21 Apr 2011

Open Source Graphics Tools & Packt Books Offer

There are a great range of open source tools out there for creating 2D and 3D graphics, to help you create stunning visuals for your website development or livening up your presentations. Here are some of the most widely used tools.

Inkscape is an open source 2D drawing tool that helps you create graphic designs, from simple buttons and logos to full blown posters and web page designs. Inkscape is similar to Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw and gives you a vector based graphics tool that uses the W3C Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format. See my review of Inkscape Essential for web designers (or the slashdot review) and my Inkscape overview.

[Blender](http://blender.org/) is an amazing 3D modelling and animation tool that has seen a huge increase in adoption over the last few years. Blender has been used to create some stunning short movies such as [Sintel](http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&v=eRsGyueVLvQ), [Elephants Dream](http://www.elephantsdream.org/) and the hilarious [Big Buck Bunny](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE7VzlLtp-4&feature=channel). Blender is also used to create many of the animations you see in advertising these days. See my [quick overview of Blender](http://ubuntu.jr0cket.co.uk/getting-software/animation). {% youtube eRsGyueVLvQ

The GIMP is a very powerful image manipulation tool that allows you to tweak any image file format out there and has a wide range of filters you can use to create some amazing effects. See my Gimp overview.

Scribus is a desktop publishing tool that can be used to make multi-page magazines or company brochures or any other documents that need professional layout tools. See my Scribus overview.

If you are interested in really getting into these tools, Packt currently has a series of discounts and promotions on its selection of Open Source Graphic Applications and Library books. The Open Source Graphic Applications and Libraries Month will offer readers exclusive discounts of 20% and 30% off the cover price of selected Graphic print books until 5th May 2011.

For more information on the Open Source Graphic Applications and Libraries Month and the discounts being offered throughout April, please visit: www.packtpub.com/article/graphic-open-source

Thank you.
@jr0cket

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