So, I downloaded inkscape today, I've never understood a program so easily without tutorials before. I suppose it's because I've worked a bit with PS, Gimp and Maya before. But I've never really done vectors. Even though I got used to it pretty quickly, I had a few problems.

I picked this program as my weapon of choice for a webcomic I'm planning, making it a stickman one because I lost my drawing ability. So, right now I'm in the stage of creating a basic stickman, one that all other stickmen will be created from. There were however obstacles I haven't managed to overcome.

Problem #1

Connecting nodes, I looked it up, but I can't get it right. I want connect the nodes in the body(a stick, obviously) and the legs/arms(two diagonal sticks obviously). I've already grouped everything into one, but i want to connect the nodes too, anyone who knows how to teach me how to connect nodes?

Problem #2

Elbows and knees, I added an extra node for every limb so I could bend it like a real arm. Really helps posing characters quickly. Only, one on leg the leg bends but leaves behind a leg that had been hidden behind it originally, I tried deleting it but instead the leg is only moved further away and still has the same problem. Well, a similar problem, the stick now has its two ends bound together and forms some kind of circle.

Problem #3

I need to know if there's a way for me to connect 'hands' or 'feet' to the limbs so that when I move and/or bend the limb, the feet/hands will follow. Otherwise I'll have to move the hands/feet into their right place everytime I change the position of the legs.

Problem #4

I don't make (too) nondetailed stickmen, I'm going to give them clothes and hair, hair is no problem(for now, dun dun DUN), but I have questions about clothing. I haven't gotten that far yet, but is there any way to have something that is thicker than a simple line(clothing will be a bit bigger than the actual lines the stickman is made out of, it will also be colored and may have patterns, if it matters, everything I do has a black outline) and still be able to bend it easily like you can do with simple lines? All I really need is for it to have a joint where you can bend its legs/arms as an albow, is there some kind of trick anyone knows of?

All this is mainly related to the poseability of the things I'm making, and to pose them you need nodes, I think since all of the problems are about that, there's a possibility they solve each other somehow. Help is much appreciated! =D

P.S. I'll maybe add some pictures to help describe the problems, ask me if you really need a picture of the problem.

Small Update: I am currently remaking the basic stickman using a slightly different approach now, I had a small realization when I was working with really thin rectangles(as opposed as lines), the arms/legs bend exactly like I want them too if they were clothes, as long as I have two nodes as elbows/knees and shift+click them both. Any way to permanently 'bind' the nodes together without merging? (If merging them even is possible.)

Welcome to InkscapeForum!

One node can only have 2 paths connected to it, in Inkscape. There is no way to have a node with 3 or more paths connected to it. Or another way to say it, no more than 2 nodes can be joined. However, with snapping, you can have as many nodes at you want precisely on top of each other. It's just that the more "stacked up" nodes, the harder it will be to select any particular one(s). But you can select them all at once, and move them all together, if you need to. (drag selection box around them)

(1) 2 end nodes can be joined by selecting the 2 nodes (drag out selection box with Node tool, or hold Shift while clicking each node individually, with Node tool). Then click "Join selected nodes" button on Node tool control bar (or use key shortcut, if you prefer). (I don't know that shortcut off the top of my head, but Help menu > Key and Mouse Ref will have that info.)

You won't need to Group during the process of joining nodes. In fact, Group could cause selection issues somewhere down the line. On the other hand, if you use it very cleverly, it could come in handy. This question about using grouping will become more clear as you gain more finesse with Inkscape and node editing, and develop your own preferences for tools and techniques. When I first started using Inkscape, I used Grouping like crazy. Now I use it very rarely. So just keep practicing, and you'll get there

(2) When you bend a leg but find another leg was underneath, it gives us a clue about how you drew the leg. Not a detailed clue, but if you can tell use how you draw the stick figures, and which tool you use, we can explain what's happening, and suggest other approaches. There are a couple of things that could cause this without you realizing it was happening. But it would be easier for you to tell us what you did, than for us to play a guessing game

(3)As for bending an elbow and having the hand move along with it, it might not matter so much how you drew it. The trick is selecting only the nodes that you want to move. As long as you have a node at the elbow, you can select everything that makes up the hand, and drag it around, while the elbow node stays put, and gives the appearance of bending at the elbow.

(4) I don't clearly understand what you're asking. Yes, the stroke can be made wider on selected paths/objects. Object menu > Fill and Stroke > Stroke Style tab > Width. If you're asking e.g. how to make the sleeve of the clothing bend along with the arm, it's the same answer as #3. You have to select what ever parts you need to move, then they all move together.

I don't know what kind of style you have in mind. If you plan e.g. for the sleeve to cover up the arm, you won't need to draw the whole arm, since it won't be showing. But maybe you'd prefer if the arms will show through the sleeve?

Yes, if you could show is either screenshot of how you're drawing the stick figures, or perhaps even an SVG file with a little description, it would be very helpful for us (and in the end, helpful for you too, lol).

PS
I had this reply ready to go, when you editted your message, which sent it back through moderation. I'm not sure if my reply might have the answer to your update. But if not, just repeat the question....or maybe screenshot or SVG file with descriptions

@brynn, thank you for the answers, I got some useful information out of your post. But unfortunately my lack of vector experience made it a bit hard to describe the problems I was having, I'll try clarifying again.

1. Very helpful, thank you, after remaking the prototype for a third time I seem to have solved this problem, thanks for pointing that out. I guess I should know my toolbar better.

2. I actually don't know, because it is a copy of the other leg, and only one is having this problem. It was a simple line, as you know, stickmen are simple like that. However, it does not matter much now, I remade the prototype and The problem has not appeared since.

3. Woah, I thought of doing that already but decided to ask if there was a simpler way. But now that I tried I never realized it would be so smooth. xD Still, is there anyway to do that kind of selection really quickly or possibly make that selection automatic when you sellect the 'elbow'?

4. Remaking the prototype stickman(I love how prototype stickman sounds, because it's so silly) I used rectangles instead of lines. Which means bending an elbow requires selecting two nodes on each side of the arm in order for it to work. Thats how clothing would work too, except thicker(so theres room for at least a little amount of detail). I guess I solved this by myself when I tried again. So as you said, the answer is the same as question 3, and my question is the same now too; is there anyway to do that kind of selection really quickly or possibly make that selection automatic when you sellect the 'elbow'?

The small update I did on the OP does not contain any more new information than added here. So there's no real need to wait for that.

Well no, you can't automatically make a multiple selection in one click. The software is not that sophisticated.

It seems like your problems are more or less solved, from your response. I don't have a lot of confidence in it, since there were no illustrations. A lot of mistakes can happen with only text descriptions. But let us know if you get stuck. We'll do our best

brynn wrote:Well no, you can't automatically make a multiple selection in one click. The software is not that sophisticated.

It seems like your problems are more or less solved, from your response. I don't have a lot of confidence in it, since there were no illustrations. A lot of mistakes can happen with only text descriptions. But let us know if you get stuck. We'll do our best

Uh yeah, I screwed things up again just now. It's probably an easy fix, but it would be nice if you could take a look at it: http://www.mediafire.com/?u26n8a2jpow5un9

So, moving the arms, by selecting the hand and the elbow nodes works fine, but try doing the same with the leg. You will see what happens. I have no idea how I managed to fail like that.

EDIT: Nevermind, I solved that on quickly after posting this. Wow, maybe I underestimate myself. xD

EDIT II: The solution was to do path/union on the knee nodes and the nodes at the top. In case anyone was wondering, maybe some future googler. =P