How to use
Inkscape
to make Vinyl Lettering, Logos and Graphics
Download
Inkscape 0.45.1 Windows
Mac(Universal)
Mac(PPC)
Once
you have Installed Inkscape and open it up you'll find all the
features you need to design anything you want. This
tutorial will deal only with using Inkscape to create a file
for simple one color vinyl lettering that we would be able to
use as a cut file. Later tutorials will deal with multi-color
vinyl lettering and logos.
The
Inkscape format we will be using is Scalable Vector
Graphics (SVG). This format can be opened by many
vector graphic programs such as Adobe Illustrator and
CorelDraw.
O.K.
let's start, shall we?
Creating
Cut Vinyl Lettering Text
On the toolbar on the left hand side, there is an icon
that looks like the letter "A". Click on this
to activate the text tool. (Fig. 1)
Fig. 1
By
default, the text size is very small, so select a larger font
size that you will be able to see, on the toolbar above the drawing
board. (Fig. 2) At this time, you can also select your
font, just to the left of the font size.
Fig. 2
Once
you have selected a font and larger size, click in the drawing
board and start typing your text. (Fig. 3)
Fig. 3
Once
you finished typing your text, click on the selection tool,
which looks like a black arrow and is located on the left menu
at the top. (Fig. 4)
Fig. 4
After
clicking the selection tool, your text will become
"selected", showing eight directional arrows around
the outer edge. These can be used to manually resize
your text. If you click and drag your mouse on one of these
arrows while holding the Ctrl key (Ctrl + Click), you will proportionately
change the height and the width simultaneously. Change
the default unit from pixels (px) to inches (in) (or your
appropriate unit of measure). (Fig. 5)
Fig. 5
And
let's not forget to lock the height and width so they stay
proportionate. Click on the tiny lock in between the
height and width boxes. That is, if you are not wishing to
distort the text, of course. (Fig. 6)
Fig. 6
At
this point, you can size your text using one of two methods;
using (Ctrl + Click) while dragging the directional arrows
which surround your text or by changing either the height or
width to proportionately make your text larger or smaller (Fig.
7).
Fig. 7
OK,
here is the REALLY important part! For everyone to see
the same art, whether or not they have your fonts, the text
need to be converted from "text" to vector art.
While the text is still selected, click on the Path drop down
menu and select the very first option "Object to Path (Shift+Crtl+C)"
(Fig. 8). As soon as you click on it your text should be
converted.
Fig. 8
Did it
work? It's kind of hard to tell huh? It looks the same to
me! And now it will to everyone else too. But,
let's be sure... double-click on the text and it should show a
bunch of little boxes around the edges of your text (See Fig.
9). Those are called points, they are points on the line
in which the path changes direction.
Fig. 9
What,
you don't want black text? Pick another color by clicking on
the color bar located at the bottom of the window. (Fig. 10)
Fig. 10
Yay!
We're done! Oh yeah, better save it! Click on the File menu
and select "Save As", enter the name of your file, select
the location to save it to on your computer, make sure to
select the check-box for "Append filename extension
automatically" and that the file type you have selected
is Inkscape SVG (*.svg) - (Fig. 11)
Fig. 11
Hooray!
Now your done! You should have successfully created a vector
graphic suitable for cut vinyl lettering, that will be small
enough in size to email us for production!
More
information regarding Inkscape as well as tutorials can be
found at: http://www.inkscape.org/doc/index.php?lang=en
Have any
questions or need a price quote? Call or email us and we will
help you with whatever you need!
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