Hi folks,

Sorry for the newbie question but I have to ask this. I tried to figure it out on my own and failed. And such a fundamental thing, too!

Okay, so let's say I have a .ai file which is made up of a big group of icon objects (each one itself made up of several separate fragments). I import that into an Inkscape project, but I only want to isolate and select one of the array of "icon objects," cut it away from the group and then use it in the project.

How the heck do I do that?

I've tried everything I can figure (including reading the manual) and haven't gotten it down. There doesn't seem to be any tool analogous to the "lasso" or dotted-line select tool of Photoshop.

This is a super-basic thing that I really need to know how to do so that I can create icons. My modus operandi is to start with creating a text object and applying some of the lovely filters (this part, I excel at). Then, I would like to next choose a vector icon type object as described above, but I always get shut down right there because I don't know how to quickly and easily grab one of these icon objects, pull it away from the rest of them, and place it into the project. (I also want the icon object, which is almost always made up of a group of several shapes, to stay locked together as I isolate it, naturally.)

Any help very much appreciated.

cheers,
Rhizomorph

Welcome Rhizomorph!

If it comes from AI, they must be vector objects? I'm not very familiar with Illustrator, so I don't know if AI files can have raster content or not. If it's a raster image, you won't be able to isolate anything from it, except by using Clipping, which probably won't be ideal for your use.

But if they are vector objects, it's possible they were grouped when they were imported. Try selecting the whole bunch, and then Object menu > Ungroup (or command bar button).

Hi Brynn, thanks glad to be here. Yes I tried that, it didn't work. I think Inkscape means "object" as the entire single image (the whole opened .ai file I imported), not the individual "objects" making up that image.

That's one of the things that is kinda funny here, the fact that we are talking about an image (the .ai file) that is made up of numerous individual images (the various icon objects), each of which is itself made up of a few separate shapes.

I need to know how to isolate one of those middle category, the icon object.

Hey tell ya what let me just attach a screen capture showing the situation and maybe this will help.

thanks heaps
R

The status bar reports that it is a Group of 17 objects, so Ungroup should work! The group has to be selected for Ungroup to work

However, I count 24 icons. Plus, I notice the the background of the "group" is not transparent, as I would expect (keeping in mind I'm not familar with AI). Instead, it is an offwhite or maybe cream or beige color. That indicates to me that they might no longer be individual icons anymore, and may not even be vector anymore. But there also may be a whitish rectangle behind everything else. It's hard to say.

How did you import it? I know you said "the whole opened .ai file", but I'm not sure how to import an opened file. File menu > Import would be the proper way to import. You could also try just to open it with Inkscape, and if it can't be opened, Inkscape will import.

If you can't make the Ungroup work, you could attach the file (use full editor, not quick reply), or upload to host of your choice, and give us a link. Then we could have a look.

A lot of people have trouble opening AI files. You could search the forum, and possibly find a better way to do it. I get so confused about different file formats, which work with Inkscape and how. Here, I've searched one out, and you can find others if you like: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9524&p=35296&hilit=open+ai+illustrator#p35296

Thanks, when I said "the whole opened .ai file" I simply meant the imported file, once opened, as a whole. I did import it the normal way.

And in fact that .ai file you see there is not even the one I really want to use, I just slapped it on there to get the screen capture so I could show what I was talking about.

I'm pretty sure those are vectors, as that image does resize without degradation or pixelation (the group).

I'll try Ungroup again and see if I have any better luck. I assume by "selected" you mean the way it looks in the image, that's the selected state, right? (with the arrows all around the frame)

I appreciate your efforts to help, Brynn.

Are there any hardcore Inkscape experts on the forum? That's who I was really hoping to bother with this question. Someone who knows this program backwards and forwards, like the back of their hand, and other appropriate cliches. I don't mean to be rude or anything and certainly appreciate your help, but I was hoping since this is sort of the biggest Inkscape forum I can find that I would have multiple replies to this question by different people... basically I'm very frustrated because this single stumbling block is stopping me from earning money right now creating logos and I've been unemployed for like a year. I would appreciate it beyond words if someone could give me the answer here.

I tried "Ungroup" again, and it created dotted-line outlines around the separate objects, but I cannot figure out how to select one of them and separate it from the others. If I just click on it with the select pointer and drag, it just moves the entire group wherever I drag it...

Sorry, I misunderstood what you meant about importing.

I assume by "selected" you mean the way it looks in the image, that's the selected state, right? (with the arrows all around the frame)

Yes.

Well, I'm a pretty hardcore user myself, but there certainly are more knowledgeable members than me especially on the technical, and coding and development side. And I'm sure they will jump in if I give the wrong, or even not the best answer. However, I do know the interface quite well, and I think that we are onto the solution. With the caveat that I'm not familiar with working on AI files, the next steps should be as follows.

After you ungroup it, look again at the status bar. It will tell you now what's selected. It might be more groups, paths, shapes, clones, etc. You may need to do some more ungrouping. But I'm guessing that you don't want to ungroup individual icons (if they are made up of grouped objects). So you'll have to move slowly and deliberately, while keeping an eye on the status bar, to keep track of what's happening.

After you ungroup once, look to see if there is a dotted line around the icon that you're interested in. If there is, you'll need to deselect everything (click on open area of canvas, not the white space between icons). Then you will be free to select the icon.

If there was no dotted line after the 1st ungroup, position your mouse over that icon and click. Check the status bar to see how many objects in that group, then ungroup. If the icon has a dotted line around it, deselect everything, then you can select that icon. If not, place the mouse over your icon, click, and check the status bar. Etc., etc....

In some cases of grouped objects, multiple groups and/or nested groups, I might suggest selecting the group, and clicking Ungroup multiple times, until the status bar says "No groups to ungroup". But in your case, I'm concerned the each icon might be themselves groups. And if they are, and you ungrouped everything, you couldn't move the icons without them "coming apart". That's why I'm suggesting one step at a time.

You can also learn some tricks for selecting from Help menu > Tutorials > Basic. There are a few techniques there. And since I don't have your file, I don't know what you might encounter as you go. You may need to use a different selection technique, if certain situations arise.

Also, I have no idea if you're familiar with AI. But Inkscape does not strive to be an Illustrator replacement or look-alike. It does work differently than AI, and even experienced graphic artists may have at least a small learning curve.

Sorry, I blew it. I just re-read my original post and realized that I was using the word "icon" a bunch of times where I should have been saying "logo." I probably confused you...

Well, I guess they ARE logos, now that you mention it. I guess a lot of people often use those words interchangeably. But I think I understood the problem. How is it going?

Hi sorry about the delay in replying.

Someone offline gave me the clue that I needed to move forward. Turns out that it didn't even occur to me that what I needed to do was open a second Inkscape document window, and import the .ai file into that one alone so that it is the primary layer. Apparently the problems I was having were related to me trying to do what I was attempting to do when the .ai image was a secondary layer in a single document window.

When I did that, things got better. With regard to isolating a logo, what worked was to click "Ungroup", and then do a "drag-frame" move (that's not the official terminology, but I don't know what is; I'm talking about a click/drag move around the desired object like a picture frame around it to make a selection of it).

What would happen then is that Inkscape would make a complex of selections with little black arrows etc around all of the component parts of the desired logo object (as they are usually made up of several small objects) and I could then cut/paste the whole thing as a single unit into the other window, as long as it was giving me the selection arrows around all parts of the whole object (hope that makes sense).

It's tricky, but it works. I still suspect there is another, easier way to do all this, but I have not found evidence of it yet in the manual or anywhere else, and since the above-described way works, I'm satisfied for now.

cheers
R

You haven't said why my instructions didn't work. And from your latest comments, I can't understand anything more about the problem, or even really understand your solution. But the bottom line is that you've found a solution that you're satisfied with. And we'll be here if you need help again, in the future

I appreciate that. I know there will be something else that comes up, soon.

Sorry I didn't explain well. Better luck to me next time.

Rhizomorph wrote:With regard to isolating a logo, what worked was to click "Ungroup", and then do a "drag-frame" move (that's not the official terminology, but I don't know what is; I'm talking about a click/drag move around the desired object like a picture frame around it to make a selection of it).

What would happen then is that Inkscape would make a complex of selections with little black arrows etc around all of the component parts of the desired logo object (as they are usually made up of several small objects) and I could then cut/paste the whole thing as a single unit into the other window...

Having ungrouped you've left with lots of separate parts for each logo. Once you've dragged a selection box round the ones you want for a single particular logo, you might find it useful to group them so that you can more easily move or resize the logo as a single object.