hello.

Not sure if I am on the right site to ask this but I'll give it a shot: how would you make an artwork on a canvas that is not a rectangle or any other "usual" geometric shape? See attached image for details. It is a layout of a disposable coffee cup. How could i align/bend my artwork using Inkscape in accord to this shape? Say, my design would consist of a row of black and red vertical stripes all around the cup. Any links to some articles/tutorials regarding this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Hi.

Blender is good for that.
First model a cylinder, mark one of it's edges as a seam, unwrap the mesh, then change the model's proportions to be a cone -scale and move the top and bottom "circles" according the shape.
Then, set a texture from an image and use the uv to map it to the model.
This way you can use a regular rectangle design for the cup.
Or if you need that exact shape as attached, bake that previous texture and unwrap the model again -and export uv image.

Hi.

I recon the question was "How could I align/bend my artwork using Inkscape in accord to this shape?"
Contrary to Lazur's answer I don't recommend going the "Blender route" as Blender have a very steep learning curve - it will
take you much longer to learn "enough" Blender - to get an acceptable result for your design - than
learning Inkscape. Having said that - Blender gives impressive results in the "right" hands!

Back to "your" design;

Your drawing is a very good start. Import the image into Inkscape -
Center the image horizontally on the page.
Align it to the top of the page.
Create a new layer and move the image into that layer.
Move layer to bottom.
Create two guide-lines along the edge of the cup like in the example - click and drag on the ruler to the left or the ruler along top to get the guides, rotate the guides by clicking on the guide and press shift. (The guides are drawn (Green) in the example in order to show in your browser as the browsers does not "support" guides.)
Enable snapping of guide lines.
Create a new vertical guide line snapped to the intersection of the two previous guide lines.

You are now ready to "design"!

Draw a vertical line along the center of the cup snapping it to the vertical guide line.
Click (slowly) twice on the line just drawn - this will reveal the lines "rotation center" - a small cross in the middle of the line.
(I have moved it "off-center" in the example file to make it easier to find! )
Click and drag the rotation-center to the intersection of the guide lines -
To move the line click it until you get "rotation-handles" (bent arrows)in the corners Click and drag one of the "rotation-handles".

Keep repeating the procedure for other elements of your design - draw in the middle of the cup - move rotation center - rotate (instead of move) to re-position.

To get up to an acceptable level using Inkscape follow some of the "quick start" guides in the Inkscape manual; Quick Start


( Right-Click to save image to your drive.)


If anything is unclear - chime back!

Good Luck
RGDS
Ragnar

I'm afraid just rotation may not suffice.

If the layout is for a frustum (conic portion), It might be best to use pattern along path or envelope deform to warp the image properly.
The path would follow offsets of the outline arcs.

Hi.

tylerdurden:

I'm afraid just rotation may not suffice.

I knew this comment would pop up!
- It all depends on what you want to draw - the OP's question was how to draw vertical lines spread around the cup.
For these the "Rotation method" might be the best.
Other shapes can be drawn as arcs and "rotated lines" (as in my example).
Arcs (like the arrow in the example) will end up as horizontal straight lines on the frustum.

To draw perfect circles and text - pattern along paths might be a better option.
For other shapes - eg a heart - the "deformation" by using the rotation method might not matter.

Have a look at this - the vertical text and cup on the left hand side has been moved by the "rotation method" -
likewise for the icons on the right;

(Image was "borrowed" from; Alibaba)

Another design

Have a look at the cup you get next time you go to your favorite coffee shop!

RGDS
Ragnar

Of course, clever design avoids the pitfalls of anamorphic imagery.

Aside,
Something seems off on the drawing... the arcs don't match the edges?

Hi.

tylerdurden;

Something seems off on the drawing... the arcs don't match the edges?

This can be "fixed" by moving the background image after the guidelines has been set.
Reason for the arcs to be off is my fault as I assumed the design was in center of the image.
Example SVG has been "corrected" - however the basic workflow remains the same.
Thanks for pointing this out.

I am pretty sure that there are a lot of "better" ways of making this.
By posting the example I am just trying to help the op with his task at
hand - I am not claiming this to be the "perfect" solution!

Can you please explain "Of course, clever design avoids the pitfalls of anamorphic imagery" and how it applies to this application (and my post).
What you are basically saying is that all (most) of the designers of paper cups are doing it wrong?

Have a nice day!
RGDS
Ragnar

In my humble opinion most designers think in 2D and wouldn't care any distrotion at all, and apply a smaller portion of design several times, where the difference is not recognizable.
Why bother with such a problem when the customer won't appreciate the (plus) work put inside?
As far as I could see it, 3D is not so widespread. Those who can unwrap a papercup in seconds, wouldn't bother with such a small task either.

Indeed, even Starbucks Coffee doesn't care much if their logo gets egg shaped, provided it is small enough to minimize the effect.

Whereas, other artwork or shapes may need more work.
http://www.esko.com/en/products/overvie ... or-labels/

Another related problem of this kind, designing a pattern for a football.

Not sure if I am on the right site to ask this....

OH! You SO came to the right place

Thank you all for your answers, especially ragstian Your tips are very helpful