Graphviz and Inkscape for vector drawings

I have been using xfig for years for drawing vector drawings. Recently, I got interested in two software for my drawing needs - Graphviz and Inkscape.

Graphviz is awesome when it comes to generating graphs from a program. An awesome tool for automation. I found Graphviz also useful when you want a quick graph, you don't have much time and you don't care about the exact layout. Being a lazy person I am, Graphviz adds nicely to my toolkits for lazy person - Perl, Gnuplot, Image Magick, and Graphviz. Write a quick text file describing the graph, run the 'dot' command of Graphviz package and you get a nice graph.

Inkscape looks good, but it is giving me some tough time. When I compare it with xfig, I can say that although xfig is less ambitious, but it is complete and stable. Inkscape is neither complete nor stable. But it is very ambitious and has lot of features. I am still learning my way around in Inkscape. Here are some resources:

1. Tutorials
2. A Quick Guide to Inkscape - this is really a very good guide.
3. Inkscape: A guide to a vector drawing program (html version of the book)

Inkscape seems to be quite popular, so I am going to stick with it for a while and hopefully I don't have to go back to xfig. As I can envision, my main use of Inkscape would be to use it to create technical drawings for publishing, because for everything else GIMP is there. In the worst case, probably I have to edit the SVG file manually if I couldn't find a way to do something in Inkscape.

The reason I like Inkscape over xfig is because

• it does not introduce any new format and uses existing SVG format which seems a better choice in long term - more compatibility with other apps.
• it has much more updated UI which is easier on eyes.
• it has lot of features and many more things can be done.