Stuck with tracing in Inkscape

[Plasma-art]

found the motivation again to sit down and play with Inkscape to try and learn how tracing a bitmap works.
grabbed a random image i had in my collection that seemed easy enough and did get further then my last attempt at inkscape.
got a decent trace out of the image that i can work with but now i am trying to fill some area's in but there is still a line visible and i have no clue how to resolve that.
it's probably an easy fix but after searching for about an hour i decided to just ask here instead of being stubborn

added the svg to the point i am at now including annotations.

[plasmanewbie]

Wish I could help but I struggle with Inkscape also. I see that the line your referring to in the tail is actually not a line but a complete closed profile that is filled black and the line we see is the gap between that profile and the tail. What I wanted to do was delete that filled in profile and then fill the open section of the tail to achieve your goal but again Inkscape stumped me. Curious what some of the Inkscape gurus here would do. In Corel I coul do this no problem.

[Plasma-art]

It does indeed look like a double line for some reason.
Tried to also fill in that closed profile but somehow it does not let me.
And yes I also tried to delete it but that gave me some wierd things.

[acourtjester]

Here is what to do, change the image in the view drop down menu to outline. Then highlight the entire drawing and click on Path, break apart. Then the node tool this will show all separate elements of the drawing. It may help to enlarge the drawing by using the + key, with the cursor you can select each or any element of the drawing and move it or delete it. I use the move when I want to cut parts from the original for layering a finished project. let me know if you want a video of how to do it.

tails break apart.JPG (68.45 KiB) Viewed 1785 times

tails break apart.JPG (68.45 KiB) Viewed 1785 times

[Plasma-art]

So when I break it apart I can just delete the particular outline I filled in as you have it selected?
After that is done combine it again?

[acourtjester]

More info the darker lines are actually double so you need to move one then the other as show in the attached image. If you move a part and you did not want to just go to edit and click undo and it will return to the original position. You can click on the undo to step back many times (each mistake).

[Plasma-art]

that was the missing link and its starting to look like something now.
not sure how to approach the legs, i would prefer making it single layer and not a multi layer piece.
was thinking of an ofset or something but open for suggestions and tips how to do it?
also how can i connect the 3 parts marked with besides the red lines?

[acourtjester]

Ok here is a little more clean up. I joined the body legs and feet together and removed the socks. I can do more but need to know if a back base with parts layered on top is OK

tail 4.JPG (45.82 KiB) Viewed 1776 times

tail 4.JPG (45.82 KiB) Viewed 1776 times

tail 6.JPG (50.43 KiB) Viewed 1776 times

tail 6.JPG (50.43 KiB) Viewed 1776 times

[acourtjester]

Like these large single back and colored front parts.

[ROKCRLER]

Nicely done Tom!

[Plasma-art]

i have dropped it into fusion to look at a 3d part and i think layering is going to be the smart thing to do.
lots of intricate thin lines is sub optimal when it comes to plasma cutting not to mention the dropouts.
going to fork off and design a layered version tomorrow.
have an idea of how to do that but i probably end up with some more questions at that point.

how do you open up the nodes of the different elements and connect them? tried to do that but had to hit the undo button alot of times

[acourtjester]

here you go

tails 2 parts.svg

(23.23 KiB) Downloaded 58 times

tails 2 parts.svg

(23.23 KiB) Downloaded 58 times

tail 10.JPG (38.72 KiB) Viewed 1772 times

tail 10.JPG (38.72 KiB) Viewed 1772 times

[acourtjester]

You highlight one part the hold down the shift key and select the other parts you want to connect and use the path combine. The using the node tool remove sections and then connect the nodes from different parts to combine.

tail 14.JPG (31.91 KiB) Viewed 1770 times

tail 14.JPG (31.91 KiB) Viewed 1770 times

[Plasma-art]

Shift key... that might have been the issue as I was using ctrl because that's second nature.
Already learned more from actually using inkscape and messing things up and asking here then watching dozens of tutorial videos.
Have tried a couple of times to learn it but got frustrated pretty quick every single time.
But never got to the point I am now and actually starting to understand the workflow.

[acourtjester]

With YouTube Inkscape videos there ae many outside the Plasma field that also have great info. Scrap booking and other fields show lots of tricks to use too. Logos by Nick are great too.

[adbuch]

Great explanation Tom! I have learned much from both yourself and Rokcrler.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience with us.

David

[adbuch]

i have dropped it into fusion to look at a 3d part and i think layering is going to be the smart thing to do.
lots of intricate thin lines is sub optimal when it comes to plasma cutting not to mention the dropouts.
going to fork off and design a layered version tomorrow.
have an idea of how to do that but i probably end up with some more questions at that point.

how do you open up the nodes of the different elements and connect them? tried to do that but had to hit the undo button alot of times

Here is another possible way to go cutting it as a single layer. At about 24" wide, there would be about 1/4" width for the piece around the outer perimeter. I did some creative node editing following the steps Tom outlined above.

I also like Tom's approach of doing a layered piece with the different smaller pieces painted in different colors as he showed in some of his examples above. Something like an EasyScriber could be used to scribe out the patterns on the backer to show where they will be attached after cutting and painting. Lots of fun possibilities here!

David

tails 2 single layer.svg

(55.17 KiB) Downloaded 55 times

tails 2 single layer.svg

(55.17 KiB) Downloaded 55 times

[plasmanewbie]

Thanks for the explanation Tom, I was able to get much further with your step by step an learned some things. Have to say I still prefer my Corel.

[ROKCRLER]

Both Toms and Davids ideas are great..Im still trying to get time to make layered like Tom.. one day...
here is how i did a similar layered.
Red is just a backer, black is the outlined cut

[acourtjester]

Once you see how, it becomes much easier to understand how to break up drawing and reshape if needed.
I'm to cheap to buy and use Corel. Or some of the other great programs out there (Vectrics is another). Lightburn and EstlCam were cheap enough, otherwise I try to find a workaround. Another example of break apart and layered.

[Plasma-art]

Thanks for the tips so far.
Still need to take some time and sit down again but busy with other things.

[Dirtmotor]

Thanks guys , I am learning something new every time I log in .