I'd like to create laser cut design for parts of trains.

I got some old scanned drawings.

Can I download them and use them as background for my design?

I think of drawing over them the lines for laser cut with the requested colo(u)rs: Red for "cut", Black for "burn".

Another question: how reduce the imorted drawing to the target dimensions. I mean if my base drawing is for instance 150 mm long and I want it to be only 100 mm, how shoud I proceed?

I hope my english - not my mother tongue - is clear enough.

Thanks in advance,

Best regards,

Welcome to the forum!

Yes, you can import the scanned images.  And yes, you can draw over them.  You can draw them at any size, and later change their size.

To import:  File menu > Import

To draw:  Use the Pen/Bezier tool http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Paths-Creating.html#Paths-Bezier  And use the Node tool to fine tune it after drawing  http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Paths-Editing.html#Paths-Editing-Node    

To change the size:  Use the Selection tool (look on the control bar, which is the first bar above the horizontal ruler, look for W and H to change the sizes).

I recommend Help menu > Tutorials > Basic, Shapes, and Advanced (don't worry, it's not really advanced, it's really basic info).  There are several other tutorials there, but those 3 are the best ones for getting beginners started.

Hello Brynn,

Thanks a lot for your fast and very efficient informations.

I have studied the Tuturials. They are very clear, and believe me I've seen a lot in my life.

Importing two types of drawings as models was very easy.

Redemensionning is working well as you adviced me. Great!

I managed to draw a part of a vehicle (the one I used as logo).

Anyway I still have a question on the way to process. What I started to do is:

- Import the base drawing in Layer 1 (I guess the French "Calque" is called "Layer"), renamed "1- Base"

- Create a Layer 2 for my design, renamed "2 - Target" over the Layer 1

- When Layer, 2 the target, is over then suppress the useless Layer 1

Is it a good practrice?

An extra question: is there a kind of rubber to suppress part of a drawing or is this managed by "nodes"?

Thanks again,

Kind regards,

Didier

It sounds like you have a good plan working there.  One tip:  You can lock the layer with the imported image, so that you don't accidentally move it.  It's always a nightmare trying to get it re-aligned.  You can also reduce the opacity, if it's helpful to see what you're doing.  You can do both from Layer menu > Layers dialog.  Tiny lock icon to lock it.  The Opacity slider at the bottom to reduce opacity.

When you say "suppress part of the drawing" or "suppress the useless Layer", you mean erase or delete, right?

While you could use the Eraser tool (it does look like a rubber eraser), it's more proper with vector graphics to edit the nodes.  Personally, the Eraser tool does not work very well for me.  I suspect there may be a bug, at least on Windows.  I've heard that Linux users don't have difficulty with it.  But for me on Windows, it just doesn't work sometimes.

A good tutorial for "node editing" is something we need in the community.  I hope someone can make one pretty soon.  But we can explain the basics, if you have trouble sorting it out.

And there are also some tricks you could use.  I call them tricks, in my usual not-so-technical way.  What I mean is path operations - where you can more or less substract parts in a very precise way (Difference).  Sometimes that's a better way.  So much depends on the specific situation.

Hello Brynn,

Thanks for your reply.

About Delete and Erase: What I'd like to do is Delete the Layer 1 which is a just a template for, that I copy and frequently simplify. It also carries measures that are very helpfull to dimension the canevas to the proper size.When the design is over it should be deleted. This Template should be like a background or paperwall, ideally it should be protected from any change after it has been set to the proper size.

Sometimes sarting from layer 2 (the target design) I drag a form and when I arrive in the canvas, I land on layer 1 which shoud be read only!

Aboute Erase, yes I want to erase some segments.

Typical case: I draw a rectangle with red borders but in fact 3 sides should be red (cut for the laser) and the 4th black (burn).

I thought of erasing the wrong one to recreate it in the right colour.

The erase button is even worse, because it doesnt'only erase nothing, but it does add an extra path.

There is definitively a bug, at least with MS Windows.

I used the Nodes methods to correct segments of lines, but I couldn't use it with rectangle nor ellipse.

Kind regards,

Didier

AAhh, ok.

To make Layer 1 "read only" you can lock it, as I described.

Yes, it can be tricky using layers sometimes.  I find it most convenient to leave the Layers dialog open (in the dock).  Then before I start drawing or editing, I click on Layer 2, to make sure it's active.  If Layer 1 is active, you'll start drawing there (although if it's locked, you won't be able to draw on it).

If you have something in  Layer 2, and you drag it somewhere, it will stay in Layer 2.  Well, unless you're using drag and drop from another file.  If it's coming from another file, be sure to activate Layer 2 first, so it will be waiting when you bring in the new object.

When you're finished with the imported image in Layer 1, you could unlock the layer and delete the image.  Or you could delete the whole layer, if nothing else is in it.

Regarding the partly red rectangle.  In Inkscape, a single object (unless it is a group) can only have one style.  ("Style" includes things like color, opacity, stroke, and several other things.)  So the rectangle can't have 2 colors for the stroke, since it only has one stroke.  What you need to do is have 2 objects -- one path which is 3 sides of the rectangle, and other path is the 4th side.  They would technically be separate paths  Here's how you can do that (in case you haven't already figured it out).

• draw the rectangle
• Path menu > Object to Path
• switch to the Node tool
• select the 2 nodes which create the 4th side
• on the control bar, click the button which says "Break path at selected nodes"  (you've probably noticed that if you hover your mouse over most buttons, some little bit of text appears - I often rely more on that text, since the buttons are sometimes so small)
• Path menu > Break Apart

Now you will have 2 separate paths.  They still look like  a rectangle, but since they are separate objects, now you can give them different stroke colors.

For an ellipse, you could use the same process -- convert it to a path and edit with the Node tool.  However, the Ellipse tool has some really cool features, if you need arcs or wedges (like a slice of pie) you can do that before you convert to path.

• draw the Ellipse
• notice it has some handles (2 squares and 1 circle)
• grab the circle with the mouse and drag a little -- !! -- see what happens!
• now on the control bar, you can set specific degrees, if that's what you need
• or you can just drag and "eyeball it" (If you keep the mouse inside the ellipse as you drag, it makes arcs.  If you keep the mouse outside, it makes the wedges or a closed pie wedge path.

Or as I mentioned before, you could use another object to subract or cut the path in a precise place which matches some other object in the file - if that's what is needed.  Just to let you know what's possible.

Did I answer all your questions?  I might have misunderstood something, I'm not sure.

Hello Brynn,

Thanks a lot. All you described works well. Took me some time to understand the way the Node Tool works. For the comprehension of all the tool wich suppress a segment beetwen two nodes is the seventh on startinf from the left.

Yes you did answer and well to my questions.

Two little questions if youd don't mind about preferences:

- Is there a way to state that you always work with a grid?

- and that you want the canevas in page width?

Kind regards,

Ok, it seems you missed the first part of my instructions.  The button I directed you to would be the 4th from the left.  What it sounds like you did was to delete the 4th side of the rectangle, and draw a new line there.  But if you follow the steps, you would not have to draw a new line.  You would be disconnecting the 4th side, but leaving it in place.

I don't think there is a way to tell Inkscape to always use a grid.  But once you enable a grid, it won't go away unless you tell it to.  Well, for a particular file.

If you want to have a grid showing when you first open Inkscape, you'll need to make a custom default template.  This tutorial explains how:  http://libregraphicsworld.org/blog/entry/using-templates-in-inkscape

I'm not sure if I understand your 2nd question.  If you're asking how to make Inkscape always open with a certain page size (width and height), you can do that with a custom template as well.

Hello Brynn,

Yes I missed part of your instructions. Tha way I did works but it is much more complicate than what you adviced. This 4th button gives a good solution to my issue.

For the template, I think I got it, I will try later.

The design is progressing well and so far I am ver satisfied with my learning curve.

Thanks a lot for your excellent support. You did undertood perfectly my requests and this is the key for an efficient support.

Kind regards,

Didier

You're welcome.

It won't be long before you find it's fun, instead of a burden to learn.  Happy vectoring!