Hi,

For a pen-plotter project, I'm filling shapes with line patterns.

These patterns consists of a series of strokes, which are generated in Inkscape.

When I fill a shape with this pattern, I'd like to actually select the paths of which the pattern consist.

But I can't figure out how!

Any advise is much appreciated!

Welcome to InkscapeForum!

If it's a pattern that you drew from scratch (in Inkscape) you can use Object menu > Pattern > Pattern to Object to retrieve and duplicate an original path. If you used one of the patterns included with Inkscape, or you converted a raster image to a pattern, no, you won't be able to get an original path.

Thanks Brynn!

You're welcome

brynn wrote:you won't be able to get an original path.

I seem to be able to actually get the original paths using object menu>pattern>pattern to objects, and i remember always being able to do so, even with the stock Inkscape patterns. I didn't try every pattern, can you tell me which pattern in particular you were unable to extract objects from, Brynn?

OH, well I could definitely be wrong, lol! I've never been able to convert a stock pattern to object. But I use a custom default doc using landscape orientation, which makes a lot of things subject to that transform bug (sorry for imprecise terminology, ~suv ) It could be that I just haven't found the original paths, or whatever comprises the pattern. Let me try and look around the canvas......

You are absolutely right, druban! And I apologize to Stoopid! I was about to say that it looks like I'm the stupid one, but I'll give myself credit for hypothesizing correctly First, many of the original paths (of the stock patterns) are TINY! And 2nd, I found them, sometimes, quite north of the page border. Sometimes they're not so far north. I do find them in the top, left corner of the page border, if I test on a new layer. And that's just in my fairly new fresh doc today. When I tried it the other day, it was in a large, complex file, so who knows where they were showing up.

It really would be helpful if the original paths would show up right where the pattern is. I mean, forgetting about that transform bug, and forgetting about the stock patterns, I fairly consistently find original paths of custom patterns at the top, left corner of the page border. Sometimes I find the original paths with the first pattern, but more often, they'll be in top, left corner. I have figured out what determines where they are.

It would also be really helpful if my memory was better The more I ponder, the more familiar this seems. I think I've learned this lesson before

Anyway, sorry for the goof, Stoopid And thanks druban for catching it