Please excuse me if the answers to these questions are simple, because I'm pretty new to Inkscape.

I'm working on an art project relating to NHL jerseys and in an attempt to strive for the utmost accuracy, I'm downloading the SVGs of team logos off of Wikipedia and using Inkscape to correct the logo colors to the correct Pantone values. Most of the time, selecting the color, copying it and finding it in every object works, but in some cases, when I input the hex in the Style field in Find and click the button, it doesn't select every object of that color. I know that they're all the same color, so it should work. Is there something I'm doing wrong?

Secondly, how do I add an outline to an object? Some of the logos might require adding an outline since I want them to stand out against the jerseys, which brings me to my third question: how do I color in the transparent background once the first two issues are taken care of?

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

To add an outline to an object, shift+ click a color in the color palette near the bottom of the Inkscape window, or choose it from the stroke tab of the fill and stroke dialog.

To create a transparent color fill, once again...open the fill and stroke dialog window { control+shift+f ] , click on the fill tab.
At the bottom of the fill tab you will see an opacity slider. The slider at the very bottom of the tab controls opacity for the entire object.
The alpha slider, at the bottom of the rgba color tab, adjusts the opacity of only the fill color.
I'd upload some screen-shots so you can see what I'm talking about, but they take up a lot of space, and I'm having trouble getting thumbnails to work.

See this topic: http://en.flossmanuals.net/inkscape/styling-objects/fill-and-stroke/

Welcome to InkscapeForum!

Could you have any locked objects or locked layers? That would probably prevent them from being selected, even with Find.

I could be wrong about this, but I don't think Inkscape is capable of using Pantone colors....not without some special Color Management or an extension....or something. Maybe whatever you're doing to get the Pantone colors, is somehow altering the color enough that it's not recognized by the Find feature.

I'm not clear from your question whether you don't have a transparent background, but you want one; or vice versa. And since we don't know exactly what's in these files, it would be hard to offer suggestions either way. Like for example, it could have an imported raster image for the background, for all we know. Also, I'm not entirely sure whether you mean the background of the image, or the background of an object (which would be a fill). Would you be able to share one of these SVG files with us? You could attach to a reply or upload wherever you want, and give us the link.

Like Inkspots suggested, adding a stroke is one way to get a contrasting border. But depending on the situation, there may be other ways to do it as well. We'll be able to say with much more certainty, once we can see an example of the files you're working on

1. When I say I'm using Pantone colors, I mean I'm simply taking the RGB values for the official Pantone colors and adding them to the image. ColorWerx is an excellent resource for that kind of thing when doing sports stuff.
2. I doubt there are locked objects or layers since they're all just the logos downloaded off of Wikipedia. However, if they are, how do I check to see if they are?
3. All of the images have transparent backgrounds already.

Here's an example of the kind of image I'm working with: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ottawa_Senators.svg

Does that Ottawa Senators image exhibit the problem with the Find commands? If not, would you please give us a file that exhibits the problem.

So you want to add color to the background? There are a couple of ways to do that, depending on your purposes. One is File menu > Document Properties > Page tab > Background. Click on the checkerboard bar, which will open a small color control window. Make sure the A slider is all the way to the right (255 value). Then change the color to whatever you want. If you have several images in one file, you could add a colored background individually, by drawing a rectangle behind each one, and making them the color you want.

Also, I just opened the Find dialog (which I don't use very much) and I see where it has options to find hidden or locked objects. So you wouldn't have to unlock them, just check that option. Also pay attention to the other options. Maybe you were searching the selection, and not all the items were in the selection? Or maybe you were only searching one layer? Also, be sure All Types is checked.

Beyond that, I don't know what else to suggest. But if none of that helps, we might learn more by looking at a file that shows the problem.

I had trouble with this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anahe ... s_logo.svg

Hi

The file Anaheim_Ducks_logo.svg is bad.

Running the file through an online SVG checker the checker came up with the following:
Starting to debug...
Line 7: *ERROR* Your editor has attempted to use entity references in its <svg> tag.
The easiest solution is to open the file in a text editor and replace the offending xmlns and/or xmlns:xlink parameters with a straightforward URL, e.g.
<svg version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"
followed by the existing height, width and other attributes.

By following the advice and replacing the first part of the "<svg>" tag in the file Inkscape opens the file OK.

before manual edit:
<svg version="1.1" id="Layer_1" xmlns="&ns_svg;" xmlns:xlink="&ns_xlink;" width="415.595" height="100"
viewBox="0 0 415.595 100" overflow="visible" enable-background="new 0 0 415.595 100" xml:space="preserve">
after manual edit;
<svg version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" width="415.595" height="100"
viewBox="0 0 415.595 100" overflow="visible" enable-background="new 0 0 415.595 100" xml:space="preserve">

The edited file can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/b428wush7tkyjbg/Anaheim_Ducks_logo.svg

The online SVG checker I used can be found here: https://toolserver.org/~jarry/svgcheck/stable/index.php

Hope this helps.

RGDS
Ragnar

I'm still having the same problem. I've copied the brown color, pasted it into the Style field in Find and clicked all four boxes just to be sure, and it doesn't select all of them.

Just to be sure, I've checked the colors. They're all the same.
D - #b79461
U - #b79461
C - #b79461
K - #b79461
S - #b79461

Hi.

The find tool find five objects - all the letters - as seen in the status bar in the bottom of the Inkscape main window.

My find settings;

Click image for larger version.

Good Luck.

RGDS
Ragnar

Ok, I figured it out. Ungrouping allowed me to select all of the objects at once. That's one issue solved.

However, when I press Ctrl+F, I just get the Find menu, not Find/Replace.

Hi

However, when I press Ctrl+F, I just get the Find menu, not Find/Replace.

The replace option does not get "active" until something is "found".

RGDS
Ragnar

Ok, I get that. Issue #1 is solved.

Now, as for the outline and adding the background. Here's an example of what I've done.


(Logo is copyright San Jose Sharks, of course)

I've recolored all of the orange parts of the logo, save for the eye, to silver. Now, I want to do two things with this logo.


(Uniforms and logos copyright San Jose Sharks, with thanks to The (unofficial) NHL Uniform Database)

As you can see on the teal jersey there, the logo has a white outline. I want to give the logo a white outline and fill in the transparent background with teal so I can place it on a uniform of my design.

Once again, sorry for asking what are presumably stupid questions, but I figured I'd have a better time asking actual people instead of trying to fight my way through the manual. Up until now, I've been making do with GIMP and MSPaint, but editing PNGs with GIMP just doesn't have the color correction capabilities that I need, and progressing to Inkscape is a bit of a learning curve.

Hi

To Make the outline:

Select all objects that will be part of the outline - (Hold down shift while selecting).
Duplicate the objects - CTRL + D
Union the objects. CTRL + +
Outset the object CTRL + ) until the outline is large enough.
Fill the object with the desired color. In the example I used white.
Move the object to the bottom End or Page Down

Example;

Click image for larger version

If you start from an image as I did you will have to "Trace Bitmap" first.

To fill in the background just draw a rectangle covering the whole image - give it the teal color and move it to bottom End.

Feel free to ask any questions, none of them are stupid!
Most of us are still learning the intricacies of this great tool!
( On the other hand - there are a lot of stupid answers! (Not on this forum) )

Good Luck
RGDS
Ragnar

I'm pressing Ctrl + and nothing's happening.

Hi

Ctrl + D means to press the "Control" and the "D" key - do not press the plus key!
As far as I know there are no good "universal" method for describing keyboard keypresses.
My fault - will be more specific next time.

RGDS
Ragnar

I know. I've duplicated the objects. Now I'm trying to do this:

CTRL + +

But nothing happens.

Hi

Sorry about the misunderstanding - Use the "plus" on the numerical keypad.

RGDS
Ragnar

Unfortunately I'm on a laptop so there is no numerical keypad.

Hi.

Most laptops got an "embedded" numpad - normally you would have to hold down a "function" key fn key to access it.


See this link: http://www.northlite.net/ps/numpad.htm

For the union operation in Inkscape use the dropdown menu; path - union.
Keep on trying - you will succeed in the end!

RGDS
Ragnar

Ok, I see now. Is there a way to make the outline more precise? As you can see here, the outline is quite off-kilter in several places.



Also, is there a way to control how much the outline is outset? Pressing Ctrl + ) once gives me a very small outline and pressing it a second time gives me what you see above. I'd like to do something in the middle, if possible.

Finally, how do I crop the background so there's no extraneous space? I'm looking for whatever Inkscape's equivalent of GIMP's Autocrop Image is.

Hi.

You can set the outset "step" in the line more precise by changing the Edit - Preferences - Behavior - Inset/Outset by:

To smooth the outline you can select all nodes and "Make nodes auto smooth" or manipulate the nodes manually.

To draw the background rectangle to fit the image enable "snap to page borders" or input the exact dimensions in the rectangle tool controls.

RGDS
Ragnar

Sorry, but I don't understand how to do those. There's no Preferences menu under Edit.

Hi

Preferences - Shift + CTRL + P

For basic operations in Inkscape I suggest you have a look at this online book: http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/index.html

Good Luck
RGDS
Ragnar

1. I think Ragnar is using a development version and the OP is using the stable release, and the Find dialog is quite evolved from the original into a large find and replace dialog with lots of options. Also, the preferences in stable releases should be in the file menu, and in development v's in the edit menu. who knows why? It's more standard to find them in the edit menu in other applications.

In regards to your project - the outset is a terrible function and only rarely produces something usable without editing. Please try dynamic offset instead (path menu), which allows you fine dynamic control over the amount of offset (drag the little diamond - zoom in for precision) or try giving the object a stroke of sufficient width. You can control the type of corner rounding and the stroke width from the fill and stroke dialog. Both of these methods should give you far superior and gwibble free outlines.

Pilosopong Tasyo wrote:... if you are going to use a program for an extended period, it would be prudent to familiarize yourself by going through the manual, and tutorials -- there are plenty on the web, in text and video form. There are also some under the Help menu. I know, "manual" is a cuss word for some, but it's written for a reason.

Elegantly put, PT.

I might add that the online Tavmjong Bah Manual's front page is a lesson in how to write a brilliant contents page - every page can be reached by hover-navigating. Just try it! And also look at the keys and mouse reference from the drop down help menu - you might find a shortcut for something you never even knew was possible.