First of all I want to thank all the people here for the great help they give on this board.
It's a while that I look around for info here, and this place was always useful
Unfortunately, this time, I don't even know exactly how to search for what I need so I decided to ask directly.
What I need is to make a shape or a path "grow" or "shrink" uniformly all along the contours, for a given amount.
I saw that there is a scale function, but it doesn't seem to do what I need, can someone point me in the right direction?
Thanks to all again!

Welcome to InkscapeForum!

It sounds like you're looking for Path Outset features. Here's the manual info: http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL ... hs-Offsets. The default step distance for the non-dynamic outsets is 2 px, but can be changed in Inkscape Preferences > Steps. In my experience, the Dynamic or Linked Offsets are the most useful, because going to Inkscape Preferences to set the distance every time you need to, is inconvenient (imo). If I'm not mistaken, a feature that makes is easier to change the step distance has long ago been requested. So hopefully we'll have it one of these days

Wow, really a fast reply,d if works too, almost
The first problem that I had was related to the fact that I'm mostly working in mm, and the only way to set the step is in px, but, 1 mm = 3.543 px, so, quite easy to solve.
the other problem, is that I can't get a correct extrusion if I have a shape with right angles, perhaps a couple of pics will explain better

here you can see how the shape if totally ok on the big pice, but looking at the smaller one, you can see the problem:

any advice for this?
I've corrected for now "rebuilding" the shape keeping the exrusiojn in account, so I got the right size, but I would like to able to "trust" more on the extrusion tool
Thankgs again!

Do you mean how it makes sharp corners rounded? That just how it works. I don't think there is any way to avoid it. You could tweak the nodes/handles to make them sharp again. But I do realize that kind of defeats the purpose.

The only other option would be to simply scale a duplicate. But I also realize that scaling and outset are not the same thing. With certain shapes, it just doesn't work at all to scale instead of inset/outset.

Maybe someone else will have a better idea?

I see your point, but I also noticed that if I try to use the "dynamic extrusion", the one that give you the handle to control the proces, the lines at least are more parallel, and i can after set the handles just for the corners.
What I see that this "dynamic extrusion" miss, is a way to control the precise amout of the extrusion, a part from that, it give a lot better profile

swordman wrote:The first problem that I had was related to the fact that I'm mostly working in mm, and the only way to set the step is in px, but, 1 mm = 3.543 px, so, quite easy to solve.

The next major release (0.49) will allow to choose different units for the steps settings.

swordman wrote:the other problem, is that I can't get a correct extrusion if I have a shape with right angles

Before outsetting the path, make sure that the stroke joins are set to 'miter' (menu 'Object > Fill & Stroke > Stroke style).

swordman wrote:What I see that this "dynamic extrusion" miss, is a way to control the precise amout of the extrusion, …

Inkscape doesn't have a GUI for this option, but you adjust it numerically via XML Editor (select the offset path on-canvas, open 'Edit > XML Editor…' and adjust the value of 'inkscape:radius').

Thanks for the useful information
I know that perhaps I'm using Inkscape for a work that is not the one for which it was originally designed, but at the moment I don't have a better tool, and a part from that, it is proving to be quite effective in this, so I'm totally happy of my choice
Another quick question, perhaps I missed something on this point:

Inkscape doesn't have a GUI for this option, but you adjust it numerically via XML Editor (select the offset path on-canvas, open 'Edit > XML Editor…' and adjust the value of 'inkscape:radius').

From how I understood this, the fixed step is used in the normal "Extrude" or "Intrude" command, when I use the "dynamic extrusion", I gen an handle that allows me to control the degree of the extrusion, how can a single XML parameter handle the depth of the extrusion?

~suv wrote:Before outsetting the path, make sure that the stroke joins are set to 'miter' (menu 'Object > Fill & Stroke > Stroke style).

~suv, even if I have the Join set for Miter, I still get rounded corners from Dynamic Offset. However, using just Inset or Outset (the step or multiple of the step) the corners do stay square -- but only for right or larger than right angles. For angles like from converting a star to path, the tips of the stars get rounded whether I use Dynamic or regular.

swordman, I'm not sure if you use Dynamic Offset, if you can use the XML editor to set the distance. You might have to use Inset or Outset to be able to use XML Editor.

I agree that it would be nice to be able to control that distance easily from the user interface. I'm sure it's probably been requested, although who knows how long before the developers can do it.

swordman wrote:From how I understood this, the fixed step is used in the normal "Extrude" or "Intrude" command, when I use the "dynamic extrusion", I gen an handle that allows me to control the degree of the extrusion, how can a single XML parameter handle the depth of the extrusion?

You seem to misinterpret the commands: there is no 'Path > Extrude' nor 'Path > Intrude' nor 'Path > Dynamic Extrusion' in Inkscape - the available path offset commands are strictly 2d: either by a fixed amount aka step ('Path > Outset', 'Path > Inset') or controlled by a parametric offset ('Dynamic Offset', 'Linked Offset') and thus controllable by a single parameter (stored in a custom attribute of the object):
«There are four commands grouped under this category, (…) Each allows a path to be enlarged or reduced by moving each point perpendicular to a line tangent to the path at that point. (…)»

If you want to generate a pseudo-3d extrusion (angle plus depth), read the manual sections about 'Extensions > Generate from Path > Extrude…' and 'Extensions > Generate from Path > Motion…'. Keep in mind that Inkscape is a 2d drawing application.

brynn wrote:~suv, even if I have the Join set for Miter, I still get rounded corners from Dynamic Offset.

The stroke join style is relevant for 'Path > Inset/Outset', but not for 'Path > Dynamic Offset' or 'Path > Linked Offset'.

brynn wrote:swordman, I'm not sure if you use Dynamic Offset, if you can use the XML editor to set the distance. You might have to use Inset or Outset to be able to use XML Editor.

1. The steps for 'Path > Inset' / 'Path > Outset' are defined in the preferences. The commands produce a static path as result (i.e. there are no parameters which would allow to dynamically modify the amount of outset/inset later on).
2. The amount of the offset (distance) from the original path for 'Path > Dynamic Offset' and 'Path > Linked Offset' is controlled by a single parameter and can be adjusted/edited numerically by editing the mentioned attribute (inkscape:radius) via 'Edit > XML Editor…'.

brynn wrote:I agree that it would be nice to be able to control that distance easily from the user interface. I'm sure it's probably been requested, although who knows how long before the developers can do it.

Yes, it is filed as feature request in the bug tracker. No ETA.

Sorry for this, I used the term "Extrude" mainly because I'm more used to work with blender, I wa refering to Inset and Outsed, ans you corectly say, Dynamic Offset and Linked Offset, moreover, in the Italian translation, these commands are referd as (translated to english) Extrude and Intrude