# SK1 (program)

sK1 is an open-source, cross-platform illustration program that seeks to be a substitute for professional proprietary software like CorelDRAW or Adobe Illustrator. Unique project features are CorelDRAW formats importers, tabbed multiple document interface, Cairo-based engine, and color management.

## History

A small team led by Igor Novikov started the project in 2003, based on the existing open source vector graphics editor Skencil. sK1 is a fork of the Skencil 0.6.x series which used Tk widgets for the user interface (this version had been dropped by the main Skencil developers who were working on a branch of the program based on GTK+).
In 2007 the sK1 team reverse-engineered the CorelDRAW (CDR) format. The results and the first working snapshot of the CDR importer were presented at the Libre Graphics Meeting 2007 conference taking place in May 2007 in Montreal (Canada). Later on the team parsed the structure of other Corel formats with the help of CDR Explorer. Export into CDR and CMX file formats was presented at the Libre Graphics Meeting 2019 conference taking place in May 2019 in Saarbrücken (Germany).

## Target audience

Since the project was started by a small team of Ukrainian professionals in prepress, it was unambiguously focused on full support for PostScript, PDF, CMYK color model and color management at the expense of developing some advanced functions for illustrators. Informally the project is positioned as a free open source alternative to the commercial CorelDRAW.

## Functionality

Compared to Inkscape, sK1 has a limited feature set, adequate for simple sketching, while its user interface remains clean. Drawable objects include circles and ellipses, rectangles, text, Bézier curves, and straight lines. Those can be transformed in typical manners and aligned in multiple ways.

## Supported formats
### Import

* CorelDRAW v7-X4 (CDR/CDT/CCX/CDRX/CMX)
* Adobe Illustrator up to version 9 (based on PostScript)
* Postscript (PS) and Encapsulated Postscript (EPS)
* Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM)
* Windows Metafile (WMF)
* XFIG
* Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)
* Skencil/Sketch/sK1 (SK, SK1, SK2)
* Acorn Draw (AFF)
* PLT - HPGL cutting plotter files
* CorelDRAW palettes (CPL and XML)
* Adobe Swatch Exchange palettes (ASE)
* Adobe Photoshop palettes (ACO)
* Xara Designer palettes (JCW)
* GIMP/Inkscape palettes (GPL)
* LibreOffice palettes (SOC)
* Scribus palettes (XML)
* sK1 palettes (SKP)
* Adobe Photoshop files (PSD)
* GIMP files (XCF)
* Images BMP, PNG, JPG, JPEG2000, TIFF, GIF, PCX, PPM, WEBP, XBM, XPM

### Export

* AI - Adobe Illustrator 5.0 (based on PostScript)
* PDF - Portable Document Format
* PS - PostScript
* SVG - Scalable Vector Graphics
* SK/SK1/SK2 - Skencil/Sketch/sK1
* CGM - Computer Graphics Metafile
* WMF - Windows Metafile
* PLT - HPGL cutting plotter files
* CorelDRAW palettes (CPL and XML)
* Adobe Swatch Exchange palettes (ASE)
* Adobe Photoshop palettes (ACO)
* Xara Designer palettes (JCW)
* GIMP/Inkscape palettes (GPL)
* LibreOffice palettes (SOC)
* Scribus palettes (XML)
* sK1 palettes (SKP)
* PNG - Portable Network Graphics

## Side projects
### Skencil (revitalization)

On 19 November 2006, On 19 November 2006, Bernhard Reiter and Bernhard Herzog asked Ihor Novikov to join Skencil development, stalled since 2005.
On 31 October 2010, Skencil 1.0 alpha was released, as a result of revitalization work done by Ihor Novikov.
On 4 November 2016, Skencil 1.0 rc1 was released, and the last code changes committed on 7 February 2020.

### UniConvertor

    an application for conversion of files from one vector format into another one. In fact it is a part of sK1, rewritten as a standalone code and being developed by the same team. UniConvertor is also used by Inkscape for opening CorelDRAW, WMF and Sketch/Skencil files.

### Color Palette Collection

    a set of free palettes provided in different native file formats for sK1, Inkscape, GIMP, Scribus, LibreOffice, CorelDRAW, Adobe Illustrator, Xara Designer etc. For sK1 2.0 the palette collection is available as a web service.

### CDR Explorer

    a program that simplifies the reverse-engineering of CorelDRAW formats.

### LinCutter

    an application for interactive work with cutting machines (PLT format).

## Awards

* In 2007 the project was awarded the second place in the Trophées du Libre open source project contest in the "Multimedia and games" category.
* In 2008 the project was awarded the third place in the contest Hackontest, organized by the Swiss Open Systems User Groupd /ch/open and sponsored by Google.
* In 2009 the project was awarded the second place in the contest "The best free project of Russia", conducted by Linux Format magazine. Among the group projects.
* In 2009 the UniConvertor project was awarded the first place in the Trophées du Libre open source project contest in the "Multimedia" category.

## sK1 versions

| Version | Date | OS | Description |
| Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.0 | 9 May 2009 | Linux | First public release |
| Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.1 | 10 November 2010 | Linux | Release "Made in Brazil" |
| Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.2 | 5 December 2014 | Linux | Backport release with branch 2.0 changes |
| Old version, no longer maintained: 0.9.3 | 19 February 2015 | Linux | Bugfix release |
| Old version, yet still maintained: 2.0RC1 | 6 May 2016 | Linux, Windows | First public release for branch 2.0 based on wxWidgets |
| Old version, yet still maintained: 2.0RC2 | 20 October 2016 | Linux, Windows | Completed vector graphics editor, but there is not import/export functionality |
| Old version, yet still maintained: 2.0RC3 | 13 April 2018 | Linux, Windows | Bitmap graphics import (more than 100 file formats), import filters for GPL, SOC, JCW, CPL, ASE, XML palettes, SVG, PDF, WMF. |
| Current stable version: 2.0RC4 | 27 May 2019 | Linux, Windows | Import filters for CGM, FIG, CDR(CDRX), CMX, CCX, SVGZ. Export functionality for CGM, CMX, CDR. |
| Latest preview version of a future release: 2.0RC5 | --- | Linux, Windows | Under active development. |
| Future release: 2.0 | --- | Linux, Windows | Future final release |
| Legend:Old version, not maintainedOld version, still maintainedLatest versionLatest preview versionFuture release ||||

## UniConvertor versions

| Version | Date | OS | Description |
| Old version, no longer maintained: 1.0.0 | 15 November 2007 | Linux | First public release |
| Old version, no longer maintained: 1.1.0 | 21 December 2007 | Linux, Windows, MacOS X | Win32 and MacOS X support |
| Old version, no longer maintained: 1.1.1 | 1 February 2008 | Linux, Windows | CorelDRAW X4 file format support |
| Old version, no longer maintained: 1.1.2 | 24 March 2008 | Linux, Windows | Bugfix release |
| Old version, no longer maintained: 1.1.3 | 25 July 2008 | Linux, Windows | PDF and PostScript support |
| Old version, no longer maintained: 1.1.4 | 5 June 2009 | Linux, Windows | PLT import/export |
| Old version, yet still maintained: 1.1.5 | 26 June 2010 | Linux, Windows | DXF, DST, PES, EXP, PCS import. MSI installer. GUI frontend. |
| Old version, yet still maintained: 1.1.6 | 25 February 2014 | Linux, Windows | Bugfix release |
| Current stable version: 2.0RC4 | 27 May 2019 | Linux, Windows | First public release for branch 2.0; export for CDR and CMX, import/export for GPL, SOC, ASE, CPL, JCW, ACO, SKP |
| Latest preview version of a future release: 2.0RC5 | --- | Linux, Windows, macOS | Under active development |
| Future release: 2.0 | --- | Linux, Windows, macOS | Future final release |
| Legend:Old version, not maintainedOld version, still maintainedLatest versionLatest preview versionFuture release ||||