Basics

The basics of working with Inkscape.

Layout overview

Stroke is an Outline. To remove, Shift + click the X in the bottom-left corner Fill is the color. To remove, click X in the bottom-left corner

Zoom in: press 1 key Scroll bars: add/rm with Ctrl + b Grab canvas: zoom wheel or right click and drag

Select tool

After you select an object and make it active:

  • Hold CTRL to lock an object on the vertical or horizontal axis

Scaling handles (arrows):

  • middle ones change length or width
  • corner scales length and width

Rotation handles:

  • Click object twice
  • CTRL key rotates it in 15 deg increments
  • Crosshair determines where the object
    • SHIFT + click puts it back in the center

Shearing handles

  • Click object twice
  • Distort the object on horizontal or vertical axis
  • Shears relative to the crosshair

Copy objects

  • click and drag, then press spacebar where you want to drop copies.
  • CTRL + d. This creates a copy directly on top of the original. Click and drag the copy wherever you want.

Snapping

Shortcut: % key (SHIFT + 5) Granular control over objects in the workspace, like making them align perfectly. The magnet button in the top-right corner enables snapping.

After you snap objects together, you can use the bezier tool to select the corners of the objects, press ESC when you are done, then the two objects are combined into one.

Options:

  • Bounding box: snap according to the dotted outline around the object
  • Nodes: snap to the individual connection points (nodes) on the object
  • Alignment: Similar to align and distribute menu. Aligns to center, edges, etc