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New Technique for Making Piecing Patterns in Inkscape

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Update: these pre-youtube videos have finally lost their homes on the net. My latest videos on the Paint Bucket Technique are here:

http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/watch/coeIYveKJL

picture-4Did you know you can use the Paint Bucket tool in Inkscape to trace a bitmap piece by piece? Well, you can and it’s a fun and easy technique you’ll want to add to your arsenal. Click for part 1 of the video tutorial which covers how to convert a black and white (line art) coloring book page  into vector form for paper piecing patterns you can cut with your Cricut.

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Comments

  4. Very nicely done. Clear, concise and useful. I love learning new and easier ways to do things.

    TFS

    papasue
    http:papasuecreative.blogspot.com

  5. That was wonderful!!!! great tutorial, easy to understand. Gotta love learning new things. Thank you so so much

  9. Great tutorial, but since I am new to Cricut, Scal and Inkscape, I have a question. After you separate your colors, how to do you get a solid background in black so when you lay the colors on it you have black lines in between the colors. I guess you would call that shadowing? Do you just make the original graphic all black using the paint bucket tool or do you use the shadow feature in SCAL or what? Thanks.

    • Sharon, the first video is for paper piecing without a black outline. The second video should answer your question on how to make a background. Another option is to click on the black lines with the paint bucket and then use blackout or shadow blackout on the resulting outline in SCAL.

  12. Thank you so much! I have watched this clip and your second clip. With this, I will no longer want to throw my computer away! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

    BTW: Did I say Thank you?

  13. Great video, saves me a step or two, I was coloring after I auto traced.
    I would like to suggest for those who want a solid shadow behind it for the inside lines to make a duplicate copy of the image after painting, and then push union on that copy, then Path- outset a few times, it will give you a nice solid backing for your image, and the outlines will show through between pieces.
    Thanks for the video, its fun.

    • Be sure to check out the second video which addresses the case where you want a background or base piece.

  14. Excellent video,it now makes me feel more confident in using
    Inkscape.
    I have done all that is shown on the video but how do you turn the colour pieces to outline at the end of the Video.
    Thanks

    Genie

    • To view in outline mode go to the View menu and select Display Mode>Outline. You can also toggle back and forth between views by holding down the control key and pressing the number 5 on your numerical keypad (if you have one.)

  15. Hi,
    Thanks for that, Do I save the design in the colours? or outline?
    please excuse me for asking,I am very new to this software.
    Thanks

    Genie

  16. great tutes! i think i’m just about ready to purchase SCAL! more confident! my only question was how to view the outline, but you’ve already answered it!

    thanks so much!

  17. This looks so very easy but why do I have butterflies just thinking about trying it? Can you get the coloring page by scanning and if so how do you get it into Inkscape?

    • Relax, Patsy, you don’t even have to scan. Just Google coloring pages and a topic or item like Mother’s Day or banana and you will find plenty of coloring pages to download. Save them to your desktop when asked for a location so they will be easy to find. In Inkscape choose File>Import and choose the coloring page you saved. You can also scan one if you want, and import the same way.

  18. Coloring book tutorial–I have tried to follow this. I was wondering how do you get the “pink outline” on the areas that you are filling? I tried to find it within the menu choices and haven’t had any luck.

    Also, the “Close Gaps” drop down….what is that used for? I end up with small spaces that need to be filled and was wondering if I choose medium or large within that drop down if that would help. There are times when I try to fill these spaces and nothing fills.

    TIA,
    Ginger

    • The pink outline, as I mention on the video, is obtained by shift-clicking on the pink color swatch. That is the shortcut for changing the color of an object’s stroke. It is on the menu under Fill and Stroke.
      Changing the close gaps settings might help your situation, give it a try. It is also helpful to experiment with the other 2 sliders’ settings, until you find the one that works best for the image or piece you are working on.

  19. I got the “stroke” color to change by using “shift + click”, but it wouldn’t show on my image. I also was able to have better results filling my image by increasing the “Threshold.”

    Thanks for the help and the tutorial!
    Ginger

  20. You talk about a seconf video in the comments. Where do I find this second video?

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