Within 5 minutes of starting to use Inkscape I was stuck. It did work to start with - I managed to draw a rectangle, then I explored a few options. But after a very short time of doing whatever I now don't know what, I was unable to draw a rectangle, or anything. The toolbar shows any tool I click as active but then if I click and drag no handles appear and nothing is drawn.
PS a day later. I have just tried again, I have only one layer. I did manage to create a new box inside an existing box but can't repeat that consistently. Selecting a box still works and I can move a box within a box but not outside it.
I created a new document and that seems to be working OK but the original document is still non-functional.
I would like to know what it was I did that stopped the first one working in case it happens again and I lose everything I will have done.
Have you locked the layer by mistake? Take a look on the layers panel for a little padlock to the left of the layer name. Clicking it locks/unlocks the layer.
Strongly recommend you work through a few tutorials to get a hang of basics. You can access some via the Help menu.
The layers were unlocked, so it wasn't that, but it is something to do with layers.
I will go through the tutorials - when one first starts with something one wants to click a few buttons just to see if it's going to do anything like what you are looking for.
You're welcome to share an SVG file showing the problem and we can take a look. But yes, I suspect if you go through a few tutorials, you'll figure out what's wrong on your own. :)
Well, I have watched a couple of videos and looked at the manual. But I am still stumped. A different Inkscape.svg that I created seems to work as I expected, but not the one I had a problem with.
As you so kindly offered, can you take a look and see what the problem is for me please.
I think it's your snap settings. In Document Properties, you have everything set to 'always snap'. This severely inhibits movement of objects. I was able to create a new rectangle on top of the yellow one, but it didn't show until I dragged near the corners of the existing rectangle, and it resisted moving unless it was near a corner of the the yellow shape.
Try turning off snapping temporarily and see if that fixes your problem. You can do this via the toolbar on the right hand side (assuming you've got the default toolbar setup). Click the top icon (enable snapping) to 'off' and see if that solves the problem
Must admit, I've never set snapping properties within Document Properties. I always use the tools down the right hand side. If you turn on all the snapping options, it becomes difficult to use Inkscape, as everything is trying to snap to everything! If snapping is your issue, turn on the tools selectively to find what works for you. Snap to cusp nodes, or snap to grid may be all you need.
Thank you so much. I knew it would have been something that I did while I was just clicking around experimenting. I would never have found out what it was in a month of Sundays without your help. I couldn't leave it until I knew what was causing it in case it started again, haha.
Lots more to experiment with now that I am past that hurdle. I'll see if I can get my mind around the detail of some of the snapping options next.
Beginners' Questions total beginner - the tools stopped working
Inkscape.org
Within 5 minutes of starting to use Inkscape I was stuck. It did work to start with - I managed to draw a rectangle, then I explored a few options. But after a very short time of doing whatever I now don't know what, I was unable to draw a rectangle, or anything. The toolbar shows any tool I click as active but then if I click and drag no handles appear and nothing is drawn.
PS a day later. I have just tried again, I have only one layer. I did manage to create a new box inside an existing box but can't repeat that consistently. Selecting a box still works and I can move a box within a box but not outside it.
I created a new document and that seems to be working OK but the original document is still non-functional.
I would like to know what it was I did that stopped the first one working in case it happens again and I lose everything I will have done.
Tony
Have you locked the layer by mistake? Take a look on the layers panel for a little padlock to the left of the layer name. Clicking it locks/unlocks the layer.
Strongly recommend you work through a few tutorials to get a hang of basics. You can access some via the Help menu.
The layers were unlocked, so it wasn't that, but it is something to do with layers.
I will go through the tutorials - when one first starts with something one wants to click a few buttons just to see if it's going to do anything like what you are looking for.
Thanks for you help.
Tony
You're welcome to share an SVG file showing the problem and we can take a look. But yes, I suspect if you go through a few tutorials, you'll figure out what's wrong on your own. :)
Well, I have watched a couple of videos and looked at the manual. But I am still stumped. A different Inkscape.svg that I created seems to work as I expected, but not the one I had a problem with.
As you so kindly offered, can you take a look and see what the problem is for me please.
Tony
I think it's your snap settings. In Document Properties, you have everything set to 'always snap'. This severely inhibits movement of objects. I was able to create a new rectangle on top of the yellow one, but it didn't show until I dragged near the corners of the existing rectangle, and it resisted moving unless it was near a corner of the the yellow shape.
Try turning off snapping temporarily and see if that fixes your problem. You can do this via the toolbar on the right hand side (assuming you've got the default toolbar setup). Click the top icon (enable snapping) to 'off' and see if that solves the problem
Must admit, I've never set snapping properties within Document Properties. I always use the tools down the right hand side. If you turn on all the snapping options, it becomes difficult to use Inkscape, as everything is trying to snap to everything! If snapping is your issue, turn on the tools selectively to find what works for you. Snap to cusp nodes, or snap to grid may be all you need.
Thank you so much. I knew it would have been something that I did while I was just clicking around experimenting. I would never have found out what it was in a month of Sundays without your help. I couldn't leave it until I knew what was causing it in case it started again, haha.
Lots more to experiment with now that I am past that hurdle. I'll see if I can get my mind around the detail of some of the snapping options next.
Tony
Glad to hear that fixed your problem. :D