How do I install Inkscape for use by Cygwin?

Question

I'd like to know if it is possible to install Inkscape for use from the Cygwin command line. I already have Inkscape installed as a program in Windows 7 (64 bit) but Cygwin isn't recognizing inkscape as a valid command.

Answer 1

The first thing you may need to do is explicitly provide a path, probably something like /cygdrive/c/Program\ Files/inkscape/inkscape.com - I don't have either package installed on the computer I'm using right now or I'd give a better answer.

The second thing is that you'll want to call inkscape.com, not inkscape.exe, as described in https://inkscape.org/en/learn/faq/#How_to_use_Inkscape_from_the_command_line - basically on Windows inkscape.exe doesn't provide any output when called from the command line, the .com file is a workaround.

Answer 2

Cygwin isn't recognizing inkscape as a valid command

That is because inkscape does not add itself to the path when it is installed.

You can either add it to the path or run it using the full pathname.

The following command works for me in a cygwin terminal (I have inkscape installed in c:\apps\inkscape):

$ /cygdrive/c/apps/inkscape/inkscape

(inkscape.exe:11824): Gtk-WARNING **: Could not find the icon 'object-visible'.
The 'hicolor' theme was not found either, perhaps you need to install it.
You can get a copy from:
        http://icon-theme.freedesktop.org/releases

The program runs fine despite the above warnings.