Find the right move,
at the right time.

What Nodixio does

Nodixio brings two uses together in one studio: turning a raster image into SVG paths, then drawing or reworking those paths with vector tools. The application takes care of as much technical detail as possible — layer order, hole structure, joins and export — so you can focus on the visual result.

The starting document

The studio opens on a blank document named Untitled 1. Load an image only if you want to vectorise it; you can also start straight away with the pen, text or parametric shapes.

The shortest path

1. 1

   Open the studio and load a PNG, JPEG or WebP in Correct.

2. 2

   Set the number of colours, the colour precision and the ignored specks.

3. 3

   Run the vectorisation: the detected colours join the document palette right away.

4. 4

   Check the result in Overlay mode, then fine-tune the advanced settings if needed.

5. 5

   Fix the shapes globally, then switch to Edit for individual points.

6. 6

   Save a .nodixio project to continue later, or export the result as SVG, PNG or JPEG.

Two files, two purposes

• The .nodixio file keeps the working project: source image, shapes, texts, layers, fonts and settings.
• The .svg file is the standard final result, ready for the web, print or another vector application.
• Save as .nodixio before a long correction session, then export to SVG once the artwork is ready.

A recommended way of working

The four areas

• The top bar handles opening, importing, saving, undoing and exporting.
• Project tabs let you keep several works open and move elements between them.
• The left panel gathers Correct, Edit, Text, colours, tilings, effects and context properties.
• The workspace bar controls the view, layers, snapping, rulers, full screen, panning and zoom.

View modes

• PNG shows only the source image, useful for bitmap retouching.
• Side by side places the source and the vector result in two separate areas.
• Overlay stacks the PNG and the SVG. Set their opacity separately for a precise comparison.
• Hiding the PNG turns Overlay into a clean SVG view without losing your settings.
• Bézier mode shows the paths without their final rendering so you can check how the curves are built.

Zoom and panning

• Use the zoom slider up to 3,200% for fine adjustments.
• Pinching the trackpad zooms under the pointer.
• Enable Pan or press H to move the workspace without touching the objects.
• The Recentre button puts the workspace back in its original position.
• Full screen frees up the available surface without changing the document.

Resizable panel

Drag the vertical divider between the left panel and the workspace. Grow the panel for detailed settings and shrink it when drawing surface matters more.

Load the source

In Correct › Initial vectorisation, click Load an image or drop a PNG, JPEG or WebP file. A sharp, reasonably large, lightly compressed image will always give better contours.

Set the detection

• Number of colours (2 to 16): the image is first reduced to this palette before tracing. Match the real number of important shades: too high and the artwork fragments into unnecessary sub-shapes.
• Colour precision (1 to 8 bits): how finely shades are kept while tracing. A low value groups close tones together, a high value keeps them apart.
• Ignored specks (px²): removes isolated areas smaller than this threshold. Raise it gradually to clean up noise without losing patterns.
• Reducing colours first avoids stacking gradients: each boundary is computed once, and only openings that really lead to transparency become holes.

Advanced settings (VTracer)

• Gradient merging: how much nearby shades are merged rather than stacked. A high value simplifies gradient backgrounds, a low value keeps the transitions.
• Corner angle: beyond this angle a point is treated as a sharp corner rather than a curve.
• Corner shifting: how far the detected corner may move to follow the real contour.
• Segment length: the shortest straight segment before it is turned into a curve.
• Iterations: how many optimisation passes are applied. More iterations give smoother curves but take longer.
• Path decimals: how precisely coordinates are written in the SVG. Raise it for very large artworks, lower it to keep the file small.
• Curve mode: Spline produces smooth curves, Polygon produces straight segments, Pixel follows the image cells exactly.
• Hierarchy: Stacked overlays the colour layers, Cutout fits them side by side with no overlap.

Vectorise

1. 1

   Start with the real number of important colours.

2. 2

   Adjust the colour precision if needed, then raise the ignored specks when the image is noisy.

3. 3

   Run Vectorise the current PNG.

4. 4

   The colours of the result are added to the palette automatically, without duplicates.

5. 5

   Switch to Overlay and lower the PNG opacity to check the differences.

6. 6

   If a single shape is not enough, select it and use Re-vectorise this shape with new settings.

Recovering the colours

• When the vectorisation finishes, every colour found in the created shapes is added to the document palette.
• Known shades are never duplicated: the palette stays readable and reusable.
• Click a swatch to apply its colour to the selection, exactly as on a hand-drawn artwork.
• The cross on a swatch removes the colour from the palette without changing the shapes that use it.

Choosing the right level of detail

Perfect shapes

• Circle rebuilds the selection with four Bézier anchors, the minimum for a clean SVG circle.
• Rectangle rebuilds four corners and removes the extra points.
• Parallelogram regularises a slanted quadrilateral.
• Perfect polygon recreates a regular figure with the chosen number of sides.
• Perfect arc works on the whole contour, a hole or a stretch bounded by two points.

Global smoothing

Smooth opens a live preview with two settings. Simplification reduces the number of anchors; Roundness softens the transition between segments. Significant corners and straight lines are protected. Confirm only once the point count and the silhouette look right.

Correcting a portion

1. 1

   Choose Redraw, Line, Smooth, − Points, + Points or Delete.

2. 2

   Click the two anchors that bound the area.

3. 3

   Choose Short side or Other side if the contour is closed.

4. 4

   Adjust the preview when the tool offers one, then click Apply.

Constraints between contours

• Remember keeps a line or a circle as a reference.
• Make parallel applies the reference orientation to the target portion.
• Make concentric aligns the centre of a target circle with the remembered one.
• Restore goes back to the original geometry of the selected shape.

Automatic or manual symmetry

• Auto looks for the axis and the side that best match the source.
• Manual shows an orange axis: move it, tilt it or type its angle, then click the side to keep.
• The opposite half is rebuilt and the contour is closed automatically.

Selecting objects

• V enables selection.
• Shift-click adds or removes an object from the selection.
• Q enables the lasso: fully surround the objects you want to select.
• Clicking an element that belongs to a group selects the whole group.
• Command-click — Ctrl-click on Windows — selects an element inside a group. On overlapping objects, repeat the gesture to walk down through the layers, from top to bottom.
• Once a lower object is selected you can drag it even if the pointer also sits over an upper object.

Selection and direct editing

• The Select tool automatically shows the anchors of editable vector shapes.
• Click an anchor to reveal its handles; Shift-click selects several.
• Drag the anchor or its handles to change the curve without losing access to colours, strokes and effects.
• Drag inside an already selected object to move the whole selection; Option/Alt-drag moves a copy.
• Option-click on an anchor toggles between corner and smooth curve. A corner’s handles are kept but become independent.
• Delete anchors enables a continuous tool: click each anchor you want to remove, one after another.
• Delete handles removes both tangents of the clicked anchor without moving or deleting it.
• Delete also clears the anchors already selected, while keeping the minimum the path needs.
• On an open path, dragging the stroke moves the whole path; Alt-drag bends the segment, and Shift+Alt-click inserts an anchor without deforming the curve. The other Bézier shortcuts are detailed in the Keyboard shortcuts chapter.

Select by properties

• First select a reference shape or text, then open Select by properties under the colour palette.
• Combine kind, fill, stroke, opacity, effects and name freely.
• For a text you can also compare the font, size, typographic style and content.
• Choose whether every property must match or a single one is enough, and whether hidden or locked elements should be included.
• The resulting selection may mix shapes and texts; shared colours and styles then apply to the whole selection.

Parametric objects

Marker size

The size of anchors and handles is expressed on screen: the markers therefore stay easy to grab whatever the zoom level.

Drawing with the pen

• P starts a closed shape; Shift+P or \ starts an open curve meant for a stroke.
• Click to place a corner, click-drag to create a curved anchor with its handles.
• Anchors stay editable throughout the path: drag one, or Cmd/Ctrl-drag it to pull its handles without moving it.
• Clicking a segment inserts an anchor without deforming the curve; dragging bends the segment.
• Shift constrains to 45°, Option/Alt converts a corner or releases a handle, and Space during a drag moves the point being created.
• Clicking the endpoint of an open path resumes that path. Hold Option to create a new point without snapping to it.

Scissors

1. 1

   Select the path with the Select tool.

2. 2

   Click Scissors.

3. 3

   Click an anchor or a segment.

4. 4

   A closed shape becomes open; an open curve is split into two independent objects.

Join mode

1. 1

   Enable Join: this mode is independent of the normal selection.

2. 2

   Click a first open path, then optionally a second one. A third replaces the first.

3. 3

   Click two endpoints. A third replaces the first chosen point.

4. 4

   Choose the join: straight segment, smooth curve, merge by vertex or merge by curve.

Choosing the join

• Line keeps two endpoints and links them with a segment.
• Curve keeps two endpoints and creates handles consistent with the existing directions.
• Merge by vertex brings the two endpoints together into a single corner.
• Merge by curve brings the endpoints together into a smooth anchor, oriented from the neighbouring segments.

Available objects

• Circle and ellipse.
• Rectangle with an adjustable corner radius.
• Polygon with an adjustable number of sides.
• Star with an adjustable number of branches and inner ratio.
• Flower with adjustable petal count, depth, roundness and petal width.

Create and edit

1. 1

   Choose the shape in the vector tools.

2. 2

   Set its parameters in the context panel.

3. 3

   Drag on the workspace to define its size and orientation.

4. 4

   As long as the object stays parametric, change its values without manually deforming its points.

5. 5

   Use Convert to shape for free Bézier retouching.

Why keep the object

Opening the layers

Click Layers in the workspace bar. Every row shows a thumbnail, an editable name, the type or the number of points, visibility and locking.

Essential actions

• Click a row to select the layer.
• Shift-click selects every layer between the last clicked row and this one at once; Shift-clicking an already selected row removes the whole range.
• Command-click on macOS — Ctrl-click on Windows — adds or removes a single layer without touching the others.
• Click the name to rename a layer.
• The eye hides or shows the element without deleting it.
• The padlock prevents accidental changes.
• Drag the handle to change the order or drop an element into a group.
• Group gathers the selection; Ungroup releases the children; Duplicate creates a structured copy.

Nested groups

A group may contain shapes, texts and other groups. Click its row or one of its objects on the artwork to select the whole group. Expand it to reach a precise child from the layers panel.

Group opacity and effects

• Select the group in the layers to set its overall opacity.
• Effects applied to a group act on the assembled result, whereas an effect applied to a shape acts before assembly.
• Effects stack: the same object or group can combine several shadows, glows, bevels and embosses.

Creating holes

1. 1

   First select the shape or shapes to pierce and remember them as the impacted objects.

2. 2

   Then select the shape or shapes that will act as the cutter.

3. 3

   Click Make the holes.

4. 4

   Nodixio places the elements in the right order automatically and creates a structured group in the layers.

When the cut sticks out

A fully contained cut becomes a hole. If it crosses the edge, Nodixio performs a real boolean operation on the path to produce the expected contour. You never have to reorder the layers yourself.

Editing a hole

• Expand the hole group in the layers.
• Select the pierced shape or one of the Hole layers.
• Move or transform the hole: the visual result updates.
• Add a new hole to the group without losing the existing ones.
• If you delete the last hole, the base shape automatically becomes a standard layer again.

Difference from a final subtraction

Boolean operations

• Union merges the areas occupied by the selected shapes.
• Subtraction removes the cutter shapes from the base shape.
• Intersection keeps only the shared areas.
• Exclusion keeps the areas belonging to an odd number of shapes and creates an Exclusion group when several shapes result.

Reading the result in the layers

When an operation produces several silhouettes, Nodixio creates a group named after the operation. Each resulting shape appears as a child layer you can select and edit.

Creating a mask

1. 1

   Select and remember the elements that must stay visible.

2. 2

   Then select one or more mask silhouettes.

3. 3

   Confirm the mask creation.

4. 4

   Expand the group to find Content and Mask separately.

Mask or hole

• A mask limits the display of several objects, texts or groups to a silhouette.
• A hole visually removes areas from a base shape and keeps its cuts as editable children.
• Both structures are non-destructive in the .nodixio project and correctly translated on SVG export.

Document palette

• The palette fills automatically after a vectorisation or an SVG import: the detected colours are added without duplicates.
• Click a swatch to apply its colour to the selection.
• The Free picker applies the colour live on the selected shapes or texts; ⌘Z / Ctrl+Z takes you back.
• The eyedropper samples and applies the pixel you pick in the PNG, including in Side by side view, with no veil over the image.
• + Palette stores the free colour in the document.
• The small cross removes a colour from the palette; it does not delete the objects that use it.

No fill

Select a shape or a text and click No fill. The fill really becomes transparent; a stroke, an effect or a stroke tiling may stay visible.

Opacity

• Set the opacity from 0 to 100% with the field or the slider.
• On a shape it affects its fill, its stroke and its effects.
• On a text it affects the whole text.
• On a group it applies after all its children are composed.

Composition tip

Basic settings

• Enable or disable the stroke independently of the fill.
• Type the width freely: Nodixio imposes no artificial 40 pt ceiling.
• Choose the caps and joins that suit the drawing.
• Define a dash pattern and its offset to create a discontinuous line.

Markers

• Start and end are set separately.
• Available markers include concave arrow, open arrow, triangle, diamond, circle, square and bar.
• The marker automatically follows the direction of the path.

Stroke appearance

A stroke can take a colour, a gradient, a tiling and its own effects. These settings are separate from the shape fill.

Converting the stroke to a shape

Convert the stroke turns the visible width into one or more filled shapes. If the result contains several silhouettes, Nodixio puts them in a group and creates a child layer for each one.

Fill types

• Flat uses a single colour.
• Axial or linear follows an axis you can move directly on the shape.
• Radial spreads the colours from an adjustable centre.
• Curve gradient follows an editable Bézier path laid on the shape.
• Tiling repeats a tile from the library.

Editing a gradient

1. 1

   Choose the gradient type.

2. 2

   Add, select and move the colour stops.

3. 3

   Move the axis, its centre or the guide path directly on the artwork.

4. 4

   Adjust colours and positions until the transition looks right.

Choosing a tiling

Open the Tilings menu. Names are sorted alphabetically. Hover a value to see a live preview, then click to apply it to the selection.

Tiling studio

1. 1

   Create a new tiling or edit an existing pattern.

2. 2

   Set the tile width and height, its transparent or coloured background and its repeats.

3. 3

   Draw inside the orange frame with the usual tools; the neighbouring copies show the seams in real time.

4. 4

   Add the result to the palette or update the existing tiling.

5. 5

   Then adjust scale, rotation and X/Y position on each object using the pattern.

Library and export

• A tiling can be duplicated, renamed, hidden or edited again.
• Tiling dependencies follow the objects when you copy and paste between projects.
• The definitions in use are embedded in the exported SVG.

Available effects

• Drop shadow: offsets and blurs a coloured silhouette behind the object.
• Inner shadow: darkens the inside near the edges.
• Outer glow: spreads a colour around the silhouette.
• Inner glow: spreads the light inwards.
• Raised bevel: simulates a lit relief.
• Sunken emboss: simulates a shape pressed into the surface.

Stacking and ordering effects

1. 1

   Select a shape, a text, a stroke or a group.

2. 2

   Choose Add an effect.

3. 3

   Set its colour, opacity, blur, spread and, for directional effects, its X/Y offsets.

4. 4

   Add as many complementary effects as you need.

5. 5

   Drag an effect’s handle to change its position; effects are computed from top to bottom and the render updates immediately.

6. 6

   The Up and Down buttons give the same command from the keyboard or a touch screen.

7. 7

   Disable an effect to compare without losing its settings, or delete it once it is no longer useful.

Level of application

• Shape effect: follows that silhouette only.
• Stroke effect: follows the line, its dashes and its markers.
• Text effect: stays linked to the editable text.
• Group effect: works on the combined rendering of the children.

Keeping an SVG reasonable

Blur

• Add a Blur effect to soften the object itself: no colour, no offset, only the amount of blur.
• For a motion trail, raise Direction (amplitude in pixels), then set the Angle in degrees.
• Blur applies to a shape, a text, a stroke or a group, like the other stackable effects.

Adding a text

1. 1

   Open the Text tab and click Add.

2. 2

   Type the content in the panel.

3. 3

   Choose the bundled font or search for a Google Font.

4. 4

   Set size, weight, italic, letter spacing, line height and alignment.

5. 5

   Move or transform the text like any other object.

Styles inside one sentence

1. 1

   Select the characters you want in the text field.

2. 2

   Choose their font, size, weight, italic, letter spacing or colour.

3. 3

   Repeat on another part of the sentence.

4. 4

   Use Clear local style to bring the selected part back in line with the text’s overall style.

Remote fonts

The Google Fonts search widens the choice. Nodixio loads the font file needed for rendering and can embed it in the project so the composition is restored when you reopen it.

Text on a curve

1. 1

   Select the text.

2. 2

   Enable Choose a curve and click the carrier path.

3. 3

   Adjust the offset along the path, the distance to the curve and the direction.

4. 4

   Use Detach to set the text free without losing its content or its style.

Text and layers

Every text has its own layer and stays editable until it is vectorised. It can be grouped, hidden, locked and receive an opacity, a fill, a tiling, a gradient and several effects.

Text columns

1. 1

   Click Add in the Text tab: the cursor switches to column mode.

2. 2

   Draw a rectangle on the canvas to set the width and height, or simply click for a default-width column.

3. 3

   The content is placed and wrapped automatically to the column width.

4. 4

   Adjust the width in the panel, or drag its handle directly on the artwork.

5. 5

   Without a drawn height, the body starts at 16 px; drawing vertically makes the size follow the gesture.

Alignment, kerning and leading

• The four panel icons align the text left, centred, right or justified.
• Justified stretches every line to the full column width; the last line stays left, unless after a justified break.
• A line reduced to a single word is stretched too, by spacing its letters.
• Kerning: Tighten, Loosen and Reset adjust the spacing, for the whole text or the selected portion.
• Letter spacing and Line height fine-tune the whole composition.

Justified breaks and hyphenation

1. 1

   Shift+Enter inserts a break that stays justified to the end of the column.

2. 2

   Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+- inserts a conditional hyphen, shown only when the word breaks at the end of a line.

3. 3

   Enter creates a new paragraph, with a non-justified line break.

4. 4

   The same commands are available as the Justified break and Hyphen buttons in the panel.

Character and paragraph styles

1. 1

   Select the characters to style, or the whole text.

2. 2

   Set font, size, weight, italic, letter spacing and colour.

3. 3

   Type a name then Save to create a reusable style.

4. 4

   A style also stores the paragraph’s line height and alignment.

5. 5

   Click a style in the list to apply it: with a selection, only those characters change; otherwise the whole text.

6. 6

   Clear local style restores the general style on the selected portion.

Import a font

• The Import a TTF, OTF or WOFF font button loads a file from your computer.
• The file is kept in the project and the font appears under Imported fonts.
• Useful offline or for a font that is missing from the catalogue.
• A character typed after a styled character inherits its style, weight and italic included.
• The WOFF2 format is not supported: convert it to TTF, OTF or WOFF.

Why vectorise

An SVG text normally depends on its font being available. Vectorising replaces the characters with paths: the artwork looks identical on another machine, at the printer or in an application that does not have the font.

Glyph cleanup

During conversion, Nodixio merges the contours that make up each letter. This step removes the internal overlaps common in font files and produces a cleaner, selectable silhouette.

Resulting structure

• All letters coming from the same conversion are placed in one group.
• The group takes the beginning of the text as its name so it is immediately recognisable.
• Each resulting silhouette has its own child layer.
• Counters — the inside of an e, an o or an a, for example — remain true holes.

On export

The Outline text box is enabled by default to secure the SVG rendering. Clear it only if you want to keep editable SVG text and accept that the font must be available or embedded.

Irreversible in the SVG

Free transformation

• M enables the transformation frame.
• The side and corner handles resize the selection.
• Dedicated controls allow slanting and free transformation.
• The outer rotation handles turn around the chosen axis.
• Keep the original is off by default to avoid unintended copies.

Rotation with a free axis

• Move the rotation centre where you want it before rotating.
• Hold Option while rotating to create a copy; a plain Option-click without moving creates nothing.
• The numeric angle and copy-count settings stay visible in the Transformation panel.
• After a rotation, ⌘R or Ctrl+R repeats exactly the last transformation.

Repeated movement

Move a selection while holding Option to create a copy. Then use ⌘R or Ctrl+R — or the Repeat button in the context panel — to produce each following copy with the same movement.

Symmetries

Horizontal and vertical symmetries can replace the selection or keep the original, depending on the copy setting. The manual symmetry in Correct is instead meant to rebuild half a contour geometrically.

Transformation modes

• Standard: classic transform frame to move and resize.
• Free: free skew and distortion of the selection.
• Perspective: volume distortion from the top and bottom widths.
• Arc: profile distortion, from a simple arc to flag, wave or fisheye.

Warp with a profile (arc)

1. 1

   Select a shape, then choose the Arc mode.

2. 2

   Choose the profile: Arc, Arc Lower, Arc Upper, Arch, Bulge, Shell Upper, Shell Lower, Flag, Wave, Fish, Rise, Fisheye, Inflate, Twist or Squeeze.

3. 3

   Set Bend and Distortion: the diagram and the shape update live.

4. 4

   Enable Add points when the profile must follow complex contours more closely.

5. 5

   Click Confirm to apply, or Reset to return to the starting point.

Perspective warp

1. 1

   Choose the Perspective mode.

2. 2

   Set the Top width and Bottom width to open or close the volume.

3. 3

   Move the Horizontal shift and Vertical tilt to orient the face.

4. 4

   The six-cell diagram follows every setting; Confirm applies and Reset clears.

Outset and inset (offset)

1. 1

   Select one or more shapes.

2. 2

   Enter a distance in pixels under Offset.

3. 3

   Click Outset to enlarge the silhouette, or Inset to shrink it.

4. 4

   The new outline follows the shape, its curves and its holes.

5. 5

   An open path can be outset, but not inset.

Reference object

1. 1

   Select at least two shapes.

2. 2

   Pick the one that must stay still from the list, or enable the reference pointer and click it on the artwork.

3. 3

   Apply an edge or centre alignment, or stack the centres.

4. 4

   For distribution, type the spacing then choose the horizontal or vertical axis.

Snapping

• Snapping is off by default.
• Enable it in the workspace bar and choose a tolerance in screen pixels.
• It detects edges, centres, guides and points sitting at the same X or the same height.
• Horizontal or vertical alignment is signalled while moving, which notably guarantees a perfectly horizontal line.

Rulers and guides

• Enable Rulers to show the graduations.
• Click or drag from a ruler to create a guide.
• Then move the guide directly on the workspace.
• Double-click a guide to delete it, or use the global clear command.

Snap tolerance

Project tabs

• The + button creates a new project in a tab.
• Click a tab to switch project; the state of the project you leave is kept locally.
• Double-click its name to rename it.
• The cross closes the tab. Nodixio always keeps at least one workspace.

Copying between tabs

1. 1

   Select shapes, texts or groups on the artwork or in the layers.

2. 2

   Use ⌘C or Ctrl+C.

3. 3

   Open the destination tab.

4. 4

   Use ⌘V or Ctrl+V.

5. 5

   The groups, styles, effects and tilings needed are copied along with the objects.

Local backup

Nodixio works without an account. Every modified tab is remembered separately in the browser and Nodixio offers to restore that session when you come back. This local recovery does not replace a backup file: download a .nodixio regularly to keep each project for good.

Opening a .nodixio project

Open restores a complete Nodixio project. Nodixio checks the document structure and its integrity fingerprint — completed by a signature when the service is available — so that corrupted files or files modified after saving are refused.

Importing an SVG

• Import SVG analyses the file before reading it and refuses dangerous constructs.
• Visible shapes that are compatible are converted into the Nodixio model.
• Fills, strokes, opacities and usual transforms are carried over as far as possible.
• The import is deliberately flattened: some very specialised external SVG elements may be simplified.

Decomposing an SVG object

• A file containing texts, masks, patterns, filters or markers is kept as a composite SVG object, faithful but not editable as anchors.
• Select that object, then click Decompose into shapes: each path becomes a complete Nodixio shape.
• Linear and radial gradients, fills, strokes and opacities are carried over into the resulting shapes.
• The decomposed shapes then accept the whole Nodixio toolset: anchors, smoothing, holes, boolean operations, curve gradients and effects.
• Elements with a mask, filter, pattern or text stay grouped in an SVG object at the same level, so nothing is lost.
• The operation can be undone with Cmd/Ctrl+Z.

Saving

Save downloads a .nodixio file containing the source image, shapes, texts, fonts, layers, groups, holes, masks, tilings and document settings.

Exporting SVG

• The Export menu produces a standalone standard SVG.
• Invisible elements are not exported.
• The groups, opacities, holes, masks, gradients, tilings, strokes and effects in use are translated into SVG structures.
• The Outline text option guarantees the typographic rendering; clear it to keep editable texts.

Exporting PNG or JPEG

• Transparent PNG keeps the empty areas of the workspace transparent, ready to be reused on any background.
• JPEG uses a white background, as the format does not support transparency.
• Both images use exactly the pixel dimensions of the workspace.
• Texts are outlined while rendering so they keep their look even on a device that lacks the font.

Exporting EPS

• Vector EPS produces an Encapsulated PostScript file meant for a printer or a publishing workflow (Illustrator, InDesign, QuarkXPress).
• The conversion is done by Inkscape on the Nodixio server: the drawing’s SVG is sent to it, then the EPS is returned.
• Texts are outlined and the gradients, tilings, masks and effects handled by Inkscape are kept as vectors.
• EPS does not support transparency: transparent areas are rendered on a white background.
• Dimensions follow the web rule: 1 pixel of the workspace equals 0.75 point (96 dpi). For a precise print size, check the format in your publishing application.
• If the entry is greyed out with “Inkscape required”, the conversion tool is not installed on the server: use the SVG export instead, which every publishing application accepts.

Before you leave

Tools

• V or A — Object selection, moving and direct anchor editing.
• Q — Lasso selection.
• P — Pen, new closed shape.
• Shift+P or — Stroke pen / open curve.
• M — Transformation.
• H — Pan the workspace.
• B — Bitmap brush when PNG mode is active.
• E — Bitmap eraser when PNG mode is active.

Editing

• ⌘Z / Ctrl+Z — Walk back through the project history, up to 100 operations per tab.
• ⌘⇧Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z — Redo the undone operations.
• ⌘C / Ctrl+C — Copy the structured selection.
• ⌘V / Ctrl+V — Paste into the active project.
• ⌘R / Ctrl+R — Repeat the last remembered rotation, translation or duplication.
• ⌘D / Ctrl+D — Deselect everything.
• Delete / Backspace — Delete the selected objects, texts or anchors.
• Escape — Leave the active mode, cancel a mask in progress or go back to selection.

While drawing with the pen

• Enter or double-click — Finish the open path.
• Escape — Cancel the current gesture; pressed again, abandon the path.
• Delete / Backspace — Delete the current anchor, or the last point placed.
• Cmd/Ctrl+Z, Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+Z — Undo and redo an action of the path in progress.
• Cmd/Ctrl-drag an anchor — Pull its handles without moving the anchor; Shift constrains to 45°, Alt freezes the other handle.
• Shift+Alt-click a segment — Insert an anchor without deforming the curve.
• Option over an existing endpoint — Do not resume that path.

Editing Bézier points

• Drag the stroke without a modifier — Move the whole path, including a line or an open curve.
• Alt-drag on a segment — Bend the segment without moving the two anchors that bound it.
• Shift+Alt-click a segment — Insert an anchor without deforming the curve. Works as with the pen, including on a closed path.
• Alt-click an anchor — Toggle between corner and smooth curve.
• Cmd/Ctrl+Alt-click an anchor — Add or remove its two corner handles.
• Delete anchors then click — Remove several anchors in a row.
• Delete handles then click — Remove both tangents of an anchor.
• Shift-click an anchor — Add or remove the anchor from the multiple selection.

Modifiers

• Shift-click — Add or remove an object or an anchor from the selection; kept anchors appear in red.
• Command-click / Ctrl-click — Enter a group or walk through overlapping objects.
• Option while rotating or moving — Create a copy.
• Option on an anchor — Toggle between corner and smooth curve.

Text

• Shift+Enter — A justified line break that stays aligned to the column width.
• Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+- — A conditional hyphen (hyphenation), shown only if the word breaks at the end of a line.
• Enter — New paragraph, with a non-justified line break.

Supporting Nodixio

• Nodixio is free, without an account and without limits: no feature is paid and none is locked.
• A Support button is offered discreetly after exporting an SVG and from the home page.
• Support is entirely optional: it gives nothing in return, unlocks nothing and is never required.
• It only funds the hosting of the service and the development time, as a thank-you to the author.
• The payment is one-off and handled by Stripe; no banking data goes through Nodixio, and you can close the window at any time.

I cannot select an object

• Check that its layer and its parent groups are visible and unlocked.
• A click normally selects the group: use Command-click — Ctrl-click on Windows — or pick the child directly in the layers.
• If another object covers the target, repeat Command-click or Ctrl-click to walk down the stack.
• Press Escape then V to leave a specialised tool that is still active.

I cannot see the points

• Select a standard shape then press A.
• A parametric object must first be converted into a shape.
• Join mode deliberately shows only the endpoints of open paths.
• Increase the marker size if anchors are hard to grab.

The SVG does not look like the project

• Check the hidden layers: they are not exported.
• Leave Outline text enabled if the file must open elsewhere.
• Temporarily reduce very blurred effects to identify a rendering problem.
• Keep the .nodixio and re-import the SVG only as a check, never as a working backup.

The file becomes complex

• Use the perfect shapes and smoothing to reduce the point count.
• Group logical sets and give them clear names.
• Remove layers, colours, tilings and effects that are truly unnecessary.
• Convert a stroke into a shape only when that conversion is needed.

Safety rule

Geometry

• Anchor: the main point of a Bézier path.
• Handle: controls the direction and the curvature near an anchor.
• Contour: a series of straight or curved segments bounding a shape.
• Open path: a line with two endpoints, usually displayed with a stroke.
• Closed path: a contour whose last segment joins the first, and which can take a fill.
• Counter: the empty inner area of a letter or a shape, such as the inside of an o.

Appearance

• Fill: the material inside a closed path.
• Stroke: a line drawn along the path.
• Opacity: how visible something is, from 0% transparent to 100% opaque.
• Gradient: a transition between several colours.
• Tiling: a small tile repeated to fill an area.
• Filter: an SVG effect such as a shadow, a glow or a relief.

Structure

• Group: a set of elements transformed or styled collectively.
• Mask: a silhouette that limits the visible area of a content.
• Boolean: a geometric operation between several silhouettes.
• Parametric object: a shape driven by values such as the number of sides or the radius.
• Vectorise: convert an image or a text into geometric paths.