Hi, I have been following the links through Inkscape and Deviant Art to get a feel for the type of artwork being created. I was blown away, as some of the artists were inking their drawings using Inkscape. Could anybody enlighten me as to how I could use the Calligraphy and Tweak Tool to Ink artwork?

The first thing is that you must be using the development version of Inkscape 0.46 - it's the version that introduces the tweak tool

Secondly, it's recommended to have a graphics tablet to use the calligraphy tool . It's not a requirement but it makes drawing smooth paths much easier.

When using the Calligraphy tool for line work I use the following settings:

Width: 3 (This should get us a nice thin line)
Thinning: 0 (This adjusts the thickness of the line based on how fast you are drawing it. We don't want that)
Angle: 0 (This and Fixation simulate tradional quill calligraphy tools, which we don't want)
Fixation: 0
Caps: 1 (This will cap our line off with a nice tapper)
Tremor: 0 (We don't want the thickness of the line to tremor)
Wiggle: 0 (... nor do we want the line to wiggle)
Mass: 0.3 (This helps achieve a smoother line even when you don't have a steady hand. Play with this value to see what works best for you.)

Note that I also have the option to control line thickness using the tablet pressure enabled, but I don't consciencely adjust my pressure as I draw. The button for tacing the background is also disabled.

With these settings you'll get a very flat ordinary line


Ok, we have simple line, so let's make it look nice with the Tweak tool. Here's my settings:

Width: 3 (This kinda depends on the scale of your drawing. Pick a thickness that makes it easy for your to follow your calligraphy line)
Force: 4 (This controls how much effect the tool has on the line. Play with it to find what works best for you. I also enable the option to use my tablets pressure so I can better control the effect)
Mode: Grow (This is the key option. This option will make our line thicker.)
Fidelity: 50 (I haven't played with this number - it controls the number of nodes that are used to tweak the shape. If you are tweaking a simple shape, like in this example, 50 should be fine. More complex paths you may like to increase it - you'll see what happens if you don't)

So with those settings, and ensuring you have selected the path (there won't be a visual indication of this, so select the path with before switching to ), start tracing over the calligraphy lines in the areas that you want to be thicker.

The effect may be subtle at first, but if you repeatedly trace over the same area you'll see it grow. You can increase the "Force" value to make it grow faster (or press harder on your tablet) but I find you get better results if you only gently apply the effect.

And here is the results where I traced mostly over the two end areas.


Note that if you later think an area of the line is too thick, change the mode of the tweak took to "shrink" and trace over that area.


You can even adjust the direction of the line by changing the mode to "push", although it may not be great for dramatic changes. And as a last resort you can always switch to to tweak your path

Thank you for the tutorial, it was interesting and very easy to understand. You mentioned that Inkscape version 0.46 is a available with the new Tweak Tool, that is fantastic. I must go to the downloads page tonight. In the past I use to draw and then scan my images but now I draw straight on the blank canvas.

Does anyone know of a good tablet that operates well with a Mac.

pixabella wrote:Does anyone know of a good tablet that operates well with a Mac.

I don't have a Mac, but I use a Wacom Intuos with Windows. Wacom tablets are almost industry standard so I would expect it to be the safest option - I know they definitely support Macs. You might find them a little pricey but they are worth the extra money. You can get one much cheaper if you can buy an education version (I bought mine through Education Software). It does lack some of the extras though.

@microugly
I downloaded the current version of Inkscape with the new Tweak and Bucket fill Tools. I've had a play, and I think this new features will make my life a lot easier. The Tweak and Calligraphy definitely requires skill and a steady hand. While I look into the tablet side of things it might be an idea to buy a mouse. Maybe the mouse might help even out the pen flow.

Once again a big THANKS to the development team and everyone that is supporting me.

pixabella wrote:The Tweak and Calligraphy definitely requires skill and a steady hand.

Play with the "Mass" setting for the tool. It kinda creates a lag when you are drawing which makes the line smoother. If you're drawing very slowly with the mouse you'll want a very high "Mass" value. If you're fast you'll probably prefer a lower "Mass" value.

Why does parts of my path disappear when using the tweak tool? Its getting very frustrating.

Darth_Gimp wrote:Why does parts of my path disappear when using the tweak tool? Its getting very frustrating.

are you referring to the thinning option?

if not then its probably a bug, there is a bug reported about disappearing subpaths in combined paths when using the tweak tool TWEAK / INSET / OUTSET TOOLS: Break paths / dissappearing paths

check the setting of the fidelity on the toolbar, if its too low the path will be distorted, and bits can disappear.
basically it does a simplify every time you do an action, and this controls how accurate to the last shape it stays,
if its too low its like hitting simplify on a shape a bunch of times, it will loose fine definition.