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<p>I've used all three. They work, and are great. I still use
Inkscape on at least every other application (I don't use Visio,
but I do use WithEdge for drafting -- hence my less reliance on
flowcharting). I use FreeCAD semi-regularly to open a STP file and
generate SVGs to take to Inkscape and modify. DrawIO is also a
good project for flowcharts (free, but not fully open source)
because Inkscape is not the greatest / most efficient with
flowcharts. yEd is also a good graph editor (again, free but not
open source) and runs on Ubuntu last time I looked.</p>
<p>1. Inkscape - I created a template with different common drawings
I commonly use. If I'm preparing a complete drawing set in
Inkscape, I really like Inkscape's ability to look at all the
pages like a 'canvas' instead of one at a time. I also use
snapping heavily. So I guess that answers your questions -- I
build out the drawing pages directly on Inkscape. I've thought
that Inkscape's extensability would open the door to a really nice
patent drawing specific plugin for automatic numbering, generating
a reference list, etc. ... but never had time to pursue that.</p>
<p>2 & 3. I've run both on Ubuntu. For a few years I ran only on
Ubuntu for all patent drafting. FreeCAD & Inkscape both run
well on Ubuntu -- possibly better than on Windows. No particular
advice -- they pretty much install natively. If you plan to modify
them you might want to avoid snaps, as those aren't as friendly to
modification.</p>
<p>4. Not FOSS, but I use PDFX-Change to rasterize everything to
B&W anyway - I forget the exact algorithm but it does a pretty
good job of getting shading as close visually as you're going to
get in B&W only. Probably my primary pain point on Ubuntu is
the lack of really good PDF software. Good CAD software used to be
the other lack (VariCAD was your primary paid option), but FreeCAD
is plenty capable now. </p>
<p>5. For shading, I typically try to use a cross-hatching pattern
fill in Inkscape and avoid 'shading' per se. However, if you're
coming from FreeCAD, you can cross-hatch a cross-section (by
default), and change green to B&W, and it comes out pretty
good.</p>
<p>6. Not sure -- I would imagine so, but I'm not clear exactly what
you're doing in shading, so there may be several tools that could
do it.</p>
<p>7. Theoretically, yes.</p>
<p>8. Well, no, since we can't see the source and AFAIK PatentCenter
doesn't publicly adhere to a given color standard, I guess we
can't know that PatentCenter will reliably properly interpret
those, but that would equally affect all other files too, since
that's how everybody else is defining the colors too. So ... I
think that it's safe to rely on from a practical point of view.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 10/22/2025 8:30 AM, Rick Neifeld via
Patentpractice wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:CA++DgCYhzJ7X-sBgWR-g+D++A9TkSivQ2hL=cF3nbT4BEYgycg@mail.gmail.com">
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<div><font size="4"><b>Background and Questions:</b></font></div>
<div><font size="4">
Being able to prepare complicated patent drawings has been
on my professional bucket list for a couple decades. To do
so with purely open source software is kinda on that list.</font></div>
<div><font size="4"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font size="4">I can now design 3D models, generate 2D
engineering drawings therefrom, and export the drawings to
SVG, from FreeCAD. And I can use Inkscape to import the SVG
files and readily mark them up with sheet numbers, Figure
numbers, reference characters, curved and straight lead
lines, arrows, and feature numbers, and then export them
from Inkscape to pdf (or to a bit mapped image format
suitable for including in a strict DOCX file). And both
FreeCAD and Inkscape are free and open source.</font></div>
<div><font size="4"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font size="4">1. Has anyone else gone down this path and
have any observations, dos and don'ts, or the like? Did you
use all ten default (or multiple) views in a page or stick
to one view? Why or why not?</font></div>
<div><font size="4"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font size="4"><b>Ubuntu Compatibility</b></font></div>
<div><font size="4">I am currently using FreeCAD and Inkscape on
Windows 10. Upon review of Windows 11, it seems to me a
bridge too far. Windows 11 locks the user in to Windows and
MS products for all eternity. The combination of a TPM 2.0
chip required by Windows 11, mandatory secure boot, and
automatic turnon of bitlocker on boot, tied to the users
microsoft ID, does that. Ubuntu, FreeCAD, and Inkscape are
all free an open source. And I have enough technical oomph
to load and use ubuntu on some computers. So I plan to do
that, keeping my existing Windows boxes, but moving to all
free and open source.</font></div>
<div><font size="4"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font size="4">2. Has anyone run FreeCAD on Ubuntu? Got
any sage or stupid advice? Any difference from running on
Windows?</font></div>
<div><font size="4">3.</font>
<font size="4"> Has anyone run Inkscape on Ubuntu? Got any
sage or stupid advice? Any difference from running on
Windows?</font>
</div>
<div><font size="4"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font size="4"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font size="4"><b>Hatching versus shading</b></font></div>
<div>
<div><font size="4">Hatching, what the patent rules identify
as oblique lines to identify cross-sections.</font></div>
<div><font size="4">Shading, what the patent rules identify
has usable to identify curved surfaces and, in perspective
view, flat surfaces</font></div>
<br>
</div>
<div><font size="4">4. My issue here is the PTO conversion of
image data to bitonal, at least for pdf images. First, I am
guessing that bit mapped objects in "DOCX" files are
likewise converted to bitonal. Does anyone know if that is
the case?</font></div>
<div><font size="4"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font size="4">5. Assuming PatentCenter converts to bitonal
an uploaded grayscale pdf image file, how does it handle
"shading." Shading seems to be ambiguous because it defines
what we see and not the data format. For example, I could
make something look shaded rendaring a a bitonal image file
in which every third pixel was black, the rest white. But
that is not generally how its done, right? </font></div>
<div><font size="4"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font size="4">6. Is there some method of defining in
Inkscape (or some other svg file editor) shading in bitonal
data format? </font></div>
<div><font size="4">7. Can I define the line spacing and
dimension small enough in Inkscape so that the result
appears to be shading instead of individual lines? If so,
what settings?</font></div>
<div><font size="4">8. FreeCAD and Inkscape allow for RGB or
RGBa settings that are equivalent to white, and black. For
example, 255,255,255 and 0,0,0. Do we know that
PatentCenter will interpret those as the proper bitonal
values, aka white and black?</font></div>
<div><font size="4"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font size="4"><br>
</font></div>
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</font></div>
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</font></div>
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<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div><font size="4">Best regards</font></div>
<div><font size="4">Rick Neifeld, J.D., Ph.D. <br>
</font></div>
<div><font size="4">Neifeld IP Law PLLC<br>
</font></div>
<div><font size="4">9112 Shearman Street, Fairfax VA 22032</font></div>
<div><font size="4">Mobile: 7034470727<br>
</font></div>
<div><font size="4">Email: <a href="mailto:RichardNeifeld@gmail.com" target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext">RichardNeifeld@gmail.com</a>; <br>
</font></div>
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