This is a read-only archive of the inkscapeforum.com site. You can search for info here or post new questions and comments at Hello All, I am using Ubuntu Mate 16.04 (Linux) and Inkscape 0.91 r13725.
I am needing to outline images so that I can use my scroll saw. I am extremely new to Inkscape. I can get the outline done by using the Pen and Node tool. When I use the Opacity tool (usually my images are black silhouettes), Inkscape seems to go out of control, and I can't get back to what I have done so far. Sometimes I get lucky and get back to where I want to be. Mostly, I end up starting over. That sux.
I tried the Inkscape manual, but found it a little (well...a lot) overwhelming, because I can't find exactly what I want in it. The terminology is new.
Also, sometimes the screwdriver and crossed wrench menu show up on screen. I get rid of the menu, but a gray box is there and I can't remove it.
And is there a way to scale my outline to a full sheet of paper (8.5"x11") and print it at that size. It always comes out very small when I print. Photo attached. The outline is in the lower left corner, and I placed the original image (colored lizard) back in the 8.5"x11" size I would like to print it out as (just the outline).
Thanks for the help...
"Getting old ain't for sissies!"
Help with outlining Please...
Help with outlining Please...
- Attachments
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- lizinkscaperesizecan't.png (103.72 KiB) Viewed 2265 times
Re: Help with outlining Please...
What is the opacity tool? What do you mean by 'seems to get out of control'? (do you maybe double-click on an arrow for a numeric input field? That makes the numbers rise quickly. Remedy: quickly select a different tool. That will make it stop.)
I suspect you will find a couple of lizards in the file, but they are transparent. Look out for them in outline mode (View -> Display mode -> Outline).
You might also want to update your Inkscape version, for less bugs. The current version is 0.92.2, and it's available in Inkscape's ppa:
https://inkscape.org/en/release/0.92.2/gnulinux/
Can you show what is happening with the settings menu? Perhaps make a screenshot?
As for the printing: can you share the SVG file?
Is the page as large as your printer paper? - If not, go to File -> Document properties and change that.
Is the lizard covering the whole page? - if not: switch to selector tool, select lizard, hold down the Ctrl key, and drag on the resizing handles, until it's as large as the page. Make sure it's not going outside the page borders.
You can find some tutorials inside Inkscape, in the Help menu.
And here's an easy manual for beginners (not published yet, but available):
http://write.flossmanuals.net/start-wit ... -inkscape/
I suspect you will find a couple of lizards in the file, but they are transparent. Look out for them in outline mode (View -> Display mode -> Outline).
You might also want to update your Inkscape version, for less bugs. The current version is 0.92.2, and it's available in Inkscape's ppa:
https://inkscape.org/en/release/0.92.2/gnulinux/
Can you show what is happening with the settings menu? Perhaps make a screenshot?
As for the printing: can you share the SVG file?
Is the page as large as your printer paper? - If not, go to File -> Document properties and change that.
Is the lizard covering the whole page? - if not: switch to selector tool, select lizard, hold down the Ctrl key, and drag on the resizing handles, until it's as large as the page. Make sure it's not going outside the page borders.
You can find some tutorials inside Inkscape, in the Help menu.
And here's an easy manual for beginners (not published yet, but available):
http://write.flossmanuals.net/start-wit ... -inkscape/
Something doesn't work? - Keeping an eye on the status bar can save you a lot of time!
Inkscape FAQ - Learning Resources - Website with tutorials (German and English)
Inkscape FAQ - Learning Resources - Website with tutorials (German and English)
Re: Help with outlining Please...
Herllo Moini,
Just updated Inkscape to 92.2. Thanks.
Opacity is in "fill and stroke" on the right hand side. I lighten the black to gray so the outline is easy to see. Sometimes when I am using the "edit paths by nodes" tool?, the nodes start to get the handles on them. Then I can't get rid of them, so I start over, because it's really screwed up now.
Is this what you mean by settings, and sending you a screenshot? ---> Also, sometimes the screwdriver and crossed wrench menu show up on screen. I get rid of the menu, but a gray box is there and I can't remove it.<---- I do not see the wrench and crossed screwdriver any more in V 92.2.
I'm going to look at the link for Inkscape you sent.
Many people don't have a problem with Inkscape, Gimp, and apps like these. You folks have a memory that is very retentive... I don't. I have a few issues, age being one of them.
Thanks for your time.
I'll be back!
Just updated Inkscape to 92.2. Thanks.
Opacity is in "fill and stroke" on the right hand side. I lighten the black to gray so the outline is easy to see. Sometimes when I am using the "edit paths by nodes" tool?, the nodes start to get the handles on them. Then I can't get rid of them, so I start over, because it's really screwed up now.
Is this what you mean by settings, and sending you a screenshot? ---> Also, sometimes the screwdriver and crossed wrench menu show up on screen. I get rid of the menu, but a gray box is there and I can't remove it.<---- I do not see the wrench and crossed screwdriver any more in V 92.2.
I'm going to look at the link for Inkscape you sent.
Many people don't have a problem with Inkscape, Gimp, and apps like these. You folks have a memory that is very retentive... I don't. I have a few issues, age being one of them.
Thanks for your time.
I'll be back!
Re: Help with outlining Please...
Moini, Attached is a gray box that I can't remove. When I used. When I I move to another workspace the gray box is on my desktop till I close Inkscape. This appears when Preferences is clicked on. When I close (using X) Preferences the gray box is there.
Thanks
Thanks
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- gray box on different workspace.png (38.55 KiB) Viewed 2217 times
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- gray box.png (31.18 KiB) Viewed 2217 times
Re: Help with outlining Please...
Regarding the grey box left behind after closing the Preferences window - I also see this (also on Ubuntu Mate 16.04). I have a workaround, but it might not suit you, depending on how you choose to set up your window manager preferences:
1) Open the Mate Window preferences (System > Preferences > Look and Feel > Window, on my setup with a top menu bar that shows the Applications|Places|System menus)
2) On the Behaviour tab, set the Titlebar Action to "Roll up"
3) Back in Inkscape, if you open the Preferences window then before you close it double-click the title bar to roll it up, you can close it without being left with the grey box. If you forget, just re-open the window and do it again.
1) Open the Mate Window preferences (System > Preferences > Look and Feel > Window, on my setup with a top menu bar that shows the Applications|Places|System menus)
2) On the Behaviour tab, set the Titlebar Action to "Roll up"
3) Back in Inkscape, if you open the Preferences window then before you close it double-click the title bar to roll it up, you can close it without being left with the grey box. If you forget, just re-open the window and do it again.
Re: Help with outlining Please...
Great, Xav! (On Xfce, I don't have this issue)
sillyboy: I'm curious why you need to get rid of the handles. Can you explain what they 'screw up'? There's also a simple undo functionality, would that be useful?
sillyboy: I'm curious why you need to get rid of the handles. Can you explain what they 'screw up'? There's also a simple undo functionality, would that be useful?
Something doesn't work? - Keeping an eye on the status bar can save you a lot of time!
Inkscape FAQ - Learning Resources - Website with tutorials (German and English)
Inkscape FAQ - Learning Resources - Website with tutorials (German and English)
Re: Help with outlining Please...
Thanks Xav and Moini, Here goes...
Inkscape Forums 11-12-17
This is how I have been been trying to outline a silhouette.
1) Open or import an image
2) Click the image to put the box around it, then click the pointer
3) Go to the Fill and Stroke menu and drop the opacity to about 50%. Click the pointer
4) Click the Bezier tool, and proceed to put nodes around the image. Click, let off, click, etc all around the
edges. Click the pointer
5) Click on the “Edit paths by nodes” tool. 2nd one down below pointer.
6) I then push or pull the outline to the curve of the image all around the edges between nodes. I click on the pointer
7) I then click on the gray silhouette image and drag it away from the outline I just made.
8) From here I am lost on how to enlarge the outline to fit on one sheet of paper (8.5”x11”)
In #4 above sometimes I get the “handles” coming out of the nodes, which I don’t want. Don’t need them
I saw this method of tracing from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMWrz3xJ88g Seems much easier that using the “handles” way that I also saw on You Tube.
I need to know how to undo things simply (like handles). Printing the size I want.
For right now I just need to outline images, and learn to do it efficiently. I know that I am slow on stuff (sorry) like this, where there are a lot of steps. I find it hard to remember.
Moini asked about Opacity a few messages back. I have attached a screen shot.
Thank You both for your time in this matter...
Inkscape Forums 11-12-17
This is how I have been been trying to outline a silhouette.
1) Open or import an image
2) Click the image to put the box around it, then click the pointer
3) Go to the Fill and Stroke menu and drop the opacity to about 50%. Click the pointer
4) Click the Bezier tool, and proceed to put nodes around the image. Click, let off, click, etc all around the
edges. Click the pointer
5) Click on the “Edit paths by nodes” tool. 2nd one down below pointer.
6) I then push or pull the outline to the curve of the image all around the edges between nodes. I click on the pointer
7) I then click on the gray silhouette image and drag it away from the outline I just made.
8) From here I am lost on how to enlarge the outline to fit on one sheet of paper (8.5”x11”)
In #4 above sometimes I get the “handles” coming out of the nodes, which I don’t want. Don’t need them
I saw this method of tracing from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMWrz3xJ88g Seems much easier that using the “handles” way that I also saw on You Tube.
I need to know how to undo things simply (like handles). Printing the size I want.
For right now I just need to outline images, and learn to do it efficiently. I know that I am slow on stuff (sorry) like this, where there are a lot of steps. I find it hard to remember.
Moini asked about Opacity a few messages back. I have attached a screen shot.
Thank You both for your time in this matter...
- Attachments
-
- opacity64%.png (60.14 KiB) Viewed 2177 times
Re: Help with outlining Please...
Moini wrote:Great, Xav! (On Xfce, I don't have this issue)
After a bit more experimenting it seems to be a bug in the software compositor in the Window Manager (Marco). Another workaround is (once again in the Mate Window Prefs) to uncheck the "Enable software compositing window manager" in the General tab. It'll turn off drop shadow on windows, but can be done live, without having to restart anything. Toggling this checkbox off and on will clear any existing rectangle and (after a quick redraw of the winows) leave you back with drop shadows, so may be a useful workaround to apply after the fact.
Re: Help with outlining Please...
Hah! Love your motto (getting old aint for sissies). Now you're talking another old brain 
The handles show up because when you use the Node tool to push or pull a path, it makes it curve. Besides pushing or pulling on the path, you can use the handles to adjust the curves. I think there's a way to turn them off, if you don't want to use them. Let's see if I can find it (as I often say lately - oh, my old brain!)
Ok yes, on the control bar, when the Node tool is enabled, find the button which looks like this, and click it off.
Using the Selection tool (I think what you are calling the pointer), click on the outline to select it. Now do you notice the arrows in the corners, which show up after you select the path? You can put your mouse on those and drag, to make the whole thing larger or smaller. Hold the Ctrl key, to keep the proportions correct.
There is another way to scale paths too, if you need to make a precise size. Let us know, someone will explain. (see message below)
Edit
But note that the handles are not part of the drawing. The only show up when certain tools are enabled, and would not be printed (well, not unless you made a screenshot with the handles showing (see next message).
Edit #2
In your first screenshot (the lizard, or whatever it is) it looks like you managed to scale the imported raster image, rather than your path. So it's just a matter of selecting the right object. If you put a fill color inside your path (select it, and click on a color from the palette) it makes it easier to select.
The handles show up because when you use the Node tool to push or pull a path, it makes it curve. Besides pushing or pulling on the path, you can use the handles to adjust the curves. I think there's a way to turn them off, if you don't want to use them. Let's see if I can find it (as I often say lately - oh, my old brain!)
Ok yes, on the control bar, when the Node tool is enabled, find the button which looks like this, and click it off.
Using the Selection tool (I think what you are calling the pointer), click on the outline to select it. Now do you notice the arrows in the corners, which show up after you select the path? You can put your mouse on those and drag, to make the whole thing larger or smaller. Hold the Ctrl key, to keep the proportions correct.
There is another way to scale paths too, if you need to make a precise size. Let us know, someone will explain. (see message below)
Edit
But note that the handles are not part of the drawing. The only show up when certain tools are enabled, and would not be printed (well, not unless you made a screenshot with the handles showing (see next message).
Edit #2
In your first screenshot (the lizard, or whatever it is) it looks like you managed to scale the imported raster image, rather than your path. So it's just a matter of selecting the right object. If you put a fill color inside your path (select it, and click on a color from the palette) it makes it easier to select.
Basics - Help menu > Tutorials
Manual - Inkscape: Guide to a Vector Drawing Program
Inkscape Community - Inkscape FAQ - Gallery
Inkscape for Cutting Design
Manual - Inkscape: Guide to a Vector Drawing Program
Inkscape Community - Inkscape FAQ - Gallery
Inkscape for Cutting Design
Re: Help with outlining Please...
For the gray box issue, just to share - I haven't seen that. But often if I maximize another window, on top of Inkscape, before a tool tip in the Inkscape window normally goes away, I see the tool tip on top of whatever window I put into focus. It doesn't go away until I bring Inkscape back to the top, let the tool tip die, then be careful not to hit another tool tip on the way to maximizing the other window again. Typically, my mouse triggers a tool tip from the palette or status bar, just before I maximize a different window. So I see it along the bottom of the window. But once in a while I see an Inkscape tool tip in the middle of a window.
Basics - Help menu > Tutorials
Manual - Inkscape: Guide to a Vector Drawing Program
Inkscape Community - Inkscape FAQ - Gallery
Inkscape for Cutting Design
Manual - Inkscape: Guide to a Vector Drawing Program
Inkscape Community - Inkscape FAQ - Gallery
Inkscape for Cutting Design
Re: Help with outlining Please...
For scaling to a specific size, Object menu > Transform > Scale. There you can choose your units, if you need to, and set the specific size. Be sure to check the box for keeping proportions.
Basics - Help menu > Tutorials
Manual - Inkscape: Guide to a Vector Drawing Program
Inkscape Community - Inkscape FAQ - Gallery
Inkscape for Cutting Design
Manual - Inkscape: Guide to a Vector Drawing Program
Inkscape Community - Inkscape FAQ - Gallery
Inkscape for Cutting Design
Re: Help with outlining Please...
So, as stated by the others before, handles indicate that the line between two points is a curve.
Now, you need to decide:
A: - do you not want curves, but only straight lines in your drawing?
-> If so, to get rid of curves, click on your existing path with the node tool (the one below the 'pointer', or selector tool),
then use the key combo Ctrl+A to select all nodes
then click on this icon to make all lines straight:
-> When you draw, draw in 'straight line mode' with the Pen/Bézier tool. The curved lines are created in 'standard mode', when you accidentally click and drag, instead of only clicking. In straight line mode, you can click, or click and drag, and you will only ever create straight lines:
B: - do you just not want to see the handles on your screen, but keep the curves?
-> If so, click on this icon, as Brynn suggested:
For Undo, hit Ctrl+Z, or use the undo button in the tool bar with the save and print icons, or go to Edit -> Undo.
Now, you need to decide:
A: - do you not want curves, but only straight lines in your drawing?
-> If so, to get rid of curves, click on your existing path with the node tool (the one below the 'pointer', or selector tool),
then use the key combo Ctrl+A to select all nodes
then click on this icon to make all lines straight:
- Bildschirmfoto_2017-11-12_17-39-48.png (616 Bytes) Viewed 2061 times
-> When you draw, draw in 'straight line mode' with the Pen/Bézier tool. The curved lines are created in 'standard mode', when you accidentally click and drag, instead of only clicking. In straight line mode, you can click, or click and drag, and you will only ever create straight lines:
- Bildschirmfoto_2017-11-12_17-43-48.png (1.07 KiB) Viewed 2061 times
B: - do you just not want to see the handles on your screen, but keep the curves?
-> If so, click on this icon, as Brynn suggested:
- Bildschirmfoto_2017-11-12_17-41-09.png (723 Bytes) Viewed 2061 times
For Undo, hit Ctrl+Z, or use the undo button in the tool bar with the save and print icons, or go to Edit -> Undo.
Something doesn't work? - Keeping an eye on the status bar can save you a lot of time!
Inkscape FAQ - Learning Resources - Website with tutorials (German and English)
Inkscape FAQ - Learning Resources - Website with tutorials (German and English)
Re: Help with outlining Please...
Hello All...I'm back and just as dumb as ever!
I would like to thank all those who helped me with Inkscape. Since I received so many replies, I didn't know where to start. I decided to start really looking for my answers, instead of bothering all of you.
I didn't know who's to answer. I did a lot of testing and reading and video watching, etc. I think I got it, finally. I also wrote a little guide for me, Outlining using Inkscape. I was going to attach the .odt, but it was not to be. I made a test image, it was a square black box I made in Pinta, and used that over and over.
Thanks for all the support...
A great group of folks.
sb
I would like to thank all those who helped me with Inkscape. Since I received so many replies, I didn't know where to start. I decided to start really looking for my answers, instead of bothering all of you.
I didn't know who's to answer. I did a lot of testing and reading and video watching, etc. I think I got it, finally. I also wrote a little guide for me, Outlining using Inkscape. I was going to attach the .odt, but it was not to be. I made a test image, it was a square black box I made in Pinta, and used that over and over.
Thanks for all the support...
A great group of folks.
sb