HI,
I was wondering if there was a way to break apart a coloring page. For example, I would like to make a wall scape for daughters of a coloring page I saw online and I need to separate the different parts of it. The dress would be one layer, skin another, hair, etc.....so I can cut each layer separately in it's own colored vinyl. Can this be done???

Yes, this can be done.

OK, where do you suggest I look to learn how to do it???

I'm relatively new to Inkscape, so I'm not sure if there's any simple, automated way of just scanning the picture in and breaking apart the various shapes. But that won't stop me from offering some advice.

First, though, is there a simpler way to do what you want? If the wall scape is going to be the same size as the coloring page, you could just print out several copies of the page, and manually cut out the shapes to use as patterns for cutting the vinyl. You wouldn't need to deal with Inkscape at all.

If you need to scale the drawing, or do some other kind of editing (or you're printing directly onto the vinyl?), then here's the way I'd do it given my limited knowledge....This should work fine for simpler drawings, but if the coloring page is detailed, you might want to see if someone has better advice.

1. Open the coloring page in Inkscape. You can open a wide variety of file types, so as long as the image is a GIF, BMP, JPG, etc. you should be OK. I think you can even import a PDF file. Inkscape will open the file and put it on a layer named "Layer 1" or "(root)".

2. Add a new layer for each color of vinyl you'll have. I like to open the Layers window (Layer > Layers...) and work from there. Add a layer by clicking the "+" button. Rename the layer to match the color of vinyl.

3. Now, select a layer by clicking on it in the Layers window. Using the tool (Bezier curves and straight lines), trace the parts of the drawing that should be the same color as the Layer you're on. Make each shape a closed object (e.g., finish drawing each shape at the same point from which you started). Then you can either leave the shape "empty", or you can set its fill to the color you want. Use the tool (node tool) to adjust the shapes if necessary (smooth out any kinks, fix any mistakes, etc.)

4. Switch to the next layer and repeat...

5. When you've completed all the tracing, you can turn each individual layer on and off by clicking on the eye in the Layers window. By doing this, you can print out each color by itself.

....I think that's it. Hope this is what you're looking to do. Note: there is a "trace bitmap" feature, but I've had mixed results with it as far as getting it to produce the shapes I want. You can try this out if you want; after Step 1 above, select the whole image and then click Path > Trace Bitmap... and see what you get. If the drawing is black and white with just lines, then you'll probably just get a bunch of line/stroke objects, and you'll still have to trace the actual shapes you need.

Sorry for my short answer, I assumed you must have been scoping the capabilities of Inkscape before attempting to use it.

ScaryBinary has taken a good stab at giving you advise. But to be fair "a colouring page" is not enough information to give you a reliable answer.

What is the colouring page? A bitmap? A PDF? An SVG? Is is black and white or does it have colour already? Does it have shading? Is it a good resolution? Is it detailed or simple? Are you only going to work with a page or do you have tens of pages?

Posting a link to your colouring pages would obviously answer all those questions.

If ScaryBinary hasn't already helped you sufficiently, be sure provide us with more detail.

thanks that was helpful. has anyone ever used a program called SCAL in conjunction with inkscape??

here is a link: http://pbskids.org/dragontales/coloring ... /emmy.html

It is a very simple outline type coloring page. And yes I have been scoping the capabilities, but the tutorials both on youtube and here don't quite address what I am trying to do. When you see the page hopefully you will understand better. I need to section the coloring page out. For example, shirt red, dress blue, hair black and I need them to all be in separate cuts. i need to be able to send the color red vinyl through my machine and cut only shirt parts. then reload with blue and cut only dress. I will then reassemble them on the wall. Another example, a frog...to give legs, face, body definition I would cut the whole thing (solid) out in black then resize down say 5% and cut out each part separately in green. (But I don't know how to separate each part)Place the smaller green pieces on top of the black to give the definition between parts. an example (only look at the color frog) http://www.how-to-draw-funny-cartoons.c ... rogs-3.gif. It is very simple styling, nothing elaborate or shaded. solid color on solid color.

I hope this is more helpful. Sorry about the lack of info before

I'm not sure of your level of understanding, so I apologise if I dumb this down too much (or not enough). You're example image, Emmy, is a bitmap. Before Inkscape will be able to manipulate Emmy, it'll need to be converted to a vector. Fortunately, it's a very simple picture so you'll get good results using Trace Bitmap.

The result of Trace Bitmap will just the black lines as a single object. From here there are multiple options. I'm thinking that because you are using a cutter, you don't care about the black lines, you just need a path for the cutter to follow. So what I would do is use the Break Apart command. How the command behaves is difficult describe and hasn't been documented in any detail--but if you had a shape like "O" and you did break apart on it, you would end up with two circles, one for the outside of "O" and one for the inside. When you do it with the girl, you'll have an object that outlines her entire body, and then an object for each of the sections within her body. These inside sections are the section I suspect you want.

Give it a try and see how you go.