Book excerpt: A short, simple guide with everything you need to get started, The quickest way to become productive, Learn about the main features and how to use them, Get to know the community and where to get help. If you are new to Inkscape this guide is the perfect companion for getting you off to a flying start. No previous experience with Inkscape is required as you will be walked through downloading Inkscape and installing it on your system. Become productive straightaway as you create your very first vector graphic. The list of resources in this guide will familiarize you with the Inkscape community, which is a valuable part of any Open Source project. Finally, you will see how to use seven key features of Inkscape - including using paths and layers, combining shapes, creating and editing text tools, importing and embedding images, and a list of keyboard shortcuts for text styling - which will allow you to perform simple tasks to learn the basics and set off on your own.