Windows 10 Setup Tweaks? Inkscape VERY slow

[cstinch]

Hello all, I'm new to Inkscape - is there a preferred setup for Windows 10 in order to run smoothly? I bought a new laptop that was fairly powerful and it still cannot handle a file with many nodes. Specifically, I have an outline that I'm trying to fill with a graphic with lots of nodes. I've tried closing all programs but Inkscape....I've tried to restart the laptop then reopen just Inkscape... that did not work.  I've just opened Inkscape now to open a file to show you and it is taking a VERY long time to open the file. ...It ran so slow yesterday that I threw my hands up and bought a new gaming tower online to run it instead... my laptop as described at Newegg is:
Lenovo Yoga 720 15.6" IPS 4k Ultra HD Multi Touch 2-in-1 Laptop, Intel Quad-Core i7-7700HQ Upto 3.8GHz, 16GB DDR4, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 2GB, Thunderbolt, Backlit Keyboard, Windows 10 Pro.

Is this not powerful enough to run Inkscape version 0.91 ?

[Moini]

1. The current Inkscape version is 0.92.3. There have been some performance improvements. Read the installation instructions carefully, if you want to update.
2. There exist a couple of tricks to make it faster - I wonder if a bitmap image or a pattern couldn't do the same? Why does it need thousands of objects for that pattern?
3. You could make a bitmap copy and make those things invisible, while you're working.

[brynn]

Welcome to the forum!

I would say that almost any computer can run Inkscape, by which I mean opening a new blank document.  But no matter how powerful of a computer one has, there are always going to be images which are too big for Inkscape to handle, based on your computer's resources (usually RAM is the deciding factor).  Out of curiosity, how large is this file?

Is that a simulated black metallic texture which you want to apply to the pistol-shaped object?  Yes, I agree with Moini, that perhaps the texture doesn't need to be vector.  Maybe a pattern or Edit menu > Make a bitmap copy.  Or there might be a filter which would look like that, somewhere.

Depending on the history of the file, it's possible there are too many nodes.  So theoretically, reducing the number of nodes could help, if that's the problem.

This tutorial gives all the tricks I know about, to be able to continue working on an image which is already challenging your resources.  https://forum.inkscapecommunity.com/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=35

[cstinch]

Thank you both, I will try to ... well... figure out how to utilize a bitmap copy. I know how to bitmap an image and then make it a path... but unsure about how to make a bitmap copy.
Brynn, the pattern is like the static on your television, so you can see how heavy the image is and the amount of nodes it contains. It is almost impossible to move the image across the screen to relocate it. I'm hoping the new(er) computer will power through this task.

[brynn]

Oh, so the 16 gb RAM you mentioned is for the new computer?  How much RAM in the old computer?

There are probably a few possible approaches that we've both mentioned.  I'm not sure which one would be best, but I'll try and explain some of them.

 - select one of those rectangles
 - Edit menu > Make a Bitmap Copy

That will put the new bitmap copy (I think a PNG) on the canvas, and probably right on top of the original rectangle.  So you might want to move it over first.  Then you would place your outline path on top of it, select both the path and the new image (the PNG), then Object menu > Clip > Set

Another way is using a Pattern.

 - select the rectangle
 - Object menu > Patterns > Object to Pattern
 - select the path outline
 - Object menu > Fill and Stroke > Fill tab > Pattern fill (the button looks like this  )

Now your path outline should be filled with the new pattern.  But if it isn't, look in the Fill and Stroke dialog, and you can select the new pattern.  It will be identified by usually a 4 digit random number name in the pattern menu (which otherwwise are identified by text names).