Inkscape Is So Frustrating

[Mark76]

Seriously, was it designed by idiots?

Here's what I get when I try to draw a simple rectangle. An operation that's a piece of **** with xaralx

[twright]

Seriously, was it designed by idiots?

Here's what I get when I try to draw a simple rectangle. An operation that's a piece of **** with xaralx
Well your primary color is set to transparent...

Seriously though it is a shame that xaralx is gone - I tried to reserect it once (google zarino) but it was not to be.

[Mark76]

Well your primary color is set to transparent...

Seriously though it is a shame that xaralx is gone - I tried to reserect it once (google zarino) but it was not to be.

What kind of idiot program sets the bloody primary colour to transparent by default?

Seriously. Do these people even have a clue?

And how do I undo their stupidity?

[twright]

What kind of idiot program sets the bloody primary colour to transparent by default?

Seriously. Do these people even have a clue?

And how do I undo their stupidity?
Left click on a color at the bottom.

I also do not think that it was the default (now that would be stupid), maybe carried over from another tool though.

[Mark76]

I left click on the colours and nothing happens

Oh. Apparently it only does solids.

[mcduck]

I left click on the colours and nothing happens

Oh. Apparently it only does solids.

Were you expecting a gradient when you clicked on a solid color from the palette?

Open the "Fill and Stroke" dialog if you want more control over the appearance than the solid color palette at the bottom of the window. You'll find the button in the main toolbar (it's not visible in your screenshot, you'll have to resize the window to see all tools or use the dropbox at the end of the toolbar).

Also note that to adjust the gradient start & end points and directions you use the node selection tool, the gradient will be visible.

Perhaps you'd better go through the quick start guide from Inkscape's web site before complaining about the program: http://www.inkscape.org/doc/basic/tutorial-basic.html. :)

[meho_r]

What kind of idiot program sets the bloody primary colour to transparent by default?

They don't. You should check what did you do previously and not to set it to transparent accidentally. And please don't call people stupid just because you weren't able to do something. As suggested, learn at least basics before complaining.

[Darkaiser]

What kind of idiot program sets the bloody primary colour to transparent by default?

Seriously. Do these people even have a clue?

And how do I undo their stupidity?


ang bobo mo naman

[dylbud]

I would encourage you to keep trying Inkscape. It is my favorite graphics program. I've found it very easy and intuitive to use. Plus, you can do all kinds of really cool stuff with if you learn what it's capable of and can be creative with it.

The default for a rectangle or other shape should not be transparent, but the fill and stroke settings do carry over from the last time the tool was used (unless you specify differently in the Inkscape Preferences dialogue in the File menu).

Doing some online video tutorials helped me quite a bit to get a feel for how to use and get around Inkscape. Try screencasters.heathenx.org, and check out their "microsodes." Also try learndigitaldesign.com.

[sloggerkhan]

Seriously, was it designed by idiots?

Here's what I get when I try to draw a simple rectangle. An operation that's a piece of **** with xaralx

Why is it inkscape that's at fault when you don't know what you are doing and obviously haven't made the least bit of effort to catch a clue?

[meborc]

What kind of idiot program sets the bloody primary colour to transparent by default?

Seriously. Do these people even have a clue?

And how do I undo their stupidity?

reading your remarks has made me really angry... people have put a lot of work into this project and i consider it one of the best vector tools so far... the fact that YOU don't know how to change the color of the stroke... ahhhh <keeping calm>

http://screencasters.heathenx.org/ - watch some tutorials... and then you might understand the program more

[Mark76]

If I didn't know how to change the stroke colour then how on earth could I have set it to transparent in the first place?

The simple fact is, it was like that by default. Which is a massive blunder on the part of the inkscape programmers.

[twright]

If I didn't know how to change the stroke colour then how on earth could I have set it to transparent in the first place?

The simple fact is, it was like that by default. Which is a massive blunder on the part of the inkscape programmers.
I think seeing that many of us here have spent hours on end in inkscape on a regular basis that this is not an argument you are going to win. (from memory the default is red (oops, actually blue) )

Inkscape does however share color settings between all of the tools to you may have changed it that way.

[mcduck]

If I didn't know how to change the stroke colour then how on earth could I have set it to transparent in the first place?

The simple fact is, it was like that by default. Which is a massive blunder on the part of the inkscape programmers.

I just created a new user, logged in, opened Incscape, selected the rectangle tools and the result was opaque blue rectangle.

You must have set it to transparent yourself. if not through the Fill & Stroke -dialog then from th fill color field at the bottom left of the Inkscape window (right-click->Remove Fill). Or you (or somebody else) has previously opened Inkscape and used transparent fill.

But the default you get the first time you open Inkscape definitely isn't transparent. Even if it was, it would be appropriate to at least check the manual before complaining.

[meborc]

next he will complain that the default color is blue and not red which is what he wanted to use... :D

i have had some frustrating moments myself when learning legendary 3d program blender... ahh... memories... but i do remember, that i kept blaming myself and NOT the developers of that great piece of software

[kayosiii]

I Remember getting transparent objects by default with a particular release of Inkscape on Ubuntu. I think it had something to do with the configuration file not being fully functional. Whatever it was - I haven't seen it since.

If it was set that way be default then it was not by design but a bug.

[racerraul]

It's definitely not clear by default.

Select your object, and then right click the color of choice at the bottom, it will prompt you for outline or fill.

Inkscape is easy to use... and this is coming from someone that has used Illustrator and Corel Draw & even Freehand, over the years.

[jebblue]

I tried Xara. Pretty cool. I placed a circle and a square and clicked Blend then drew a line and got a cool mixture of the two objects attached as XaraBlend.png.

Then I tried InkScape and got the two objects but could not at figure out how to do a blend?

Overall from that first exercise I tend to agree Xara may have an easier to use GUI.

[twright]

I tried Xara. Pretty cool. I placed a circle and a square and clicked Blend then drew a line and got a cool mixture of the two objects attached as XaraBlend.png.

Then I tried InkScape and got the two objects but could not at figure out how to do a blend?

Overall from that first exercise I tend to agree Xara may have an easier to use GUI.
Well blending is xara's specialty so this is not the most even comparison. I think there is something in effects to do this - if you don't know something then just google it (simple as that).

It is still a pity that xara for linux was abandoned though.

[mcduck]

I tried Xara. Pretty cool. I placed a circle and a square and clicked Blend then drew a line and got a cool mixture of the two objects attached as XaraBlend.png.

Then I tried InkScape and got the two objects but could not at figure out how to do a blend?

Overall from that first exercise I tend to agree Xara may have an easier to use GUI.

Select the objects, and then Effects->Generate from Path->Interpolate.

Note that both objects must be paths, so if you just make square & circle objects you have to convert them to paths first. To do that select the objects and then Path->Object to Path.

If you want to blend the color and outline etc. as well as the shape enable the "Interpolate style (experimental)"-option.

Also the location of path nodes has pretty big effect in the final result. Try to get the first nodes in about the same location, if they are in the opposite sides in the original objects you get a squeezing effect when the nodes are moved around during the blending.

[jebblue]

Thanks mcduck. I found a site that discussed those steps before my earlier post. No matter how much I try I can not duplicate what was so easy with Xara's Blend tool.

I'm just experimenting, thanks for the tips.

[Neverender]

Say what you will about the guys rudeness or whatever but I've found inkscape to be quite terrible. It's crazy how unintuitive it was for me. I have definitely been frustrated with it when trying to do the simplest things.

See, thats the thing. Simple things should be easy to figure out. So you don't have to deal with "stfu you dont know what your doing ur retarded rtfm." I paraphrased a bit there. And, of course, not everyone said that.

[jebblue]

UPDATE:

After a couple of hours playing, I was able to get the effect from Inkscape that I got from Xara's Blend Tool yesterday. I selected the circle and chose Edit PAths by Node. There is a small diamond at the 3 oclock position on the circle.

Use Object, Rotate 90 degrees 3 times. Now the little diamond is at the top of the circle.

Do the interpolation and finally select the large square and Raise to the top.

Whew! I can see Inkscape is many more options in the menus I guess it just takes some practice to get the results you want.

[kayosiii]

I used to use Corel Draw before moving to Inkscape (that was a long time ago now). I must admit I never found a practical use for the blend tool.