Inkscape

Used only for automation scripts

Features

• Add options for tracing

This is a video where I used this repository to automate some pixel art image editing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rXxJMkYn5w

Quick guide

# New trace action with fully optional parameters
selection-trace:{scans},{is_smooth[false|true]},{is_stack[false|true]},{is_remove_background[false|true],{speckles},{smooth_corners},{optimize}}
# Example:
# Trace 256 colors then export to output.svg
$ inkscape.exe --actions="select-all;selection-trace:256,false,true,true,4,1.0,0.20;export-filename:output.svg;export-do;" "input.png" --batch-process

# If "false|true" does not work, please replace it with "0|1", because my project has been bankrupt for a long time and is no longer maintained, but rest assured that it still works very well.

If you encounter the "png bitmap image import" settings popup, please follow this issue to disable it: #2

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Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

This fork includes scripts for building and running headless tracing on Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, or WSL).

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu, Debian, or WSL Ubuntu/Debian environment
• sudo privileges (for dependency installation)
• git (must be pre-installed)

Building from Source

Use the provided release.sh script for a one-command build:

# Clone the repository
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/nullmastermind/inkscape-for-trace.git
cd inkscape-for-trace

# Run the release build script (installs dependencies, configures, and builds)
./release.sh

What release.sh does:

1. Detects the environment (Ubuntu/Debian/WSL)
2. Installs all required build dependencies via apt-get:
   • Core build tools: build-essential, cmake, ninja-build, intltool, pkg-config, ccache, dos2unix
   • Libraries: libboost-dev, libgtk-3-dev, libgtkmm-3.0-dev, libpotrace-dev, libpoppler-glib-dev, libxml2-dev, and more
   • Python packages: python3-lxml, python3-numpy, python3-pil
3. Initializes git submodules
4. Fixes CRLF line endings (important for Windows-cloned repos)
5. Configures with CMake (Ninja preferred, falls back to Make)
6. Builds a Release configuration
7. Installs artifacts to release-output/

Build output locations:

• Binary (build): ./build/bin/inkscape
• Binary (installed): ./release-output/bin/inkscape

Environment variables:

• RELEASE_DEBUG=1 — Enable verbose debug output during build

Headless Tracing Workflow

Use the provided trace.sh script for headless bitmap tracing:

# Basic usage (uses input.png -> output.svg by default)
./trace.sh

# Custom input/output
./trace.sh myimage.png result.svg

trace.sh parameters:

./trace.sh [input.png] [output.svg]

The script runs:

./build/bin/inkscape --headless --actions="select-all;selection-trace:256,false,true,true,2,1.0,0.20;export-filename:${OUTPUT};export-do;" "${INPUT}"

Key flags:

• --headless — Runs without GUI, quits after processing (suitable for CI/automation)
• --actions="..." — Executes the tracing pipeline

Manual Tracing Command

For custom parameters, run directly:

./build/bin/inkscape --headless \
  --actions="select-all;selection-trace:256,false,true,true,4,1.0,0.20;export-filename:output.svg;export-do;" \
  input.png

selection-trace parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
scans	int	Number of colors (e.g., 256)
is_smooth	bool	Enable smooth tracing (true/false or 1/0)
is_stack	bool	Stack scan results
is_remove_background	bool	Remove background
speckles	int	Speckle suppression size (Potrace turdsize)
smooth_corners	float	Corner smoothing (Potrace alphamax)
optimize	float	Path optimization tolerance (Potrace opttolerance)

Alternative: Manual Build Steps

If you prefer manual control over the build process:

# 1. Install dependencies (see release.sh for full list, or run it once)
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential cmake ninja-build intltool pkg-config \
  libboost-dev libgtk-3-dev libgtkmm-3.0-dev libpotrace-dev libpoppler-glib-dev \
  libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev libgc-dev libgsl-dev ccache

# 2. Initialize submodules
git submodule update --init --recursive

# 3. Create build directory and configure
mkdir -p build && cd build
cmake -G Ninja \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=../release-output \
  -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache \
  -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER=ccache \
  ..

# 4. Build
ninja

# 5. (Optional) Install to release-output/
ninja install

Troubleshooting

• CRLF line ending errors: If building from a Windows-cloned repo, run dos2unix on build scripts or use release.sh which handles this automatically
• Missing dependencies: Run ./release.sh once to install all required packages
• Permission denied on scripts: Run chmod +x release.sh trace.sh

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For Windows/macOS builds, see INSTALL.md or the Inkscape wiki.