QubesOS: Install Inkscape in Debian

Installing Inkscape & Fonts

Inkscape is an open source vector graphic editor that can be used to create scaleable and transparent images. This guide will show how Inkscape can be installed in Debian and configured on QubesOS, including how to add addition true-type fonts (.ttf) to the base OS

Installing Inkscape is a standard Debian install, the only additional step is having to restart the templateVM after installation.

This will allow any AppVM based on the Debian template to have access to Inkscape and also any of the fonts installed inside the AppVM. Installing new fonts requiring knowing the path where to add the TTF file, in Debian this can be found at: /usr/share/fonts/truefonttype/

Using Apt in Debian to install Inkscape

The default package manage in Debian is Apt, to install Inkscape would require opening the terminal for the Debian template and running the following command apt install inkscape this will then install Inkscape and after restarting the templateVM and then Inkscape will be available inside the Qube Settings of all AppVMs based on the Debian template

This guide is using the Debian template in QubesOS, this application favors long term stability and once installed and fonts added this can be used inside any AppVM based on the Debian template. Installing the fonts in the templateVM will require downloading the zip file in another AppVM and transferring it across to the templateVM as this doesn’t have a network connection. Once installed in the templateVM the fonts will be available to any Qube based on the Debian templateVM

Step by Step guide for installing Inkscape in Debian

Here is the step by step guide for installing Inkscape in QubesOS using the Debian template

Installing Inkscape in Qubes is the same as most Debian based systems running the following command from the Denian Template Terminal the following command will install Inkscape sudo apt install inkscape

Once it has been installed then adding new fonts requires adding a TFF to the following directory /usr/share/fonts/truetype/{font-name}/{font-name}.tff

Download the font zip file using a qube that has access to the internet. Once it has been downloaded open the file manager and right click on the file and select copy to other AppVM this will then pop up the option to copy the file to /home/user/QubesIncoming/cryptopticon/{font-name}.zip inside the Debian template

Adding Fonts into Inkscape on Debian

Once the zip has been moved to the QubesIncoming directory the following two commands will create a directory for the font file mkdir /usr/share/fonts/truetype/legibility and then unzip the contents into the correct directory unzip /home/user/QubesIncoming/cryptopticon/legibility-font.zip -d /usr/share/fonts/truetype/legibility/

Once unzipped the can be copied to the ttf/ directory, this can be done via scp -r /usr/share/fonts/truetype/*/* /usr/share/fonts/ttf/ and the final step is to remove the font cache file in the users directory rm /home/user/.fonts.conf followed by clearing the cache by running fc-cache

TLDR; This is a guide on how to install Inkscape and additional fonts into a Debian based templateVM inside QubesOS