Hey guys!

I'm just new to Inkscape and I would really need your help with some work of mine. I created an .svg file with some pattern that should be engraved onto some jewelry as a Christmas present for my girlfriend. I'm pretty sure that I should remove the the white background in the file (it's just 2 colors: white and grey) first but I just can't figure out how to do it.

Could you help me with this?

Thanks!

Sebastian

There are two problems here. One is the background, it's just a rectangle so you click on an "empty" space outside the circle and that should select it, then press Del.

Now, here's the second issue. While the graphics looks like a bunch of black lines, it's not. It is a black circle with a bunch of white pieces on top, it just happens that since the background is also white, it looks like there are black lines. But if you click any white part inside the circle, you'll see that you get a tiny part selected. That's because what you're seeing is a black circle with a bunch of white pieces of the right shape and size to let the black bee seen. And all that over a white background.

... And that won't work for engraving I'm pretty sure. The machines used for that sort of thing work with the actual "logical" graphic, as opposed to what you see.

In this case what you need is to end up with a black shape that not only happens to look like what you have now, but IS actually a single black object.

Let me see if I can explain what you need to do here...

1- Go to File > Document Properties. Click the "background color" at the bottom of the dialog and pick a color that's not white nor black, any color will do, it's just so you can see what you're doing.



Note that the A channel (the transparency) is left at 0. That way you see it as a color, but it's transparent. Inkscape shows you the color but that's it.

2- Click the white rectangle and press the Del key. So that's the end of that.

3- Now click any white part inside the circle. That should select one of those pieces.



4- Go to Edit > Select Same > Fill Color. You should end up with a bunch of objects selected.



5 - Go to Path > Union. You you did here is combine all those pieces you have selected into a single one.



It just happens that here Inkscape decided that the new object is black. I believe it depends on what you have been doing, so after the union your's might not look black. If it does look like mine, just click any color on the pallete on the bottom to assign that color to it.



6 - Now hold shift and click a black part. You might want to zoom in. But the end result is that you get two things selected.



7 - Go to Path > Difference.



What you did was cookie-cut the orange path from the black one. And then you are left with only one black path which is what you want to send to have it engraved.

wow kudos for your efforts Uktrunie in explaining this. brilliantly clearly wtitten/illustrated. i just happened to be browsing and came upon this. and i only joined this afternoon!

Well, I can't take credit for it, it was mostly boredom.

I have plenty of questions for you if you are bored. seriously. I just posted one about needing help, being stuck, etc somewhere in the forum.

bouncyjoe, sometimes people visiting forums are just too busy to make long, detailed explanations. But if you're patient, eventually we'll get there.

Just be sure not to ask for help in someone else's message thread. It just gets too confusing answering 2 different people about 2 different problems, in the same thread. I especially enjoy explaining things to newbies, but I'm not always visiting every day. I don't think I've seen all your messages today yet, but I'll find them eventually