Auxiliary software

In the course of using Seamly, you will probably at some point develop a need, or desire, to perform additional actions upon the pattern using an auxiliary software, such as Inkscape. This page is here to list auxiliary software, but more importantly to note problems with exporting to said program & how to overcome them.

GIMP
GIMP is probably the best FOSS available for photo-shopping. It may be most likely to be used for opening PNG exports of the pattern pieces, & testing different fabric patterns on them.

Inkscape
Inkscape is probably the best know free & open source software (FOSS) focused on vector graphics. As such, it's the first to come to mind when needing to do things like print out the gradations of a pattern all together.

Issues:
Inkscape will not open R10-13 versions of DXF file format. Choose a more modern rendition.

LibreCAD
LibreCAD is another FOSS, specifically for CAD style drawings.

Issues:
LibreCAD has no known issues with opening any of the drawing formats which Seamly may export.

Text editors
There are a number of plain-text editors which can on occasion be useful for fixing the XML which VST & VAL files are made of.

Issues:
The grammar of Seamly files is meant for computers, not humans. Be sure to back-up a copy before tampering. It is quite easy to totally ruin it. You have been warned.