Inkscape

Changing Line Widths

Asked by Doug Shuck

Hello

       Being new to Inkscape I am still trying to learn its capabilities and controls as compared to others similar programs that i have used before. One thing that is bothering me now is "Line Drawing". With other programs I would select "line" to draw a line and then accept the default line style or I could select a different line style and line thickness from a pull down (or create a custom) and then I would place the mouse arrow where I wanted the line to begin. Since there is not a similar feature within Inkscape I have been struggling with the Pencil tool and the Bezier tool for lines.

       The Pencil tool is okay but it does not give me any option to change line width. After I draw a line I can adjust the width manually as long as the line is in the same plane or perpendicular to it as it was initially created. However, once the line is rotated all bets are off. The Line then cannot be adjusted for width and if you try it simply scales the line, not the width. The pencil tool also has another issue when creating a straight line, the slightest variance in the user's stroke can cause a "twisted" line appearance if the endpoint is not exactly on the same plane as the staring point.

       The real issue here is that once the User has created a drawing and rotated one or all lines then decides that he would like to increase or decrease the line width there absolutely no easy way to do this, unless I am missing something here. The only option then is to manually go to each rotated line segment and return it to its original plane then modify the width and return it to the position intended the drawing. This time consuming and painful.

        Is there any better work around for this issue or is it being addressed in a future revision and if so when?

Thanks!
Doug

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Revision history for this message
su_v (suv-lp) said : 		#1

Likely you have unintentionally drawn lines with a live path effect (the 'Shape' option on the pencil/pen toolbar is set to a value other than none), possibly combined with the Spiro Splines path effect (third option of the 'Modes' at the left end of the controls bar of either tool).

For new paths, make sure to have 'Shape' set to 'None' for each of the path drawing tools, and start with basic paths (bezier, or straight line mode, but not Spiro Splines, for now).
To fix existing paths, select them, and remove path effects (menu 'Path', at the bottom).

The stroke width of regular paths can be adjusted easily via 'Fill and Stroke > Stroke style' - no matter whether the path has been rotated or not.

The default style of the pen/pencil tools is black stroke, 1px wide, no fill. You can either adjust each of the tool's own style, or switch them to use the 'last used style' if you prefer (Inkscape preferences > Tools), but you cannot set the line width ahead of drawing a new path (it either uses the tools own style, or the 'last used' style.

See also:
General information about stroke style:
<http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Attributes-Stroke.html>
Per tool style options:
<http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Shapes.html#id1153501>

<off-topic>If you not already did, I would highly recommend that you take the time (just a couple of minutes each) and read the tutorials which come with Inkscape (see menu 'Help > Tutorials') - they offer basic interactive introductions to the concepts and tools of Inkscape</off-topic>

Revision history for this message
Doug Shuck (doug-shuck) said : 		#2

On 3/10/2013 12:01 PM, ~suv wrote:
> Your question #223886 on Inkscape changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/223886
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> ~suv proposed the following answer:
> Likely you have unintentionally drawn lines with a live path effect (the
> 'Shape' option on the pencil/pen toolbar is set to a value other than
> none), possibly combined with the Spiro Splines path effect (third
> option of the 'Modes' at the left end of the controls bar of either
> tool).
>
> For new paths, make sure to have 'Shape' set to 'None' for each of the path drawing tools, and start with basic paths (bezier, or straight line mode, but not Spiro Splines, for now).
> To fix existing paths, select them, and remove path effects (menu 'Path', at the bottom).
>
> The stroke width of regular paths can be adjusted easily via 'Fill and
> Stroke > Stroke style' - no matter whether the path has been rotated or
> not.
>
> The default style of the pen/pencil tools is black stroke, 1px wide, no
> fill. You can either adjust each of the tool's own style, or switch them
> to use the 'last used style' if you prefer (Inkscape preferences >
> Tools), but you cannot set the line width ahead of drawing a new path
> (it either uses the tools own style, or the 'last used' style.
>
> See also:
> General information about stroke style:
> <http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Attributes-Stroke.html>
> Per tool style options:
> <http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Shapes.html#id1153501>
>
> <off-topic>If you not already did, I would highly recommend that you
> take the time (just a couple of minutes each) and read the tutorials
> which come with Inkscape (see menu 'Help > Tutorials') - they offer
> basic interactive introductions to the concepts and tools of Inkscape
> </off-topic>
>
 Thank you! The one thing that I noticed is that sometimes when the
drawing is grouped the stroke with options are grayed-out, I have to
ungroup in order to change the stroke.

Revision history for this message
su_v (suv-lp) said : 		#3

On 2013-03-10 17:50 +0100, Doug Shuck wrote:
>
> Status: Answered => Open
>
> Doug Shuck is still having a problem:

<snip>

> The one thing that I noticed is that sometimes when the drawing is
> grouped the stroke with options are grayed-out, I have to ungroup in
> order to change the stroke.

You can select objects within groups directly without ungrouping first
using 'Ctrl+LMB click', or you can enter groups (with a couble-click or
'Ctrl+Enter'( and then select individual (or all with 'Ctrl+A') members
of that group).

See also:
<http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Groups.html>

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