Inkscape – Free Vector Graphics Software
Hi Teachers!
I’m here at the Communications Technology 11&12 curriculum launch in Halifax, and a number of teachers have been fascinated with Inkscape, so I thought I’d blog it.
Inkscape is a vector graphics program, as is Adobe Illustrator. Here’s a few notes:
- Vector graphics means that each item is a vector, so there are no pixels!
Remember in Photoshop when you use a paint brush to draw and an eraser to erase? Well, these don’t make any sense in vector graphics. Instead, what you’ll do now is draw an object, and then you can delete/modify that object later. - For those of you that are used to layers, vector graphics still has this, but every object is it’s own layer! How easy is that! There are 4 buttons in the middle where you can move each object up or down. (Worry about this later.)
- To zoom in or out, just use “+” (or “=”) and “-”.
- I tell my students, “I’m going to teach you the hardest button in Inkscape, and you can figure out the rest.” Honestly, if the students understand the Bezier tool, then anything else is easy.
The Bezier button is in the sidebar, and looks like this:
- To introduce this topic, I say, “We’re going to click on 4 corners to create a box. Please do NOT drag anywhere. Just 4 clicks and then 1 more click back where we started (that appears as a small box).
- Next, I show them the difference between the two black arrows at the top of the sidebar.
This button edits the shape as a whole (move, stretch, or rotate with an extra click on the object).- This button edits the nodes (or points) and the handles (or circles that control angles & smoothness).
- Next, let’s edit the nodes and handles. Each node can be moved independently of the others. (If you end up in “select all” mode, just click away and then click back.)
By dragging a node, you can convert this
into this 
Then, we need to give the node our handles (circles) that will give arcs or corners (depending on which you choose). Inkscape is weird, so you often need to choose “smooth” or “symmetric” and then go back and choose “corner” if you wish.
So, choose “smooth” and by dragging a handle (circle), you can convert this
into this 
Then, choose “corner” and drag the lower handle (circle) to make this
- Continue going node by node until you’ve edited your drawing to look like this
- Let’s fill in the heart we’ve created with some colour.
First, choose the top black arrow tool.
Then, go to the top menu word choices, and click “Object” and choose the top choice of “Fill and Stroke“.
This will create a new window insert that looks like this:
- Fill is the inside colour of the object, as you would expect.
“None” is the default (the “X”). Choose the solid block for solid colour.
When you click a choice other than “X”, a colour picker appears.
I prefer the “Wheel” colour picker, even though it’s a 2-click process (inside the triangle and the ring). - Stroke is the Inkscape term for “line” and Stroke paint follows the same process as Fill above.
- Stroke style is all about the line properties. The width is the first one, and for a reason! Try it out!
- When I had used all of these, my heart now looks like this
- Let’s rotate the heart we’ve created so it’s upright.
To do this, click once more directly on your heart. I changes to this
Now, rotate by dragging the corner rotate handles, and get this
- You can edit this to make it perfect for your tastes by going back to the “edit path / points” button.
- Now that we’ve created an object, let’s create a line. In this case, we’ll create a curve.
Select the Bezier tool again.
Let’s create a smile inside our heart.
Click the first point and click and drag for the second point. See what happens?Now, press “Enter” on your keyboard. You should see this
Yes, I edited my heart to be better formed and to show off the smile. - You can add a nose the same way, and add eyes using Bezier or the circle.
Your end result could look something like this
- Curious how I made the eyes?
They are two circles. The smaller one has black fill and black stroke. The larger one has white fill and black stroke. Just to be fancy, I selected them both, and clicked the group button
(but these can be separated with the ungroup button). Then, when I copied and pasted, I had two eyes exactly the same.
If you have difficulty with copy and paste, make sure you:- select your item to copy
- click the copy button (or press Ctrl+C)
- click away (so nothing is selected or highlighted)
- click the paste button (or press Ctrl+V)
- then make sure you’re in object mode, and drag the eye wherever you wish.
I hope this helps! Let me know, and I’ll be happy to respond to questions.
Cheers,
Graham
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