Hi!

I am using Inkscape 0.92. 3 running under Windows 7 Pro, 64-bit, Service Pack 1.

I have a 1” (W) by 2” (H) rectangle filled w/ light gray (i.e., RGBA=d3d3d3ff) and I am trying to simulate glass.

Do you recommend using (1) a gradient (w/ the Fill and Stroke controls) or (2) using filters? And, if using filters, which one?

Thank You!

Dr. T

Didn't you already post this question? Or was that someone else??

Possibly this was it? viewtopic.php?f=5&t=34200

Dear Brynn,

Yes, but I did not get specific suggestions.

Dr. T

I guess the filter Lazur made, which reminds me of frosted glass, must not be really what you want. Because he literally made that filter at your request/suggestion, and gave it to you (if you follow the link).

As I asked in the other topic, if you can show an example of what you'd like to do, it will help. Because glass can look a lot of different ways. And I think the other topic said "painting on glass" which is even more different.

Another reason there weren't more replies is probably because drawing glass would take at least intermediate skills with Inkscape (if not advanced). So it's not something where we can easily write out steps or instructions. If we could see an example of the kind of effect you want, that would narrow down a ton of possibilities, and make it more likely someone knows a relatively easy way to do it, and can show you or write steps.

For example, are you trying to draw a pane of glass? A photo in a glass frame? Or are you drawing a glass window, with some kind of outdoor scene behind it? (Or indoor scene if you're looking in the window?) A glass scupture? A drinking glass? A light bulb? (Oh, I know an image of a light bulb made with Inkscape! https://inkscapecommunity.com/ic_galler ... play_media That's not the SVG file, but it was made with Inkscape.)

Certainly a gradient can be used to make reflections and make something look like glass. But even narrowing down all the possibilities of "glass" to "using a gradient" the possiblities are still a huge number. So if you could find an example of something that's close to what you want, it would help us think of a way to draw it.

Using blur is also a possiblity. Although blur is really just a simple filter.

I don't think I've seen a filter (that's already installed in Inkscape) for glass. Not just "glass". Under the Bevels submenu, there's Dark Glass and Stained Glass. Under Blurs submenu, there's Apparition and Evanescent, which sound like they could be glass-like, maybe? Under Image Paint and Draw submenu, there are a couple that sound like them might be like painted glass, such as Marbled Ink. Under Non-realistice 3D shaders submenu is Frosted Glass. And etc, just go all through the filters menu - trial and error.

If you find a filter that's pretty close, you can always tweak the filter settings (using Filters Editor). We can tell you how, if you explain what you want (or show us something), and give us all the details. Oh, and also note that the filters in Inkscape often don't look like what they're supposed to be. At least they don't to me. So you might end up finding a filter that's pretty close, even though the name doesn't sound anything like glass.

So anyway, if you can give us some more details about what you want, we'll have a better chance of finding a way to do it.

Just a note that specific work wasn't mine, yet still a public domain svg shared by gustavorezende in 2014.
It's not so complicated to achieve from scratch though but why bother when a decent solution is right at hand.

Then there's the non-filter way...





(Some banding just for you, Lazur, but they might be Newton's rings and add even more authenticity!)

Dear Brynn,

Thank you for your reply.

The glass originally shown by Lazur is like stained glass. And, I am looking for plain glass.

Attached (BofA.svg) is what I've done so far using gradients.

It looks to light; it doesn’t look realistic enough.

It may help to make it darker, to change the orientation to diagonal (like Druban’s), and to add a blue tint. What do you think?

Dr. T

Lazur wrote:Just a note that specific work wasn't mine, yet still a public domain svg shared by gustavorezende in 2014.
It's not so complicated to achieve from scratch though but why bother when a decent solution is right at hand.

Oh, I apologize. I'm so used to you posting filters, I just assumed you had made it.

________________________________

Oh I see. Windows on a building, and a style sort of like an icon or cartoon, rather than realistic? This is not really my strong suit. But I guess maybe some diagonal lines or gradients. Or maybe even a super bright spot on each window, indicating the sun reflecting?

Oh gosh, I'm really not good with glass. I've really, really tried for a realistic style, and never gotten very close. But I'll add something to your drawing, and you can at least see what I tried. Others will surely be able to do better! I'll post it shortly.

Ok, here are a couple of other ideas you can play with. Here are the main points.

-- I used a radial gradient for the main rectangle.
-- I added a couple of diagonal, long skinny rectangles, although I don't think they really work very well.
-- I used some blurring on the long, skinny rectangles.
-- I made the gradients without any transparency.
-- I took the white rectangle that you had behind the rectangle with the gradient, and used it as a clipping path. That's because the blurring extends past the border, and to work as a reflection, it can't go past the border. To use a clipping path, select everything that you want to be clipped, with the clipping path on top (in z-order) then Object menu > Clip > Set

(To take the clipping apart, so that you can see how it works, select that window. Check the status bar, you'll see "Group of 3 objects, clipped....". Now do Object menu > Clip > Release)

I had grouped the 2 long, skinny rectangles with the main window. Then the white rectangle which you had behind, I made it pink (so you won't forget that it's the clipping path). Then I put it on top and clipped.

Note that if you ungroup without unclipping first, the clipping path will be deleted. So release the clip first, if you need to ungroup. Or otherwise, be prepared to create a new clipping path, if you decide to use any blurring.

So you can play around with those things. And maybe others will give you some even better ideas?

brynn wrote:Ok, here are a couple of other ideas you can play with ...

Dear Brynn,

Thank you for your reply!

I'll try.

Dr. T