Hi there,

I am brand new here and have been teaching myself Inkscape for the past month or so through the many online tutorials. I've run into trouble trying to sharpen a corner that is now rounded. Here's the screenshot:



My goal is to make the corner sharp - I inadvertently made it rounded and don't know how to get back to the sharp corner I had. I'm not really sure what a smooth node handle is - can it be converted to another type? One click changes the square nodes to 'cusp nodes' as well as the round handle nodes report as being cusp node handles. I've tried the "make selected nodes corner" selection from the toolbar. But that only creates a corner from the two square nodes. What am I doing wrong?

I think I've been staring at this too long as the answer is probably right in front of me. I've searched the forum and (I think) the archives, as well as online but haven't been able to find a direct answer to this.

Welcome to InkscapeForum!

If you extend the handles of the 2 smooth nodes far enough, the corner will become sharper. But it really would be better to add a new cusp (corner) node, and adjust (or probably remove) the handles of the cusp node.

Using the Node tool, you can double-click on the path, to place the new node. Since the other 2 are smooth, it will probably add a smooth node, which you can then change to cusp/corner, using the button you've already found (make selected nodes cusp/corner). You may need to move the node a little bit, to bring it in line with the smooth nodes. To remove the handles, hover the mouse/pointer over the tiny circle of the handle. When it turns red, do Ctrl + click, and the handle will disappear. (You can draw it back out using Shift + drag.) Or if you prefer, you can just adjust the handles -- whatever gives the effect you want.

Let us know if it works

Ditto what Brynn said. I would add a new node, I usually do it manually though, I highlight the 2 nearest nodes and then click on the 'add node' icon, then move it to the center where I want the sharp edge to be. You'd think Inkscape would auto. place a node at a bend to preserve the shape, but it doesn't. Also, double click on the node to change it from cusp to smooth, etc.
dee

Thank you so much both of you, brynn and flamingolady! It worked finally. I added a node in the middle and tinkered quite a bit. For whatever reason I kept thinking that I could click the paintbucket to fill with color between the 2 smooth nodes and that that should do the trick.

I clearly have a lot to learn!