I am making a cookie cutter. I added a thick handle around it by creating a linked offset (selecting my design > Path > Linked offset). But part of it is separate and I need these to be connected.



I highlight the whole red part, and go Stroke to path > Union. Then I view the nodes. I then tried overlapping (cusp) nodes from both sections and selecting join nodes but that did not work.





Please advise me on how to combine these sections? (not just nodes from both sections connected, but to make a continuous thick red amount between both so that they are one).

Thank you in advance.

Ryan

Maybe there is somewhere a kind of "auto-close" function.
But I think a very simple way is to draw an ellipse or a rectangle or any object covering both of your "ends".
Then mark your path and the object and do Path | Union
Adjust the nodes as you like.
Done!

The easiest approach is to drag the handles so that the areas overlap, as you have done in the last screenshot - but *then* use Path > Union again.

@Xav...what if the red ends are already the same path? Then the ends do not "melt" together in the way as I understand the OP.

Thank you both for your suggestions! I went with Theoz's suggestion - to draw a circle/rectangle that covers both ends, and then highlight all > stroke to path > union. It works really well

theozh wrote:@Xav...what if the red ends are already the same path? Then the ends do not "melt" together in the way as I understand the OP.

Have you tried it? It certainly works that way for me.

Just a note to set the fill rule to non-zero from even-odd.

@Xav, yes. In some cases I get results like you do, in some cases I get results like the attached example.
Left: original path
Middle: moved one point to overlap
Right: union path
Apparently, there are some settings how to display and combine paths. But I cannot remember where...

...@Lazur... that's it... thanks!
However, somewhat unforeseeable:
a) if you start with the free handline tool (F6) the default is: even/odd
b) if you start with a circle/rectangle the default is: non-zero
To me a bit strange, but there might be a reason for it?!

The ability of Path > Union to "merge" a self-intersecting object does seem to be based on the Fill Rule value, which was a surprise to me. I always have it set to Non-zero (and never use the Freehand tool), in which case you *can* just drag a node and then press use Path > Union. Previously I always thought of the fill rule as being a purely visual thing, not something that would affect the outcome of a boolean operation.

Yes, I even accidentally once made a bug report about this...

I would argue that it is a bug - or at least a usability issue. Principle of least surprise, and all that.

The behaviour when the Fill Rule is Even-Odd is similar to using Path > Exclusion on a pair of paths. I think it would be better to extend Exclusion to also work on single self-intersecting objects. That way both modes of operation would be available, and the Fill Rule wouldn't have to come into it at all.

I have to think you must be using a vector editor for some particular reason. And the truest vector solution for this, would be to make sure the black outline is a closed path. Then you can use a traditional fill, and not have to worry about patching different pieces together.

I would need to see the whole object, rather then just part of it, to explain how to do that. If you could either show a screenshot of the whole image, with the nodes for the black outline showing, or provide the SVG file, we can explain.

I don't know if you mean you're making an image of a cookie cutter, or you're planning to do a 3d print (which seems to be popular lately). But for the 3d print, you'll certainly need a closed path for the outline.