Fill & Stroke in Inkspace

[Insane Dust Maker]

Hi all I need some help please, my eyes are not so good, so I cut with a pair of readers and use an illuminated magnifying glass. A friend of mine prepared a pdf pattern for before our relocation where the Infill was 50% gray and the Stroke was Black .5 thickness ( I like using Red but I don’t have a A3 printer so Ineed to have my pattern printed at the print shop, the problem I have is as soon as you tell them it’s twovolorthe charge you the color price which is three times more expensive than BW.

So now on the Inkspace user forums they said I must do the following:

1) Import your pattern into Inkspace, then highlight the pattern and save as a plain svg.

2) Then import your newly saved pattern (svg) highlight the pattern and select path then trace bitmap - Nothing happens.

3) Tried setting to infill to 50% gray - did not work

4) Tried setting stroke to black .5 - did not work

So I figured that I have this whole all messed up, can some one please help me fix this it’s very important to help me and my failing eye sight.

 

 

 

 

 

[preprius]

when you "trace>bitmap" it puts a copy over the original.  You can move one of them aside to make sure there is 2.  When hilighted an "object property" will indicate a path , or a bitmap.  

 

 

[Insane Dust Maker]

I thought it would have done that, but there is only the original pattern nothing on top and nothing to the side either.

[Wichman]

In the new versions of Inkscape .pdf files are automatically converted to .svg files and trace bitmap will not work on them ( trace bitmap only works on bitmap files )

 If you will revisit my message on Feb 8th it will walk you through the steps, if you still can't get it to do what you want, please post again. And please let us know if you get it.

 

[Insane Dust Maker]

Wichman how do I get to the February post?

[Wichman]

Here's the message:

I'm no guru, but I'll try to help.

I am using  Inkscape 1.3.2 (1:1.3.2+202311252150+091e20ef0f) on a Linux computer system.

To change the stroke color;

select the object to be changed; click on a line in the object, a dotted line box with eight two way arrows should appear around the object.

To change the stroke. color hold the shift key and select (click on) the color desired

Things to check:

Open the fill and stroke dialoge box ( object > fill and stroke )

Select "stroke paint" 

just under the Fill   Stoke paint    stroke style     row there are selection boxes to allow the stoke paint to be modified, for now select "flat paint" the second from the left hand side.

now go to the "stroke style" tab and select

width 0.1 ( so you can see it, adjust later as needed )

Dashes select the solid line and 0.00

here are screen captures of my settings

fill:

 

stroke paint:

 

stroke style:

 

Please let me know if this helps.

[Insane Dust Maker]

Thanks so much that’s going to be big help.

[OCtoolguy]

Another suggestion if you just can't get it done is to post your pattern here. Someone will gladly do what you need. 

I do it by selecting the part of the pattern that I want to work with, put the cursor in the color I want in the lower color bar, right click and select either "fill" or "stroke".

[Dak0ta52]

I've found when I can't perform a "trace>bitmap" on a particular file (picture), I'll do a Google search to convert the file to JPG. I'll then import the JPG file into Inkscape and the "trace>bitmap" works fine. It does duplicate the new file directly on top of the JPG file and you have to drag it out of the way to change the fill and stroke. If the fill and stroke doesn't work on the file you have selected, it is because you are still highlighting the JPG file. Delete it off the work sheet and go to the other image. Another way to identify the correct image is by the borders. The new file will have borders that are the exact size of the image you are working on. The JPG file will have a space between the pattern and the border.

[BadBob]

PDF is a container. It is not a format. The only reason to put patterns into a PDF is if it is multiple pages and you want to keep them together for some reason.

You do not need to print on A3 paper. Go to the document properties and change the paper size to your preference.

[Wichman]

4 hours ago, BadBob said:

PDF is a container. It is not a format. The only reason to put patterns into a PDF is if it is multiple pages and you want to keep them together for some reason.

You do not need to print on A3 paper. Go to the document properties and change the paper size to your preference.

I won't argue the container vs format because when I scan to .pdf with my printer/scanner it does not work the same as a .pdf from Steve Good.

I have to convert all large patterns ( larger than 8.5 x 11 ) to .pdf because Inkscape refuses to print any larger ( long story ).

The spice rack pattern required that I rotate the pattern to fit it on an 11 x 17 (tabloid size roughly equivalent to A3 ) so I could have the pattern in one piece and not have to cut and paste it after printing. It's one of the reasons I got the wide format printer/scanner. Over size patterns is the reason I picked up a large format printer 24" wide x 50 foot rolls of paper. Haven't used it yet, but still.

One reason not to upload files to be "fixed, or adjusted" is copyright issues. Modifying patterns to your personal preferences is one thing, uploading them to a platform where they can be "shared" is quite another. (poo poo occurs).

[BadBob]

1 hour ago, Wichman said:

it does not work the same as a .pdf from Steve Good.

That is because Steve Good's patterns are SVG stored in a PDF to make a book. When scanning patterns, you produce a bitmap. JPG, PNG, or BMP are just a few of the image bitmap formats.

Inkscape will let you set the paper size to anything you want. If your printer can't handle it, that is a different story. I do wish that it had the capability of splitting the pattern across multiple pages. I had software years ago that would do this, but unfortunately, it only ran on OS/2.

[Wichman]

1 hour ago, BadBob said:

That is because Steve Good's patterns are SVG stored in a PDF to make a book. When scanning patterns, you produce a bitmap. JPG, PNG, or BMP are just a few of the image bitmap formats.

Inkscape will let you set the paper size to anything you want. If your printer can't handle it, that is a different story. I do wish that it had the capability of splitting the pattern across multiple pages. I had software years ago that would do this, but unfortunately, it only ran on OS/2.

Inkscape will not let me print 11 x 17 from within Inkscape. When I forced it to print on an 11 x 17 sheet of paper the image was reduced to 8.5 x 11. Yet I can save the file as a .pdf then print full size from a .pdf viewer, and I can print 11 x 17 from Libre office, both text files and drawings. I asked about this on the Inkscape chat page, but they want me to jump though hoops to report a "bug", and I'm already wasting enough time, I've got a work around that works. Every time there's an update to Inkscape I try again, but so far, no dice.

FYI when I open a multi page .pdf Inkscape shows distinct pages, not just one big page. But I can't find a way to do that from within Inkscape itself. Thing that make you go humm. 

[don in brooklin on]

I don't have a 11x17 printer so when I have some thing large I just save as a PDF and use the poster function in Acrobat Reader.  11 x 17 prints on 4 pages.

One thing you have to do is change your document size in Inkscape to 11x 17 and set at portrait or landscape.

To create a multi page PDF you have to open the pages tool in the bottom left.  Add pages as you want.  Inkscape will only print the page you are on.  To print all at once export to PDF and print.

 

 

[BadBob]

I print from Inkscape to legal size and o shipping labels. I must change the size in the document properties to the size of the paper.

[Insane Dust Maker]

On 3/27/2024 at 4:02 PM, BadBob said:

PDF is a container. It is not a format. The only reason to put patterns into a PDF is if it is multiple pages and you want to keep them together for some reason.

You do not need to print on A3 paper. Go to the document properties and change the paper size to your preference.

My board size is 11” x 14” hence I have to print A3.

[Wichman]

16 hours ago, don in brooklin on said:

I don't have a 11x17 printer so when I have some thing large I just save as a PDF and use the poster function in Acrobat Reader.  11 x 17 prints on 4 pages.

One thing you have to do is change your document size in Inkscape to 11x 17 and set at portrait or landscape.

To create a multi page PDF you have to open the pages tool in the bottom left.  Add pages as you want.  Inkscape will only print the page you are on.  To print all at once export to PDF and print.

 

 

Here are screen shots of when I try to print 11 x 17 and a picture of the result . Also in the first screen shot there is no pages dialog box or icon on my Inkscape workspace. Thank you for taking the time and making the effort to help

The result:

And again, when I print 11 x 17 from a .pdf reader or libre office it will print just fine, just not from Inkscape.

[don in brooklin on]

What is the document properties under preferences.   It looks like you have it set to letter instead of ledger 11x17

[Wichman]

It is set to 11 x 17

And here is the print preview

[Wichman]

I did find the "pages" tab. It was hidden at the location you described. I had to move things around so that it would show. Thanks.

 

[Insane Dust Maker]

I’m still struggling to set the fill and stroke to help my eyes, followed the above instructions but it still does not work.

Worki g on a Apple Mac ver 10.15.7 IOS and Inkspace version 1.3 it’s what works on theApple Catalina IOS.

[Wichman]

39 minutes ago, Insane Dust Maker said:

I’m still struggling to set the fill and stroke to help my eyes, followed the above instructions but it still does not work.

Worki g on a Apple Mac ver 10.15.7 IOS and Inkspace version 1.3 it’s what works on theApple Catalina IOS.

check your messages.

 

[Insane Dust Maker]

As much as I would like to, and I understand and appreciate your help, but I can’t send you the pattern it’s a Russ Beard pattern - Viking Girl pattern #2023-039.

I cut a lot of Russ Beards Fretwork Complex patterns and I would hate to break the trust I have built up with him.

I just have figure out and understand why it’s not working and how to fix it, if I don’t do this then I won’t learn and be able to do it on future patterns,

[Wichman]

I was just looking at the Inkscape dl page for Mac's and there are two versions, one for intel architecture and a different one for arm64 architecture. Do you have the right version for your Mac's chip set? 

[don in brooklin on]

3 hours ago, Insane Dust Maker said:

As much as I would like to, and I understand and appreciate your help, but I can’t send you the pattern it’s a Russ Beard pattern - Viking Girl pattern #2023-039.

I cut a lot of Russ Beards Fretwork Complex patterns and I would hate to break the trust I have built up with him.

I just have figure out and understand why it’s not working and how to fix it, if I don’t do this then I won’t learn and be able to do it on future patterns,

If this is a Russ Beard file it is available in Black and White and Red at https://www.facebook.com/groups/3356476637909790 under files section.

I took the Black and White version from the facebook page and imported to Inkscape, did trace bit map. change stoke to red, fill to gray and this is the result.  Same as Russ's red version.

Here is a clip of upper corner so not to show complete pattern.

 

 

Edited March 31 by don in brooklin on