I'm trying to create some "stick" figures for my grand-kids, and want to make them look a bit "hand drawn".
After some searching and testing, I found that Filters>Distort>Roughen seems to do exactly what I'd like, except that it tends to cut off part of lines, and doesn't work for Vertical or Horizontal Lines:
As this is a new area for me, in Inkscape, any suggestions would be welcome. 😕
Filters confound me, but I think I can offer an explanation.
Filters move pixels around and any pixels that fall outside the bounding box of the original shape are not rendered. Most filters automatically expand the rendering area to account for this. You can see this in the Filter Editor > Filter General Settings were there's a check box for Automatic Region. It seems that the automatic settings in the Roughen filter don't work for your stick man. Maybe on a much larger image the lost pixels would be imperceptible.
Turn off Automatic Region and expand the region to render more edge pixels. The following settings seem to work.
Hi guys, I tried both suggestions. My version of Inkscape - 1.0.2-2 (e86c870879, 2021-01-15) doesn't have the checkbox for `Automatic Region`, but I did try the settings. They were (by default?) set to -0.10 x -0.10 and 1.20 X 1.20. Changing the settings didn't appear to make any difference.
However, using Path>Combine first and then applying the Filter did the trick! Now to think up some (hopefully) funny story lines to create a comic for the kids. 🙂
I saw a demo shows we can adjust the region with the node-tool in an upcoming version.
Not an upcoming version; it's been there since v1.0, I think.
In 1.0 switching to the Node tool would show the adjustment handles on the canvas. The key word there is "switching" - I've found that if the Node tool is already active when you apply the filter, the handles don't appear. Just switch to the Selection tool and then back to the Node tool to make them appear.
In v1.1, however, we got the "Automatic Region" checkbox in the filter editor. If this is enabled then the on-canvas handles don't appear, even with the Node tool selected. If you want to use them you'll need to de-select the checkbox, then switch to the Node tool (which may mean switching to the Selection tool first), and you should see a couple of X-shaped handles for adjusting the filter region.
It does, but I would prefer them to still be present all the time, such that manipulating them has the effect of turning off the automatic option and setting the values.
As it stands, if you do need to manually change the filter region it's a multi-step procedure to open the filter editor, switch to the correct tab, turn off the automatic option, then switch tools (possibly twice) in order to get to the handles. If the handles were always present then the region could be manipulated without all those extra steps, and a shift-click on one of the handles could be used to re-enable the automatic mode (in the same way that a shift-click on the rotation centre resets its position).
But if you want to manipulate the filter region just after calling a preset (without the filter editor) I guess we need either a modifier key in conjunction with the node tool, a filter region adjustment mode like we have for masks and Clipping paths or a specialized tool for the tool bar.
Well that's pretty much my point. If the handles were always* present when the Node tool is active for a filtered object, then there would be no need to open the filter editor to display them. Any time a filter is applied, either via a preset or by using the filters dialog, I'd like to see the region handles appear. By default the "automatic" option would be enabled, but as soon as you move one of the handles that option would be switched off and the manually adjusted values used instead. Shift-clicking the handle would re-enable the automatic mode. No need to go into the filter dialog just to adjust the filter region.
Having them hidden when the automatic mode is enabled makes sense, as you noted - but means that turning them on is not very discoverable, and therefore makes for a bad UI. Never hiding them would make for a better UI, in my opinion.
* Possibly, as you suggest, with a toggle in the Node tool controls to allow the handles to be shown or hidden in the same way as some of the other Node tool views.
Having them hidden when the automatic mode is enabled makes sense, as you noted - but means that turning them on is not very discoverable, and therefore makes for a bad UI. Never hiding them would make for a better UI, in my opinion.
Not worse than the previously implemented options.
Not worse than the previously implemented options.
I think you're misunderstanding me. I'm saying that they should be visible by default, and that there should be a button in the toolbar to toggle them on/off, as with the existing options. What I consider to be bad UI is the current implementation that requires the user to know that they have to dig down to toggle a checkbox in a dialog in order show/hide them. That's not at all discoverable (I only found it by accident while trying to work out why the handles had disappeared in v1.1 for my article in Full Circle Magazine).
I didn't end up using the Roughen filter. The result is a kind of strange object... it's "envelope" (?) is quite a bit larger, but sometimes the actual image is smaller; it you move/resize the object it changes the image... and I found it difficult to get consistent results. May be my lack of experience though.
I'm trying to create some "stick" figures for my grand-kids, and want to make them look a bit "hand drawn".
After some searching and testing, I found that Filters>Distort>Roughen seems to do exactly what I'd like, except that it tends to cut off part of lines, and doesn't work for Vertical or Horizontal Lines:
As this is a new area for me, in Inkscape, any suggestions would be welcome. 😕
Inkscape´s filter region is sometimes too tight and you need to open the filter editor and manipulate it manually - very tedious process.
Why not combining the strokes before applying the filter?
Left head is corrected - right is roughen filter on the combined path:
Filters confound me, but I think I can offer an explanation.
Filters move pixels around and any pixels that fall outside the bounding box of the original shape are not rendered. Most filters automatically expand the rendering area to account for this. You can see this in the Filter Editor > Filter General Settings were there's a check box for Automatic Region. It seems that the automatic settings in the Roughen filter don't work for your stick man. Maybe on a much larger image the lost pixels would be imperceptible.
Turn off Automatic Region and expand the region to render more edge pixels. The following settings seem to work.
I saw a demo shows we can adjust the region with the node-tool in an upcoming version. That will come in handy.
Thanks @Polygon and @Paddy_CAD . I'll try combining the strokes, and fiddle with the Filter Settings.
Hi guys, I tried both suggestions. My version of Inkscape - 1.0.2-2 (e86c870879, 2021-01-15) doesn't have the checkbox for `Automatic Region`, but I did try the settings. They were (by default?) set to -0.10 x -0.10 and 1.20 X 1.20. Changing the settings didn't appear to make any difference.
However, using Path>Combine first and then applying the Filter did the trick! Now to think up some (hopefully) funny story lines to create a comic for the kids. 🙂
You still have access to the "bone"-structure via the Node-tool.
Not an upcoming version; it's been there since v1.0, I think.
In 1.0 switching to the Node tool would show the adjustment handles on the canvas. The key word there is "switching" - I've found that if the Node tool is already active when you apply the filter, the handles don't appear. Just switch to the Selection tool and then back to the Node tool to make them appear.
In v1.1, however, we got the "Automatic Region" checkbox in the filter editor. If this is enabled then the on-canvas handles don't appear, even with the Node tool selected. If you want to use them you'll need to de-select the checkbox, then switch to the Node tool (which may mean switching to the Selection tool first), and you should see a couple of X-shaped handles for adjusting the filter region.
It will just appear when "Automatic Region" is disabled - makes sense.
It does, but I would prefer them to still be present all the time, such that manipulating them has the effect of turning off the automatic option and setting the values.
As it stands, if you do need to manually change the filter region it's a multi-step procedure to open the filter editor, switch to the correct tab, turn off the automatic option, then switch tools (possibly twice) in order to get to the handles. If the handles were always present then the region could be manipulated without all those extra steps, and a shift-click on one of the handles could be used to re-enable the automatic mode (in the same way that a shift-click on the rotation centre resets its position).
But if you want to manipulate the filter region just after calling a preset (without the filter editor) I guess we need either a modifier key in conjunction with the node tool, a filter region adjustment mode like we have for masks and Clipping paths or a specialized tool for the tool bar.
Well that's pretty much my point. If the handles were always* present when the Node tool is active for a filtered object, then there would be no need to open the filter editor to display them. Any time a filter is applied, either via a preset or by using the filters dialog, I'd like to see the region handles appear. By default the "automatic" option would be enabled, but as soon as you move one of the handles that option would be switched off and the manually adjusted values used instead. Shift-clicking the handle would re-enable the automatic mode. No need to go into the filter dialog just to adjust the filter region.
Having them hidden when the automatic mode is enabled makes sense, as you noted - but means that turning them on is not very discoverable, and therefore makes for a bad UI. Never hiding them would make for a better UI, in my opinion.
* Possibly, as you suggest, with a toggle in the Node tool controls to allow the handles to be shown or hidden in the same way as some of the other Node tool views.
Not worse than the previously implemented options.
I might go with a pencil and high level of smoothing.
This way keeps the paths simple and easy to modify.
I think you're misunderstanding me. I'm saying that they should be visible by default, and that there should be a button in the toolbar to toggle them on/off, as with the existing options. What I consider to be bad UI is the current implementation that requires the user to know that they have to dig down to toggle a checkbox in a dialog in order show/hide them. That's not at all discoverable (I only found it by accident while trying to work out why the handles had disappeared in v1.1 for my article in Full Circle Magazine).
Understood. ;-)
The things I do during a Lock Down! 😄
I find the roughen LPE works better (=easier to manage) than the filter. Maybe this can help?
I didn't end up using the Roughen filter. The result is a kind of strange object... it's "envelope" (?) is quite a bit larger, but sometimes the actual image is smaller; it you move/resize the object it changes the image... and I found it difficult to get consistent results. May be my lack of experience though.
What is the Roughen LPE ?
Path->Path Effects…->Roughen
Thank you, I'll have a look at that. Didn't know there were all these Path Effects, as well as Filters!