Hello everyone.

I'm new to inkscape, just started playing with it a couple of days ago. To be honest I'm having a very hard time with it and finding it counter intuitive. I feel like I am fighting an uphill battle trying to accomplish the most basic of tasks. At the moment all I am trying to do is cut an object in half using the erase tool.

For example I have this object drawn with .



I want to cut it in half, delete one side, duplicate the other side, flip it, and then rejoin them into one symmetric object. I'm struggling with the first step, I thought I could just use the erase tool down the middle like you would in the gimp etc. So I click the button start to draw a line, and this is the result I get.



Whats going on here? Why can't I just erase stuff without it creating a joining line? It's acting more like a paint brush with an outline.

If there is another more proper way to cut an object in half please let me know, but can you also explain how the erase tool is supposed to function?

Thanks for any help, googling is failing me.

Think of vectors as physical objects in the real world.

What you have is similar to a piece of paper. You can't erase the edge away from a piece of paper, you are technically reshaping it. If your circle was fill black, the effect would look more like you had erased it.

What you want is a something more like a piece of string.

I recommend reading through - http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL ... Start.html

Hello there!

I didn't even realise there was a rubber tool built in.
For general purposes subtracting another path -in this case, a rectangle- is more effective.

For a vertical cut alike, draw a rectangle over that shape, then select both objeects, and press Ctrl+-.
Cutting it in exact half I would use the align and distribute panel -accessed by pressing Ctrl+Shift+A.
Then the steps would be
drawing a rectangle, duplicating it by pressing Ctrl+D,
selecting both the original and the duplicant,
aligning them next to eachother,
grouping them together by pressing Ctrl+G, then
aligning the group to the center of the basic shape,
then ungrouping it by pressing Ctrl+Shift+G and doing the subtracting.

There are many ways of doing this, others might like using the snapping function for such.

I'm afraid that there is no substitute for reading the manual. Coming to vector art from a pixel drawing program is going to take some mental readjustment.

In a pixel drawing each dot in the image is independent from the others and can be deleted recolored etc. without affecting the others. In a vector drawing there is a set of instructions stored in the file that determine where each pixel will be drawn on the screen, but the pixels can't be individually edited, just the instruction in the file.

So the eraser tool in a pixel program recolors each pixel it touches, but the 'eraser' in Inkscape draws a new shape and then subtracts it from the shape or even all the shapes under it. In the example drawing you did it might help to think of starting with a leaf and then having a caterpillar eat bits of it, either from the edge or the middle... (I'm looking at MicroUgly's Avatar! ) The resulting leaf will be colored the same way as the original, so in your case since the original was white/clear with black edging, the result looks the way it does.
If the original were green with no edging then it would look like what it might in a pixel editing program, but that's just a coincidence - internally the information is still stored as a drawing instruction not as a collection of dots!

The easiest way to erase in Inkscape is to draw the region you want to erase on top, select it and the object you want it cut out of, and use Path -> Difference to remove it from the object below. For example, draw a big circle. Then draw a smaller one inside it. Select them both and Path -> Difference. You end up with a doughnut.

I couldn't figure out how to draw with inkscape until I came across some fantastic youtube inkscape tutorials by thelittlewebhut Check out his clipart tutorial to see how shapes are used to draw. In fact any one of his tutorials will clearly show you how to use inkscape to make graphics in a few simple steps.

re: New to inkscape, having trouble with Erase tool
There are two ways to accomplish what you want.

1/ Draw the object. Choose the - edit paths by nodes tool ( F2) - select the area you would like the object broken apart at (hold down left mouse button and draw rectangle around area - in this case through the middle), then choose the the ' delete segment between two non-endpoint nodes' tool (this will appear in the horizontal toolbar above the left hand vertical tool bar where you select the node tool) and left click the ' delete segment between two non-endpoint nodes' tool . Then choose the break apart tool - go to Path (top horizontal tool bar) - left click then in the drop down menu select 'break apart.


2/ If you use the square, rectangle tool in combination with the ' delete segment between two non-endpoint nodes' tool (first select edit paths by nodes tool - F2) you would be able to do as you wanted.
If you want a thin line to cut with make the rectangle thin (so that it looks like a line - the rectangle can be any size you like). Put that over top of the object, select both and choose, Path - cut path.
Note: If you are wanting to cut text this method works but you will also need to add the 'break apart' step in. Same for objects (squares, circles, etc).