how do u contour on inkscape havent used it much

Nobody knows how to do this ??????????

It actually is frequently asked question.
FAQ #894: “Converting bitmap (jpg, png...) to vectors (svg)”.

Ted, I feel your pain. I had the same question. I think I figured out a work around, at least for some things.

Select your design/drawing/logo that you need a contour for. Group it, duplicate it, send one copy to new layer below. Now, view only this layer to avoid confusion. Ungroup it, Path: Union (ctrl ++). This should give you one object. Now add a stroke the thickness of your desired contour. Then, Path: Stroke to Path (Ctrl+Alt+C). This will make that stroke into a path. Then Path: Break Apart. Select the inner shape and delete. Now you have your contour. View all layers. You may want to send this object to the bottom, or set fill to none. For my purposes and possibly yours too, I set the stroke to Cut Contour color for the printer's cutter.

Also, you may find Path: Outset, or Dynamic Offset helpful, but this results in curved corners.

If any programmers out there felt like doing it, I'm sure my above solution could be made into an extension for one button process like Corel Draw has. I don't know how to do it, but it would be very helpful.