sK1
| Type | Vector image editor |
| Initial Release | May 9, 2009 |
| Developer | Igor Novikov and others |
| Git | github.com/sk1project/ |
| Written in | Python, wxWidgets |
| License | GPL3 |
| Website | sk1project.net |
sK1 is an open-source, cross-platform illustration program that can be used as a substitute for professional proprietary software. Unique project features are proprietary formats importers, tabbed multidocument interface, Cairo-based engine, and color management.
1 History
A small team led by Igor Novikov started the project in 2003, based on the existing open source vector graphics editor Skencil. sK1 is a fork of the Skencil 0.6.x series which used Tk widgets for the user interface (this version had been dropped by the main Skencil developers who were working on a branch of the program based on GTK+). Although an attempt was made to unify the project with Skencil, it failed.
In 2007 the sK1 team reverse-engineered CDR format. The results and the first working snapshot of the CDR importer were presented at the Libre Graphics Meeting 2007 conference taking place in May 2007 in Montreal (Canada). Later on the team parsed the structure of other proprietary formats with the help of CDR Explorer. As of 2008, the sK1 project claims to have the best import support for proprietary file formats among open source software programs.
2 Target Audience
Since the project was started by a small team of Ukrainian professionals in prepress, it was unambiguously focused on full support for PostScript, PDF, CMYK color model and color management at the expense of developing some advanced functions for illustrators. Informally the project is positioned as a free and open source alternative to the commercial programs.
3 File Formats
| Action | File Formats |
|---|---|
| Import | SK2, SVG, WMF, PLT, SK1, SK, CRD, CDT, PNG, JPEG, PSD, XCF, JPEG2000, TIFF, GIF, BMP, PCX, PPM, XBM, XPM, SKP, GPL, XML, SOC, CPL, XML, ASE, ACO, JCW |
| Export | SVG, PLT, PDF, SK1, SK, PNG, SKP, GPL, XML, XML(Scribus), SOC, CPL, ASE, ACO, JCW |
