Working with the vector editor inkscape. How to draw a hedgehog in Inkscape

In this tutorial we will draw a cute vector hedgehog using Inkscape. Usually, when it comes to vector, Dezhurka publishes Adobe Illustrator tutorials. But today we decided to give preference to another graphic editor, for the sake of variety. This tutorial is suitable for learning the most basic and simple Inkscape tools.

Final result

1. Draw the body

Step 1
Let's start with needles. Select a tool Polygon and select type Star. Then in the parameter Corners enter the value 15, and in Spoke ratio - 0.8. Now draw a polygon with a brown fill. Size is not important at this stage.

Step 2
Now scale the shape to size 410px X 465px.

Step 3
To achieve a 3D effect in later steps, duplicate the polygon and fill it with a slightly darker brown. We will use this figure later.

Step 4
Give the second (darker) polygon a stroke width of 13px(same color as the fill). This way it will increase in volume.

Step 5
Select both polygons and open the tab Object > Align and Distribute. Click the icon Center on vertical axis And Align top edges. The shapes should line up like this:

Step 6
Now we need to draw the inside of the body. Select a tool Ellipse and draw a circle by holding down the key Control. While the circle is selected, select from the menu Path > Object to Path, so that we can edit this shape in the future. Give the circle a fill as in the image below.

Step 7
Now using the tool Nodes we will turn the circle into the body of a hedgehog, as in the picture below. The final size came out 366px on 266px.

2. Draw eyes

Step 1
Tool Polygon draw an equilateral triangle. (Specify the number of angles equal to three and hold ctrl to ensure the shape is correct). While the triangle is selected, select from the menu Path > Object to Path.

Step 2
Tool Nodes select all nodes and click the icon Make selected nodes symmetric.

Step 3
These will be the dark areas under the eyes. Position the figure as shown in the figure below. We specially transferred the figure to the hedgehog's body so that you can better see how it looks...

Step 4
Let's draw an eye. Take the tool Ellipse and holding Control draw a circle. Paint it dark gray.

Step 5
Now draw two more small circles and fill them with white.

Step 6
When you're done with the first eye, flip a copy of it horizontally. However, do not reflect glare!

3. Draw a face

Step 1
Tool Ellipse draw an oval. Select from the menu Path > Object to Path. After that, edit the nodes so that it looks like the picture below.

Step 2
Now we draw the nose: with the same tool Ellipse First we draw a dark gray oval, and then a small white one, which will be a highlight on the nose.

At this stage we should get a result similar to what you see in the picture below. You can experiment with the distance between the eyes, the size of the muzzle, nose, etc.

4. Draw ears

Step 1
To keep things simple, to create the ears we will simply copy the shape of the area under the eyes. Just make the shape bigger and rotate it.

Step 2
Give the ear a stroke thickness of 12px. Give the ear a pink fill and a hedgehog skin color for the stroke. Also place the ear under the figure of the inner body of the hedgehog, but above the needles. To do this, select the ear and press Page Up And Page Down (Object > Raise/Lower).


Step 3
Duplicate the ear and flip it horizontally.

5. Use tapering lines for the paws

Step 1
The way to create freeform strokes in Inkscape is to create a shape that follows the desired path. IN in this example we need lines that taper at the ends. To do this, we drew a square, rotated it 45 degrees and flattened it to the dimensions shown in the picture below.


We also rounded the top nodes.


Step 2
Now select a tool Pencil. Parameter Smoothing set to value 50, and in the column Shape select From clipboard. The value "From clipboard" means that what you copied before drawing it will be applied to your path. So copy our flattened square ( Control + C) and try to draw any line. For example like this:


Step 3
After you have tried the tool Pencil, Without changing anything, draw the hedgehog’s paw. You can edit the line using nodes if you couldn’t draw it perfectly by hand. Now when you set the line color to brown, you will notice that it is a fill instead of a stroke. We'll explain this a little later.


Step 4
Duplicate the foot and place it in a mirror image.

6. Draw the legs

Step 1
We will draw the legs in the same way as we drew the paws. You can just copy the lines if you want. Place a line at the bottom of the hedgehog's body. You will notice that we do not have enough fill, although (as we have already found out) there is just fill at the leg lines. Let's solve this problem!


Step 2
Duplicate the line of the leg and move it outside the hedgehog’s body. Place a line on the flesh-colored square ( Object to Path). Now we will cut out the shape we need from the square using contour operations. Select the leg line and square and select from the menu Path > Intersection.


You should end up with a figure like this:


Step 3
Now you can place the fill for the leg under the leg line. To make everything smooth, use Align and Distribute. Now duplicate the leg and position it as a mirror image.

7. Add a shadow

Step 1
Let's add a volume effect. Duplicate the shape of the hedgehog's body and fill it with dark brown.


Step 2
We will place this figure under the body, ears and legs, but above the needles. Position the shape so that it is 10 pixels to the right and the same amount below the body shape.


Step 3
Now we will make a shadow for the entire hedgehog. Duplicate the needles shape, give it a black fill color and transparency ( Alpha): 50 .


Step 4
Place the shadow in the very background ( Below to Bottom or key End). After that, select the entire hedgehog along with the shadow and group all the elements to make it easier to work further.


Step 5
Let's add a green background. Draw a green square with the size 600 x 600px.

8. Draw leaves

Step 1
Using the tool Pen draw a figure of four triangle-shaped nodes. After that, select the bottom three nodes and round them.


Step 2
After you get the desired leaf shape, use the same tool Pencil draw the details as in the picture below.


Step 3
Let's paint the leaf an autumn color and make the lines translucent.


Step 4
Don't forget about the stem. Just draw it with the same tool Pencil, and specify the thickness in 2 pixels and a rounded tip ( rounded cap). Select dark gray color. You will also most likely have to place it under the sheet itself.


Step 5
To make it look absolutely wonderful, duplicate the leaf twice and color the copies in different colors. Now group each leaf separately.

9. Scatter leaves

Step 1
Now we need to scatter the leaves across the background. Let's start with the first sheet. Select it and immediately after that select the tool Spray. Set the parameters as shown in the picture below.


Step 2
Now you can simply click and hold the left mouse button to scatter leaves.


Step 3
Repeat the same procedure with the leaves of other flowers. Once you're done, select all the leaves (hold shift) and group them.


Step 4
Do not remove the selection from the group of leaves. Go to the menu Filters > Shadows and Glows > Drop Shadow. Specify the settings as shown in the picture below.


Step 5
Now we can send all the leaves under the hedgehog and above the green background.

The hedgehog is ready!

Author of the lesson - Aaron Nieze.
Translation - Duty room.

WikiHow works like a wiki, which means that many of our articles are written by multiple authors. This article was created by volunteer authors to edit and improve it.

If you work with photographs or digital images, you've probably noticed that as you increase the size, the images lose resolution and become pixelated or blurry. This results in rasterization of images, such as JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG and others, which are based on pixels. However, if you convert this image to vector format, you can scale the image up to the size of a billboard and it will still look as sharp and clear as the original. This article will show you how to use Inkscape to create vector paths in any digital image.

Steps

Launch Inkscape.

Open your image in the vector graphics editor Inkscape. We found this image of a flower in the Creative Community. Until you have a lot of experience creating vectors, it's a good option to learn how to create a vector outline of a photo using a simple image.

Select a size for the vector image.

1. Go to File > Document Properties. Or just press CTRL + SHIFT + D.
2. Select the size of the vector image. You can select a size from a list of standard sizes or enter your own width and height. In this article we will use 300x300 resolution. Then close the dialog box.

1. Resize your photo or bitmap. Click on the "Select and Transform" tool in the column of tool icons on the left side of the work area or press F1. By clicking on the image, the pointer arrow should appear in the corner. If you see spinning arrows, click on the image again. Press the CTRL key and one of the arrows that appear in the corners at the same time, and then drag diagonally with the mouse, thereby resizing the image in proportion to the size of the vector. Pressing CTRL will preserve the proportions of the selected object.

   Click on the Pencil tool icon or press F6.

   Enlarge your rasterized images. Hold down the CTRL key and scroll the mouse wheel or click the Zoom tool icon.

   Using the Pencil tool, start drawing. The strokes you make should be similar to the shape of the image, but they don't have to be perfectly precise. You will make adjustments later.

   When finished, click on the Node Line edit icon or press F2. Enlarge the lines you drew and start editing. You will see a lot of small squares. These are the knots that highlight the lines. You probably won't need as many nodes as there are, so you can remove some of them. There are two ways to do this:

   • Select the section to edit and press Ctrl + L to make the process easier. This is an easy way to eliminate unnecessary nodes. You can use the Simplify command multiple times on selected nodes.
   • Select a section to edit. Click on the nodes (squares) and delete them by pressing the “Delete” key.

2. Enlarge the image to see which elements need adjustment. You will realize that this step will take the most time and effort. This system was created using a trackball to achieve maximum precision in operation.

   Start making adjustments. In the part where the image is damaged, the node is very clearly visible. As you move the squares around the image, you will see that the lines also move and you just need to adjust them to the contours of the image. You will have to experiment at this stage of the work. If you have any difficulties, read the Inkscape manual.

   • To get the basic shape of the image, you will need to move the nodes (squares) by the right places before making any other parameter changes. You will have to carefully adjust the curves, but you will notice how much easier it will make your future work.
   • You can click on the line connecting two nodes (squares) and adjust the line.

3. Periodically review the results of your work by turning off the zoom function. Please note that sometimes you can zoom in too much. During the editing process, some elements of the image will require very high magnification, while others will need to be enlarged very slightly and this will be enough for the clarity of the image.

   Turn off raster display so you can check if there are any gaps in the lines you draw.

   1. Click on the Selection and Transform tool or F1.
   2. Click on the image and move it to the side.

4. Collect all parts of the image. Click on the Selection and Transform tool icon. Select all parts of the image and combine them.

   1. Click on Lines > Union.
   2. Press the CTRL++ keys simultaneously (plus twice).

5. Select the color you want for your image. Select the photo (if it's not already selected), and then select a color at the bottom of the screen.

   Find the Fill tool and click on it. Even if you don't want to change the color of the entire image, you can use this tool to adjust some of the uncolored elements.

   • If the image doesn't fill, it means you haven't "outlined" the entire image with lines and you need to work more on the nodes.

6. Zoom in on the image to see where else the lines need to be adjusted.

   Continue working until you have completed the outlines. This is a vector image of our flower photo.

   Resize the image. Go to Document Properties to resize the image.

When you first launch the program, a special window appears in front of the user with a blank canvas in the center. The canvas is the user’s main place of work on which various shapes, lines, ready-made images for editing, etc. are placed. Above the canvas there is a horizontal panel with standard buttons like “create a new document”, “save”, “open” finished document" and so on. Below it is a horizontal toolbar on which there are special buttons and fields for working with specific objects or shapes that change depending on the selected object. To the left of the canvas you can see a vertical toolbar designed for placing certain objects on the canvas (rectangles, ellipses, text, etc.). Above you can see a screenshot of the program to visualize the working window of the program. In general, the program interface is quite simple for the average user to understand and, if desired, after several lessons in working in Inkscape, even regular user will be able to create, if not works of art, then very interesting projects.

Moving around the canvas

There are many ways to move around the canvas. Try Ctrl+Down Arrow to move the document using the keyboard (Try it now Ctrl+Down Arrow to move the document down). You can also move around the canvas by holding down its surface with the middle mouse button or using the sliders (press Ctrl+B (hereinafter all letters in keyboard shortcuts are Latin) in order to show or hide them). The scroll wheel on the mouse also works for vertical movement. To move horizontally, use Shift along with the wheel. Above you can see a screenshot of the program to visualize what this wonderful program looks like.

Changing the scale

The easiest way to change the scale is to press - or + (to zoom in, = works). The option also works: Ctrl+middle mouse button or Ctrl+right mouse button - to increase, Shift+middle or Shift+right - to decrease, or the mouse wheel with Ctrl pressed. Alternatively, you can select the zoom level in the lower left corner of the document window. The value is given as a percentage; Having typed what you need, press Enter. In addition, the program has a zoom tool (among the tools on the left), which allows you to zoom in only the required selected area.

Inkscape keeps a history of the scales you've used while working. Press the ` key to return to the previous state, or Shift+` to go to the next one.

Inkscape Tools

The icon bar on the left side of the window represents Inkscape's drawing and editing tools. At the top of the window, below the menu, there is a control panel with the main command buttons, and just below is the Tool Options panel, which contains options specific to each tool. The status bar at the very bottom of the window will show useful tips as you work.

Many actions are available from the keyboard. A complete reference to the keys can be accessed from the Help > Using the Keyboard and Mouse menu.

Work with documents

To create a new blank document, use File > New or press Ctrl+N. To open an existing SVG document, use File > Open (Ctrl+O). To save, use “File > Save” (Ctrl+S), or “Save As...” (Shift+Ctrl+S) to save the file under a different name. (Inkscape can still be unstable, so an important rule to remember is to save often!)

Inkscape uses the SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) format for its files. SVG is an open standard and is widely used in graphics packages. The SVG format uses XML markup language, so files in this format can be edited with any text or XML editor (other than Inkscape). In addition to SVG, Inkscape can work with other formats (for example, EPS and PNG).

Inkscape opens a new window for each document. You can switch between them different ways depending on the window manager (for example, Alt+Tab), or using Inkscape's own keyboard shortcut - Ctrl+Tab, to switch between documents in a circle. Try creating a few new documents now and switching between them to practice. Note: Inkscape treats these windows like tabs in a browser, which means Ctrl+Tab only works for documents running in the same process. If you open multiple documents via file manager or run multiple copies of Inkscape, it won't work.

Creating Shapes

It's time for figures! Select the blue rectangle in the strip on the left (or press F4). Hover the mouse cursor over the document (right there or in a new window created), press the left mouse button and move the cursor to the side - you will get a rectangle:

As you can see, by default the rectangle is filled with blue, has a black outline and is partially transparent. Below you will see how to change these settings. You can also create ovals, stars and spirals with other tools:

The tools discussed are called shape tools. Each shape created has one or more white control rectangles (handles); try dragging them back and forth and notice how the shape changes (the white dots are only visible when one of the four tools is selected: blue square, brown circle, yellow star or spiral). The Tool Options bar has its own way of changing shapes. The controls in it affect the currently selected objects (that is, those whose handles are visible), and also determine the parameters of new shapes.

To undo the last action, use the Ctrl+Z combination. (If you change your mind, you can undo the undone action using Shift+Ctrl+Z.)

Move, resize and rotate

The most popular tool in Inkscape is the Selector. You can select it by clicking on the black arrow (or by pressing F1 or Spacebar. With this tool you can select any object on the canvas. Click on the square shown in the illustration below:

You will see eight arrows around the object. Now you can:

Move an object (with Ctrl pressed, movements are limited to two axes: horizontal and vertical).

Change the size of the object by dragging any of the arrows (changing the size with Ctrl pressed, you will maintain the proportions of the original).

Click on the rectangle again - the direction of the arrows will change. Now you can:

Rotate the object by dragging the corner arrows (holding Ctrl, the object will rotate in 15-degree steps. By moving the cross, you will shift the center of rotation.)

Warp (tilt) the object by moving the non-corner arrows. (with Ctrl pressed, the skew will be done in 15 degree increments.)

In this mode (object selection mode), you can also change the size and location of the selection on the canvas using the fields at the top.

Changing shape using keys

One of the features of Inkscape that distinguishes it from most other vector graphics editors is its convenient keyboard control. It's hard to find a command or action that can't be performed from the keyboard, and changing the shape of objects is no exception.

You can use the keyboard to move objects (arrow keys), change size (keys< и >), and rotation ([ and ] keys). By default, the moving and resizing step is two pixels. With pressed Shift key this value is increased by 10 times (and becomes equal to 20 pixels). Ctrl+> and Ctrl+ keys< увеличивают или уменьшают объект на 200% или 50% от оригинала соответственно. С нажатой клавишей Ctrl вращение будет выполняться с шагом в 90 градусов вместо 15.

By the way, the most convenient are pixel shape changes made with the pressed Alt key and keys for changing forms. For example, Alt+Arrows will move the selection by 1 pixel of a given scale (i.e. 1 screen pixel, not to be confused with pixel, which is an SVG unit of length and is different from scale pixel). This means that if you zoom in, Alt+Arrow will produce a smaller offset from the absolute dimension, which will still appear as a pixel offset on the screen. This makes it possible to accurately place an object by changing the scale.

Similarly, Alt+> and Alt+< меняют размер на один пиксел, а Alt+>and Alt+< вращают объект на один пиксел.

Alt+arrow and some other key combinations may not work if the Linux window manager intercepts these key events before they reach Inkscape. This issue is usually resolved by configuring the window manager.

Selecting multiple objects

You can select any number of objects at once by Shift+clicking on the desired objects. You can also select objects using a selection frame - the so-called rubber selection. (A selection box appears when a selection starts from an empty space, and with Shift pressed, a selection box will appear above the object.) Practice making selections on these three shapes:

Now, using the Rubber Selection (without or with the Shift key), select the ellipses, but not the rectangle underneath them:

Each selected object appears with a dotted frame around it. Thanks to this frame, it is easy to determine which object is selected and which is not. For example, if you select both ellipses and the rectangle below them, without the dotted border it will be difficult to tell whether the ellipses are selected or not.

Shift+clicking on a selection excludes it from the general selection. For practice, try selecting the three objects on top, and then using Shift+click to exclude the ellipses, leaving only the rectangle selected.

Pressing Esc will clear all selections. Ctrl+A selects all objects within the active layer (if you have not created any layers, this is equivalent to selecting all objects in the document).

Grouping

Several objects can be combined into a group. When moving and transforming, the group behaves like an ordinary object. As the illustration below shows, the three objects on the left are independent, while the objects on the right are grouped. Try dragging grouped objects.

To create a group, you need to select one or more objects and press Ctrl+G. You can ungroup them by pressing Ctrl+U and first selecting the group. Groups themselves can also be grouped as single objects. Such a step-by-step grouping can be as complex as desired. Please remember that Ctrl+U will only ungroup the last grouping. You need to press Ctrl+U several times if you want to completely ungroup complex groups in a group.

It is very convenient that you do not need to split the group to edit individual objects. By Ctrl+clicking on an object, you will select it and be able to edit it. The Shift+Ctrl+click combination works in the same way, allowing you to edit multiple objects regardless of the group. Try transforming or moving individual objects from the previous example (top right image) without ungrouping, then select the entire group as usual and make sure the objects remain grouped.

Fill and stroke

Many Inkscape features are accessible through dialogs (submenus). Probably the easiest way to fill an object with some color is to select Color Swatches... from the View menu, select the object and its color from the Color Swatches palette (changing the object's fill or stroke color).

But a more powerful way would be to select the “Fill and Stroke...” dialog via the “Object” menu (Shift+Ctrl+F). Select the shape below and open the Fill and Stroke dialog.

You'll see that the dialog contains three tabs: Fill, Stroke Color, and Stroke Style. The Fill tab will allow you to change the fill of the selected object (or objects). Using the buttons below the tab, you can select a fill type, including No Fill mode (the button with an X), Flat Color mode, Linear Gradient mode, or Radial Gradient" For the above shape, the Flat Color button will be clicked.

Just below are buttons for color selection. Each option has its own tab: RGB, CMYK, HSL, and Circle. Probably the most convenient option is "Circle", where you can select the hue of a color by rotating the triangle, and then select the saturation and brightness in the triangle itself. All color pickers have the ability to change the alpha channel (transparency) of the selected object (or objects).

Each time you select an object, the Fill and Stroke... tab shows the current value for of this object(for several simultaneously selected objects, the color tab shows their average color). Experiment with these examples:

Using the “Stroke Color” tab, you can remove the stroke of an object, set its color or transparency:

The last tab, Stroke Style, will allow you to change the thickness and other options of the stroke:

And finally, instead of solid coloring, you can use gradients for fill and/or stroke:

When you switch from Flat Color mode to Gradient mode, the gradient created uses the previous color and goes from saturation to transparency. Switch to the gradient tool (by selecting the tool in the left panel or by pressing Ctrl+F1). When moving the gradient levers, you can see that the levers are connected by lines that determine the direction and length of the gradient. When one of the gradient arms is selected (highlighted in blue), the Fill and Stroke... dialog sets the color of the arm (the color of the part of the gradient) rather than the selected object.

Another way to change the color of an object is to use the Eyedropper tool (“Take average colors from image (F7)”). Simply click with this tool in any part of the drawing, and the resulting color will be assigned to the previously selected object (Shift+click will assign the color to the stroke).

Draw freeform lines and Bezier curves

The easiest way to create a free-form shape is to draw it using the Pencil (“Draw free-form paths” in the menu on the left (F6)):

If you want to get more regular shapes, use the Pen (the “Draw Bezier Curves and Straight Lines” tool in the left menu (Shift+F6)):

When using the Pen, each click (short press of the left mouse button) creates a sharp node without the ability to control the bend (no control nodes). Thus, a series of clicks creates a sequence of straight line segments. Clicking and dragging creates a smooth Bezier node with two control nodes on the same line but pointing in different directions. Press Shift while moving the control to rotate only one lever and lock the other. Additionally, Ctrl limits the rotation of the levers in 15 degree increments. Pressing Enter ends the line, Esc cancels it. To undo just the last segment of an unfinished line, press Backspace.

In both tools discussed, the selected path contains small squares, anchors, at both ends of the path. They allow you to continue this path (drawing from one of the anchors) or close the path (drawing from anchor to anchor).

Editing Paths

Unlike shapes created with the shape tools, Pen and Pencil creates what are called paths. A path 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. Select this path and turn on the node editing tool (F2):

You will see several gray squares on the outline - nodes. These nodes can be selected in different ways: by clicking the mouse, Shift+clicking, or dragging a selection - just like objects are selected with a regular selection tool. You can also click a path segment to automatic selection neighboring nodes. Selected nodes become highlighted and show their levers - one or two circles connected to the selected node by a straight line segment. Key! reverses the selection of nodes in the current subpath (or subpaths) (i.e. subpaths with at least one selected node); Alt+! reverses the entire contour.

Paths are edited by dragging their nodes and control handles. (Try moving the nodes and levers of the nodes on the path above.) Ctrl usually works as a limiter in movement and rotation. Arrow keys, Tab, [, ],<, >and their modifiers, all work the same as with the selection tool, but are applied to nodes instead of objects. You can insert nodes into any part of the path by double-clicking the mouse or using the key combination Ctrl+Alt+clicking 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.

You can also retract levers into a node using the combination Ctrl+click on the lever. If the levers of two adjacent nodes are retracted, this path segment will be a straight line segment. To pull the levers out, you need to press Shift and pull the lever away from the node.

Subcircuits and their combination

A path object can consist of more than one subpath. A subcircuit is a sequence of nodes connected to each other. (Therefore, if a path has more than one subpath, then not all nodes of the path are connected to each other.) At the bottom left, the path consists of three subpaths; the same three subpaths on the right are independent objects - paths:

But a contour consisting of subcontours is not a group of objects. This is one object allocated as a whole. If you select the top right object and turn on the Node Tool (F2), the nodes will appear on all three subpaths. On the right, you can edit only one of the contours.

Inkscape can combine paths into a compound path (Ctrl+K) and split a compound path into individual paths (Shift+Ctrl+K). Try these commands on the examples above. Since the fill and stroke parameters of an object are individual, the newly merged path takes the parameters of the first object from the union (the bottom one along the Z axis).

When you combine overlapping paths with a fill, the fill disappears where they overlap:

This the simplest way create objects with holes inside. More powerful commands for working with contours are described below in the “Logical Operations” section.

It is very useful for every art lover to have a functional graphics editor, capable of working with vector and raster graphics. Fortunately, nowadays there are a huge variety of drawing programs that can replace entire art workshops. Let's take a closer look at one of the best representatives of this group. Introducing the Inkscape graphics editor!

The main advantages of Inkscape are its undoubted compactness, high functionality and ample opportunities for working with vector graphics. Moreover, the program has an open license and is absolutely free. It is very beneficial to be able to use such a wonderful tool.

True, from one of the advantages comes a logical disadvantage, which causes some inconvenience for beginners. The functionality of the program is very extensive, and at first, working in Inkscape is not very productive due to a lack of knowledge and skills. To quickly overcome the stage of illiteracy and quickly begin confident practice, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the following videos.

Inkscape tutorials for beginners

A useful collection of instructions for drawing various images in the editor. The author takes viewers through his work process in detail, explaining the use of each tool and function. Upon completion of watching the video tutorials and consolidating the acquired knowledge in practice, you will understand how to use Inkscape at the level of a confident user and will be able to depict any of your ideas on canvas.

Inkscape is a very popular tool for creating vector graphics. The image in it is drawn not pixel by pixel, but using various lines and shapes. One of the main advantages of this approach is the ability to scale the image without losing quality, which is impossible to do with raster graphics. In this article we will tell you about the basic techniques for working in Inkscape. In addition, we will analyze the application interface and give some tips.

This material is more aimed at beginner Inkscape users. Therefore, we will only talk about the basic techniques that are used when working with the editor. If after reading the article you have individual questions, you can ask them in the comments.

Program interface

Before we begin describing the editor's capabilities, we would like to tell you a little about how the Inkscape interface works. This will allow you to quickly find certain tools and navigate your workspace in the future. After launch, the editor window looks like this:

In total there are 6 main areas:

Main menu

Here, in the form of sub-items and drop-down menus, the most useful functions that you can use when creating graphics are collected. In the following we will describe some of them. I would especially like to note the very first menu - "File". This is where such popular teams as "Open", "Save", "Create" And "Type".

This is where work begins in most cases. By default, when you launch Inkscape, a workspace of 210x297 millimeters (A4 sheet) is created. If necessary, these parameters can be changed in the subsection "Document Properties". By the way, this is where you can change the background color of the canvas at any time.

By clicking on the indicated line, you will see a new window. In it you can set the size of the work area according to common standards or specify your own value in the appropriate fields. You can also change the orientation of the document, remove the border, and set the background color for the canvas.

We also recommend going to the menu "Edit" and enable display of the action history panel. This will allow you to cancel one or more at any time. recent actions. The specified panel will open on the right side of the editor window.

Toolbar

It is this panel that you will constantly refer to when drawing. All figures and functions are located here. To select the desired element, just click on its icon once with the left mouse button. If you simply hover your cursor over the image of the tool, you will see a pop-up window with the name and description.

Tool Properties

Using this group of elements you can configure the settings of the selected tool. These include smoothing, size, radius ratio, tilt angle, number of corners, and more. Each of them has its own set of options.

Snap Options Bar and Command Bar

By default, they are located next to each other in the right area of ​​the application window and look like this:

As the name suggests, the Snap Options panel (that's the official name) allows you to choose whether your object will automatically snap to another object. If yes, then where exactly should this be done - to the center, nodes, guides, and so on. If you wish, you can completely turn off all adhesion. This is done by pressing the corresponding button on the panel.

The command bar, in turn, displays the main menu items "File", and also added the following important functions, such as filling, scale, grouping of objects and others.

Color swatches and status bar

These two areas are also nearby. They are located at the bottom of the window and look like this:

Here you can select the desired color for the shape, fill or stroke. In addition, on the status bar there is a scale slider that will allow you to zoom in or out of the canvas. As practice shows, this is not very convenient to do. It's easier to hold down a key "Ctrl" on the keyboard and roll the mouse wheel up or down.

Workspace

This is the very central part of the application window. This is where your canvas sits. Along the perimeter of the work area you will see sliders that allow you to scroll the window down or up as you change the scale. There are rulers at the top and left. It allows you to determine the size of the figure, as well as set guides if necessary.

In order to set guides, just move the mouse pointer over a horizontal or vertical ruler, then hold down the left mouse button and drag the line that appears in the desired direction. If you need to remove the guide, then move it back onto the ruler.

These are actually all the interface elements that we wanted to tell you about first. Now let's move directly to practical examples.

Upload an image or create a canvas

If you open a raster image in the editor, you can further process it or manually draw a vector image following the example.

As a result, the selected image will appear on the work area. In this case, the canvas size will automatically be the same as the resolution of the picture. In our case it is 1920x1080 pixels. It can always be changed to something else. As we said at the beginning of the article, the quality of the photo will not change. If you don't want to use any image as a source, then you can simply use the automatically generated canvas.

Cutting out a fragment of the image

Sometimes a situation may arise when for processing you do not need the whole image, but only a specific section of it. In this case, here's what to do:

As a result, only the previously selected area of ​​the canvas will remain. You can move on to the next step.

Working with layers

Placing objects on different layers will not only delimit the space, but also avoid accidental changes during the drawing process.

In this way, you can create as many layers as you like and transfer the required shape or object to any of them.

Drawing rectangles and squares

In order to draw the above figures, you must use the tool of the same name. The sequence of actions will look like this:

Drawing circles and ovals

Circles in Inkscape are drawn using the same principle as rectangles.

Drawing Stars and Polygons

Polygons can be drawn in Inkscape in just a few seconds. There is a special tool for this that allows you to fine-tune these types of shapes.

Drawing Spirals

This is the last figure that we would like to tell you about in this article. The process of drawing it is practically no different from the previous ones.

Editing nodes and levers

Despite the fact that all the figures are relatively simple, any of them can be changed beyond recognition. It is thanks to this that the resulting vector images are obtained. To edit element nodes, you need to do the following:

This action can be performed not with the entire figure, but only with a selected section of it. By adding new nodes, you can change the shape of the object more and more. To do this, just move the mouse pointer over the desired node, hold down LMB and pull the element in the desired direction. You can also use this tool to pull the edge. Thus, the area of ​​the object will be more concave or convex.

Drawing freeform paths

With this function you can draw both smooth straight lines and arbitrary shapes. Everything is done very simply.

Please note that lines, like shapes, can be moved around the canvas, their size can be changed and nodes can be edited.

Drawing Bezier curves

This tool will also allow you to work with straight lines. It will be very useful in situations where you need to outline an object using straight lines or draw something.

Using a calligraphy pen

As the name suggests, this tool will allow you to do beautiful inscriptions or image elements. To do this, just select it, adjust the properties (angle, fixation, width, etc.) and you can start drawing.

Adding text

In addition to various shapes and lines, you can also work with text in the described editor. A distinctive feature of this process is that initially the text can be written even in the smallest font. But if you increase it to the maximum, the image quality will not be lost at all. The process of using text in Inkscape is quite simple.

Object Sprayer

This editor has one interesting function. It allows you to literally fill the entire workspace with identical shapes in just a few seconds. There are many possible uses for this function, so we decided not to ignore it.

1. First of all, you need to draw any shape or object on the canvas.
2. Next, select the function "Spray objects".
3. You will see a circle of a certain radius. Adjust its properties if you find it necessary. These include the radius of the circle, the number of shapes drawn, and so on.
4. Move the tool to the place on the workspace where you want to create clones of the previously drawn element.
5. Hold down the LMB and hold it for as long as you see fit.

Your result should look something like this.

Removing items

You will probably agree with the fact that no drawing can be done without an eraser. And Inkscape is no exception. Finally, we would like to talk about how you can remove drawn elements from the canvas.

By default, any object or group of such objects can be selected using the function "Select". If you then press the key on the keyboard "Del" or "Delete", then the entire objects will be deleted. But if you choose a special tool, you can erase only specific pieces of a figure or image. This function works similar to the eraser principle in Photoshop.

That’s actually all the basic techniques that we would like to talk about in this material. By combining them with each other, you can create vector images. Of course, Inkscape has many other useful features in its arsenal. But in order to use them, you must already have deeper knowledge. Remember that you can ask your question in the comments to this article at any time. And if, after reading the article, you have doubts about the need for this editor, then we suggest that you familiarize yourself with its analogues. Among them you will find not only vector editors, but also raster ones.