Inkscape is a powerful & open-source SVG editor that can produce very impressive mimic, none of the existing SCADA system could generate anything close to Inkscape. Despite its rich and powerful set of drawing tools, it's still surprisingly user friendly. There's already a built in tutorial under Help menu in Inkscape for learning it, and many resources are also available online. One of them is available at http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/. This link can be reached by clicking on Help Menu - Inkscape Manual. IntegraXor added a user interface for handling SCADA animation called SCADA Animation Graphic Editor, SAGE.
Inkscape graphic editor.
Highlight of essential tools.
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Document setting
Normally width is the screen width, and height is slightly smaller then screen height, depending on requirement of header or alarm bar footer. The basic idea is to choose a size that is proportional to the final screen resolution, as IntegraXor will fit the mimic to the client screen resolution automatically.
Document properties.
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Alignment
Alignment is a handy tool to ensure tidiness. However, it's not very much required if engineer turn on the grid snap option, this is again up to personal preference.
Alignment properties.
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Font properties
Shortcut key is 'Shift+Ctrl+T'.
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Zoom to whole page
Shortcut key is 'z' follow by '5'.
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Zoom to selection
Shortcut key is 'z' follow by '3'.
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Draw rectangle
Shortcut key is 'r'. Rectangle can be easily tuned to have round or sharp corner.
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Draw circle or semisphere (Ellipse/arc)
Shortcut key is 'e'.
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Draw (Bezier) lines
Shortcut key is 'b'. Click from point to point for drawing straight line, drag from point to point for drawing curve.
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Insert text
Shortcut key is 't'. Simply click and type to enter text to avoid browser support issue.
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Apply gradient effect
Shortcut key is 'g'.
More information and tips are available in another sub chapter Working with Inkscape