Getting Started in Inkscape

This lesson gives an overview of the teaching methodology as well as an overview of the content that will be covered in the course.

• Three types of lessons: Theory, Follow-along excerises, Practice exercises
• Section 2: The very basics: interface, basic shapes, gradients
• Section 3: Some more advanced functions: grouping, tracing, cloning, clipping and masking
• Section 4: Filters: preset filters, filter editors, the filter primitives
• Section 5: Some texture examples: walkthroughs on creating a seamless grass tile
• Section 6: Texturing a 3D scene: walk-throughs on texturing an example 3D scene
• Appendix: Blender: Crash-course in blender

In this lesson we will learn about creating two basic shapes (rectangles and ellipse) and how to modify them.

• Draw a rectangle
• Move the corners using square handles
• Round the edges of the rectangle using the circular handles
• Precisely specify the width, height and rounding of the shapes
• Draw an ellipse
• Use handles to control the width and height if the ellipse
• Use circular handles to draw an arc instead of an ellipse
• Precisely specify the start and end of the arc
• Create a "pacman" style arc, of an unclosed arc
• Select an object using the selection tool
• Resize an object vertically and/or horizontally
• Shear an object
• Rotate an object
• Move an object
• Options related to the selection tool (Select all, rotate, flip, mirror)
• Move object up or down
• Precisely specify the width and height of the selection

In this follow along exercise we will be using the theory we have learned so far to start drawing a sunset. Follow the step-by-step instructions to create the sea, sky and sunset.

• Change the layout of the page to landscape
• Draw the sky background (rectangle)
• Draw the ocean (rectangle)
• Draw the sun (ellipse - use control button the make sure the ellipse is a circle)
• Fill the shapes with the right color
• Lower the sun (behind the ocean)

In this lesson we cover the Fill and Stroke Dialog

• Set the color of the fill using the color bar
• Open the Fill and Stroke Dialog
• Red, Green, Blue values
• Alpha is the level of the opacity
• Hue, Saturation and Lightness
• Changing the stroke style
• Set the blur of the object
• Set the opacity of the object

Gradients are a simple way to add interesting effects to your drawing. In this lesson we learn all about adding and editing Gradients.

• Add a gradient with the Fill and Stoke dialog
• Change the orientation of the gradient using the handles
• Change the colors of the gradients at the handles
• Add a color to the gradient
• Move the colors
• Create a gradient using the gradient editor tool
• Create a radial gradient
• Move the radial gradient
• Change the colors in the radial gradient

In this follow along exercise we will be improving the sunset drawing by adding a gradient and some blur.

• Change the color of the sun using the Fill and Stroke dialog
• Add some blur to the sun
• Remove the stroke from the ocean object
• Add and edit a radial gradient to the sky

Exercise with ellipses and radial gradients.

Boolean functions are used to combine two or more objects into one.

• Union: combine two objects
• Difference: remove the top object from the lower object
• Intersection: remove all parts which don't overlap
• Exclusion: remove all parts which do overlap
• Division: cuts the bottom object into more parts using the stroke of the top object as the 'knife'
• Cut path: like division, but results in more open objects

Nodes are points which define an object. A path is defined by a series of nodes with position and slope.

• Draw a straight line with the freehand line tool
• Draw a scribble with the freehand line tool
• Move a node with the node editor
• Convert a straight line to a curve with the node editor
• Add a node
• Remove a node
• Join nodes
• Split nodes
• Add a line segment
• Remove a line segment
• Corner nodes
• Smooth nodes
• Symmetric nodes
• Auto smooth nodes
• Convert a segment to a straight line
• Precisely specify location of nodes

In this excercise we will edit the shape of the sun using a boolean function and add a reflection to the surface of the sea.

• Duplicate the circle with control+D
• Duplicate the ocean with control+D
• Cut the lower part out of the sun using boolean function "difference"
• Move, mirror and stretch the duplicated sun object to form the reflection on the water
• Change the shape of the reflection using the node editor
• Convert the sun from a circle object to a path
• Change the shape of the sun using the node editor
• Make the reflection transparent and change the color just a little

This exercise is particularly good practice for Boolean functions and for drawing precisely.

Layers are useful in organizing your drawing.

• Open the layers dialog
• Rename a layer
• Add a new layer
• Remove a layer
• Lower and raise a layer
• Blend modes
• Making a layer invisible
• Locking a layer

The Bezier Tool is used to create paths.

• Draw a series of straight lines with the Bezier curves tool
• Draw a curved line by clicking and dragging while drawing Bezier curves
• Edit the line segments using the node editor
• Drawing a closed shape with the Bezier tool
• Set the fill color of the shapes

Here we use the Bezier Tool and the Node Editor to add some simple clouds to out drawing.

• Rename the layer to "Background"
• Add a layer named "Clouds"
• Use a Bezier curve to draw a cloud outline
• Set the fill to white
• Edit the shape using the node editor.
• Remove the stroke
• Add blur and transparency to the cloud
• Copy the cloud, move it, and flip it

In this excercise the goals is to draw an owl! This excercise is good practice in a the theory we have learned so far.

Learn how to Group and Ungroup objects. Also learn how to modify an existing group.

• Create a group from multiple objects
• Break up a group
• Modify a group by double clicking on it

In this lesson you learn to import raster images into your drawing.

• Drag and drop an image onto the canvas to import the image
• Import settings are discussed
• Manually trace an image
• Import clipart

In this lesson you learn to automatically convert raster images to vector. The basic settings are learned here.

• Import an image
• Path -> Trace Bitmap
• Brightness cutoff: brightness determines which parts will be converted to a vector shape
• Edge detection: the edges are converted to a vector shape
• Color quantization: shapes are determined by color regions
• Brightness step: as brightness cutoff but with multiple scans
• Colors: a number of vector images are made depending on color regions
• Grays: a number of vector images are made depending on color regions and converted to gray

In part 2 of the tracing lesson we learn about the options Smooth, Stack scans, Remove background and SIOX foreground selection.

• Smooth: Blurs the image before tracing
• Stack scans: Bottom scans cover more area
• Remove background: Deletes bottom scan
• SIOX foreground selection: Use a filled shape to determine the relevant parts to be traced

A tracing excercise.

In this exercise we manually trace the picture of an eagle.

• Import image
• Change layer name to "Photo" and lock the layer
• Add a layer named "Vector"
• Use bezier curves to draw the eagle beak
• Smoothen the nodes using the node editor tool
• Draw the eye of the eagle
• Duplicate (Ctrl+D), Resize (Ctrl+Shift+drag)
• Draw the body of the eagle
• Add a layer named "Shading and Highlighting"
• Draw some shading and highlighting

In this excercise we use the Trace function to convert a raster image of a tree to a vector image.

• Import the tree image
• Use Bezier curve to draw the outline of the tree
• Select both the picture and the Bezier shape
• Select "Colors" and choose 6 Scans
• Select "Smooth", "Stack scans" and "Remove background"
• Select "SIOX foreground selection"
• Trace the image
• Path -> Simplify

In this video we will combine the various pictures into one!

Some final thoughts.