Trying to replicate an image for cutting out with a cricut machine

[WayneA]

Hello all,

I am pretty new to inkscape and wanted to use it to make some images to cut out in paper/thin plastic. The image i'm looking at is below. I was wondering what the best workflow would be and how to go about doing it. I want to pretty much copy the image as from directly above and have had a go. I thought it might be good to start using primitives first to cut into shapes to get the design? The second image shows what I have attempted but I don't know where to go from here. Would it be best to start again or can I use what I have already made?

335623_w412.jpg
(42.82 kB . 412x232)
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inqs.png
(522.36 kB . 1768x992)
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Thanks in advance

[brynn]

Welcome to the forum!

We can't know whether the file which you showed a screenshot of is proper for cutting, by looking at the raster (PNG) screenshot.  We would need to see the SVG file.  But I can probably address a couple of things.  And ask a couple of questions.

I notice that you have some rather wide strokes on, as far as I can tell, everything except the black object.  Do you need those to be cut as separate pieces, from a different color of plastic?  I can't tell whether you have those as paths already.  But once we can see your SVG file, we can tell you how to make those into paths, if they aren't already.

Next question.  Do you need the border of each piece to meet?  Or do you want to lay the whole shapes on top of each other, after they are cut?  I assume your file is made by having the shapes on top of each other, but I'm guessing that's probably not how you want to cut them.  Typically we would expect that you want the borders to meet, so that there is no overlapping of the pieces after they are cut out.  But I don't really know your end goal with the plastic pieces.  If you need the borders to meet and not overlap, we can tell you how to do that as well.

Oh wait....I just noticed the green oval....  Either it is not whole, or you already have the blue rectangle created in 2 pieces (and the oval is partly underneath the bottom section of the blue rectangle).  It's hard to tell, as I've already explained, without the SVG file.

If you're happy with the design, from what I can tell, it looks like it should work for cutting.  Well, except for the couple of things I mentioned, which might or might not need to be fixed.  If you can answer my questions and share the SVG file, we can give let you know if it needs a little more work.  And also tell you how to do it, if you need that info.

Out of curiosity, what is that object in the photo?  I can't decide if it's something that exists in the real world, or if it's a 3D rendering of some imaginary thing.  The general look and feel reminds me a game I played on my tablet a while ago.  While it seems quite real in the JPG, it's nothing I've ever seen before, haha.

[WayneA]

Hello Brynn, thanks for the reply.
It will be laid flat as a display board. Essentially 2 layers with the rivetted border on the top layer (I will be adding rivets by hand~) Is there a better way to go about this? Essentially the borders are there to give me a quick visual representation (a mock up) to get sizes/spacing correct but atm it seems a bit off. The 'I' skull symbol is downloaded off the net (svg). Id like the borders and so on to meet and id probably scribe the overlap/join. The final piece would be sat between other thin plastic to represent floor panels as in the photo. The image is from a computer game based on a tabletop wargame (Warhammer 40,000), and the game is called Inquisitor Martyr. The floor represents the interior of a spacecraft, the symbol being that of the Inquisition

Inquisition floor Icon.svg
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[brynn]

Oh yikes!  I understood very little from your description.

Your file is not ready for cutting just yet.  But since you said you want the borders to meet, I can tell you what to do, and after you do that, everything will be paths, and be ready for cutting.

Here's an example.

1 -- Select the dark red circle with Selection tool   
2 -- Hold the Shift key while you click on the....well, in your file, it's a black circle, but it's lighter red in your screenshot

Now, both circles should be selected, and the status bar will say that 2 objects are selected.  And you should see the bounding boxes around the right objects (bounding box is the dashed line rectangle).

3 -- Path menu > Difference

Notice how the dark red object disappears?  Therefore, you need to duplicate the dark red circle first.  (Edit menu > Duplicate, or this button  or the key shortcut)

You should be able to prepare your whole file with that same routine.  Duplicate the object on top, select both objects, Difference.  Plan ahead so that you have enough objects (keeping in mind that you always lose the top one).

Let us know if you get stuck.