Andy Fitzsimon

for this tutorial you need a recent build of inkscape
here is the final svg file : http://pastebin.com/f1ff1cae6

open up inkscape and click on the pencil or pen tools. Select the new spiro mode

notice the shape setting? this applies a pattern along path to match a brush like effect rather than just a solid width path.

have a scribble with the rough shape you want to accomplish

let go and checkout your awesomely smooth shape .. its probably not exactly what you want yet.. but we’ll fix that later.

to see what inkscape has done for you, checkout the path effects dialog fond in the path > path effects menu.

if you have your path selected with the node tool, you can edit your pattern along path on-canvas. just click the show “next path effect parameter for editing” (we should rename that button). Anyway, have a play with the default.

If you want to try a brush like effect, just create a star with the star tool, convert to shape (ctrl+shift+c) and delete a few middle nodes (ctrl+delete) to get a similar shape to what you see here.

All done!
now you can fill and stoke your new path effect like it was a normal shape. have fun!

someday .. i dont know when. 2geom will probably support spiro splines. and someday (hopefully soon) this means native spiro drawing with a spiro tool rather than this path effect hack we’ve got going (notice the red original path ?) eww .

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 6:20 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.