This is going to probably be a really stupid question, but I've searched the FAQ and the web and this website before asking, and since I can't seem to find the answer I will ask.

I have been making a webcomic(specifically stick figures in the style of the Order of the Stick webcomic) and I have been using Paint.NET. However, I am running into problems when using it, mainly everything that makes a bitmap image inferior for this purpose, like scaling, or coloring it properly, etc etc.

I want to experiment with using Inkscape instead, but before I do this I need to know if I can import my templates that I have made into Inkscape and use them as SVG images. II barely understand exactly what an SVG is (so please excuse any misuses of terms) but as far as I can tell this seems to be what the import function does.

So, if I were to save my templates into something like a PNG file, and then import them, could I then save them as SVG and use them as though they were produced as SVGs to begin with? Is there a more complex process I can undergo in order to achieve the same effect? Or will I have to recreate them in Inkscape by hand?

No.

When you import a bitmap, Inkscape treats it like a bitmap. You can convert it to SVG by doing something like (i'm going from memory here) selecting the PNG, going to the menubar and choosing Path>Trace bitmap and the choosing a color too with a few steps.

It will then create an SVG based on it, but it won't be a perfect conversion (since it had to estimate based on pixels, while svg is all about outlines and shading).

Your best bet would be to draw it in Inkscape in the first place. Then you can scale it to any size you want without problems.

More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_graphics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raster_to_vector
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkscape