How to draw inside a clipping mask?

[uzumakifahim]

Hi,
I am very new to graphic design field & inkscape also. I find this "How to draw inside a clipping mask", which is showing how draw Dribbble logo in abode illustrator(
). I want to design the same dribbble logo in inkscape also, but can't find any option like "clipping mask". Could anyone please help me about this? I believe this is very easily possible in inkscape, but how?

Thanks in advance.

[brynn]

Welcome to the forum!

Since your question is about an Illustrator tutorial, and Inkscape and Illustrator can be quite different, I moved it over to this board.

In Inkscape, clipping and masking are 2 similar, but different things.  I looked up what a dribble logo looks like, and just to make sure we're on the same page, it's a pink basketball, right?

I don't see any reason to use either clipping or masking to draw that logo.  From what I understand from that tutorial, they are using the Illustrator clipmask feature as some kind of a shortcut to using booleans or path operations (as they are called in Inkscape).  Inkscape can't really do anything like that.  At least not the behavior that you see on the Illustrator canvas in the tutorial.

While you could use clipping to create such an image, I would consider that technique not to be the best way to create a logo or icon.  That's because, at least in Inkscape, the clipped or masked portion of drawings aren't really cut off.  Essentially, they are hidden.  So your resulting file would have hidden contents.  That could cause all kind of problems, depending on how you end up using that file.  I always strive to create the leanest, meanest vector file, which contains only what's necessary, and nothing else.

However, if you want to draw it that way in Inkscape, here's how I would do it (although again, I would never do it that way).

1 -- Draw all the circles, right on top of each other, overlapping and everything
2 -- Give them all the right colors and stroke widths
3 -- Duplicate the main circle
4 -- Select everything
5 -- Object menu > Clip > Set
6 -- You might want to select all, and group, to make sure all the separate parts stay together when you move the image

[uzumakifahim]

Thanks a lot for the clarification. It is really a through one. Could you please help me out that how can I draw the "Dribbble" logo on Inkscape? or you can suggest some tutorial for me so that I can learn inkscape in a much better way? I believe & heard from very reputed professionals that Inkscape is a very capable software, which can produce high quality illustrations, but I am not getting good resources to learn!

Thanks in advance.

[phiscribe]

I watched the video.  There is no equivalent to "Draw Inside" in Inkscape.  To me, this Draw Inside option in Illustrator seems to be a great way to encourage a bad habit.  The bad habit of using a clip when a boolean operation would be just as easy and leave you with clean shapes.  You don't need to draw inside something to make the basketball.  The boolean operations in Inkscape are tools like difference, intersect, union, ect.  They are the path finder options in Illustrator.  In Illustrator or in Inkscape, putting something into a clip can limit you.   You have a view of an object, restrained by another object.  This is fine visually.  It is fine for making bitmaps.  But if you were trying to make a true path, such as for a vinyl cutter or engraving machine, the clip would never be adequate.  If you were just trying to make an image to reuse elsewhere, a clip is a poor choice.  So I call this method of creation a bad habit. 

[Moini]

I don't know what 'Draw Inside' is in Illustrator, but one can draw inside a clipped group in Inkscape, not sure if that's equivalent, but sounds like it would do the same.

[brynn]

That's not exactly what that video is doing, Moini.  If you could find a way to do what the video shows with Inkscape, you'll probably make the op happy.  But I still would not use such a technique, for a proper vector logo.

I would suggest starting with these 3 beginner tutorials: Help menu > Tutorials > Basic, Shapes, and Advanced.  (Don't worry, the one named "advanced" isn't really advanced.  It's an introduction to the most essential vector features (paths).)

After that, you could visit the Home tab on this website, where you'll find hundreds of tutorials organized generally by skill level, and some other categories.

And you could still use YouTube, and just search for Inkscape tutorials instead of Illustrator tutorials.  There's one Inkscape tutorial author on YT who likes to make tutorials for logos like that.  I don't know if he takes requests, but you could look into Nick Saporito's tutorials.  Or who knows, maybe he already made one for that logo?  Although note that his tutorials have a couple of chronic flaws (in my opinion).  They usually go too fast, and he calls the Selection tool "the arrow". 

Then there's the manual, which is Help menu > Inkscape manual.

As for how to draw that logo, I would probably use much the same basic features as in the Illustrator tutorial - different sized circles.  Then I would use booleans (path operations) to cut the various sections.  Or the Ellipse tool allows you to make arcs, so that could work as well.  (I think the Shapes tutorial covers that.)  And maybe better with arcs?  It would make for a couple of pages of text to write a tutorial for a beginner, and unfortunately, I don't have time right now.  Maybe someone else can think of a very fast way to draw that, who has time to make a tutorial?

[phiscribe]

I don't know what 'Draw Inside' is in Illustrator, but one can draw inside a clipped group in Inkscape, not sure if that's equivalent, but sounds like it would do the same.

It basically auto adds items to the clip.  If you have a clip, draw a circle that is half outside the clip and half inside, it will be inserted into the clip.   A way to see were your going I guess.

[uzumakifahim]

Thanks a lot for the clarification. I'll try to follow the suggestions.

[TimiZero]

That dribbble logo is not that complicated. I believe there are many ways to achieve that. When you use vector software for some time, you will find that you only comfortable to use certain tools, so it's not important of how it's done but what is the result (drawing) you want to produce. Then everything else is just a matter of preference.
In this case i would just make circle with thick stroke. Then draw "3 nodes spiro path" manually to make the 3 ball lines (make them same thickness with circle's stroke). If needed duplicate the circle and remove the stroke (of 1 circle), then convert all stroke to paths.