Inkscape

inserted image visually too large

Asked by David Merrick

If i drag an image into Inkscape, it may well be inserted to be gigantic on the screen, many times the screen area (it may be an image taken from the web). i have to zoom out, get its corner sizers and reduce it to tiny, zoom in, repeat, sometimes three times, and then scroll back to the place it was.
what i would like, is for images when they are inserted, to fit within at a certain fraction of whatever the current screen is, so it is fully in the screen, then i don't have to play around with zooming and scrolling.
perhaps this could be a second option along with the link-or-embed option, each time remembering the last choice taken.
a more general option, would be a menu bar item general to all objects, that resizes and moves (screen-centres) the selection (maintaining aspect) so that visually it fits within the screen (e.g. each side no more than 75% of its respective screen dimension)

is this possible, or have i missed an option?

many thanks,

david

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su_v (suv-lp) said : 		#1

a) Inkscape FAQ: Why do images 'grow' when imported into Inkscape?
<http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/FAQ#Why_do_images_.27grow.27_when_imported_into_Inkscape.3F>

b) You can change the dimensions of the imported image with the width/height entry fields on the select tool controls bar (click the lock to keep the ratio). Or you can scale it using 'Object > Transform > Scale' (this one scales from the center).
Fastest method: scale the image with the mouse (ctrl-drag to keep aspect ration) and use snapping to page to make it fit precisely into the borders of your chosen document size, or use Ctrl+Shift+drag to scale relative to the center, keeping the aspect ratio.

Inkscape manual > Positioning and Transforming
<http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Position.html>

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Marc Stewart (marc.stewart) said : 		#2

I don't know if there's an option to do what you want - I think it's better to have the predictability of importing at actual size, which makes it easier to tell if the resolution is sufficient.

Anyway, there is another method to get an item to fit without all that clicking and dragging, by using the dialogs, which has the added benefit of precision.

Use the Scale tab of Transform (Shift + Ctrl + M or Object > Transform...) to resize. Change the units to "px" (pixels), tick "Scale proportionally", and enter a width or a height that'll fit within your page; then click Apply.

If you don't know how big your page is, look in Document Properties (Shift + Ctrl + D or File > Document Properties...).

Align to the centre of the page with Align and Distribute (Shift + Ctrl + A or Object > Align ad Distribute...). Select
Relative to: Page
and click these buttons:
Centre objects horizontally; Centre on horizontal axis

This takes longer to read (and write!) than do. The three dialogs can be opened in quick succession by holding down Ctrl and Shift while typing "mad". The remaining clicks only take a few more seconds.

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