Consider using librsvg over Inkscape

[clkao]

Inkscape, which is now in the minimal-notebook image, pulls in about 120M dependency. For standalone use it's also an additional requirement to install a large GUI app.

We should consider using librsvg-convert or svg42pdf python library.

[takluyver]

svg42pdf looks like a handy tool for this, though I'm a bit wary that it might produce confusingly different results on different systems depending on what tools are installed.

I think we went with inkscape because there's a good chance of users already having it installed, but it's definitely not optimal for installing into docker containers for this functionality.

[andreas-zeller]

As of macOS 10.15 "Catalina", the stable version of Inkscape no longer runs (it's 32-bit), and the Inkscape 64-bit beta lacks the "inkscape" command-line executable. You may want to look at the recently released CairoSVG https://cairosvg.org as an alternative.

[MSeal]

That might be something to investigate for nbconvert 6 release. We should take a closer look at the library.

[mgeier]

If librsvg should be used, somebody should probably make a Windows package for conda-forge, see conda-forge/librsvg-feedstock#40

[mgeier]

FYI, a windows version is now available:

conda-forge/librsvg-feedstock#45
https://anaconda.org/conda-forge/librsvg

[meeseeksmachine]

This issue has been mentioned on Jupyter Community Forum. There might be relevant details there:

https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/svg-in-jupyter-conversion-with-nbconvert-fails/2724/15

[benz0li]

See JuliaLang/IJulia.jl#1038 (comment) on how to configure IPython and IRkernel

to output both image/svg+xml and application/pdf plot formats in the notebook file:

• image/svg+xml for plot display in the browser
  + HTML conversion using SVG instead of PNG
• application/pdf for direct PDF conversion

ℹ️ With application/pdf plot format in the notebook file, inkscape is not required for PDF conversion using nbconvert.

See JuliaPlots/Plots.jl#4288 about a possible solution for IJulia when using Plots.jl.

[benz0li]

Inkscape has been removed from the minimal-notebook: jupyter/docker-stacks#1765

@clkao May you close this issue?

FYI @mathbunnyru