Inkscape Tutorial
v2024
-
05
Simon
Andrews
simon.andrews@babraham.ac.uk
What is Inkscape?
•
Vector Graphics Editor
•
Free, Cross Platform
•
Good
for:
–
Editing
–
Drawing
–
Compositin
g
•
Not for:
–
Bitmap editing
www.inkscape.org
Setting up a canvas
•
File > Document Properties
•
Shows page in view
•
Doesn’t restrict drawing
•
Useful as a guide
Moving around
•
Panning
–
Scroll bars on bottom / right
–
Scroll up/down,
Shift+scroll
for left/
right
•
Zooming in / out
–
Click to zoom in,
shift+click
to zoom out
–
Control + Scroll Up/Down to zoom in/out to
cursor
•
Shortcuts
–
Fit
page
, drawing, selection in
window
The main toolbar
•
Selection tool
•
Edit nodes tool
•
Make rectangles
•
Make ellipses / arcs
•
Make polygons / stars
•
Make 3D boxes
•
Make spirals
•
Draw straight lines / curves
•
Draw freehand lines
•
Calligraphy tool
•
Add text
Creating basic shapes
•
Select tool from toolbar
•
Click and drag on canvas
–
Box selects the bounds of the new shape
–
Colours are remembered from the last shape
•
Basic options appear in top toolbar
–
Number of spokes on stars
–
Rounded corners on rectangles
–
Circle vs segment vs arc
Creating basic shapes
Creating basic shapes
•
Modifiers
–
press keys whilst drawing
–
Control = Constrain height/width ratio
–
Easiest way to make circles / squares
–
Shift = grow from centre not edge
–
Help appears at the bottom of the screen
General Transformations
•
Select the Selection tool
•
Moving
–
Click and drag an object
•
Duplicating
–
Select object and press
Ctrl+D
•
Resizing / Rotating
–
Click on object
–
Click again to change control arrow type
–
Click and drag arrows to resize / rotate
Resize
Rotate
Transform Shortcuts
Selecting and Grouping
•
Selecting multiple objects
–
Drag a box to cover multiple objects
–
Shift+click
to add an object to a selection
–
Shift+click
on a selected object to remove it from the selection
•
Grouping (Control + G or Object > Group)
–
Combine multiple objects into a single object
–
Reversible (Control + shift + G or Object > Ungroup)
Fill and
Stroke (Object > Fill and Stroke)
•
Fill = Colour/Gradient/Pattern within a shape
•
Stroke
= The line around a shape
•
Edit
–
Colours
–
Opacity
Aligning and Distributing
•
Object > Align and Distribute
–
Align = Give objects the same centre/edge position
–
Distribute = Space objects
evenly
•
Align relative to
–
First/Last selected object in group
–
Largest/Smallest object in group
–
Page
–
Drawing
Aligning and Distributing
Align top edges
Align centres (horizontal)
Align centres (vertical)
Even spaces between objects
Z axis
-
Ordering
•
New objects sit over the top of old objects
•
Objects obscure those underneath them (except for
transparency)
Z
-
axis Ordering
•
Send object to bottom of z
-
stack
•
Lower object one level
•
Raise object one level
•
Bring object to top
Working with
imported pictures
•
File > Import
–
PNG, JPEG, SVG, PDF etc
.
•
(Bitmaps) Choose Embed
–
Copies image into Inkscape
–
Create
single
portable file
Working with imported pictures
Pictures are usually grouped
Text may not actually be text
Adding Text
•
Use the text tool to add
text
•
Click and type to generate text
•
Text
can be scaled or rotated as any other object
–
Always hold Ctrl when scaling otherwise the aspect ratio will be
messed up
Text options
•
Text toolbar
•
Text
and font settings
–
Font (always Arial for scientific figures)
–
Size
–
Alignment
Saving & Exporting
•
Saving
–
File > Save (As)
–
Default is Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG
)
•
Exporting as a Vector
–
Can export as a PDF
–
File > Save (As), select PDF
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