How can I make my brush strokes invisible, so I can see my background texture?

[thedungorange]

Hi guys,

I really hope you don't mind me posting this dumbo question, and I can just imagine people will think exactly that.
I am absolutely clueless with Inkscape and all of these graphics terms, though I have definitely been trying.
Basically I got this Wacom tablet, I heard they were decent, and made a logo on Inkscape, it needed to be a vector. It's calligraphy and I can make it any colour but I want to basically position it immediately inside a solid coloured shape and then behind that a texture like wood, so the text itself would show up in the colour of the wood, as though you're looking through the shape.
If anyone could give me ca clue of what buttons to press in the software I'd really appreciate it. And plus, I'm sorry about this, I can just imagine the answer is out there already but because I have a limited graphics vocabulary I don't exactly realise whether I've come across the right tutorial yet.

Thanks a lot,

Kris

[brynn]

Welcome to the forum!

Could you show us an example of the effect you're trying to make?  I'm unable to develop a mental image of what you're describing.  Once we can see or imagine what you want to do, we can either tell you how, or refer you to a tutorial.

In some ways, it sounds like you want the logo to look like it's etched in wood.  But then when you can see through it....well, I'm having a hard time with wood plus transparency.  So if you could search around and find an example, we can get started 

[thedungorange]

Hi,

Thanks a lot for the prompt response.

So I just mocked this up really quick. So basically if you can imagine you had a wooden sign and then applied a big blue sticker over the top with holes on, in the exact shapes of my logo (fake logo here), then of course those bits would show up with the gradient of the wood underneath, which I'm looking to retain, not artificial black or something else like they do here.

Dumbo question I imagine, but I appreciate any help I can get.

Thanks a lot guys!

Kris

[TMadisson]

Hi dungorange, has your problem been solved? I weren't able to download and see the tiff file you sent over 

[Moini]

Screenshot of the tiff file, opened with GIMP.


Bildschirmfoto_2017-11-24_16-12-34.png
(108.3 kB . 462x348)
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[TMadisson]

So is that final image that was wanting to be achieved Moini?

[Moini]

I have no idea. It's just a screenshot of the TIFF, so that people who cannot open it like yourself would still be able to help. The question should be directed at dungorange.

[TMadisson]

The question should be directed at dungorange.

Thank you for the screen shot, weren't sure if dungorange has posted the final image for all to view and you were filling me in the story so far... Would be nice to have response though as I enjoy solving graphics problem.

[brynn]

Ok, now I understand better.  This is potentially, a relatively complex image that you're describing.  If you want a step by step tutorial, for the most complex version, it will take me some time to write it.  But meanwhile, I can write steps for a very simple version.  And also I'll refer you to some tutorials which explain various different components, in case you're the type who likes to study on their own. 

Here are a couple of  tutorials for drawing a wood grain texture.  They are really better for users with intermediate Inkscape skills, so if you're a complete novice, they probably won't help.  Instead of being step by step instructions, they are SVG files, which you would open with Inkscape, and study how they are made.

This one is written for a specific image, but you can extrapolate the process to fit your own needs:  https://forum.inkscapecommunity.com/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=26
This one is more generalized. 
wood1.svg
(318.61 kB . 600x600)
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However, thanks to Lazur, you don't necessarily  need to draw your own wood grain.  He's made loads and loads of wood grain filters, which can be applied to the paths that you draw.  This link is a search result, which probably contains all of his wood related filters:  https://openclipart.org/search/?query=lazur+wood+filter

You would browse through them until you come to a filter pack which contains a filter  you like.  (Each one which has "pack" in the title contains several filters.)  Then download that SVG file, open it, and select the filter you like.  Then copy, and paste into your Inkscape file.

There are a couple of...even a few different ways to approach this.  This is the simplest way I can think of.

1 -- Open the Inkscape file of your logo, which is made of vector paths.
2 -- Paste in the filter which you copied from the filter pack file.
3 -- With the filter image selected, do Object menu > Patterns > Object to Pattern
4 -- Select your logo
5 -- Object menu > Fill and Stroke > Pattern fill (button looks like this ) (not this )

At step #5, your logo should become filled with the wood grain pattern.  If it doesn't, then we will need to see your SVG file of your logo.  If it becomes partially filled, or if you see horizontal/vertical lines in it, we just need to adjust the pattern.  I can't tell you how until I know exactly what the problem is.  So just let us know the problem and we can help.  (or show a screenshot)

Another way to do it, would be to use the filter directly, without converting it to a pattern.  However, when I was trying it just now, I found that the filter did not fill my path completely.  And adjusting the Filter General settings was just too tricky.  Possibly, the filter which you choose won't do that.  If you want to try it, here are the steps:

1 -- Open your logo SVG file
2 -- Paste in the filter which you copied from the filter pack file
3 -- Select your logo
4 -- Filters menu > Filter Editor
5 -- Place a checkmark in the box, for the filter which is showing in the column on the left of the filter editor.

Now I have a couple more questions, for clarity. 

Do you want it to look like the logo has been carved or etched into the wood, so that you need to see the depth of the etching or carving?  Or is the logo simply cut out of the sticker, and you see the wood?  If you need depth, this tutorial might help:  https://forum.inkscapecommunity.com/index.php?action=articles;sa=view;article=54  It's written for text, but you can use it for any path (although for any path, creating the side edges could be more tricky - just ask for help if needed).

Do you need it like your TIFF example, where you see the wood around the edges of the sticker?  If that's the case, we need a whole different approach.  So just let me know, and I can write up some steps.

[Lazur]

Oh I'm joining late the conversation?
Lot of things to read through.
Just a note that stuck out -better not convert a filtered object to a pattern fill. Generated woodgrain filters use a larger filtered area than the original object, resulting in a larger visual bounding box, resulting in huge gaps inbetween repeats.
Also the filter can cover any area without repeats, whereas it cannot be tileable. For making a seamless pattern out of a non-repeating one you'd still add extra steps and considerations.

[Lazur]

Read it through -turns out the problem has nothing to do with wood grain itself.
But to have a "live pattern fill".

There are quite some ways approaching this.
You use a vacom -I assume you are using the calligraphy tool. That creates separate objects of the strokes, that by definition have separate fills.

If you combine/union the drawn strokes (Ctrl+K or Ctrl++), they will became a single path that can have 1 fill attribute instead.
Similarly you can group the paths together (Ctrl+G), which can give you a bit more options.
Groups can have fill attributes and you can enter them later on and add in new objects /draw more strokes with the calligraphy tool.


If you have created a pattern fill of a woodgrain texture you could add that to the group/compound path to fill up the calligraphic strokes.
But if it wasn't for a group, you couldn't draw strokes from the start to have the same fill in a "live way".

Using a pattern fill may not be the best idea either in my humble opinion -unless you have a seamless pattern as a raster image.

What other options are there?
Clipping and masking.

Clipping uses pre-existing paths and preserved best when saving as pdf.
That limits the drawing process of combining the objects, and using the single path to clip a raster image of the wood grain texure.

Masking uses a visual representation of an object, whatever it may be -so it can be more of the live solution.
If the masking object is a black rectangle, grouped, then you can enter the group and draw white strokes inside.
And, use cloning -create a clone of the group and use the clone for masking the texture.
Bit complicated and not transferring to pdf -so some decisions you'll have to make.
Will it be printed, do you need it as a repeating pattern, do you have a nice texture as a photograph, and if you need to have it in a live updating manner?

[brynn]

Just a note that stuck out -better not convert a filtered object to a pattern fill. Generated woodgrain filters use a larger filtered area than the original object, resulting in a larger visual bounding box, resulting in huge gaps inbetween repeats.

In my very brief testing, I found the filters did not fill my object completely, and I had to mess around with the Filter General Settings.  But I never could find the right combination of Coordinates and Dimensions.  When I converted to Pattern, I didn't have a problem.  Although I didn't use a very large object, maybe that's why.  Let's see.....

Oh yeah, for a large object, the pattern tiles itself, and there's a huge gap between tiles.  I'm not sure why that happens, because the original object is a simple rectangle.  But anyway, if Kris's image is a logo, maybe it's quite small, and won't be affected by this.  If the logo is larger than the pasted filter, he or she had better try just applying the filter directly to the logo.  If you have problems, let us know, and we can help you fix.

I have a feeling we'll need to help prepare the logo a little further, from the Wacom-made logo.  But we'll see.

Read it through -turns out the problem has nothing to do with wood grain itself.
But to have a "live pattern fill".

I didn't get that impression from the description - not the live part.  He does want the logo to look like wood (and everything else a solid color), but I didn't hear about being live.  But (again) we'll see

[Lazur]

Hoping the logo part is just a figure of speech because of a textured logo looks unprofessional and raising numerous problems with colour matching.

In my very brief testing, I found the filters did not fill my object completely, and I had to mess around with the Filter General Settings.

Guess you are talking about these two:

wood grain megapack
wood grain megapack fixed

The previous uploads had a slightly smaller bounding box defined as necessary.
The default filter settings are of a 1,20 times larger area thus the offsetting is (1,2-1)/2=0,1 times the height/width.
As the origin is set bottom left, the offsetting value is negative.
For an icreased filtered area for example this can work:
coordinates -0,5  -0,5;
dimensions   2,0   2,0.

Or group the object to be filtered with a larger transparent rectangle.

[brynn]

Well, as we've seen many, many times over by now, users who are new to computer graphics tend not to follow the typical guidlines for logos (very simple shapes, no more than 2 or 3 colors, etc).  After seeing so many attempts by forum members, to guide logo design, ignored,  I tend to focus on answering their Inkscape questions, rather than try to change their mind about the logo design.

The problem I was having was with filters in the file, w19.svg.  But now today, I can't reproduce that problem.  Although I had tried several times yesterday, since I can't reproduce today, I think it might have been display issue.

Anyway to clarify my original message for Kris, I would now suggest the 2nd set of steps I provided (apply the filter directly to your logo).  I suspect we will learn more about your project after you make a first try - possibly requiring some editing of the logo, or even re-creating it with a better technique.  So that's part of the reason I wanted to keep my first suggestion very simple.