Stumped -- connecting separate stokes cleanly.

[jim cubie]

The attached file is the decorative trim that goes around a window.  I up load my files to cricut (cutting machine). I created this design with a number of separate bezier strokes (that is the right term?)and arcs. When I upload this file where one line joins another the cricut software is seeing a break, it stops and lifts the cutter leaving a nib at some of the places that the lines intersect.  I know that if I do the drawing with the bezier tool and draw continuously I do not have the nib problem.

However, it is not possible for me to draw some of these shapes as continuous lines -- such as connecting the vertical lines to the bottom of the arc.

I thought of using "convert stroke to path" and then click "union".  However when I do this it creates an object with such broad lines that cricut cuts both sides of the lines. 

Is there some way to convert the separate strokes  to a continuous line after they are drawn as separate lines? Or some other solution.

The last time I posted a question, I got a response in the form of a video.  The problem is that the person clicks so rapidly that I cannot follow what he is doing.  If you do post your response in the from of a video, is there a way for me to slow it down?

[Lazur]

Hmm sorry about that, got to install a key and mouse click capturer too :/.

Once you combine all paths (Ctrl+K), it's only node editing.

Select the nodes you want to merge and click on this icon of the tool:
-in case the image above doesn't load, it's the 3rd icon from the left.

[brynn]

I'm not very good at making videos or animations.  So I'll just use text.

Path menu > Union and Path menu > Combine, are very similar, but not the same thing.  In this case, either Union or Combine will get you halfway there.  The other half is joining the nodes.

Actually, if you join the nodes, it will automatically create a single path, so that neither Union or Combine is really necessary.  I think I explained about joining nodes before, and you had some trouble.  But I'll try again.

 -- Select both end nodes with the Node tool
 -- Click "Join selected end nodes" button on the control bar

Note that only works with end nodes.  (Well, is only supposed to work with end nodes.  Sometimes it works for nodes which aren't on the ends, but it's not supposed to.)

Using the file you provided, there might be a problem with joining some of those nodes.  That's because they are not precisely on top of each other.  What happens when you join 2 nodes which are not precisely on top of each other, is that the single new node is place precisely between where the original end nodes were.

One possible solution to that, would be to use "Join selected end nodes with a new segment" button.  But I don't think you'll want that, for the file you provided, because in some places, that would create a tiny diagonal segment, where you want a single point where horizontal and vertical meet.

So at this point, I would  introduce you to Snapping (if you haven't discovered already).  The attached screenshot shows how to set up snapping so that nodes will snap to nodes.  It also allows the Pen/Bezier (or Pencil/Freehand) tool to start a new path precisely on top of the nearest node (to the mouse, at the time when you click).

I don't know exactly your workflow, but there is something else which should help in certain situations.  When you draw a new path with Pen/Bezier tool (or Pencil), have you ever noticed the tiny squares or boxes on the beginning and end of a path?  If you select an existing path, then switch to Pen/Bezier, and you position the mouse over one of those tiny boxes (the box becomes filled with red when the mouse is in the right place, although often I find it hard to see that) then click once, you have just extended that path, with no gaps.  Then just move the mouse to wherever you want to place the next node, and click (or double-click to end the path).  It doesn't just place the first node on top of the existing node, it actually extends the path from there.

So there will be some situations where you prefer to extend an existing path, and other times when you want to start a new path, where the first node is already snapped to the existing node.  The difference is to extend a path, you have to select an existing path, the one you want to extend, first, and then switch to the Pen/Bezier tool.  If you don't want to extend a path, but you just want the new path to start precisely where another path starts (or ends, or at any node along the path), don't select the existing path first.

Yep, Lazur beat me to the post.  But I'll post anyway, in case the extra details might be helpful.

[jim cubie]

I continue to be frustrated with this diagram.  I have redone it using every technique you suggested but there are 4 places where there is something about the connection of the strokes (i guess) which leads the cricut to stop cutting, and then start cutting again.  The four places are indicated by arrows in the the file attached.

Would you see if there is something about those connections that could be signalling to the machine to stop, skip a very small space, and then start again.  ( I have put in a new cutting blade to make sure the problem is not mechanical.)

Many thanks for all the time you have spent on this.

[Lazur]

Installed qipress, may this one work a bit better:

[jim cubie]

First, thanks for all your work.
Second, I cannot recreate the change that occurs between 2:03 and 2:04.  You seem to just be making a box around the diagram with the node selection tool.  You then get a box in which all the nodes are brighter and there are black double headed arrows around the diagram.  I cannot get that to happen.  I can't see any key stokes beside selecting the whole box.  I do not get the black arrows.  I have done this at 25% speed many times.  What are you doing to get the black arrows?

[Lazur]

The arrows around the selected nodes can be enabled by the icon toggled in in the node tool's settings, that is the third icon from the right at the top.
Didn't use the node-bounding box handles though, so the drawing can be recreated without that visual cue.

(I'm not completely satisfied with the key capturing -it's the second one that I could run.
In the video qipress is used. Other one was PxKeystrokesForScreencasts but it prevented using features of inkscape.
So much to improve-adding notes, voice over...)

[brynn]

Did you see my answer here?  https://forum.inkscapecommunity.com/index.php?topic=729.msg5031#msg5031  I didn't make a video - only text

I'll try to make a video now, but I'm not very good at it.  I'm not sure, if the forum might make it playable within the message (like the YouTube player).  We'll see what happens when I post it, haha.  But if it doesn't, you can use Windows Media Player to play it.  (Other players might play it as well, but I don't know which ones.)  Edit - aha, it did give it a player!  I suggest using full screen (button in lower-right corner)

The mouse is highlighted in a yellow circle.  Below the video is some text to help explain (because I haven't learned how to make captions yet).



Around 32 seconds, where I'm circling the mouse around a small white circle and square.  Those are the handles for the arc, which you made with the Ellipse tool.  I think I explained about handles to you, somewhere recently.  Anyway, that indicates that it is not a path.  So as you continue with the video, you'll see the next thing is to convert it to a path.

Around 1:01, where I selected the vertical path below.  I circled the mouse around a node, to show that this line is already a path.

Around 1:11, I held the Shift key while I clicked on the path above.  (I haven't learned how to show the keys that I use in the video yet.)  You''ll notice in Inkscape that the Shift key often is used to make a multiple selection.

Next, when I made the little selection box around the 2 nodes, you can't see them.  I know it's confusing, but it's part of the program that just can't be changed.  That's why I was circling the status bar, to show you how it indicates that 2 nodes are selected.  The status bar is your good friend! 

There is always something in the status bar, whether it's giving you suggestions about what you can do, with whatever tool is enabled, or it's telling you about what's happening on the canvas.  Whenever you select something with Selection tool  the status bar tells you what kind of object it is.

Before you convert that arc to a path, try selecting it with the Selection tool, to see what kind of object it is.  Besides seeing those little white circle or square (or sometimes diamond) handles, if the Selection tool is enabled, you can see that it's not a path by looking at the status bar.

(PS - Just to keep things organized, I'm going to merge this and the other topic together )

[jim cubie]

Lazur -- between 2:34 and 2:37 there are 2 moves that I cannot identify.

In the first it switches from wide to narrow lines.

In the second, all the arrows disappear but 2 squares remain.

What's happening please.

[brynn]

I don't know how he made the lines wider (and gray) like that.  But it's not relevant to what's needed to join the nodes.

You should disregard the arrows.  They aren't needed.  When they disappear, it means he has deselected the nodes.  The squares  are the nodes which had been previously selected.

[jim cubie]

Many thanks for all your help.  It worked.

The key thing was understanding that the ellipses needed to be changed to paths and second the move of "joining nodes."

[Lazur]

Was switching between rendering modes by Ctrl+5 on the numpad twice. Too bad those keys weren't captured.

Glad you could work it out!

[brynn]

Good news, Jim!

Lazur, which display mode makes the thick gray highlight?

[Lazur]

There was no such highlight. At 1:00 a wide stroke was set and object opacity lowered. So that'd be in normal display mode.

[brynn]

Oh, somehow I missed that you had made it wider to begin with.  Thanks