I've made a detailed line drawing of which I want to cut away only a part of it from the whole, then paste what I cut separately in another space, then mirror that and then join those two exact but opposite parts together. How do I select only what I want and cut it away so I can do the rest I want to do?

Thank you,
Bret

You can either duplicate the object and delete the nodes you do not need in both objects with the node tool, or you can try if Path -> Division with a path that would cut the object in two and that is put *above* the drawing works in this case.
See also: http://vektorrascheln.de/photos/inkscap ... imated.gif (second icon that is explained).

Thanks, but it doesn't seem to be working. I selected the whole drawing then Path > Division and nothing happens. Alternatively, dragging the box over just what I want to cut away has no reaction, it will only box around the whole drawing. I have ellipses in the drawing made into half ellipses/archs and they only have two nodes and deleting one throws the whole drawing off. The GIF your provided may show it working for just the geometric shapes Inkscape makes but maybe not a custom drawing - unless I'm doing something wrong.

Yes, there's probably something wrong Division only works on paths. From your description, I assumed that your drawing consists of a single path with subpaths - but it seems that this is not the case.

So: what does it consist of? Multiple objects? A bitmap image? A group?

The status line at the bottom will also always tell you about why something doesn't work. What does it say when you try this?

The problem is tat when you say drawing it's hard to tell how many objects you're talking about and what kind. Modifying operations in Inkscape are generally done on paths, and operations that change the look of something are the ones that work with drawings of many paths. As such you might want to CLIP your drawing, and then CLONE and FLIP it. You will not be able to join the two halves of anything although you can line things up very carefully to get the same effect.

Odd - I replied last night but it did not post apparently.

It's a line drawing of a football helmet with a large facemask with mounting hardware, so there are many lines, curves and contours. No imported images except for portions of ellipses. I've gotten about half of it to look right (right side) but to attempt the left side by continuing to draw it won't result in a symmetrical shape. Doing the mirror thing will solve this. There are some lines and features which extend past half way with lots of nodes, so I want to simply cut away what I want, trimming off the rest, paste it, flip it, then join it together into one symmetrical drawing.

What I did was to meticulously delete excess nodes, then copy flip and merge, so it's ok now. It's a shame the cut away function doesn't seem to exist yet. Maybe the next version? It would be a huge time saver for sure.

About "Duplicate" and "Clone" which you've suggested, I think I'm getting the same results with just "Copy" as when I paste that all the node information is preserved. Duplicate's downside is you have to remember it's there and immediately move it over or else, as I found out, future specific deletes have to be done twice. I don't know what clone is about though. Maybe they function differently than cut/paste?

@BretMan: there do exist several different ways to cut off things in Inkscape: Clipping, several Boolean operations (Difference, Division, Cut Path, Break apart), the eraser, using the node tool, even drawing something above that just covers things is possible, or just hiding specific elements from view.

But to decide which one of those options is most appropriate in any circumstance, it takes some experience with vector graphics - they do not work like raster graphics at all, and each drawing is unique (Is it a single path? Or multiple? Does it consist of strokes? Of fills? Does it contain 'uncuttable' things, like clones or bitmap graphics? etc.). If asking others for their input, it's always better to just include the files, so they don't make false assumptions about the contents. It's often difficult for a beginner to know which info they have is important for the task at hand, and the terminology can make things even more confusing.

Duplicate is a tiny bit different than Copy/Paste, as it doesn't use the clipboard. It also can be configured to duplicate specific properties of an object - or not. 'Clone' creates an object that will change with the original object - you cannot really edit a clone, but if you edit the original, the clone will change accordingly.

I think Inkscape is a great program as-is and ... you can't beat the price! You're right, as I learn beyond beginner level I'll understand it's full capabilities. The main problem I was having was with the ellipses since they don't generate with a string of nodes and I couldn't even add them either - or I couldn't figure out how. Their size can be changed but not part of the lines they're made of - at least from what I understand. If I could have added nodes to them, then I could crate new endpoints and delete the rest off. My workaround was to create a bezier line, then add nodes, then soften, then drag them into an arch - slow. In the past I have covered sections with a white thicker line or shape to hide what's underneath, which you mentioned. I'm just trying to get away from those emergency workarounds since they are time consuming to adjust if necessary later.

Thanks for your help

You can convert most objects (e.g. shapes like ellipse, spiral, star, or paths with path effects, and more) to a normal path with nodes by going to Path -> Convert to Path.

Maybe you'd like to read (or just roughly brush over) this beginner tutorial:
Part I: Basic knowledge: http://vektorrascheln.de/posts/2015/Dec ... en-en.html
Part II: Basic usage: http://vektorrascheln.de/posts/2015/Dec ... is-en.html

That's very helpful. I'm not showing a "Path > Convert to Path". I have a Path > Object to path. I tried it and the ellipse I boxed over produced some nodes. Is it the same?

I have been trying to do something as a workaround but I'm not figuring it out. I want to make a 2D B&W line drawing of a rod and I may want two or more of these rods to cross over each other, intersect or form a closed frame. I've been doing this by drawing two parallel 1.5 pt. size, black lines with the bezier tool. It takes a lot of time to line them up so they are parallel. Also, if I create a frame with them, if there's something under the rod drawing layer, the space inside the frame shape covers what's under it. The rods themselves can cover but I don't want the space inside the frame to cover. My workaround was to try to create a thick bezier line of 10 pt., then have that line have a white fill and a black edge line. This way it would just be a line and the edge lines would be automatically parallel. Anything they cover would be covered by white and the black edge line and if I create a frame with them, what's inside the frame would not be covered. Just what I need. What am I doing wrong as I can only get a solid line?

BretMan wrote:That's very helpful. I'm not showing a "Path > Convert to Path". I have a Path > Object to path. I tried it and the ellipse I boxed over produced some nodes. Is it the same?

Yes, that's correct, sorry for the confusion. I'm switching language versions here as English is not my native language, so sometimes the odd term may slip in.

BretMan wrote:I have been trying to do something as a workaround but I'm not figuring it out. I want to make a 2D B&W line drawing of a rod and I may want two or more of these rods to cross over each other, intersect or form a closed frame. I've been doing this by drawing two parallel 1.5 pt. size, black lines with the bezier tool. It takes a lot of time to line them up so they are parallel.

You could use the bezier tool in horizontal/vertical mode and only rotate the rod later, if those parallel lines are strictly straight.

BretMan wrote:Also, if I create a frame with them, if there's something under the rod drawing layer, the space inside the frame shape covers what's under it. The rods themselves can cover but I don't want the space inside the frame to cover.

I'm not sure I can follow your description 100%, but maybe this is just a matter of removing an object's fill? Select it, in Fill&Stroke dialog, first tab choose the X.

BretMan wrote:My workaround was to try to create a thick bezier line of 10 pt., then have that line have a white fill and a black edge line. This way it would just be a line and the edge lines would be automatically parallel. Anything they cover would be covered by white and the black edge line and if I create a frame with them, what's inside the frame would not be covered. Just what I need. What am I doing wrong as I can only get a solid line?

Sorry, as I said I'm not sure I'm following you. Please upload an image to demonstrate what you're trying to do.

I hope this helps to clarify what I'm describing:

Aaah! Good graphic, btw.

There are several options how this could be done, and I'm not really sure which one to suggest to you. It appears that it's important that the width of the rods can vary within a single rod, for example, after a kink, so this already excludes a few options.

So here's a small list, but I bet the others in this forum will have even better ideas:

Option 1: create parallel lines by duplicating the original line (e.g. one half of the outline in the above image), then moving it. combine them (Path -> Combine), then use the node tool to connect nodes at the tips.

Option 2: create parallel lines by drawing a simple, contoured path of the width of the rods (no fill), then go to Path -> Stroke to path to get the outline of the stroke. Fill it white (or whatever color your rods will be). Add a black stroke. Select multiple nodes at once with the node tool and move those to change the width of the path.