Monday, 28 October 2013

How to run Inkscape in OS X 10.9 Mavericks

Problem:

After upgrading to OS X 10.9, Inkscape, as well as other X11 apps do not seem to work any longer. How can I run Inkscape?

Solution:

  • Install Inkscape (if haven't done so already) from http://inkscape.org/
  • Install XQuartz from http://xquartz.macosforge.org/landing/
  • Run Inkscape.app
  • When asked for "Where is X11?", click "browse ..." and select /Applications/Utilities/XQuartz.app (or just /Applications/Utilities/XQuartz)

Explanation:

As of OS X Mountain Lion, Apple no longer installs the X11.app by default, which was previously needed to run any X11 applications. XQuartz or another compatible X Server is now needed to run any X11 apps as a result. A full explanation can be found in the Apple knowledge base article here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5293

Additional comments:

This solution was tested to work with the default installation of OS X 10.9 and Inkscape 0.48.2.

Note that if XQuartz starts up when launching Inkscape, but Inkscape doesn't launch the first time along with XQuartz, (or the Inkscape window doesn't show up), you can try to quit both Inkscape and XQuartz, then launch Inkscape once more (which should also launch XQuartz). This bug occurred on the system that the above fix was tested on, and the workaround seems to have worked. Your mileage might vary.

Addendum:

(Added in 2014)

A useful post from commenter @Birtanish below seems to have helped a few people when the above instructions weren't sufficient, so it's reproduced below in case it helps. Best of luck!:

"Hi! I tried the above solution which in the end did not work at all unfortunately. Another solution is to launch Inkscape from within XQuartz, this is done by opening a terminal and type: open /Applications/Inkscape.app Additionally it is possible to create a shortcut for this in the XQuartz menu, by clicking on Applications -> Customize and the above command as the command and set name to Inkscape for instance. This worked for me, hope it can help somebody else as well. Good luck."

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38 comments:

  1. Sly Raskal5 November 2013 at 13:37

    Thanks for the information. This was exactly what I needed to get Inkscape working on my iMac.

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  2. wcdev6 November 2013 at 02:54

    Glad it helped! Thanks for the comment Sly Raskal!

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  3. tos7 November 2013 at 02:47

    O progra ma abre, mas as funções ficam inoperantes.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous7 November 2013 at 13:04

    Eminently helpful... just installed Mavericks and of course am now fixing the gratuitous disasters, especially X11! Thanks!

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  5. wcdev7 November 2013 at 18:40

    Glad it was helpful Shecky, thanks for the comment! Ditto on the fixing disasters.

    ReplyDelete
  6. wcdev7 November 2013 at 18:45

    Google Translate: Sinto muito @tos, eu não falo Português =/
    (I'm sorry @tos, I don't speak Portuguese =/)

    When you said that the functions (Google Translate from "mas as funções") aren't working, did you mean the extensions?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous22 November 2013 at 15:19

    Thanks! Also dealing with the fallout of an OS upgrade.

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  8. wcdev23 November 2013 at 05:35

    Welcome! Hope it goes well. Thanks for the comment ben!

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  9. Sean Hare25 November 2013 at 18:27

    has not worked for me asks for x11 i provide the xquartz app and then it never does anything program sit on my dock labeled as open but no windows pop up or anything....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Reginald Arthur Wolfe11 June 2014 at 23:58

      Same thing happens for me. Did you ever find a solution?

      Delete
  10. Unknown26 November 2013 at 00:27

    Thank you.

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  11. wcdev26 November 2013 at 07:24

    @VOCO NOVO: welcome. Thanks for the comment!
    @ Sean Hare: that happened too when installing. Try to quit both x11 and Inkscape, then run Inkscape once again to see if it works (that's what fixed that problem for me at least). It's worked ever since. Thanks for the comment and best of luck!

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  12. Unknown4 December 2013 at 08:42

    Mavericks gets another chance. Thx man.

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  13. wcdev4 December 2013 at 09:12

    thanks for the comment @Shade Lawrence Jenifer!

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  14. Ben10 December 2013 at 01:29

    Took me a couple times to get it work but it did eventually bring up inkscape! thanks

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  15. wcdev10 December 2013 at 14:21

    Glad it worked out @Ben. Thanks for the comment!

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  16. Engineero16 December 2013 at 14:16

    I was having the same issue as @Sean Hare. I re-installed both XQuartz and Inkscape, made sure neither was open, then opened Inkscape and had to wait a minute or two for the window to open up, but it worked. Subsequent times opening Inkscape seemed to go faster.

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  17. wcdev16 December 2013 at 15:02

    Cool, glad you got it to work, too. Thanks for the comment @Engineero!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Martin Hatchuel30 December 2013 at 20:29

    I eventually managed to get inkscape to open, but then received this error message when I tried to open a .cdr file: You need to install the UniConvertor software.
    For GNU/Linux: install the package python-uniconvertor.
    For Windows: download it from
    http://sk1project.org/modules.php?name=Products&product=uniconvertor
    and install into your Inkscape's Python location

    That's Linux and WIndows. Could you please tell me what to do on Mavericks?

    ReplyDelete
  19. Martin Hatchuel30 December 2013 at 20:38

    Sorry, only posted half of my comment. I downloaded Uniconverter software, and received these installation instructions

    Installation: To install UniConvertor on your Mac you will have to open a Terminal window, browse to UniConvertor's folder and run the following command from inside that directory (you will need administrator privileges to be able to run it):

    sudo python setup.py install
    ./build/scripts-2.7/uniconvertor

    this is the part I don't understand - what do I do to run a command from inside a directory?

    Thanks - M

    ReplyDelete
  20. Unknown1 January 2014 at 10:03

    Hello, I made a silly mistake and I don't know how to fix it: I got to the point where it asks where is X11, I browsed and by mistake I chose a different folder, and know I don't know how to mend it. Please, could anyone help me? Thanks in advance.

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  21. wcdev2 January 2014 at 21:25

    @Eloisa: sorry to hear about that silly mistake. I'm not 100% sure if this will help, since I haven't run into that mistake myself, but if you're comfortable with using Terminal safely, you can see if the solution at the following link may helpful. Link: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/30559/how-can-i-change-default-x11-application

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  22. wcdev2 January 2014 at 21:42

    @Martin Hatchuel: thanks for the comment! I'm not entirely sure if I understand at which level you were asking your question "this is the part I don't understand - what do I do to run a command from inside a directory?" -- So please pardon me if my attempt to help might be at the wrong level than you asked (I mean no insult if it's too basic.)

    If you're unfamiliar with Terminal, it should first be noted that some commands in Terminal can be very dangerous to your computer, and you should become at least a bit familiar with how to use Terminal before attempting things.

    A start to learning Terminal can be found here, and it covers how to go to a directory and run a command: http://mac.appstorm.net/how-to/utilities-how-to/how-to-use-terminal-the-basics/

    It's far more complete regarding some of the basics than anything I could possibly say in a comment. I hope this helps!

    Also, please note that the command you asked in your question contains 'sudo' in front of it, which can allow your computer to do some pretty dangerous things (since it uses higher security privileges than regular commands), so make sure that you've verified that Uniconverter was downloaded from the correct site. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudo

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  23. Fernando García14 February 2014 at 12:31

    Thanks for the advice on Mavericks. I have the same problem @Martin Hatchuel has: I need Inkscape to convert .CDR files, but the installation of all necessary files looks pretty difficult to me, even if I have some experience in computer (been using, selling and repairing them since 1982). Is there an easy, step-by-step instructions on how to do all these installations somewhere? Thanks in advance for your help.

    ReplyDelete
  24. wcdev14 February 2014 at 13:21

    Hi and thanks for the comment @Fernando Garcia!

    It doesn't look like there is an easy way to install UniConvertor on OS X as it currently needs to be built into a form that Inkscape can use by compiling it from source code, or installing it as a port. If I can somehow find some spare time I'll try to take a crack at it to see if there's a safe set of more detailed instructions that can be produced -- though I make no guarantees =)

    If it's for an urgent project and you need to use it immediately for work or a project, an easy, but very roundabout way to use UniConvertor and Inkscape would be to, on a virtual machine, install Ubuntu Linux (or Windows), Inkscape, and UniConvertor, and do the conversion work needed there. This also happens to be my fall-back plan if open source software in OS X goes horribly wrong, as they are far better supported in Linux. A nice, free virtual machine software can be found at https://www.virtualbox.org/ and instructions for installing stuff can be readily found online =) To move your files in and out of the virtual machines, take a look at using 'shared folders'.

    For those out there reading this comment and aren't sure what a "virtual machine" is, it's kind of like running a computer within a computer. You can run more than one operating system at once, and thus also run their programs. It's much less efficient than installing stuff directly. This is why it's a roundabout workaround.

    @Fernando Garcia, I realize that this reply doesn't really directly solve the problem, but I hope it helps in the meantime. Best of luck!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Fernando García15 February 2014 at 16:21

    @wcdev Thanks a lot for your comments. I know a bit about virtualization, I been using it since I owned my first Amiga, using Shapeshifter to emulate m68k MacOS ( http://j.mp/1gMjaA6 ) ;) , but I wanted a simple way to do the conversion, preventing the installation of virtualization sotware, a full operating system -that means several gigabytes-, the conversion software itself on that new OS… Too much hassle for a task that should be pretty simple.

    Even if I still want to install UniConvertor so I can have some control on the conversion, I've found an alternative way to convert .CDR files into another format -Illustrator .ai format in my case-: to use an online file conversion service, for example, filespazz.com. The only drawback is that the email you provide to use the service can be used to sent you all kind of ads, i.e., spam, so the best way I have found to prevent this is to use a temporary, disposable online e-mail service, for example, 10minutemail.com , that offers you a temporary e-mail address in which to receive the e-mail with the link to the converted file.

    BTW, thanks in advance for your efforts on make Uniconvertor and related libraries easier to install.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Birtanish2 April 2014 at 05:41

    Hi!

    I tried the above solution which in the end did not work at all unfortunately.

    Another solution is to launch Inkscape from within XQuartz, this is done by opening a terminal and type:

    open /Applications/Inkscape.app

    Additionally it is possible to create a shortcut for this in the XQuartz menu, by clicking on Applications -> Customize and the above command as the command and set name to Inkscape for instance.

    This worked for me, hope it can help somebody else as well. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  27. wcdev15 April 2014 at 04:20

    Hi @Birtanish, thanks for the comment! I'm sure it'll help someone out there :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Steve Spigarelli16 April 2014 at 08:29

    Thanks for the post. I was having trouble finding XQuartz as well.

    ReplyDelete
  29. wcdev5 May 2014 at 04:12

    Hi, and thanks for the comment @Steve Spigarelli

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous5 May 2014 at 13:23

    Thanks! @Birtanish -- that worked for me. I tried reinstalling Inkscape (in Mavericks OSX10.9), and closing both then restarting, but Inkscape would quit before opening each time. Opening from a widow within XQuartz does it though! Success!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous25 May 2014 at 08:17

    Hej! Thanks for your info! My new problem is somewhat related, so I give it a try: I want to open a .wmf-file, wich should work with inkscape. But I get this error-message:

    You need to install the UniConvertor software.
    For GNU/Linux: install the package python-uniconvertor.
    For Windows: download it from
    http://sk1project.org/modules.php?name=Products&product=uniconvertor
    and install into your Inkscape's Python location

    I googled around a bit and found no simple solutions and most of the forum-post were older than a year. Perhaps you know more?

    ReplyDelete
  32. Steven Clontz9 June 2014 at 11:07

    Thanks from me too @Birtanish - that did the trick.

    ReplyDelete
  33. wcdev26 June 2014 at 22:57

    re: uniconvertor -- unfortunately I haven't been able to figure out a good set of instructions for OS X Mavericks, however I'll definitely post something if I can get some spare time to look at it. Sorry about that to those who've asked! In the meantime, best of luck (and if anyone has figured it out, please feel free to post a comment)

    ReplyDelete
  34. ronaldm25816 November 2014 at 07:54

    Thanking you kindly, sir.

    ReplyDelete
  35. wcdev12 December 2014 at 17:21

    thanks for the comment @Ronald McMeekin!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Prashanth Nuggehalli Srinivas26 January 2015 at 01:09

    Thanks. Your 2014 addendum showing how to open Inkscape from within Quartz worked marvellously on my MBP running Mavericks. There is that 20-30s delay though which one has to take into account.

    ReplyDelete
  37. wcdev4 February 2015 at 17:10

    thanks for your comment and the mention about the 20-30s delay @Prashanth Nuggehalli Srinivas!

    ReplyDelete

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