This is certainly one of the most interesting topics in any vector editor, including this one. The essence of combining or merging objects is that several objects are combined and turned into one object. Let's look at the differences between combining objects and grouping them:

• When grouped, all objects in the group retain all the original properties: fill and stroke color, stroke style;
• A group of objects can be broken down into its components at any moment;
• In a group, you can select a separate object (with Ctrl pressed) and perform various operations with this object, for example, change the fill or stroke color, move it to another place in the picture, etc.

First of all, it must be said that only a few objects can be merged. It is impossible to merge one object, since this action becomes meaningless. That is, in order to merge several objects, not only more than one of them must be drawn, but at least two must be selected.

In order to merge several objects, they must not only be selected together, but also partially overlapped.

After merging, objects lose their previous parameters and turn into a curve.

When selecting multiple objects to merge them, you must always remember the order in which they are located in the stack of objects on the layer. For all merging options, the properties of the object that is in the stack below all selected objects are important, that is, the fill and stroke color, stroke style.

Object merge operations cannot involve plain text frames or connection lines. Additionally, imported pixel images cannot participate in this merge operation.

As objects for merging, we will take a rounded rectangle and a regular octagon (Fig. 44). The stroke thickness of a rectangle is 3 pixels, while that of an octagon is 5 pixels. The rectangle is below the octagon. This means that the properties of the merged object will be imported from the rectangle.

Team Difference or the key combination Ctrl + – deletes areas of an object that are overlapped by the overlying selected object (or objects) (Fig. 46). The number of selected objects cannot be more than two.

Rice. 46. ​​Subtracting Objects

Team Intersection or the Ctrl + * key combination creates a new object that includes the intersection area of ​​two or more objects selected before merging. If more than two objects are selected, then it is necessary that all selected objects have an intersecting segment. If there is no such segment, the command is ignored. There can only be one intersecting fragment.

The command or key combination Ctrl +^ makes intersecting areas transparent. Pay attention to the combination of the inscription with the octagon - it seems that the overlapping fragments have become painted white. In fact, this is not so - they have become completely transparent. If we now create a rectangle, paint it any color other than white, and make it the background for the combination curve by placing it back, we will see that the rectangle is visible through the transparent fragments. The number of selected objects cannot be more than two. This command is most effective with text (Fig. 47). In the similar vector editor CorelDRAW, this command is called “Combination”. When working with text, you need to be careful with the stroke thickness of the bottom object, as too thick a stroke on the text can look unsightly.

Team Divide or the key combination Ctrl + / for each selected object, starting with the lowest one in the stack, exclusion is performed, that is, cutting. In addition, a new object is created that includes the area of ​​intersection of two or more objects selected before merging. This command combines the commands Difference And Intersection(Fig. 48). The number of selected objects cannot be more than two.

Team Cut outline or the key combination Ctrl + Alt + / cuts the path at the intersection of the selected objects. The number of selected objects cannot be more than two. The bottom object turns into an outline, that is, it has no inner fill and the inside of such an object is completely transparent. The contour remaining from the lower object is divided into several independent objects. By default, the received objects are selected. Each object is surrounded by dotted lines. Therefore, it is very easy to understand where the cut boundaries of the resulting contour are. Reset the selection of all resulting contours, select each object as a contour and, using the mouse to pick up the object in the section, move it to another place in the picture (Fig. 49). We specifically showed objects after cutting the contour and disconnected contours. The dash-dotted line shows each contour well.

Rice. 49. Cut outline

For most merge commands, you cannot use more than two selected objects. If you need to combine more than 2 objects, then the merge operations must be performed sequentially in pairs.

The figure (Fig. 50) shows an example of creating a frame around an image. First, 2 rectangles of different sizes were created. The difference in their sizes will be the frame around the image. Then both rectangles were selected and the command was executed Circuit→ . The smaller rectangle has become transparent. After this, the photo was imported and reduced to a reasonable size. Frame with tool Selector() was adjusted to the photo so that the borders of the photo overlapped the frame at least in the middle of the border of the frame. The photograph was dropped to the bottom of the stack of objects (). Then the tool was selected Form() and with its help all nodes on the frame are selected. The borders of a frame are straight lines, but to curve those lines you must first turn them into curved lines. This can be done by clicking the button Make selected segments curves(). After this, new points were created on the inner edge of the frame and with their help the inner edges were curved. The frame was then filled with a texture reminiscent of old paint. Frame opacity 100%. As a result, an image with an original frame was obtained (Fig. 50). The frame outline is transparent.

Selection and Transformation Tool used to select, move, and resize objects on the canvas using the mouse.

In order to activate inkscape selection and transformation tool select it in the tool window (the first tool at the top in the form of a black arrow) or press the S or F1 key.

How to select one object in inkscape

Using Selection and Transform tool Click it on the object and it will become selected. The selected inkscape object will have a black or dotted border around it. When you hover over an object, an image of a hand will appear next to the mouse cursor. In this case, holding down the left mouse button, you can change the location of the object by dragging it across the canvas. Black straight arrows along the edges of the frame allow you to change the size of the object. If you click on the object again, the black straight arrows will change to black curved arrows. In this case, you can rotate the object or change its tilt.

If an object is part of a group, then the entire group of objects will be highlighted and any actions taken will occur with the entire group. Double-clicking on a group will give you the option to select individual objects within the group. To select multiple objects, hold down the SHIFT key. This way you can add and exclude objects from the current selection.

If several objects are on top of each other, then hold down the ALT key. In this case, by clicking the mouse, those objects that are located below will be selected sequentially. If you click three times in this way, the third object from the bottom will be selected, etc.

To select multiple objects, click on an empty space of the canvas and hold down the left mouse button and draw a frame around the desired objects. All objects that fall within the frame field will be selected.

Another way to select objects is to hold down the left mouse button and the Alt key while moving the mouse pointer. The mouse pointer will leave a red line behind it. All objects that fall on this red line will be selected after you release the mouse button. This method is especially convenient in cases where objects are mixed in such a way that it is difficult to select them using the previously described methods. For example, like in the picture below. Please note that the starting point must be on a blank canvas. Read above about what happens if you click on an object.

You can add objects to already selected ones in this way using the key combination Shift + Alt.

To invert the selection, use the button! ( Exclamation point or Sift + 1). This combination inverts the selection on the current layer. Alt+ combination! Inverts the selection on all available layers.

Moving

To move an object, click on it with the mouse pointer and, while holding the left mouse button pressed, move the object as you need. In order to move an object following the axes and object snapping, hold down the Ctrl button on the keyboard while moving. The coordinates in the inkscape status bar show the current position of the mouse cursor.

You can also move an object using the arrow keys on your keyboard. In this case, the object will move in 2 pixel increments. If you hold down the Shift key while moving the arrows, the object will move in 20 pixel increments. When you hold down the Alt key, the object will move in 1 pixel increments.

Convert and resize

As described above, you can change the size and position of an object in two ways. In inkscape using selection and move tool You can change the size of an object or its rotation or tilt. You can switch between modes by clicking on the object or using the key combination Shift+S.

You can change the size or scale of an object when there are straight black arrows along the edges of the selection. The arrows in the middle of the selection are used to change the width or height of the object, respectively. The arrows in the corners of the selection allow you to change both of these parameters.

In order to resize an object while maintaining its proportions, click the lock in the top context bar of the selection tool, as shown in the figure on the right, or simply hold down the Ctrl key while resizing the object.

In order to change the size of an object relative to its central point, hold down the Shift key while resizing. In this case, the center point of the object will be fixed and all size changes will occur relative to it.

If you hold down the Alt key while resizing, the resizing will occur in multiples of integers, for example, 2, 3, 4, etc. times more or less.

How to rotate a shape in inkscape

To rotate a shape in inkscape, switch to rotate mode. In this mode, the black arrows at the corners of the selection are not straight, but curved. The figure is rotated using these arrows.

To rotate a shape by an angle multiple of 15 degrees, hold down the Ctrl key.

To rotate a shape around the opposite corner of the selection, hold down the Shift key.

The center of rotation of the figure is marked with a cross. If multiple objects are selected for rotation, the center of rotation will be determined by the first selected object. To change the position of a shape's center of rotation, simply hover over it with your mouse and drag it anywhere on the canvas. The center of rotation can be located not only within the selected shape, but anywhere on the canvas you want.

The pictures below show an example of changing the position of the center of rotation. In the first case, the center of rotation is by default at the center of the figure.

In the second picture, the center of rotation is moved to the upper right corner of the figure.

To return the center of rotation back to the center of the shape, as it is by default, move the mouse cursor over it and, while holding down the Shift key, click on it.

How to tilt a figure inkscape

To tilt the shape in rotation mode, use the arrows located in the middle of the selection outline. They are marked in red in the picture on the left.

In this mode, you can also flip the shape from left to right or from top to bottom. This can be done in the top contextual selection toolbar or by pressing the V or H keys on the keyboard to flip the shape vertically or horizontally, respectively.

Flipping the shape will not change its size inside the selection area. This can be seen in the example shown in the figure below.

At the same time, the rotation and tilt of the figure described above relative to the rotation point will, in most cases, lead to a change in its position.

There are four parameters that you can control when transforming an object.

They are located as buttons on the top contextual toolbar. The appearance of the buttons is shown in the figure on the left. These are “When changing an object, change the stroke thickness in the same proportion”, “When changing the size of rectangles, change the radius in the same proportion rounded corners", "Transform gradients in the fill or stroke together with the object" and "Transform textures in the fill or stroke together with the object". The pressed position of the button corresponds to the inclusion of this parameter and vice versa.

May be useful

If you double-click on an object with the selection tool, the corresponding tool for the object will be activated. If you double-click on the ellipse, the program will activate the ellipse tool.

To fine-tune the transformation parameters, you can use the transformation parameters settings window. You can open this window using the key combination Shift+Ctrl+M.

To deselect, simply press Esc.

The Ctrl and Shift+Ctrl key combinations allow you to select one object from a group of objects.

When you hold down the Alt key, dragging objects begins regardless of where the mouse cursor is located. Without this key, to drag an object you must click on it with the mouse pointer. This can be useful when dragging shapes that are underneath other shapes.

Mladen Mihajlovic

How to divide a circle into equal parts in Inkscape?

Mladen Mihajlovic

No particular problem, I just can't believe it's as complicated as creating a bunch of lines and managing my angles and alignment - I kind of thought I was missing something and there was a better, easier way to do it.

Paolo Ghibellini

Sorry, that was a typo... I tried instead of problems. I agree, Inkscape is missing some useful features but you can always request new features. Regarding your specific question, sorry, on this moment I don't have a quick answer.

Mladen Mihajlovic

Answers

Socowi

The naive way is to use the Circle tool and its sector (pie chart) to draw sectors with the same angle. Press ctrl while drawing sectors to enable snaps every 15° (the snap angle can be changed in Edit > Preferences > Behavior > Steps > Rotation snaps every ... degrees).

The naive method is viable in a few cases (coarse subdivision, angles multiples of 15°, ...).

With some effort you can emulate the associated polar grid tool using mosaic clones Inkscape. For the next steps it is useful to use the binding options " center of bounding boxes", « tip nodes" And " center of rotation" .

1. Draw a circle.
2. Draw a line from the center of the circle outward so that the line is longer than the radius of the circle.
3. Move the center of rotation of the line to the center of the circle.
   Click on the line twice ( Not double click). + Must appear in the middle of the line. Drag + to the center of the circle. Binding is recommended.
4. Select the line and click Edit > Clone > Create Tiled Clones... *
5. On the " Symmetry" select " P1: simple translation" and press " Reset" .
6. On the " Shift" check the box " Exclude tile on line" .
7. On the tab Turn enter 360/N in the field Angle at line(replace N with the number of sectors you want, and yes, Inkscape can calculate 360/N, no calculator required)
8. Rows, columns"
9. Click Create .
10. Select the resulting clones and unlink them (shift+alt+d or Edit > Clone > Unlink Clone).
11. Combine unrelated clones (ctrl+k or Path > Combine).
12. Divide the circle using the combined object (select both objects, ctrl+/ or Path > Division).

1. Draw a circle.
2. Duplicate the circle (ctrl+d) and click Edit > Clone > Create Tiled Clones... *
3. On the " Symmetry" select " P1: simple translation" and press " Reset" .
4. On the " Shift" check the box " Exclude tile on line" .
5. On the tab Scale enter -100/N in the fields Scale X And Scale Y on line(replace N with the number of sectors you want, and yes, Inkscape can calculate 100/N, no calculator required)
6. At the bottom of the dialog box, select " Rows, columns" and enter N and 1 in the appropriate fields.
7. Click Create .
8. Select the resulting clones and unlink them (shift+alt+d or Edit > Clone > Unlink Clone).
9. Combine unrelated clones (ctrl+k or Path > Combine).
10. Divide the circle using the combined object (select both objects, ctrl+/ or Path > Division).

You can also combine both approaches to create a "radar". Simply combine unrelated clones (star and bull's eye) and use the result to split your circle.

* In Inkscape 0.91 Create Tiled Clones a little buggy. Often clones will be misaligned throughout the canvas (probably due to transformation matrices in XML file). The problem was fixed in Inkscape 0.92.
Temporary solution:

1. Create and place the object you want to clone.
2. Copy the object.
3. Create new layer.
4. Go to a new layer.
5. Paste the object in the same place (ctrl+alt+v) and use tiled clones.

Update: there is also an add-on for drawing polar coordinate systems. It might be easier to use a coordinate system like this to split the circle instead of using tiled clones, but I haven't tested the addon yet.

Mladen Mihajlovic

Wow, thanks for such a detailed answer...

The program allows you to work with paths, shapes, text, gradients and imported graphics.

Supported document formats:

Changing the scale. The easiest way to change the scale is with the - and + keys. You can also use the middle mouse button click (Shift + click zooms out), or rotating the mouse wheel while holding down the Ctrl key. You can also enter the desired scale in the input field in the lower right corner of the window and press Enter. Finally, in the left panel there is a Zoom tool, with which you can change the scale by dragging the mouse over the desired area.

Document Properties(Shift+Ctrl+D). You can resize the canvas, for example, to fit the content. Install the grid.

Node editing tool. Call by pressing F2. You will see several gray squares on the outline - nodes. These nodes can be selected different ways: by mouse click, Shift+click or dragging selection - just like objects are selected with a regular selection tool. You can also click a path segment to automatically select adjacent nodes. Selected nodes become highlighted and show their levers - one or two circles connected to the selected node by a straight line segment. Paths are edited by dragging their nodes and control handles. You can insert nodes into any part of the path by double-clicking the mouse or using the key combination Ctrl+Alt+Click at the desired point on the path. You can erase nodes by pressing Del or Ctrl+Alt+Click. When deleting nodes, the program will try to save the outline shape. If you don't want this, use the Ctrl+Del combination. In addition, you can duplicate selected nodes (Shift+D). The path can be broken at the location of the selected node (Shift+B), and once broken, joined back by selecting the ends of the path and pressing Shift+J. Each node can be sharp (Shift+C) - this means that both levers of the node can move at any angle independently of each other; smoothed (Shift+S) - this means that the levers of the node are always in a straight line and are mutually dependent when turning; symmetrical (Shift+Y) - almost the same as smoothed levers, but these levers are also the same length. When changing node type, you can maintain the position of one of the two levers by holding the mouse cursor over it, so that only one lever is rotated/scaled to match.

XML editor(Shift+Ctrl+X). You can edit your drawings and see the changes in the Introduction to XML tree, or vice versa, you can edit any text, element or node attribute in the XML editor and see the result of the actions on the canvas.

File> Import (File> Import)(Crtl+I). Inkscape allows us to embed the imported file into our developing svg file (the default action). Or you can link the file to ours, in which case Inkscape will not store a copy of the file inside the SVG file, but will only store a link to the imported file.

Path > Object to Path- you can transform any figure to a contour, but the reverse transformation is impossible.

Tools

Selecting objects

Select the selection tool. Now click on any object on the canvas. You will see eight inverse arrows around the object. Now you can:

drag the object itself with the mouse (press Ctrl to move strictly horizontally or vertically)

resize the object by dragging any of the arrows with the mouse (press Ctrl to maintain the original width/height ratio).

If you click on the object again, the appearance of the arrows will change. Now you can:

rotate the object with the mouse using the corner arrows (with Ctrl pressed, the object is rotated at angles that are multiples of 15 degrees),

Bevel an object using non-angled arrows.

You can use input fields on top panel to set the exact coordinates (X and Y) and dimensions (W and H) of the selected objects.

With the Shift key pressed, multiple objects are selected. Esc clears any existing selection. Ctrl+A selects all objects in the document.

Duplicating and Cloning an Object

Duplication object (Ctrl+D). The duplicate is positioned directly above the original object, becomes selected, and can be immediately moved with the mouse or arrow keys.

When creating a duplicate of an object (duplication), we get an exact copy of the object - its duplicate. Each take is a completely independent object, which can later be changed in any way. In this case, the changes made are not reflected in any way either on the original object or on other duplicates.

The situation is different with cloning.

Cloning object - its exact copy associated with the original object. All changes to the original object are propagated to its clones. In this case, changes in an individual clone do not affect the original object or other clones. To clone an object, you need to select the original object and select Clone - Create Clone from the Edit menu. The clone is placed over the object and becomes selected. Just like the duplicate, it can be moved using the mouse or arrows.

Modifying the clone has no effect on the original, but changes to the original, such as object size and/or fill color, are immediately reflected in the clone.

Patterns can be created from clones. To do this, select the original object and select Clone - Create a pattern from clones in the Edit menu.

Logical operations on objects

The commands in the Path menu allow you to combine two or more objects using logical operations. The Difference and XOR operations can only be applied to two selected objects; others can be applied to any number of objects. The resulting object always uses the style (fill and stroke) settings of the underlying object. The sum merges two objects and makes one of them. Using the XOR command looks similar to the Merge command, but the difference is that XOR adds nodes where the original paths intersect. The difference between the Split and Cut Path commands is that the first cuts the entirety of the lower object with the outline of the upper object, while the second cuts only the stroke of the lower object and removes the fill (this is convenient for cutting the strokes of unfilled objects).

Copying a style

If the style of one object (for example, a square) needs to be brought to the style of an already configured object (for example, a circle), you need to select the circle and click Ctrl+C, to copy the circle. After that, select the square and click Shift+Ctrl+V to apply the style of the copied object. Instead of pasting a new circle into the workspace, the style of the copied object will be applied to the square.

Layers

Layers(layers) are often used to divide parts of one image into parts. All layers are ordered relative to each other, so one layer can be the background for another and at the same time hide the third.

The "Layers" panel is called up with the keys Shift+Ctrl+L or you can use the buttons at the bottom of the Inkscape interface.

The Layers panel allows you to:

You can select a layer by clicking on its name in the list of layers. You can work with the selected layer.

The layer can be renamed. Double click on his name.

If you click on the glory eye image from the layer name, the layer can be made invisible. You can use both visible and invisible layers. By hiding a layer, we get the opportunity to work with the layer below, and you can also hide layers created as drafts and for storing comments!

The lock image to the left of the layer name allows you to make the layer not editable or selectable; they say “lock” the layer. This is extremely useful when working with complex images, as a lot of stuff will accumulate as you work. You leave the layer you are currently working on editable and block editing of other layers, in case you accidentally ruin something in them.

The arrow buttons at the bottom of the window allow you to change the location of the layer relative to others. You can move the layer step by step to the bottom or up, or move the layer to the very top or bottom using the arrow and line buttons. The layer at the top of the list, above other layers, the layer at the end of the list is the lowest.

The Plus and Minus buttons allow you to add and remove layers, respectively.

Opacity allows you to change the transparency of the layer, this is very useful for all kinds of effects. This is also useful for work notes layers. I prefer to use the calligraphic brush tool on the left side of the screen, in a separate draft layer. Then I can take the entire layer, make it partially transparent, move it to the very top, then lock it. This way I can refine my main drawing with a clear idea of ​​the new layer.

Drawing Tools

Rectangle

Using the Rectangles and Squares tool, you can draw a rectangle by moving the mouse across the canvas and holding down left key mice. If you hold down the ctrl key at the same time, you will get a square. By changing the Horizontal Radius and Vertical Radius parameters in the panel at the top, you can get a square with rounded edges (the same thing, but with less accuracy, can be done using round corner markers). To cancel the rounding of an object and return it to the initial state(rectangle), you can click the Not rounded button on the property bar.

Ellipse

With the Circles, Ellipses and Arcs tool, you can create an ellipse by moving the mouse across the canvas and holding down the left mouse button. If you keep pressing Ctrl key, you get a circle(holding Ctrl will keep the proportions of the figure as they were at the beginning, only the size changes. By holding Shift+Ctrl we change the size of the circle from its center, and not from the opposite corner.

By changing the Start and End parameters in the panel at the top, you can get a circle segment (the same thing, but with less accuracy, can be done using round corner markers). By checking the Open arc box, you can turn a sector into a segment. In order to return the object to its original state (ellipse), you can click the Make Integral button on the property bar.

Stars and polygons

By moving the mouse across the canvas and holding down the left mouse button, you can construct a polygon. By changing the Radius Ratio parameter in the panel at the top, you can get various shapes, from a convex polygon (with a value of 1) to a star with very thin rays (with a value of 0.1). You can also change the number of corners and the degree of rounding. Each polygon contains two diamond-shaped markers. They allow you to change the shape of the polygon in various ways. For example, you can create interesting shapes by rotating the inner or outer handle around the center of the shape.

Spiral

The Spiral tool allows you to create simple and logarithmic spirals. In the parameters panel, you can change the number of turns of the spiral, the degree of “unwinding” (nonlinearity) and the value of the internal radius

Pen and Pencil

Pen and Pencil create so-called outlines. Circuit is a sequence of straight line segments and/or Bezier curves, which, like any other object in Inkscape, can have its own fill and stroke parameters. Unlike shapes, a path can be freely edited by moving any of its nodes (not just preset handles) or dragging its segment.

Menu Text

The text can be positioned along any curve. To do this, select the desired text and the curve at the same time and select Place along contour from the Text menu. The text will be placed along the curve, starting from its left edge. In order to remove text from the outline, you need to select Remove from outline from the Text menu.

Outline ⇨ Outline Object

You can outline an object that does not have an outline. These can be shapes (rectangle, ellipse, parallelepiped, star, spiral) created with the appropriate tools, or text objects.

Rice. 1

Figure 1 above shows a text object as seen using the path editing tool ( F2). Below is the same object after Outlining and minor editing.

The resulting outline is a group of six objects and in order to change their relative position, you need to ungroup it ( Object ⇨ Ungroup).

It is also possible to edit objects individually without splitting the group using the same tool F2. To move one of the letters, you need to select all its nodes and move it to a new location (you can use the keyboard arrows).

Outline ⇨ Outline Stroke

Any path that has a non-zero stroke can be converted into an object that has two paths and a fill between them.

Rice. 2

New nodes are automatically created so that the two new contours are parallel.

Rice. 3

In this case, what was the stroke of the original (left) path becomes the fill of the new object. And the stroke of the new object must be assigned arbitrarily, so at first it does not have a stroke.

What is confusing is some redundancy in the number of nodes being created, especially at the points indicated by the arrows in Figure 2.

Rice. 4

But the redundancy is apparent; without it, parallelism would not be achieved, as Figure 4 clearly demonstrates.

Using this property, the command Outline Stroke often used to create parallel curves.

Rice. 5

Figure 5 shows the steps in this process (from top to bottom):

• Create a contour with a stroke of the required thickness.
• Let's outline it. Remove the fill and add a stroke.
• Select 4 end nodes and use the command Delete a segment between two nodes(in the tool settings panel Highlighter(F1).
• Ready-made parallel curves.

The team also helps to draw various polygons with evenly rounded corners, as in Figure 6.

Rice. 6

Enough in the window Fill and stroke choose Compound: with rounded corners.

Contour ⇨ Sum / Difference / Intersection / XOR / Divide / Cut

This section of the menu Circuit contains six commands that allow you to perform logical operations on two or more selected objects.

Rice. 7

Figure 7 shows the effect of each of these commands applied to the objects at the bottom of the figure. Note that the original objects are not even paths (they are created by tools Rectangle to and Ellipse), and at the “output” of the command there are already full-fledged circuits with nodes and everything else.

Path ⇨ Merge / Split

The next section includes the commands Merge And Smash

Rice. 8

In Figure 8, on the left (1) ≈ the shapes already familiar to us (not contours), and on the upper right (2) ≈ the result of the Merge Contours command. As seen with the tool F2, these objects were converted into contours, and the resulting contours were combined into one complex contour of 8 nodes (as the message in Status bar on the bottom frame of the Inkscape window).

Bottom right (3) ≈ the result of using the command Break up outlines to object 2. Now these are two contours of 4 nodes each.

Contour ⇨ Pull in / Pull out

These two commands allow you to reduce / enlarge a contour by moving each of its points a certain distance inside or outside the contour. Since by default this distance is two pixels, the effect may simply not be noticed. To increase it, go to the menu File ⇨ Set Up Inkscape ⇨ Steps ⇨ Retract or Stretch to: and replace 2 pixels with 20.

Rice. 9

In Figure 9, the red star was first reduced in size ( Pull in). The resulting outline is made blue. The red star was then enlarged ( Pull out) ≈ green outline.

The red star is not an outline, and it retains its shape properties (can be modified by the star drawing tool).

Also notice the rounding of the inside corners on the blue outline and the outside corners on the green outline. This is an inevitable consequence of moving each point (not a node!) of the contour by 20 pixels perpendicular to the tangent to the contour at a given point.

Rice. 10

As shown in Figure 10, this effect does not occur for curved contours.

Contour ⇨ Dynamic retraction

The command combines the previous two, with the difference that it allows you to manually adjust the amount of reduction or increase in the contour.

Rice. eleven

For this purpose, special levers in the form of small diamonds are used, shown in Figure 11 by arrows. After using the command Dynamic retraction, the object is converted into a contour, a lever appears on the contour, the tool is automatically turned on F2

Contour ⇨ Linked retract

This command creates a copy of the object, converts it to a path, provides an edit lever, and turns on the tool. F2, which changes the contour.

Unlike the team Dynamic retraction, the original object remains unchanged, and the resulting object is linked (linked) to the original, like a clone with its parent.

Rice. 12

In Figure 12 on the left, the original is the red rectangle. The blue rectangle inside it is the associated path, manually reduced.

You can move the original red rectangle, change its shape (Figure 12, right), and the blue outline will repeat all these changes.

Outline ⇨ Simplify

The circuit can be simplified by reducing the number of nodes. Sometimes this leads to improvement appearance outline, sometimes (for example with fonts) to its deterioration.

Rice. 13

In Figure 13, the first outline was drawn with the tool Pencil, which always produces an excessive number of nodes. Circuit 1 has 208 nodes (the number of nodes is indicated in the message in Status bar), as they say, you can’t see the contour behind the nodes. Circuit 2 was obtained by applying the command once Simplify, it has 31 nodes. After a dozen applications of the command, a minimum of 10 nodes was reached, and the simplification did not go further (circuit 3).

Rice. 14

Figure 14 shows that oversimplification can significantly degrade image quality. Immediately after the first use of the command Simplify the green letter remained unchanged and had 31 nodes. After the second use, the number of nodes became 29 and the quality did not suffer. But when the number of nodes reached 26, the blue letter already looks bad. And it would seem that there is only three knots of difference.

Outline ⇨ Expand

This command changes the direction of the contour. The direction can be seen using markers that are connected in the window Fill and Stroke.

Rice. 15

In Figure 15, a red outline with three nodes was first created. Its direction is shown by the middle node marker. After using the command Expand the outline (green) has not changed, only its direction has changed, as evidenced by the marker.

There is another way to see the direction of the contours: connect the option File ⇨ Customize Inkscape ⇨ Nodes ⇨ Show path direction on outline. To make the outline visible, you can enable another option File ⇨ Configure Inkscape ⇨ Nodes ⇨ Always Show Outline, or you can, as shown in Figure 15, enable the display of the outline in the tool settings panel F2. The yellow outline at the bottom of Figure 15 has a red thin outline with directional arrows on it.

Last section of the menu Circuit will be discussed in the next chapter, since the topic Outline effects very extensive.