You can also recolor such joint objects by clicking on the COLOR SWATCH down at the bottom of the editing window:Īn Inkscape vector object is made up of a STROKE (the border around the object) and a FILL (the inside color of the object), just like in Illustrator. When both objects are selected, you can transform them together (scaling, rotating, etc.) by using the same click-and-drag-the-handles technique: If you have multiple objects you can select them both by pressing CTRL key and then clicking on them. Again click and drag the handles for various types of image manipulation and familiarize yourself with them.Īnother way to rotate the star is by using rotation and flipping buttons on the top tool bar: Then click on the star once again and see how the handles change into rotation arrows. Now select the Select and Transform Objects tool (F1), which looks like an arrow.Ĭlick on the star once and you’ll see scaling handles displayed around your object.Ĭlick and drag on the handles for various types of image manipulation and familiarize yourself with all the possibilities too many to list here. Shortcut to select that tool is (*), asterisk. So it’s worth a closer look.Ĭlick and select the Create stars and polygons tool on the toolbar (LEFT sidebar) and draw a star. It comes loaded with many of the same features that you’ll find in an industry-standard program like Adobe Illustrator. Maximize the window by pulling on its bottom-right corner and you can get the full workspace, with all tools displaying:Īs you can see right away, this is not a lightweight vector drawing program at all. Here is the first screen that welcomes you when you launch Inkscape: Although I use Illustrator for most of my technical drawings I can’t help but appreciate the amount of functionality packed into Inkscape, which is after all a totally free product that you can download from.

Most people quit using Inkscape after a few tries because the GUI looks different than that of (say) Illustrator. Inkscape is a great vector drawing software with poor documentation.

Inkscape vector drawing