I've been trying to draw a simple circle, just a circular line with no fill, for about a year on and off now. Same with a rectangle. I can create a box or circle with any degree of opacity, but I cannot figure out how to make a simple line bounded circle or box. I try Fill and Stroke and get no where. As far as I can tell from the Forum and the Manual, i must be the first person to attempt this complicated procedure. As you can tell, I'm quite frustrated

I am missing something very fundamental to Inkscape; perhaps a few billion brain cells. How in the heck to I create a SIMPLE CIRCLE???? Thanks!

Each object has a Fill and a Stroke, fill and stroke can have their own separate colors and opacity. You can also remove Fill or stroke from an object. You probably want to remove the Fill and give Stroke some color.

You can do this from the bottom left corner of the Inkscape window, there are boxes for fill color, stroke color and stroke width. While you have the object selected right-click on the fill box and choose Remove fill. To set a color on stroke hold Shift and click on a color chip from the palette at the bottom while the object is selected of course.

The other way is through Fill and Stroke dialogue, choose the Fill tab and there is a button there to remove the Fill.

Thanks for your quick response!

I've tried all of the things you mention numerous times, both from the "lower left" and by bringing up Fill And Stroke dialog box. I can get fill gradiant to change all day long, but cannot get any kind of border line. I can also grab handles and change to a partial circle, etc. I try choosing linetypes (dashed, solid, etc) and vary all of the parameters for that line type, but I can NEVER get any kind of border. Something fundamental is missing.

Check your Stroke tab on the Fill and Stroke dialogue, there is a bar there that controls Opacity, it's labeled "A" for alpha opacity, maybe you have it to 0. If it's 0 it means it's invisible so whatever you change you can't see it!

Mind you there is global Opacity slider that controls it for the whole object, but the bar I'm talking about is another thing, it's below color control bars.

Oops, prkos and I were typing a response at the same time

The other way is through Fill and Stroke dialogue, choose the Fill tab and there is a button there to remove the Fill.

You could also check the Stroke paint tab. It sounds like you might have the stroke removed. The 2nd button from the left, next to the X will replace the stroke.

If that solves your problem, while the circle is still selected, please go to File menu > Inkscape Preferences > Tools > Shapes > Ellipse > click the option "This tool's own style", and then click the bar that says "Take from selection". Now every time you draw something with the ellipse, it will have the stroke (and whatever color you used for the fill, if you used a fill). Also if this solves your problem, you can do the same for the rectangle, and all the shapes.

Or maybe for some reason your stroke has been either reduced to 0.00 Width (Stroke style tab, Width should be anything but 0)) or made transparent (Stroke paint tab, at the bottom, Opacity slider should be all the way to right, 100.0). And again, if either of these solves the problem, follow the same procedure I outlined above, to set your shapes' styles, so that you have a stroke every time you use the shape.

Let us know what happens. If still no luck, maybe you could upload an attachment to your next message, an SVG file, so that we can examine it "in person" , and hopefully find the problem.

Attached is a practice file with a circle and a rectangle; let me know if it doesn't show up as an attachment.

My Fill Stroke popup has three tabs: Fill, Stroke Paint, and Stroke Style. Opacity is set to 100% on the circle, but I notice that under "Dashes" (where I assume you choose line type), the size is always 0.00. I try to change it, but see no "save" button, and it reverts back to 0.00. Could this be the problem, and how to solve?

Thanks

Looks like I've got it!

I played around with the first square on the "Fill" tab, and moved the "A" slider to the left, while keeping opacity to the right.

Fingers crossed

Thanks for your help!!

I hope I haven't confused anyone, but I just posted a response, then deleted it, because I found an easier way.

In your image, you have an ellipse. I don't see a rectangle anywhere. You've drawn the ellipse with the "Switch to arc" button engaged (in the tool control bar). So what you've drawn is a really, really, tiny arc. All you need to do to get back to a full ellipse, is select your original ellipse, and click the "Make the shape a whole ellipse, not an arc or segment" button.

Now you should see an ellipse with a black solid fill and a black gradient stroke. I think you already know how to remove the fill and make the stroke solid, right? So finally, I think that should do it?

Yeah, that was a tricky problem!

In your svg file there is only one object, the arc segment that brynn mentioned. I don't know if what is in this file represents what you've tried to do with the fill and stroke settings, but you had the object opacity set at 86% and the stroke set to a gradient from full black to transparent. Not sure if that's what you wanted.