Hello! I have dabbled with Inkscape a few times over the years, but am now trying to immerse myself working in it. I'm on the current v1.2 appimage running KDE neon.
My projects involve a combination of graphical elements to print (shapes, text, etc) as well as material guides (folds, hole drilling, etc).
When I try to create or move objects, its coordinates are always defined relative to its top-left edge. I need to be able to set the coordinates to refer to the center of the object, and I can't figure out how to do so.
For example, if I create a drill mark that's 0.25", and I need to move it to exactly X = 2.75" Y =5", then only the corner of my object is placed there, rather than its center. Meaning that for every object I place, I need to calculate its radius and manually subtract that from the XY coordinates. So my drill mark above would be X = 2.625 Y = 4.875. It's not very intuitive to do that math for everything.
Searching online for a couple of days, all of the advice I encounter is about the object Align and Distribute menu, but I can't for the life of me get it to do what I need, it seems to only deal in relative rather than absolute positions. How do I get the X-Y coordinates to place objects by their centers?
There are many ways to tackle this. I suggest exploring the Align and Distribute dialog [shift +ctrl+a] and the snapping functions (under the magnet icon, top right corner of the toolbar).
Beginners' Questions How to define center point of objects?
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Hello! I have dabbled with Inkscape a few times over the years, but am now trying to immerse myself working in it. I'm on the current v1.2 appimage running KDE neon.
My projects involve a combination of graphical elements to print (shapes, text, etc) as well as material guides (folds, hole drilling, etc).
When I try to create or move objects, its coordinates are always defined relative to its top-left edge. I need to be able to set the coordinates to refer to the center of the object, and I can't figure out how to do so.
For example, if I create a drill mark that's 0.25", and I need to move it to exactly X = 2.75" Y =5", then only the corner of my object is placed there, rather than its center. Meaning that for every object I place, I need to calculate its radius and manually subtract that from the XY coordinates. So my drill mark above would be X = 2.625 Y = 4.875. It's not very intuitive to do that math for everything.
Searching online for a couple of days, all of the advice I encounter is about the object Align and Distribute menu, but I can't for the life of me get it to do what I need, it seems to only deal in relative rather than absolute positions. How do I get the X-Y coordinates to place objects by their centers?
Hi.
Perhaps this link about creating a guide line will help. See last entry posted.
https://alpha.inkscape.org/vectors/www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopic7cfc.html?t=30792
Also see this link - various replies:
https://alpha.inkscape.org/vectors/www.inkscapeforum.com/viewtopic97d4.html?t=21832
Thanks for those links! Certainly suggests some approaches I haven't tried.
There are many ways to tackle this. I suggest exploring the Align and Distribute dialog [shift +ctrl+a] and the snapping functions (under the magnet icon, top right corner of the toolbar).
Also if you progress to using non symmetrical shapes. Wiggly paths etc.
One of the extensions bundled with Inkscape
Extensions>Visualise path>Measure pathHas the option to mark centre of mass of the object, and you can snap the rotation centre to it :)
1. Select object with Select tool (S)
2. click a second time to get into rotation mode - select rotational center point: faint cross-lines appear
3. type in placement values at toolbar in X: and Y:= will move object by it´s center point to the location