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Friday 3 April 2015

Learning Inkscape

I have been meaning to learn how to use Inkscape but never found the time.  One of my tatting goals this Easter long weekend is to learn the basics for Inkscape and diagram a simple antique motif pattern.

Robin at Tatting by the Bay have kindly put together some tutorials for Inkscape.  Thanks Robin :).

Her first tutorial is Diagramming Rings, Chains, and Picots.  For this learning exercise, I am going to diagram a small simple square motif by Tina Frauberger.  Below is my first attempt :).

First attempt at diagramming a motif using Inkscape

I was not happy about the small chains so I tried the next tutorial: Another way to draw chains.  Below is my second attempt.

Second attempt at diagramming a motif using Inkscape

Looking back at the original tatted motif, I do not think my rings are in proportion with each other so I went back to the drawing board :).  Below is my third attempt.

Third attempt at diagramming a motif using Inkscape

Still not great but I'm happy with it :).  Now to add numbers to the diagram and tat it :).

Inkscape is a vector graphic editor similar to Adobe Illustrator except it is free.  You can download Inkscape at https://inkscape.org/en/.

That's it for now.  Thanks for visiting my blog :).

Cheers,
Jenn :).

6 comments:

  1. Hi Jenn, looking good so far! A tip for adding numbers: create a new layer and add numbers on the new layer. Lock the previous layer containing your diagram. This will prevent you from picking up parts of your diagram as you move numbers around. I haven't gotten around to writing about layers yet, but I'm sure you can find some basics in Google search. I hope to add a few more Inkscape posts next week. Good luck!

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    1. Thanks Robin and thanks for the tip about adding a new layer for the numbers :). Will do some googling today :). Looking forward to more of your Inkscape tutorials :). Thanks again :).

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  2. Inkscape has a steep learning curve. Every time I go back to it, I seem to start from near scratch again. Your drawings are good! I had the hardest time with repeating a pattern part and making it fit in each place. You've got that already.

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    1. Thanks StringyDogs :). LOL this motif was easy to diagram because there were only 4 repeats :). The real test would be trying to diagram a motif with more than 4 repeats :).

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  3. Thanks for the link. I really should follow that up and learnt to diagram tatting patterns.

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    1. You're welcome Jane :). Robin's tutorials are great and easy to follow :).

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