GraphiteEditor/Graphite

Copy/pasting vector and raster content between other graphics apps

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#2,373 opened on Mar 7, 2025

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 (3 comments) (1 reaction) (0 assignees)Rust (25,662 stars) (1,176 forks)batch import
Good First Issue

Description

This is a good first issue but not for beginners.

We should be able to copy vector and raster content, including hierarchies of layers and groups, between creative programs. Both into Graphite and out of Graphite. This shouldn't break existing copy-pasting within Graphite, which needs to have actual graph information rather than just vector or bitmap layer info.

This will require research into how the clipboard APIs let us encode different types of data, and if perhaps we need a degraded experience on web due to API limitations compared to a full separate implementation for the Tuari desktop version. Testing other creative apps and using a utility for inspecting clipboard contents at a technical level will be a useful way to approach this. It's also worth checking if this differs between OSs.

Helpful reading: https://alexharri.com/blog/clipboard

Contributor guide

Tech stack
rusttauri
Domain
desktop
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
3-5 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
Rust programmingTauri frameworkClipboard API knowledge
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
45
Research direction
Investigate clipboard APIs in both web and Tauri contexts, as suggested in the linked blog post. Test how other graphics apps (e.g., Inkscape, Krita) handle copy/paste of vector and raster content by inspecting clipboard contents using a utility like 'xclip' on Linux or 'pbpaste' on macOS. Focus on understanding the data formats (e.g., SVG, PNG) and any limitations on the web platform, and explore if a degraded experience is necessary for the web version.
Copy/pasting vector and raster content between other graphics apps · GraphiteEditor/Graphite#2373 | Good First Issue