I am new to any kind of program like this. So please be kind with your comments. I created a text document with the goal of printing it and using it to trace/transfer text onto wood to make a sign.

The length and width are custom and fit the text. It is roughly 15" x 3' . My hope was to print it on standard size paper and mosaic the pieces together. However inkscape only printed the 1st portion . I tried print to file but it is not working. I do not have a paid version of adobe. Just adobe reader. Can someone please help me?

Thank you in advance

Hello
If you could provide a sample svg file or share your design, It will help to understand what you want.

Please, note that SVG format is used for web graphics, but its versatility helps to use in diferent graphic and design fields. I said these because so far, and using Inkscape, If you want a design in multiple pages, you have to do multiple svg files. Each SVG file will be a page. Each SVG will be a One Page PDF document, that I understand is the format you use for your printing work

- Or, you can make a single page document with the size you require (15 inches by 3 feet ?). Inkscape have the possibility of setting a document in inches or centimeters. It will export that page in PDF. The printer will take care of dividing that page in multiple pages. But usually printers, allways leave white margins...

- You can also export your design in a format used for CNC machines, so it can be later used for wood craft.... mmm .... but now I realize that you want to do that wood work just using manual tools.

I recommend again, to share your design, or a sample of it.

(I think there is a known bug with Inkscape printing with an offset. There's no other workaround for this than to export from Inkscape, then print from a different program, as far as I know.)

jw83 wrote:However inkscape only printed the 1st portion

It would be helpful if we could see the SVG file, as hulf also mentioned.

But 1 question I have, for a start -- Is this a multiple page file? Do you mean that it only printed the first page? Or is the text all in 1 file/page? It's just how you described piecing it together, made me wonder.

I haven't done anything like this, so I'm not sure what the best workflow should be. There is a way (extension) to make an Inkscape file into a multiple page PDF document. Then you could print each page from Adobe Reader, and then place the printed pages side by side. You'd have to edit the text in such a way that it flows across the page breaks.

At least in theory, that seems like a reasonable approach. But maybe you should wait to hear from someone who actually has done this before, or otherwise knows how.

Another question. This process of printing pages to transfer the text onto the wood gives me the idea that you will be cutting the sign with hand tools. Is that correct? Because there probably would be away for you to have it cut under computer control. Are you familiar with CNC? There are groups, I suppose usually in large cities or more populated regions. But it would be like a woodshop that a lot of people share. I only recently heard about this, and I can't remember what it's called. I'll look it up and then come back and edit this message....unless someone else posts it before I find the name....

@brynn: Fablab, or maker space are the names we use here, mostly.
See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fab_lab (I'm looking forward to soon live closer to one - which isn't too well equipped, unfortunately, yet )

Ah yes, makerspace is what I was thinking of.

Hi everyone. I have not had a chance to sit down and load the doc .. I will in front of my laptop today to do it. Thank you so much for your willingness to help.

here is the file i tried to print. when i hit print it only prints the first top left quadrant. I would like to print the whole thing in pieces and tape together to use as a transfer for tracing.

I checked off print to file. and it saves it as a "file" no programs on my computer were able to open it.

here is what actually printed when i try to print from inkscape. i would be ok with the way it printed if it printed the rest of the text in the document

It seems the document is larger than your paper. In the document properties, it says 13x32inch (roughly).

I think Inkscape must be trying to print the whole document, without resizing, but as it can only print a single page per file, this is doomed to fail (or to print just the first quarter).

What I would try would be to resize the document to my printer paper size (File -> Document properties -> A4 (or whatever you use) ), then to just manually move the area of the contents I want to print onto the page area. You can group your contents together to make moving easier (Ctrl+A, Ctrl+G).

So, for the first quarter, I'd move the text so its left upper corner sits in the left upper corner of the page area. Then print.
For the second quarter, I'd move the text so that its right upper corner sits in the right upper corner of the page area. Then print.
And so on for the whole drawing.
Doing this 4 times (once for each page) and print the page each time.

Can't promise this will work, but it would be quick and easy to understand, no further editing or other programs required.

i need it to print this in pieces and mosaic it together to be the size of the doc. my friend is able to do this in AI and i was hoping to do the same thing in inkscape

has anyone used the print to file function in inkscape? what am i doing wrong? twice i printed to file and the properties just say "file" not PDF, SVG, JPEG etc etc. MS word opens it and its gibberish. adobe reader says cannot open bc of file type, i tried all programs I have to open the print to file doc.

Check this one.

Maestral wrote:Check this one.

that would work awesome if I didnt have each different line a different text box that was spaced exactly how i want it etc etc. when it says move image using the select tool that is assuming the select tool selects the whole thing all grouped together, right? I changed the doc size to 8.5 x 11. i will attach what it looks like. each line of text is an "object"

using the ctrl a and ctrl g is working to help me move it around the pane. thank you so much, i think this will work

In my experience, unfortunately, Inkscape is weak on printing in general. I think you'll have better luck printing from another program and/or format, such as PDF. Although perhaps after some other issues are fixed, you will be able to print from Inkscape successfully.

Oooh, now that I see your file, I realize my previous suggestion probably won't be the best solution.....although it could still work.... When you said you're making a sign, I thought it would be a business name, just 1 line of text. So this is very different!

Will it be cut out of the wood just like it appears in the file? Oh yes, re-reading the topic, it will be 15 inches wide, and 3 feet tall. I see that your document is 13.56294 inches wide by 31.72890 inches high. I guess you made it a little smaller than 15 x 36 on purpose, because you want a small margin between the edge of the wood and the text?

For the sake of sanity, I would suggest setting the document to 15 x 36, and then use either Guides or a smaller rectangle, to indicate the margins. By the way, to make the rulers show inches, enable the Selection tool, and change the units to inches, on the control bar (just above the canvas).

Part of the problem, as Moini points out, could be that your text is extending outside the page border. Another potential problem I see is that the 2nd line from the bottom is not centered.

Hhmm....and the lines of text are sometimes so close they are touching, in other places almost touching, and other places some distance apart. Is that the way you want to cut the text in the wood? Or is the "mosic together" part supposed to fix that?

After you fix the text, so it's all inside the page border (and whether you change the page border per my suggestion or not), I would try printing 1 page, to find out which corner of the document will be printed. I guess it will either be top- or bottom-left corner, but I don't really know.

Then similar to Moini's suggestion, I would draw a rectangle to match the print area. Group all the text together, and then move the whole group to where the area adjacent to the first printed page fills the rectangle. Then print that page. Continue until you have all the pieces.

Although I'm still not sure if I completely understand what you want to do. Your first message sounds like it's a problem that the whole page was not printed. Yet isn't that what you want, to be able to piece it together on the wood?

Whoops, it looks like you posted while I was writing my reply. I'm glad you think it's workinig. I'll post my comments anyway, just in case there's something you can use. Good luck!

I would saver a copy as a pdf.

Adobe reader and my HP printer have no issues making a tiled poster on multiple sheets.