape snap, or add the the official Inkscape PPA to install the new release on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and above, as well as Linux distributions which are based on it (like Linux Mint, Zorin OS, Pop!_OS, etc).

Installed Inkscape from the Ubuntu repo? Remove it before you add this PPA

You can add the Inkscape PPA and install the latest Inkscape as a DEB package by opening a new Terminal and running the following commands, entering your user password when prompted:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:inkscape.dev/stable
sudo apt update && sudo apt install inkscape

Once installed, open it the same you’d open other apps, using whatever app menu/picker/launcher your distro or desktop provides.

In all, another solid update to this vector graphics essential.