after speaking with ~suv on the chat forum, we identified that there was a problem with the preferences files as i could log in as a guest user on my mac and use inkscape just fine. ~suv helped me find this resolution: - shut down XQuartz - go to Library > Preferences - delete org.macosforge.xqartz....

hello, thanks for the quick reply. i think it is more than just the preview as the entire screen is black when i am in the working mode. i tried turning the rulers off and on like you suggested but that didn't solve my problem. attached are two screenshots. any other thoughts? thank you for your hel...

i am working on a mac (OSX 10.9.5) and have installed Inkscape- 0.91-1-x11-10.7-x86_64 and XQuartz-2.7.7 and when i open Inkscape i get the full black background (as seen in screenshot) with the strange white dotted lines. when i go to open a file the preview also shows files with a black background...