Karbon14

Version 1.5.0
© 1998-2008 the Karbon Team

Karbon14 is the scalable vector drawing application in KDE.

Karbon14 importing an SVG file from www.openclipart.org

Karbon is a vector-based drawing application for KOffice. It allows artists to create complex drawings without losing image quality when zooming in on, or resizing the drawing. You can use Karbon to add finishing touches to diagrams created using Kivio or charts created using KChart. Graphic design ideas can be quickly and easily transformed into high quality illustrations with Karbon.

What makes a vector-based drawing application like Karbon different from a pixel-based drawing application like Krita?

In a vector drawing - such as the drawing shown above - your drawing is stored as geometric shapes such as lines and curves. When the drawing is resized, the image scales smoothly.

However, in a pixel-based drawing, your drawing is stored as many dots (pixels) in rows and columns. When you resize a pixel-based image, the dots will be enlarged. This can result in jagged edges known as pixelation and aliasing and thus the quality of the image will go down. Pixel-based drawings often have larger file sizes compared to simple vector drawings.

For example: Karbon is useful for creating cartoons drawings or editing clip art which often needs to be resized to fit in a document or on a poster. Krita is more suited to painting pictures or editing photographs.

To get started with Karbon quickly, you might want to try opening and modifying some of the images from the Open Clip Art Library.

Last update: 2008-02-15