How to select part of an svg image for export or printing

Many thanks for your help. I have got as far as "and by holding shift
down also select the svg underneath" but whwen I now try to copy and
paste the selection to a new document the rectangle pastes but no
content.
Ray

On Wed, 2009-05-27 at 10:36 +0000, robis24 wrote:

> Your question #72137 on Inkscape changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/72137
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> robis24 proposed the following answer:
> you can slice the svg image in parts,you can draw lines or rectangles around the part you want to keep -select the line or shape convert it to an path.(shift+ctrl+c)
> select the new path and by holding shift down also select the svg underneath.
> in the "Path" menu select "Difference"
> this will cut out the upper shape from the bottom shape (or first/last selected)
> is this what you wanted to know, I am sure there other easier ways.
>

try to paste it to a new layer instead of a new document, you can then hide the other layers to print only the one you need.

Have (I think) created a new layer, but how do I select that layer so that I can try to paste my selection to it?
Thanks for trying to help me!
Ray

Following suggestion from Koptev Oleg, (Connect to Question #72049). I changed to the development version of Inkscape, now successfully installed, thanks to Oleg for his help. Tried again to export bitmap etc, but Photoprint still won't accept the format of the .jpeg file (saved as jpeg by Gimp).
In an attempt to select the drawing A4 page by A4 page I reset the grid to 180mm x 270mm which is more or less the printing area on A4. Hoped that by selecting a 180x270mm area of the drawing that I could print it. Had some success with one of the objects within the whole drawing and it did print OK - now can't remember how I did it. (If you think this is strange, just wait 'til you're past 70 - things taht happened a half century ago are crystal clear while yesterday is a blur!
I did manage to Ungroup the drawing, and am able to copy individual objects to other new pages ( At one stage had all the nodes displayed (tho' now can't recall how I did it!)
If you follow all this, do you think I'm heading in the right direction?
RIco and Robis have also made suggestions which seem to offer hope of different solutions but am having difficulty following their instructions too. I'm quite sure the fault lies with me, and not their helpful suggestions!

Have now arrived, somewhat by trial and error, at the following solution. It may not be the best or easiest, but it works for me!
I first scaled the original .svg image up to the full size I needed, then resized the grid to the shape and size (I use mm) of the Individual pages (parts of the large drawing) I want to print. Select snap to grid then draw a rectangle snapping to one of the page-sized sections. Change to select tool,( rect selects itself), then Shift+Ctrl+click to create a path. Deselect the rectangle then Ctrl+click to select it again together with the .svg image it contains. The go to File - Export Bitmap, select Selection (it seems to do this automatically) then Export, choosing where you want to store it eg Desktop. Go to the chose folder, select the section's image, copy and paste into Image Viewer and Print. Repeat for all the other sections needed to complete the full drawing.
In my case as I want to make up the drawing as a base for a large mosaic I just cut round the printed border of each page and stick them onto a backing, usually hardboard, Job done.
With grateful thanks to Koptev Oleg, Robis24 and Rico. Your collective help finally pointed my old brain towards a solution!

Thanks robis24, that solved my question.

I've just had need to print a section from an inkscape image and am horrified that this sample task is impossible without a great deal of fiddling.