I'm just wondering, how do you color lineart in Inkscape?

What is your current knowledge or experiance with Inkscape?

I hope I'm not getting involved where I shouldn't be. I'm somewhat of a new member here, myself, and it's just that there are so VERY few questions posted here that I can actually answer -- So I can't resist posting a reply!

There are quite a few potential different circumstances, in which one would want to use slightly different steps in coloring a specific object. And I'm sure that's what prompted microUgly to answer your question with a question. So he could offer a response tailored to your particular circumstances. But the most basic response is:
1 - Select the area to which you want to add color.
2 - In the Object menu, click Fill and Stroke.
3 - The Fill and Stroke dialog box will open, where you can choose your color, and then just click the color. And there are all sorts of other options, such as gradients and transparency, which I'm sure microUgly can cover as necessary.

Ta-Da!
LOL, no offense microUgly! I'm just so glad to be able to answer a question instead of asking so many! Seriously though, I hope it's ok for me to join this topic, however briefly. If I've been inappropriate in posting, please don't hesitate to delete this.

brynn wrote:LOL, no offense microUgly! I'm just so glad to be able to answer a question instead of asking so many! Seriously though, I hope it's ok for me to join this topic, however briefly. If I've been inappropriate in posting, please don't hesitate to delete this.

No, that's fine. Please don't feel like your ever intruding on a topic. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate on all topics regardless.

That works for objects, but doesn't seem to work for lines. How does one color a line?

mcarling wrote:That works for objects, but doesn't seem to work for lines. How does one color a line?

You can't colour "a" line (that doesn't make sense). But if you have multiple lines that create a closed area then you can use (available in 0.46) to fill the area with colour. Note that fills the area by creating a new object in the shape of the bounding lines. If you're not using 0.46 yet then you can manually draw the shape.

Lines are strokes, change the color of the stroke (Fill and Stroke dialog) and you'll change the color of the line

Thanks prkos. That was how I expected it to work. The problem is that it doesn't work when I try it. Have you tried it?

I'm using 0.45.1 on MacOS 10.5.2.

mcarling wrote:Thanks prkos. That was how I expected it to work. The problem is that it doesn't work when I try it. Have you tried it?

I'm using 0.45.1 on MacOS 10.5.2.

Sorry, I had the wrong idea about what you were asking. It should work as prkos describes. So when you drag the colour sliders on the stroke palette the stroke doesn't change colour? Is the object selected when you try to make the changes? Another way to change colours is to hold down shift and click on one of the colours on the colour swatch.

microUgly wrote:Sorry, I had the wrong idea about what you were asking.

Sorry I didn't ask more clearly.

microUgly wrote:It should work as prkos describes. So when you drag the colour sliders on the stroke palette the stroke doesn't change colour?

I hadn't tried that, I was trying to click. It seems that dragging the sliders works, but only after a color other than black has been set by using shift+click.

microUgly wrote:Is the object selected when you try to make the changes?

Yes, always.

microUgly wrote:Another way to change colours is to hold down shift and click on one of the colours on the colour swatch.

That solves my problem! Thanks! I hadn't thought to hold down shift when clicking.

mcarling wrote:It seems that dragging the sliders works, but only after a color other than black has been set by using shift+click.

It should work. But if black was selected and you were dragged the Hue slider (H) you won't see any change because black is the only possible hue variation of black Changing the Saturation (S) and Luminence (L) values will get around that.

mcarling wrote:I hadn't thought to hold down shift when clicking.

It's not a well advertised feature considering how useful it is, but if you keep an eye on the notification region of the Inkscape status bar (bottom section) it'll reveal a bunch of different options for the tool you have selected or the area you're about to click.

Hi. I think Inkscape is not that intuitive or even an easy software to work with. The reason for me saying this is that I'm trying to colour a drawing I made with it and there's no way of doing so. The bezier curves tool of Inkscape is fantastic though, but I have finally turned to Gimp for the colouring as it's a mystery how to do so with Inkscape. Why using the paintbucket of Inkscape gives as a result a pothook of randomly intersected lines with no connection at all with the original drawing? I've read the basic tutorials included in the program and searched Internet in vain for some clue as to how to colour a complex image, like a human figure, the way microugly does with his sexy girls, but so far nothing has actually helped. I'd appreciate some clues that would helpe me to unveil the mystery of how to master complex colouring, guys. Thanks!

Oh gosh, sergi, I don't know how your message slipped through without getting a reply!

You said you've tried to use the Paint Bucket tool to color your line drawing, and the result is your screenshot? (just to be clear )
I can't say for sure what all is happening in the image, without having the SVG file to examine. But the first rule for using the Paint Bucket tool, is that you have to have a closed area. The 2nd rule -- a closed area with solid color. I don't know where you clicked with the bucket tool, but from what I can see in your image, there aren't very many (if any) closed areas. Since it looks like you're working on a plain canvas, you don't have to worry about "solid color" (at the moment). But definitely you don't have many or any clearly closed areas.

For images like microUgly's awesome coloring jobs, you need to create not necessarily closed areas, but also closed paths. It usually requires doing a lot of node editing (although not always -- in micro's images, I assume definitely a lot of node editing) to achieve closed paths. That's because as the artist has created the original line drawing, they probably did not stop and think 'hey, I'd better close this path', unless they intend it to be colored later. If you're the one doing the line drawing, then you will want to learn to pay attention to when you're leaving a shape or area or path open or closed. But if that doesn't fit with your workflow, you can still do it later with node editing.

I guess everyone has their own style, but for me, I prefer to do the node editing, and use the Fill and Stroke dialog to add color. But still there are times when the best choice is the bucket tool. And I can't really say there is any particular way of deciding which is best. Sometimes the drawing dictates it, and sometimes it's just a matter of personal choice.

But your most immediate need from the screenshot you posted is: closed area for the bucket tool, and closed path for the Fill and Stroke dialog. And please feel free to start your own new topics, whenever you run into particular situations where you can't get it work right. You've obviously seen what Inkscape is capable of producing, and this forum is here to help. All the more that's needed is your time and energy to learn!