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how to place a grid background for drawing

Asked by scott

my need is simple, but I have little experience.
1) I want to fill the page with a grid background (ex: 1/4 " X 1/4" graph lines)
2) sketch the left side of a curvy pottery vase
3)mirror the right side to equal a complete 2D rendering
4)modify the sketch..push/pull the lines of the vase until I have the final drawing (affecting left and right side for symmetry)

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Hachmann (marenhachmann) said : 		#1

Hi Scott,

the tutorials you can find inside Inkscape (Help -> Tutorials) are a good point of entry for new users.
Also take a look at our 'Learn' page to find links to manual, video tutorials and forums.

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Grid creation is done via File -> Document Properties -> third tab: Grids , you can toggle grid visibility with #

For drawing, I think in this case you should either use the pencil tool with some smoothing (F6 or P, then select smoothing level in the tool bar), or the Bezier tool (Shift+F6 or B, make straight lines from the start to the inflection points of the curves, and then use the node tool (F1 or N) to shape those lines).

Mirroring is done via selecting the object (with the selection tool, F2 or S), then typing h or v, or clicking on the icon in the tool bar.
Before you mirror, you should probably duplicate the object first (Ctrl+D would make a plain copy, but because of your point 4., I think you would prefer to use a clone that will change if you modify the original. Do this with Alt+D (or via Edit -> Clone -> Create Clone).

To align the objects properly, take a look at the options in the align and distribute dialog (Shift + Ctrl + A).

Modify the original path using the node tool (F1 or N), dragging on the path segments that connect the nodes.

Kind regards,
 Maren

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Hachmann (marenhachmann) said : 		#2

Link to 'Learn' page: https://inkscape.org/en/learn/

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