Sodipodi is a

free and open-source Free and open-source software (FOSS) is software available under a Software license, license that grants users the right to use, modify, and distribute the software modified or not to everyone free of charge. FOSS is an inclusive umbrella term ...

vector graphics editor A vector graphic editor is a computer program that enables its users to create, compose and edit images with the use of mathematical and geometrical commands rather than individual pixels. This software is used in creating high-definition Vector ...

, superseded since 2003 by

Inkscape Inkscape is a vector graphics editor. It is used for both artistic and technical illustrations such as cartoons, clip art, logos, typography, diagrams, and flowcharts. It uses vector graphics to allow for sharp printouts and renderings at ...

, an independent Sodipodi fork.

Development

Sodipodi started as a

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods either to h ...

of ''Gill'' (abbreviated from "

GNOME A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...

" and "

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

"), a vector-graphics program written by

Raph Levien Raphael Linus Levien (also known as Raph Levien) is a software developer, a member of the free software developer community, through his creation of the Advogato virtual community and his work with the free software branch of Ghostscript. From 20 ...

. The main author is , a son of the famous

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

writer and poet

Jaan Kaplinski Jaan Kaplinski (22 January 1941 – 8 August 2021 ) was an Estonian poet, philosopher, politician, and culture critic, known for his focus on global issues and support for left-wing/ liberal thinking. He was influenced by Eastern philosophical s ...

, and later there were several other people who also contributed to the project. Sodipodi means "mish mash" or "hodgepodge" in

...

child-speak. The primary design goal of Sodipodi was to produce a usable

, and a drawing tool for artists. Although it used SVG as its native

file format A file format is a Computer standard, standard way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file. It specifies how bits are used to encode information in a digital storage medium. File formats may be either proprietary format, pr ...

(including some extensions to hold

metadata Metadata (or metainformation) is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data itself, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including: * Descriptive ...

), it was not intended to be a full

implementation Implementation is the realization of an application, execution of a plan, idea, scientific modelling, model, design, specification, Standardization, standard, algorithm, policy, or the Management, administration or management of a process or Goal ...

of the SVG standard. Sodipodi imports and exports plain SVG data, and can also export

raster graphics upright=1, The Smiley, smiley face in the top left corner is a raster image. When enlarged, individual pixels appear as squares. Enlarging further, each pixel can be analyzed, with their colors constructed through combination of the values for ...

in PNG format. The user interface of Sodipodi is a Controlled Single Document Interface (CSDI) similar to

GIMP Gimp or GIMP may refer to: Clothing * Bondage suit, also called a gimp suit, a type of suit used in BDSM * Bondage mask, also called a gimp mask, often worn in conjunction with a gimp suit Embroidery and crafts * Gimp (thread), an ornamental tr ...

. Sodipodi was developed for

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. The last stable version is 0.34 released on February 11th 2004. Released under the

GNU General Public License The GNU General Public Licenses (GNU GPL or simply GPL) are a series of widely used free software licenses, or ''copyleft'' licenses, that guarantee end users the freedom to run, study, share, or modify the software. The GPL was the first ...

, Sodipodi is

free software Free software, libre software, libreware sometimes known as freedom-respecting software is computer software distributed open-source license, under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, distribut ...

. Even though there are no new releases since 2004, Lauris Kaplinski continued development of Sodipodi for years in a minor way, mostly contributing code refactoring and bug fixes. The latest commit for the trunk branch was pushed on September 12th 2023.

Derivatives

Sodipodi started a collection of SVG

clip art Clip art (also clipart, clip-art) is a type of graphic art. Pieces are pre-made images used to illustrate any medium. Today, clip art is used extensively and comes in many forms, both electronic and printed. However, most clip art today is creat ...

containing symbols and

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

s from around the world. This work helped inspire the

Open Clip Art Library Openclipart, also called Open Clip Art Library, is an online media repository of free-content vector clip art. The project hosts over 160,000 free graphics and has billed itself as "the largest community of artists making the best free original ...

. In 2003 a group of Sodipodi developers decided to improve Sodipodi with different goals, including redesigning the interface and closer compliance with the SVG standard. The initial idea was to create a separate Sodipodi Hydra (hydra-oct) branch, planned to be merged into trunk, but as it was difficult to make such a merge developers later decided to create an independent fork and named it

References

External links

*
Interview with Lauris Kaplinski

Working version for Windows 7 and Windows 10
{{Vector graphics editors Free vector graphics editors Vector graphics editors for Linux Free software programmed in C Graphics software that uses GTK Scalable Vector Graphics Software forks Estonian brands Estonian inventions