I have been trying, with little success, to break apart an image to laser ingrave with vaneer. I have no problem creating a raster image but cant break apart the leaves,stem and pedals. Can it even be done?
If it's a raster image, there's not much Inkscape can do with it. That's because Inkscape is a vector graphics editor.
You could convert the raster image to vector, and then you could break it up into different pieces. Although for that particular image, it would be fairly labor intensive.
In general, you can either auto-trace or trace "by hand" using Inkscape's Pen/Bezier tool. For auto trace, Inkscape has Path menu > Trace Bitmap. However, it doesn't work very well for line drawings like that. For line drawings you could try the Centerline Trace extension: https://github.com/fablabnbg/inkscape-centerline-trace (how to install: https://inkscape.org/learn/faq/#how-install-new-extensions-palettes-document-templates-symbol-sets-icon-sets-etc) . Personally, I would probably trace by hand with Pen tool. But that would have a learning curve, if you haven't used Inkscape before. I can give you a tutorial, if you want to learn. But even for someone with a lot of experience, that would probably take me an hour or 2 to hand trace.
It would probably be both easier and faster to search out a similar image that's already in a vector format.
If it's raster, and it sounds like it is, I personally suggest using something like GIMP, which deals with raster and cutting up objects much better, and is also free and open source for you to use.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm starting to understand the differances now. Looks like I should start looking for vector images to use with inkscape. I will give GIMP a try tho.
Beginners' Questions break apart question
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I have been trying, with little success, to break apart an image to laser ingrave with vaneer. I have no problem creating a raster image but cant break apart the leaves,stem and pedals. Can it even be done?
Hard to say, depends on the structure of the file. Is the image a vector image? What does it say in the status line when you select it in Inkscape?
Welcome to the forum!
If it's a raster image, there's not much Inkscape can do with it. That's because Inkscape is a vector graphics editor.
You could convert the raster image to vector, and then you could break it up into different pieces. Although for that particular image, it would be fairly labor intensive.
In general, you can either auto-trace or trace "by hand" using Inkscape's Pen/Bezier tool. For auto trace, Inkscape has Path menu > Trace Bitmap. However, it doesn't work very well for line drawings like that. For line drawings you could try the Centerline Trace extension: https://github.com/fablabnbg/inkscape-centerline-trace (how to install: https://inkscape.org/learn/faq/#how-install-new-extensions-palettes-document-templates-symbol-sets-icon-sets-etc) . Personally, I would probably trace by hand with Pen tool. But that would have a learning curve, if you haven't used Inkscape before. I can give you a tutorial, if you want to learn. But even for someone with a lot of experience, that would probably take me an hour or 2 to hand trace.
It would probably be both easier and faster to search out a similar image that's already in a vector format.
If it's raster, and it sounds like it is, I personally suggest using something like GIMP, which deals with raster and cutting up objects much better, and is also free and open source for you to use.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm starting to understand the differances now. Looks like I should start looking for vector images to use with inkscape. I will give GIMP a try tho.
thanks again for your help