Upgrade ruined the way object drawn. Cause? Solution?

[thomasMichael]

I recently upgraded from .48 to .92.
There's one file I have where objects are no longer drawn correctly.
These objects were drawn with the pencil tool with "shape" set to  "ellipse"

The object looked like this in .48
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_45RIZ_X-Kuc0tKb1NudHNtakk/view?usp=sharing

And now it looks like this in .92
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_45RIZ_X-KuZkpDallPNVdiZFU/view?usp=sharing

Here's the one from .92 again but with the path showing.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_45RIZ_X-KuV25fem1TbzhKSXc/view?usp=sharing

Does anyone know what might be causing this, or what I can do to recover?
thanks.

[Lazur]

Welcome aboard!

I'd try splitting the topmost node to see if it helps. If not, would look into the path effect editor. With the upgrade now you can pull handles to widen the pattern along the path, maybe if the width is altered a bit it would render as expected?
If nothing else works then maybe removing the path effect and recreating it from scratch can solve the issue.

[thomasMichael]

Yes when I split the topmost node into two, the problem goes away. But if those nodes wind up on top of each other the problem comes right back. Unfortunately, many of my objects are too complex to use that as a workaround.
I tried altering the pattern's width but that doesn't change anything.  However, I think you're right that it has something to do with the way the pattern is applied along the path. And maybe, as a work-around, I can just remove the pattern from some of these paths and re-apply.
I'm new to paths and building patterns along them, so I'll go read the manual and see what I can do.

[brynn]

Welcome to the forum!

What happened between the versions is this.  In 0.48, when you draw something with Pencil tool with Ellipse shape, automatically, the Pattern Along Path LPE is applied to it.  Don't ask me why they did this for 0.92, I have no idea.  They must have thought it would be helpful, I guess.  But anyway, in 0.92, now the same options for the Pencil tool means that both the PAP LPE and the BSpline LPE are applied to what you draw.

So to achieve the same effect as in 0.48, after you draw something with Pencil tool set to Ellipse shape, you would need to open Path menu > Path Effects.  There in the dialog, you'll see that you can remove a path effect by clicking on it to highlight, and then click the minus sign to remove it.

Or what I would suggest instead, is to use the From Clipboard option from the Shape dropdown menu.  You would draw your own ellipse.  Probably long and skinny would be best, but you can experiment.  Do Path menu > Object to Path.  Then simply copy it (to put it on the clipboard), and it will be automatically applied to the paths you draw.

You would need to do that per document now, because Inkscape won't remember what you copied, from one file to the next.  Well, probably not....  I guess if you had copied the elliptical path to the clipboard immediately before opening a new file, it might remember.

[thomasMichael]

What happened between the versions is this.  In 0.48, when you draw something with Pencil tool with Ellipse shape, automatically, the Pattern Along Path LPE is applied to it.  Don't ask me why they did this for 0.92, I have no idea.  They must have thought it would be helpful, I guess.  But anyway, in 0.92, now the same options for the Pencil tool means that both the PAP LPE and the BSpline LPE are applied to what you draw.

Excellent information Brynn!
That is going to save me a lot of confusion.
It will be some time before I work with that file again, but I'll post an update when I do.
thanks again.