ok, i am pretty new to inkscape.

i know how to do some things, but have trouble sometimes.

right now i am trying to use the offset feature. i have gotten it to work in the past, but not always.

i have a word ... i made a new layer. i want to make this layer about 1/8 inch bigger than the word.

when i try to use offset nothing happens.

what am i doing wrong?

You have to convert text to a path first, you'll get a group of letters, ungroup them and then combine everything into a single path. Now you can offset, you'll probably want Dynamic one.

can you give me a hint how to do that. i was looking for something like that (simplify text in photoshop) but simplify in inkscape is something totally different. which menu and which menu choice.

thank you.

To convert text to Path -- Object menu > Object to Path.
Next, Object menu > Ungroup (or button on command bar).
Next, Path menu > Combine.
Now should be ready for Path menu > Offset (or Dynamic Offset). Note that if you use Dynamic Offset, and you later need to edit the path, you'll have to use Object to Path again. Also, after you convert the text to path, you will not be able to edit the text as text. So be sure to save a copy of the text somewhere, and leave it as text, in case you ever need to edit it.