I am trying to "clip" out text from a pretty complex path (a topographical map path). I can "clip" in this process just fine, but I am importing into Lightburn who doesn't like it. So I am trying a different approach by using Path-> Difference.
It's turning my layer into a picasso painting when I run it though seemingly because it is trying to connect the ends of the paths to each other. Is there a way to run "Path -> Differences" without adding any new lines? I just want to cut/extract one path from another with zero additions. Perhaps I am missing a basic rule here :)
I'm attaching the whole file because it seems like if I delete anything in it, the map path seems to get messed up. It seems like something re-calculates and all of the paths get warpped.
The two layers to look for are "Big Text" and "Map".
After resolving the Path effect=Offset on the map and some cleaning up incl the big text and using Path Ops (a multi operational Boolean tool add-on) on a Path->Break Apart on the map I can´t get any closer than this here:
(No matter what SVG editor I use BTW. That centerline traced map isn´t the best solution in the world I guess.)
As Polygon demonstrated, the boolean operations produce closed shapes except for [Path > Cut Path]. With that in mind, here's a possible workflow.
First a little housekeeping.
Remove the Offset path effect from the contour map (label: "Map") [File > Clean Up Document]
And now the main course.
Select "Big Text" and duplicate it ("Big Text 2") Select "Big Text 2" and "Map" then [Path > Cut Path]
Now the tedious bit.
Select "Big Text" and "Text Outlines", set opacity to 50% and lock them Use [Alt+click+drag] or [[shift+click+drag] to select any paths underlying "Big Text" and delete them
Manually selecting these paths is slow. It would be nice to select all the shapes enclosed by a selected shape (i.e. select all the contour fragments under "Big Text"). This seems like a minor addition to the upcoming Lasso Select tool. https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/issues/3813. I may submit a feature request.
Use [View > Display Mode > Outline] to see that the contours have been deleted below.
This brain is leaky. Sometimes I forget my own advice and I need to trawl through the mental sediment for nuggets of wisdom.
That's how I came back here, but then, out of curiosity, I entered the map coordinates (39.616653,-106.14252). This transported me to Buffalo Mountain in Colorado, not Ryan Mountain in Joshua Tree National Park.
I'm sure those coasters can still protect your tables.
Beyond the Basics Path -> Difference without adding new lines/nodes?
Inkscape.org
Hey all!
I am trying to "clip" out text from a pretty complex path (a topographical map path). I can "clip" in this process just fine, but I am importing into Lightburn who doesn't like it. So I am trying a different approach by using Path-> Difference.
It's turning my layer into a picasso painting when I run it though seemingly because it is trying to connect the ends of the paths to each other. Is there a way to run "Path -> Differences" without adding any new lines? I just want to cut/extract one path from another with zero additions. Perhaps I am missing a basic rule here :)
Before Path -> Difference. Green text on top, blue path on bottom: https://i.imgur.com/k9MNPFg.png
After. The difference did work, but the path got mangled hard: https://i.imgur.com/jSj0ciW.png
Can you upload the Inkscape file please for an "inspection"?
I'm attaching the whole file because it seems like if I delete anything in it, the map path seems to get messed up. It seems like something re-calculates and all of the paths get warpped.
The two layers to look for are "Big Text" and "Map".
After resolving the Path effect=Offset on the map and some cleaning up incl the big text and using Path Ops (a multi operational Boolean tool add-on) on a Path->Break Apart on the map I can´t get any closer than this here:
(No matter what SVG editor I use BTW. That centerline traced map isn´t the best solution in the world I guess.)
As Polygon demonstrated, the boolean operations produce closed shapes except for [Path > Cut Path]. With that in mind, here's a possible workflow.
First a little housekeeping.
Remove the Offset path effect from the contour map (label: "Map")
[File > Clean Up Document]
And now the main course.
Select "Big Text" and duplicate it ("Big Text 2")
Select "Big Text 2" and "Map" then [Path > Cut Path]
Now the tedious bit.
Select "Big Text" and "Text Outlines", set opacity to 50% and lock them
Use [Alt+click+drag] or [[shift+click+drag] to select any paths underlying "Big Text" and delete them
Manually selecting these paths is slow. It would be nice to select all the shapes enclosed by a selected shape (i.e. select all the contour fragments under "Big Text"). This seems like a minor addition to the upcoming Lasso Select tool. https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/issues/3813. I may submit a feature request.
Use [View > Display Mode > Outline] to see that the contours have been deleted below.
Paddy, that did it!
I did a very similar process in Lightburn manually but I am glad I got the "source" material to a good spot too.
Here is a picture of the final(ish) project. Thanks all so much for the help!
Glad I could help. That's a nice piece of work. Laser engraved on slate?
Yup, just a stock-ish K40 C02 laser on some cheap Amazon coasters!
Nice.
This brain is leaky. Sometimes I forget my own advice and I need to trawl through the mental sediment for nuggets of wisdom.
That's how I came back here, but then, out of curiosity, I entered the map coordinates (39.616653,-106.14252). This transported me to Buffalo Mountain in Colorado, not Ryan Mountain in Joshua Tree National Park.
I'm sure those coasters can still protect your tables.