Hi guys.
First of all let me apologize if my question sound ridiculous to you ( but i'm an absolute beginner at using inkscape), or it has already been discussed on this forum .
Searching for inskscape video tutorials i came across this one : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib5fiNtKThA.
Now obviously i did not understand much from it, because it's in japanese, but there were some english explanations in the comments section.

"5. Now move the text on the picture and mark the whole area of the picture and text

6. From the top menu choose dialog window 'fill and contour' (the one which is next to the 'Text and font settings (big black letter T))

7. Now it should open a dialog box on the right side, so click on 'fill' menu and from there choose 'pattern' option

8. Now you can separate the text from the picture again by using simple mouse and delete the picture

9. Your 'leaf logo' should be done - it works for me"

You would probably laugh, but here is my problem : I can't find anywhere the " Fill and Contour" button.
Now could you guys help me pls? Screenshots would be really great :d

Thanks in advance guys !!!

Welcome aboard the Inkscape Forums, Dumitru.

So, right off the bat, let's introduce you to the "Fill and Stroke" icon you'll find along the top Inkscape toolbar:

Ain't she a beauty.

And rather than watching a series of videos in Japanese, perhaps a series done in English would be more to your liking?

Click here to view HeathenX's free online tutorials.

HeathenX's tutorials focus on creating an object. It could be a pen, a sticky note, a licence plate. Don't let that stop you from watching the videos. The point is: as they walk you through how to do certain things, they also point out how to use Inkscape tools in practical ways. Highly recommended.

Thank you !!!

But ,excuse me,isn't that the "fill and stroke" button?
I did try that button because it says so on step no.6 " 6. From the top menu choose dialog window 'fill and contour' (the one which is next to the 'Text and font settings (big black letter T))"

I also did step no 7 exactly ,but when i pressed the "pattern" button....first it got the letters all messed up, did not separate the text ( step no.8) and the letters remaind black and did not took the texture of my backround ( wich was my target actually).

So that's why i asked where is the "fill and contour " button because i figured there was another one and i could not find it.

I will watch the tutorials .

There's something I don't understand here...

The steps mention the Fill & Stroke dialog, but in the video the guy is using path intersection...

There are two ways of doing this type of effects (that I know of):

1) Import the image.
2) Select it and go to Object > Pattern > Object to pattern.
3) Select the text and go to the F&S dialog and select Pattern fill, and the image would be listed there as a pattern.
4) You can delete the picture.

Or (what's seen on the video)...

1) Import the image.
2) Select it and go Path > Object to Path.
3) Do the same with the text.
3) Put your text on top of it.
4) Go Path > Intersection.

The first option is cool because you can still modify your text (write/erase letters and stuff). It's a little tricky to get the pattern as you want on the letters (use for that). The second is easier because you superimpose your text on the picture and then do the intersection, but you loose the ability to modify the text.

Hope it helps.

Thank you very much Uktrunie , i will try your methods also. After watching some of the videos BobSongs recomended i managed to solve the problem.
Thanks again to both of you.

Hello All,
I tried this too.
I think the stroke contour issue may be a translation problem, it does look like they are referring to the fill and stroke dialog.

I couldn't get Uktrunie's 2nd method to work with a bitmap.
Similar steps with Object>Clip>Set did give a similar result to the leaf example.

I'll keep exploring ...
Pat Jr.

in some languages stroke becomes contour, or it's close enough to it. it's the same tool.
btw on mac the toolbar is on right side, running down.
there are good basic tutorials built into inkscape in help menu.