Hi,

I've designed a rubber stamp in Inkscape for a cookie stamp but to cut the stamp on the laser I need to:

(1) invert the image (1st picture) - currently the design drawn in black will get engraved (material removed) from the rubber and the red background will be left full thickness, whereas I want the red background to be engraved away leaving the black design raised so it is stamped into the cookie. The design is a vector design (all paths) so I assumed I would select the background and design and use OBJECT>CLIP>SET CLIP to remove the black design from the background. However, this appears to work the wrong way around as I am left with the design in red (2nd picture). So, I naturally thought that OBJECT>CLIP>SET INVERSE CLIP would be the way to go - this does appear to clip the design from the background, but it is corrupting the design first by enlarging, rotating and shifting it (3rd picture). Is this a bug in Inkscape?

What I'm trying to achieve is what is in the 4th picture (I've just faked this one!)

(2) I need to mirror the design so it stamps the right way around - THIS I know how to do! 😃

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

I don´t get why you don´t use Path->Difference instead; given the red part should be proud and the design recessed to make the design proud in the cookie.

Here´s a look from the stamping/underside without backplate when I understand it right:

Hi Polygon,

Thanks for responding. I am fairly new to Inkscape having come from a 3D CAD (SolidWorks) background, so I'm still finding my way around some of the functions.

I did explore Path>Difference but could only make this work with the red background plus a single path from the design, which is made of multiple paths - if I tried to select multiple paths it was greyed out. I'm sure I just haven't found the right procedure yet.

That aside, this is actually the reverse of what i need for the cookie stamp where the design should be raised and the red part engraved back. If it were the other way I could actually load the SVG as I've drawn it directly into the software for our Glowforge, but this way round the cookie dough would not fill up into the fine detailed cuts of the design, but work better pressed into the dough.

I'm really puzzled by what is happening with the OBJECT>CLIP>SET INVERSE CLIP which looks like a bug to me?

Thanks,

Hugh

All the paths from the motive need to be Path->Combine/d. Then use it with the Circle underneath and go Path->Difference.

Thanks Polygon, I've tried that out and understand the process now and I've made it work - another feature learned! I've now successfully cut the first cookie stamp and just need to play around with laser settings. Thanks a lot for your help 👍