Welcome to pyInkscape’s documentation!

pyInkscape is a library for manipulating Inkscape SVG content using Python 3.

Getting Started

pyInkscape is a tiny library that helps reading and editing Inkscape SVG graphic files.

Installation

pyInkscape is available on PyPI and can be installed using pip.

pip install --user pyinkscape

To make sure that pyinkscape has been installed properly, try:

python -c "import pyinkscape; print(pyinkscape.__version__)"
0.1a2

Or inside Python:

>>> import pyinkscape
>>> pyinkscape.__version__
'0.1a2'

First pyInkscape script

This script create an empty canvas (i.e. Inkscape page), finds the layer with the name “Layer 1”, and then write “Hello World” onto that layer. The result is then written into the file hello.svg.

>>> from pyinkscape import Canvas
>>> t = Canvas()
>>> l = t.layer('Layer 1')
>>> l.text("Hello World", center=(100, 100))
>>> t2.render('hello.svg')

Recipes for Common Usecases

These are common usecases of pyInkscape.

Load an existing Inkscape file

>>> c = Canvas('/home/user/Pictures/my_file.svg')

Finding layers

Layers can be searched by either names or IDs.

c = Canvas('/home/user/Pictures/my_file.svg')
# get all existing layers
layers = c.layers()
# get a layer by name
layer1 = c.layer("Layer 1")
# get a layer by ID
layer1 = c.layer_by_id("layer1")

Draw a text

Use the text() method of a Layer object to draw a text onto that layer.

>>> from pyInkscape import Canvas
>>> c = Canvas()
>>> l = c.layer("Layer 1")
>>> l.text("Hello World", (50, 50))
>>> c.render("output.svg")

pyInkscape APIs

The most important class in pyInkscape is the pyinkscape.Canvas. This represents an Inkscape canvas (i.e. SVG file).

Graphical objects (text, circle, rectangle, etc.) can be drawn onto available pyinkscape.inkscape.Group objects.

TODO: Explain about common APIs

class pyinkscape.Canvas(filepath=':memory:', *args, **kwargs)[source]

This class represents an Inkscape drawing page (i.e. a SVG file)

layer(name: str) → pyinkscape.inkscape.Group[source]

Find the first layer with a name

Layer names are not unique. If there are multiple layers with the same name, only the first one will be returned

Parameters

name – Name of the layer to search (Note: Layer names a not unique)

Returns

A Group object if found, or None

Return type

pyinkscape.inkscape.Group

layer_by_id(id)[source]

Find the first layer with an ID

Layer IDs are unique

Parameters

id – ID of the layer to search

Returns

A Group object if found, or None

Return type

pyinkscape.inkscape.Group

layers()[source]

Get all available layers in this canvas

class pyinkscape.inkscape.Group(elem, parent_elem)[source]

Represents either a group (composite object) or a layer (special group)

delete()[source]

Remove this group/layer from a canvas

line(from_point, to_point, style: pyinkscape.inkscape.Style = <pyinkscape.inkscape.Style object>, id_prefix='__pyinkscape_line', **kwargs)[source]

Draw a new line between two points using a style

Parameters

style (pyinkscape.inkscape.Style) – A Style object

Indices and tables