How to copy a selected group of nodes to another point on the page.

[ivanlc]

Hi. I'm sure it'll seem like a daft question, but I'm using the node tool, and have a group of nodes selected which I want to duplicate elsewhere on the page, rather than re-creating them.

I'm sure the answer will be laughably obvious, but I'm having real difficulty with the concept of vectors and how you've to think of them when needing to change them, as opposed to raster images which are reasonably straightforward (at least to my, non-vectorised mind  )

I've uploaded a screenshot of what I'm trying to do; am I going about it the right way - or not at all...? 

TIA.

[Moini]

The truth is, you can't (in Inkscape - I think it's kind of a missing feature, but I've never heard this be requested by anyone else before). You can copy-paste the whole object, then use the node tool (or several other tools from eraser to path operations to clip paths) to remove the extraneous nodes.

Or - depending on your object - you can try Path > Break Apart, then selection tool, to remove the split-off objects you do not need.

[Moini]

Found a feature request for it:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/172010

[ivanlc]

 :Aha! There was me thinking I was just being obtuse and that answer would be obvious as it seems like such a basic thing to have included in such an advanced, professional & polished piece of software. 

Have ordered a decent beginner's book on Inkscape and today managed to do a couple of things that I've had issues with, so my confidenice is obviously growing.

Thanks for the info, my friend.

 

i.

[Moini]

Also take a look at http://write.flossmanuals.net/start-with-inkscape/_draft/why-use-inkscape/ - it's a beginners' guide being created by the Inkscape community. Feedback is welcome! (visit https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape-docs/manuals/issues and open an issue for it).

[ivanlc]

Just taken a quick look at the Floss manual; seems pretty good...

Good thing too, as only recently realised the book ordered was written SIX years ago - so fairly useless, methinks...🙄

i

[Moini]

Don't worry about age - the simple things in Inkscape haven't changed a lot. Some restrictions have been removed, so you can save some work sometimes, and lots of new things have been added, but the main, plain functionality a beginner needs is still pretty much working in the same way as it did 6 years ago.

[ivanlc]

That's what I thought at first, but sadly it mentions not-a-lot about the concept of nodes and manipulating them. I was quite surprised to be honest, as nodes are preeetty darn fundamental to the understanding of Inkscape...

I went ahead and did what you suggested, and copied the entire vector, then deleting the extraneous strokes.

(Doing this, I realised I'd inadvertently copied the thing three times over itself. Had to select groups of nodes and hit delete until the entire group of strokes disappeared, then undo the last deletion and drag the copied/undone selected groups of nodes where I needed them to be.

This worked a treat and gave me the result I was after. Many thanks for the key tip, my friend. 

[Moini]

You're welcome, @ivanlc!