Hi gang!

I've been struggling to find a function in Inkscape to split shapes overlapping into multiples shapes.

In my attachment, I'm trying to go from STEP1 to STEP2. So far the only way i know how to do it is to use the Intersection and the Exclusion tools, but it's really not efficient. 

Is there a better way to do it in one click? Would it work with a group of shapes as well?

Thanks a lot!

Sophia

Not with one click, but two keystrokes will give you the intersection of two or more selected shapes. [ctrl+d] [shift+ctrl+8]

Now you want to subtract this from all the parent shapes simultaneously. Luckily there's an extension for that.

https://gitlab.com/moini_ink/inx-pathops

Download from Gitlab or use [Extensions > Manage Extensions...] [Install Packages] and search for "bool".

Select all the parent shapes with the intersection shape on top.
[Extensions > Boolean Operations > Pathops Custom...]
[Path operation: Division] [Keep top element: Yes] [Apply]

Thank you so much for your reply. I'm unfortunately still stuck

1. the shortcut [shift+ctrl+8] doesn't seem to work, or its MacOS equivalent (I'm on MacOs)
   I've double check the online doc, and I can't find it (https://inkscape.org/doc/keys-1.2.x.html). Am I missing something? What is the name of the function?
2. No problem to install the plugin, Though, I get the following error message. Doesn't seem dramatic, but when I try to access the "PathOps Custom", nothing happens :/. I've the latest version of GTK installed.

Any more advice? 
Thank you very much!

<frozen importlib._bootstrap>:671: ImportWarning: DynamicImporter.exec_module() not found; falling back to load_module()
<frozen importlib._bootstrap>:671: ImportWarning: DynamicImporter.exec_module() not found; falling back to load_module()

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.657: Error loading theme icon 'view-refresh' for stock: Icon 'view-refresh' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.657: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.659: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-warning' for stock: Icon 'dialog-warning' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.712: Error loading theme icon 'view-refresh' for stock: Icon 'view-refresh' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.712: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.713: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-warning' for stock: Icon 'dialog-warning' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.801: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.802: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-warning' for stock: Icon 'dialog-warning' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.821: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.839: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.857: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.874: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.891: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.909: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.927: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.944: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.962: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.980: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:00.997: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:10.488: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:10.506: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:10.530: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:10.553: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:10.586: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:10.624: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:10.665: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

(manage_extensions.py:65294): Gtk-WARNING **: 10:10:10.701: Error loading theme icon 'dialog-information' for stock: Icon 'dialog-information' not present in theme Adwaita

I'd try using Preferences>Interface>Theming>  Set icon theme to "Use system icons".  Worth a try.

Good call! I've changed the theme, and the plugin is now displayed correctly.
Still trying to master it. Will keep you posted.

Thank you

Here's one way:

The Boolean Extension "pathops" isn´t necessary in this case - just "Combine" the stars + rectangle at bottom - then Path->Division.

Perfect, very helpful!

I've succeeded to split my shapes as I wanted to.

Thank you all for your time and replies 😘