old_contents: #!/usr/bin/env python
  #-*- coding: utf-8 -*-
  import base64
  import sys
  import urllib2
  import inkex
  
  
  class UnsplashPlaceholder(inkex.Effect):
      def __init__(self):
          inkex.Effect.__init__(self)
          self.OptionParser.add_option('-W', '--width', action='store', type='string', dest='width',
                                       default='800', help='Set image width')
          self.OptionParser.add_option('-H', '--height', action='store', type='string', dest='height',
                                       default='680', help='Set image height')
  
      def effect(self):
          image = self._get_image()
          node = self._create_image_node(image)
  
          self.document.getroot().append(node)
  
      def _get_image(self):
          url = 'https://unsplash.it/{width}/{height}/?random'.format(width=self.options.width,
                                                                      height=self.options.height)
          response = urllib2.urlopen(url)
          data = response.read()
          return data
  
      def _create_image_node(self, data):
          attribs = {
              'height': self.options.height,
              'width': self.options.width,
              'x': '0',
              'y': '0',
              'preserveAspectRatio': 'None',
              inkex.addNS('href', 'xlink'): u'data:image/jpeg;base64,' + base64.encodestring(data)
          }
          node = inkex.etree.Element(inkex.addNS('image','svg'), attribs)
          return node
  
  
  if __name__ == '__main__':
      placeholder = UnsplashPlaceholder()
      placeholder.affect()
  
new_contents: #!/usr/bin/env python
  #-*- coding: utf-8 -*-
  import base64
  import urllib2
  import inkex
  
  
  class UnsplashPlaceholder(inkex.Effect):
      def __init__(self):
          inkex.Effect.__init__(self)
          self.OptionParser.add_option('-W', '--width', action='store', type='string', dest='width',
                                       default='800', help='Set image width')
          self.OptionParser.add_option('-H', '--height', action='store', type='string', dest='height',
                                       default='680', help='Set image height')
  
      def effect(self):
          image = self._get_image()
          node = self._create_image_node(image)
  
          self.document.getroot().append(node)
  
      def _get_image(self):
          url = 'https://unsplash.it/{width}/{height}/?random'.format(width=self.options.width,
                                                                      height=self.options.height)
          response = urllib2.urlopen(url)
          data = response.read()
          return data
  
      def _create_image_node(self, data):
          attribs = {
              'height': self.options.height,
              'width': self.options.width,
              'x': '0',
              'y': '0',
              'preserveAspectRatio': 'None',
              inkex.addNS('href', 'xlink'): u'data:image/jpeg;base64,' + base64.encodestring(data)
          }
          node = inkex.etree.Element(inkex.addNS('image','svg'), attribs)
          return node
  
  
  if __name__ == '__main__':
      placeholder = UnsplashPlaceholder()
      placeholder.affect()
  
subject: Remove sys dependencie