Inkscape 0.48 Illustrator's Cookbook: 109 recipes to create scalable vector graphics with Inkscape

1. Select the Pencil tool (F6 or P) and draw the letter "O", dragging with your mouse on the Canvas as if you were using a pencil on a sheet of paper.

2. Switch to the Selector tool (Space, F1 or S).The information in the Status bar notification area will tell you how many nodes are present in the object.

3. Switch back to the Pencil tool (Space, F6 or P), set Smoothing: slider on the Pencil toolbar to 50 and create another "O".

4. Switch to the Selector tool (Space, F1 or S) again and read the information in the Status bar notification area. Notice that there are fewer nodes this time and the line is smoother.

5. Select the Pen (Bezier) tool (Shift + F6 or B) and change its mode on the toolbar to Create a sequence of straight line segments so we can create a shape similar to the musical instrument, the triangle.

6. Click on the Canvas to draw the starting point of a line. Move the mouse to the right and you will see a red helper line. Hold Ctrl to keep the angle 0° and look at the Status bar to adjust the line width. Click when the distance is roughly 500 px.

7. Move the mouse to the top-left holding Ctrl to set the angle to 120° and, when you reach approximately a distance of 500 px, click to create the top triangle corner.

8. Release the Ctrl key and move your mouse downwards and to the left. Click to create a point when you reach roughly -123° and a distance of 480 px. The Status bar will report the current values as you move your mouse pointer.

9. Right-click anywhere or press Enter to finish the object.

1. Create an ellipse and convert it to a path (Shift + Ctrl + C) so we can edit it using Node tool. Remove the fill and make the stroke thick (16 worked in my case).

2. Select Node tool (F2 or N), and you will see that our ellipse now has four nodes.

3. Select the top and right node by using a rubber band selection box around them or by clicking on them while holding Shift.

4. Make the path open by deleting the segment. Use the Delete segment between two non-endpoint nodes button, from the toolbar.

5. Select the bottom node by clicking on it and convert it to a cusp (corner) node by clicking on the Make selected nodes corner button (Shift + C).

6. Hover over the right node handle and read the tip in the Status bar. Hold Ctrl + Alt to constrain angles to certain values and to lock handle length while moving, then drag upwards until you reach 90°.

7. Do the same for the left handle, but this time move upwards until it reaches the same point as the right handle.

8. Click and drag the bottom node downwards while holding Ctrl to constrain movement to the vertical Y axis.

9. Select the left and top nodes using a rubber band box.

10. On the toolbar select the Show transformation handles for selected nodes button. The transformation handles will now appear around the selected nodes.

11. Click on one of the nodes to change handles to skew/rotate, and position the rotation center over the left node by dragging it there.

12. Drag the top right rotate handle counter-clockwise and release when you reach an angle of roughly 200°.

13. Add another node between the two selected ones by pressing Insert key or by using the Insert new nodes into selected segments toolbar button.

14. Select the inserted and the two left-most nodes and convert the segment between them into a straight line by using the Make selected segments lines toolbar button (Shift + L).

1. Select the Pen (Bezier) tool (Shift + F6 or B) and make sure the selected mode on the toolbar is Create regular Bezier path

2. Clicking without dragging creates a cusp (corner) node, so click four times to create the first four points of the letter "M" (at this point it will look like an "N").

3. The fifth and final point of the letter "M" will be a smooth transition into the letter "u". Choose a place where we want the "M" to finish, click, and slightly drag the pointer horizontally without releasing the mouse button to create a smooth node.

4. Click where you want the first point of the letter "u" to be.

5. Click and drag horizontally, where you want the bottom of the letter "u" to be, to create a smooth node. If you're not satisfied with the result, press Del to delete the last node and try again.

6. Click to create the third, top right "u" node.

7. Create the last "u" node by moving to the bottom right, clicking and dragging slightly towards top right until the red helper line partially fits over the previous segment.

8. Right-click or press Enter to finish the first path.

9. Hold Shift while creating the first node of "d", to add the path we are about to create to the first one. Click and drag upwards and to the left.

10. Click and drag downwards and to the right to create the second node of "d" (consult with the screenshot that follows).

11. Click where you want the highest point of "d" to be and drag upwards to adjust the ascenders as you see fit. Don't release the mouse yet.

12. Press Shift while still holding down the mouse button. Move the pointer downwards until you almost reach the baseline of the text; release both the Shift key and the mouse button to create the handle.

13. Click where you want the "d" terminal to end and drag upwards and to the right to adjust the last segment.

14. Right-click or press Enter to complete the path.

1. Select the Pencil tool (F6 or P). On the toolbar, select the Create Spiro path button and set Smoothing: to 50.

2. Create a curved shape by writing out the letter "S" as if we were drawing on a sheet of paper.

3. Switch to Node tool (F2 or N) and turn on the path outline by clicking on the Show path outline (without path effects) toolbar button. You will now see both the Spiro shape and the red outline (also called skeleton) of the regular path. The outline shows what the shape would look like without Spiro effect applied.

4. Make the handles visible by using the Show Bezier handles of selected nodes button and selecting all the nodes (Ctrl + A).

5. Try moving one of the handles. Notice how the red outline changes but the end result (the Spiro path) remains intact.

6. Move the nodes around and observe how the movements that affect the Spiro path shape always remain smooth.

7. Create a new node at the bottom of the shape by double-clicking on the outline. Notice that you can't do this by clicking on the Spiro path. The more nodes you add to the path the more the outline and Spiro shape look alike.

8. Select the node we just created and convert it to a cusp (corner) node by using the Make selected nodes corner (Shift + C) on the toolbar.

9. Move one of the handles so they aren't collinear any more. If the Spiro path doesn't change, also move the node so the Spiro path has a clear corner point at that node.

10. Create two more nodes that are adjacent to each other by double-clicking on the outline.

11. Select both nodes and convert the segment into a line by using the Make selected segments lines button (Shift + L). Notice how this segment is also a straight line in Spiro shape but it smoothly transitions into adjacent segments.

12. Select one of the nodes from the straight line and add its adjacent smooth node to the selection.

13. Convert them to cusp (corner) nodes by using the toolbar button or Shift + C, then use the same option to retract the handles. Since the handles were changed they were no longer collinear so the segment became a straight line even in the Spiro path.

14. Convert the Spiro path to a regular path using the Object to Path option (Shift + Ctrl + C). We now have the shape we desired but without the Spiro editing ability.

1. Select the Calligraphy tool (Ctrl + F6 or C) and create a wavy calligraphic object. Notice how the options from the toolbar affected the shape.

2. Increase the Width: to 70 and Thinning: to 85 and create another wavy object with a similar hand stroke like in step one.

3. Set Width: to 30 and Thinning: to 0 and create another similar shape but this time change the pen width by pressing the Left Arrow and Right Arrow in turns. Draw slowly to enhance the effect.

4. Create another wavy object but this time alternate between Home and End keys while drawing. This will abruptly change the pen width from minimum to maximum.

5. Set the Width: to 40 and alternate between the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys while drawing. This will change the pen angle as we draw.

6. Set the Angle: back to 30, set Fixation: to 0, and Caps: to 3, and create another wavy object. Notice how the ends are capped.

7. Set the Tremor: to 40 and create another wavy object. Notice the irregular edges.

8. Set the Tremor: to 0 and Wiggle: to 80 and create another wavy object. Notice how the object shape doesn't strictly comply to our mouse movement.

9. Set Wiggle: to 0 and Mass: to 45 and create another object. Notice how drawing it feels slow. We have enough time to move the mouse in the desired direction creating smooth transitions.

1. Create a lot of objects by drawing a rectangle and repeatedly pressing Space while dragging the rectangle across the screen.

2. Select the Eraser tool (Shift + E) and make sure the Delete objects touched by the eraser button is selected.

3. Drag across the objects that you wish get deleted, they will be completely removed from the drawing.

4. Select the Cut out from objects button and increase the Width: to 30.

5. Drag over the objects, and the eraser trail will make holes in the objects. Shapes will automatically be converted into paths. If you want to restrict erasing to particular objects instead of using the whole drawing, select the objects before using the Eraser tool.

1. Select the 3D box tool (Shift + F4 or X) and click and drag in the page center area to create the left-hand side of the box. Notice that the other box sides will be created automatically, some of them will be hidden from view. The vanishing points are located on vertical page edges.

2. There is a small cross at the box center that can be dragged to change the box position with respect to the current perspective. Move the box by dragging that cross in all directions and see how the box changes, then return it to the center.

3. Switch to the Selector tool (Space) and move the box object upwards.

4. Switch to the 3D box tool (Space, Shift + F4, or X) again and notice how the vanishing points moved with the box preserving the box shape.

5. Grab the top box corner handle that is closest to the viewer and drag it downwards while holding Ctrl to make the movement vertical.

6. Grab the bottom box corner handle that is closest to the viewer and drag it upwards while holding Ctrl to make the movement vertical. The top and bottom sides of the box shouldn't be visible:

7. Grab the left corner handle of the left box side and drag it towards the right while holding Ctrl to constrain the movement along the converging line.

8. Grab the right corner handle of the right box side and drag it towards left while holding Ctrl to constrain the movement along the converging line. The box should become narrower.

9. Duplicate the box (Ctrl + D) and move it left while holding Shift to constrain the movement to the Z direction. Release when the two boxes stop overlapping.

10. Duplicate the box (Ctrl + D) and move it behind all the others by using End or Page Down keys, or the Lower selection to bottom button on the toolbar. Move it right by dragging the cross handle while holding Shift to constrain the movement to the Z direction. Release when it appears next to our original box.

11. Select the middle box by clicking on it.

12. Duplicate the box (Ctrl + D) and move it behind all the other ones by using End or Page Down keys. Move it towards the top while holding Ctrl to constrain the movement to the Y direction. Release when you can see its bottom side appear behind the middle box.

13. Duplicate the box (Ctrl + D) and move it behind all the others by using End or Page Down keys. Move it downwards while holding Ctrl to constrain the movement to the Y direction. Release when you can see its top side appear behind the middle box.

14. Move the left vanishing point towards the box, and move the right vanishing point away from the box (outside of the page area) to change the perspective. Notice how all the boxes change together because they all share the same perspective.

15. Move both of the vanishing points downwards and notice how the bottom box doesn't seem in the correct position with respect to the rest of them. Select that box and bring it to the front by using the Home or Page Up keys, or by clicking on the Raise selection to front button on the toolbar.

1. Select the Text tool (F8 or T) and create a text object by clicking on canvas (without dragging). Type "FUNstack" but place the "stack" on the next line.

2. Select your favorite font family from the drop-down list in the Text toolbar. The example in this book uses 'Doulos SIL'.

3. Increase the text size to 144 by selecting it from the Font size (px) drop-down box.

4. Make the text bold by clicking on the Bold button. This will work only if the bold variant of the font exists.

5. Center the text using the center toolbar button.

6. Reduce the spacing between lines (line-height or leading) by using the toolbar button or Alt + Up Arrow when the text cursor is positioned before the letter "s".

7. Select the letters "FUN" dragging with the Text tool across them and increase the spacing between letters by using Alt +> or the toolbar box.

8. Select the "t" letter and shift it upwards by using the vertical shift box or Alt + Up Arrow.

9. Rotate the "t" letter by using Alt + [ or by using the toolbar button.

10. Select the letter "a" and move it to the left by using the Alt + Left Arrow or the toolbar button.

1. Select the Star tool (Shift + F9 or *) and create an upright star by dragging upwards while holding Ctrl key. This is the object we want to clip.

2. Select the Ellipse tool (F5 or E) and create a circle by holding Ctrl while dragging. Make the circle a bit smaller than the star and position it above the star. The circle will be our clipping object.

3. Select both of our objects (Ctrl + A) and clip them by using the Object | Clip | Set command. Notice how the circle disappears from the drawing and parts of the star previously not covered by the circle are hidden. Check the Status bar notification area tips and you will see the star is labeled as clipped.

4. Select the Star tool (Shift + F9 or *) and move the star handles to change the shape of the object. Notice how the same circle area remains visible while the rest is hidden no matter how we edit the star.

5. Select the Node tool (F2 or N) and enable the Show clipping path(s) of selected object(s) toolbar button You will now see the outline of the clipping object in green.

6. Edit the clipping circle by using the ellipse handles. Notice how this reveals or hides different parts of the star object.

1. Select the Star tool (Shift + F9 or *) and create an upright star by dragging upwards while holding Ctrl key. This is the object we want to mask.

2. Select the Ellipse tool (F5 or E) and create a circle by holding Ctrl while dragging. Make the circle a bit smaller than the star and position it above the star. The circle will be our masking object.

3. Make the circle fill color White by clicking on the white colored chip in the color swatch under the canvas.

4. Create a radial gradient by selecting the Gradient tool choosing the radial gradient, clicking in the center of our circle, and then dragging outwards. Increase the stroke width (10 worked in my case) and set its color to White.

5. Select both of our objects (Ctrl + A) and apply the masking by using the Object | Mask | Set command. The star will appear to be clipped, but if we read the Status bar notification area tip, we will see that the star is actually labeled as masked.

6. Select the Star tool (Shift + F9 or *) and move the star handles to change the star shape.

7. Select the Node tool (F2 or N) and enable the Show mask(s) of selected object(s) toolbar button. You will now see the outline of the masking object in blue.

8. Edit the masking circle by using the ellipse handles.

1. Create a rectangle using the Rectangle tool (F4 or R) and a star using the Star tool (Shift + F9 or *). Position the star over the top rectangle edge so it partially overlaps the rectangle.

2. Select both objects (Ctrl + A) and perform a union on them using the Path | Union option or Ctrl + +. Notice how we now have only one object with the same outline as the previous objects combined:

3. Create a circle with the Ellipse tool (F5 or E) and position it over the object we got in the previous step.

4. Select both objects (Ctrl + A) and perform a difference using the Path | Difference option or Ctrl + -. Notice that we now have only one object that was made by subtracting the top from the bottom one:

5. Create an ellipse using the Ellipse tool (F5 or E) that is a bit wider than the object from the previous step and position it over the upper half of that object (I also lowered the opacity a bit so it's easier to see what we're doing.)

6. Select both objects (Ctrl + A) and perform an intersection using the Path | Intersection option or Ctrl + *. This option is the same as Clipping, only destructive, since we can't get the original shape back:

7. Create a rectangle using the Rectangle tool (F4 or R) that is larger than the object from the previous step, and center it over that object (I also lowered the opacity a bit so it's easier to see what we're doing.)

8. Select both objects (Ctrl + A) and perform an exclusion using the Path | Exclusion option or Ctrl + ^. This operation is like a reverse Difference:

9. Create a rectangle using the Rectangle tool (F4 or R) that is approximately half the size of the object from the previous step, and position it over the bottom area of that object (I also lowered the opacity a bit so it's easier to see what we're doing.)

10. Select both objects (Ctrl + A), duplicate them (Ctrl + D), and move away the selection (duplicated objects). We will use them in a later step.

11. Select the original two objects using a rubber band selection or by clicking on one and using Shift while clicking on the other to add it to the selection. Then perform a division using the Path | Division option or Ctrl + /.

12. Deselect using the Esc key and then select each of the resulting objects and move them away so that each subpath of the original object is divided separately.

13. Select the objects we had previously duplicated and set aside, and cut the paths using the Path | Cut Path option or Ctrl + Alt + /.

14. Deselect using the Esc key and then select each of the resulting objects and move them away to see how all the sub-paths of the original object were cut independently. Paths that are generated with the Cut Path operation are open so their fill is removed to make it more clear.