Hi,

I'm a new Inkscape user using it to draw maps. I have managed to get a coastline that I'm basically happy with, and I'm now thinking about dividing it into administrative subdivisions with different colours in them inside my coastal outline. Now I'm aware that Inkscape doesn't have "T-node" paths, so I can't add division lines connecting opposite points on my coastline. I could just draw the divisions as separate paths, and then use the bucket tool to fill the gaps, but I'm worried about what happens if I wish to edit the coastline later - I'm guessing I'd then have to redo all of the interior fills again manually. If I've got multiple levels of stuff inside my coastline (regions/sub-regions) this could get old quite quickly. In my head I had an idea of more of a graph-network of nodes with fills inside different sections, but this obviously isn't how inkscape works. Is there a good way to do this that will give me editing flexibility later? Can I somehow link paths together so that if I edit one it alters another? Or perhaps I should be using my coastline to clip regions that spill a little way outside it somehow? More generally, how do you make two filled shapes with a shared border which can be edited at will?

Many thanks,

Lucian

You can clip groups using your coastline.

This is the Isla Inkscapia:


Rough, but perhaps you get the idea.
The outline can be double clicked to edit the coastline, the group can be entered to edit the subdivided areas.

Download the svg to open in Inkscape and examine.

And the other approach is to build the kind of workflow where you have everything set, at a certain point, and don't expect to make future changes. I fully realize this isn't always possible. So if I have a complex object, with several "stacked" objects, all sharing the same path(s), I always make sure to save the original path in a hidden layer. (Actually I keep a clean copy of all the main outlines of the objects in my drawing.) So if things get messed up (and it's several days later, and I can't undo anymore) I always have a semi-recent....sort of "restoration" path to use.

And another technique. Let's say you have 5 identical objects (duplicates) of a single path, all stacked up. (a base, 2 shading objects and 2 highlight objects, which will eventually get clipped with another duplicate) And despite your careful planning, you realize you need to change the path.

1 - Select them all (by whatever means you like)
2 - Switch to the Node tool, if not already using
3 - Drag a selection box around the node or nodes that you need to move. This selects the whole stack of 5 nodes (for each 1 node that you drag a selection box around).
4 - Now when you move what looks like one node (which is really just the top node) it's moving all of them together, precisely by the same distance and angle.
5 - This is a wonderful technique, except if you also need to tweak node handles. I've only found 1 way to move the node handles, all precisely the same way, and that is to use a pixel grid, with snapping, so that you snap the node handles to the same grid intersection. And I also realize, that you don't always want the node handle at a grid intersection. But currently, node handles do not snap to each other. They used to, in an earlier version. And I hope that functionality is replaced soon. If you just have a few handles to move (with this technique) you could set up some guides, and achieve custom placement. Somewhere I saw something about being able to move node handles by arrow keys....I think is a new feature request, so might not happen very soon.

Just some thoughts

Hi Guys,

Thanks very much for both your responses - I've learnt a lot about inkscape just from working through what you've posted. It took me a while to work out the way that tylerdurden had cloned the clipping path so that the coastline was still displayed - but that makes a whole lot more sense now - thanks so much for taking the time to post that - it was super helpful!

I guess like a lot of new inkscape users I'm still finding the restrictions on the nature of paths a bit counter-intuitive; I would naturally expect to be able to create an arbitrarily complex graph of nodes and then fill closed regions of it with colours of my choice; the fills would then naturally adjust as I edited the positions of the nodes without having to mess about with clipping/stacks of duplicated objects. For example, the Isla Inkscapia works pretty well if you change the coastline - obviously not so much if you change the boundaries between the regions. But I guess it's not so bad having to drag-select a stack of nodes and then move them. One question for brynn - what do you do if you need to add a node at a specific point? I can use the "Insert new nodes into selected segments" button, but that only gives me very limited positioning options.

Cheers,

Lucian