Report Bugs

Before you file a new bug report …

• Please make sure you can reproduce the bug and identify the necessary steps to trigger it.
  Ideally use a new blank file (which may be useful later, as a test file) and also try to reproduce after resetting Inkscape preferences (info here). This confirms for you that the problem is what you think it is and is unrelated to any specific program settings.  If you can't reproduce it for yourself, please wait until you can isolate the problem, before you report it.

  Occasionally bugs which are occurring only in a specific file (but not a new blank file) will be interesting to developers.  But if you are a beginner, please discuss the problem with more advanced users (either in a forum, IRC, or on the mailing list), before creating a  new bug report.  Beginners may wish to discuss any potential bug with other users, before reporting it.  More below.

• Search the bug trackers to make sure the issue has not already been reported:

  1. Legacy bug tracker on Launchpad:
     This has been our main issue tracker for years, so probably your bug is already listed there. The old report might contain additional information. Check if the issue is still present in the latest version of Inkscape. If it is, please help us with transferring the report to GitLab, where we will be tracking new bugs going forward. Try to summarize the bug's technical information as good as possible. Keep your summary concise and include a link to the old report on Launchpad.

  2. Tracker on GitLab (see instructions and link below):
     Make absolutely sure the issue has not already been reported here before making a new report or transferring an existing one. If a report already exists, add a new comment to the existing report with any new or potentially helpful information you can contribute. If you want to indicate that a fix for a bug is important to you, up-vote it instead, using the little vote icons right below the description. (Avoid "me too!" comments, because they will make it harder to find the technical information for a developer).
     If you happen to find related reports, which might help developers to fix the bug, you'll also help us immensely by linking them. If you end up filing a new report make sure to clarify how your issue differs from existing reports, though.

Every bug report must contain the following information

• A precise description of the problem (i.e. concise and accurate but include as many details as possible), in English, including:

  • Step-by-step instructions that dependably reproduce the issue.
  • Actual program behavior
  • Expected program behavior
  If you want to learn how to write a "good" bug report that is most helpful to developers see the very insightful essay on "How to Report Bugs Effectively" by Simon Tatham (creator of PuTTY).

• The Inkscape version in use (Help menu > About Inkscape, e.g. "Inkscape 0.92.3 (2405546, 2018-03-11)")
  Also list all previous versions in which the problem occurred as well as any versions that did not have the problem, if you happen to know.

• The operating system in use.

Bug reports should optionally include the following, if there's a chance it will help developers to understand the problem better

• a test SVG file which contains everything needed to demonstrate the problem but nothing else (minimal example / testcase)

• the same file in another format, in case the problem is related to opening, saving as, importing, or exporting to/from or in/as another format besides SVG

• screenshots, videos, or animations showing what the problem looks like, in case a test file is either not appropriate, or not sufficient alone, to demonstrate the problem...or maybe 'before and after' screenshots, for example

• the language of the Inkscape user interface and the operating system (especially if the report is related to translations, special characters in documents and filenames, etc.)

• the method of installation and the precise version of the installer if the problem is related to installing, updating and/or running Inkscape

Why is all this information important?

Because developers must be able to reproduce a problem before they can begin to fix it.  In Inkscape, bugs can be specific to certain versions or certain operating systems (as well as certain combinations of those) or occasionally certain languages.  While a test file is not strictly required, or not always appropriate or needed, anything which bug reporters can do, to make it easy for developers will help.

All Inkscape developers are volunteers.  They work on Inkscape in their spare time, after their workday, playtime, family time, and personal time.  Everything bug reporters can do to make it easy and save them time, will increase the likelihood that the bug will be fixed.

Other bug reporters' responsibilities

• Remain available to respond to developers requests about your report.
  You'll receive email notification whenever someone posts a comment, or simply changes some category or ranking or rating about the bug report.  You may be asked to clarify something, or to provide other files, images or documentation.  Please remember that everything you can do to help developers, will increase the likelihood of a successful fix.

• Be patient and remain positive.
  When you report a bug, you are doing so because you want the bug fixed. We want the same! As Inkscape is developed by volunteers in their spare time it might take a while  before somebody gets to your report, though (anywhere between hours and years). In any case try to be as kind and as helpful as possible (even at times when the developers might seem a bit dull from your perspective ;-) ) as people will usually be more motivated to work on the bug and the problem will get fixed faster.

Make the bug report, or request new features

Please report any new bugs you find in current Inkscape versions in the new, user-facing Gitlab Bug Tracker for Inkscape.

Note: You need to register a user account on GitLab to be able to post a comment or create a new issue there.

If you're a new, or even intermediate level Inkscape user, it might be a good idea to post the problem you're having in one of the mailing lists (developer mailing list or user community mailing list), or one of the bulletin board style forums (list on this page), to discuss the problem more directly.  Or one of the two IRC channels is another option.  Often more experienced users will be able to tell you if it's a known bug, or a bug, at all. If it's a known bug, you can look it up, and learn more about it. Perhaps by discussing it, you might learn a workaround.

New features, or wish list items may also submitted via the bug tracker system. Although again, if you are a new Inkscape user, you may want to discuss your idea on the mailing list, or in other forums, to gain some understanding of how it may fit into the developers' vision for Inkscape, before you file your report/request.