inkscape opening in defaul settings?

red hot vinyls · Postby **red hot vinyls** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 9:03 pm

hi all,

can anyone tell me why my inkscape is opening in default settings please? getting really annoying as im used to where everything is now!!

here is a screenshot of the message.

any help appreciate. i have had a search to see if there is anything on here already but im unsure what to search for and nothing coming up so far.

thanks all

nyk
red hot vinyls graphics

v1nce · Postby **v1nce** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 9:42 pm

HI

Looks like your settings file has been corrupted.

save it under a new name eg problem_preferences.xml
launch inkscape (it shouldn't complain anymore)
tweak the settings of some tools
quit inkscape.
now you should have a brand new preferences.xml file

if you need it, you can try to paste some text from problem_preferences into the new one.

or

if you upload the file somewhere I can try to fix it for you

Postby **brynn** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 10:20 pm

v1nce wrote:HI

Looks like your settings file has been corrupted.

save it under a new name eg problem_preferences.xml
launch inkscape (it shouldn't complain anymore)

However, it will open, once again, with default settings.

tweak the settings of some tools
quit inkscape.
now you should have a brand new preferences.xml file

if you need it, you can try to paste some text from problem_preferences into the new one.

But won't there be the risk of accidentally pasting in some corrupted info?

red hot vinyls · Postby **red hot vinyls** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 10:26 pm

i have absolutely no idea what you just said!!

im still learning, sorry.

this message comes up every time i open inkscape. all my files are there and working. i can save new work and cut etc.

does that make any difference to what you have just said? and could you put it in 5 year old language please?

thanks, sorry to be such a minor!!

nyk

Postby **brynn** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 2:12 am

No worries

preferences.xml is the file where all your preferences are stored. So for example, if you decided you wanted the Star tool to always draw purple stars (or polygons), you can make certain changes in Edit menu > Inkscape Preferences, and every time you use that tool, it will draw purple. There are many other ways you can customize Inkscape, according to your own needs, and they are stored in the preferences.xml file.

The error message you're getting is an indication that something has gone wrong with that file, and it can no longer communicate with Inkscape, to tell Inkscape how you want it to work. It's possible you never have made any custom settings, and that you're using Inkscape with default settings either way. But I have no way of knowing that.

The really easy way to fix this, is to just delete the preferences.xml file. v1ince suggested renaming it, in case you have made lots and lots of preferences, and don't want to have to re-set all of them. Someone might be able to give you step by step instructions, involving copy/paste bits of code from the old prefs file into the new one, if you think you have a lot of preferences that you don't want to lose.

But if you're not sure if you have any preferences set up, you probably don't have very many. Compared to working your way through several to many steps, which essentially would be some very simple "hacking", it might be easier to just delete that file. That's because the next time you open Inkscape, it will look for that file, and when it doesn't find it, it will simply make you a new one. It will still only contain default settings, but now that you have one that's not broken, you can re-set whatever preferences you had before, and they will stick.

Or the 3rd choice -- v1nce offered to look at your preferences.xml file and try to fix it for you. But you'll have to upload it somewhere, where he can find it. I don't know if XML files are allowed for attaching here, but if you put it in a ZIP file, you can attach it.

If my preferences file was broken, I would accept his offer, because I would be hesitant even to try simple hacking, and I have loads of preferences that I would not want to have to re-set, one by one. If he can find what's wrong with the XML file, and fix it, then all your prefs can be saved.

Once you decide which way you want to handle it, you can find the prefs file here: C/Users/paul/AppData/Roaming/Inkscape/preferences.xml

red hot vinyls · Postby **red hot vinyls** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 7:21 am

if i click computer > compaq> users> paul> there is nothing there that says appdata...could that be the problem? haha :oops:

nyk

Postby **brynn** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 7:52 am

Hhmm, I'm not sure if you're looking in the right place. Do you know how to find Windows Explorer? That's the file manager for Windows, which is used to find files. (I use Windows Explorer constantly throughout the day, so I always have it open.) Is that Windows 8 that you're using? I'm not positive this is exactly the same in Win8 as it is in Win7, which is what I have. But let's try. Look here to find it:

Start button > All Programs > Accessories > Windows Explorer

When you have Windows Explorer open, on the left side of the window, find Computer > OS (C:) > Users > paul > AppData > Roaming > Inkscape. When you get to Inkscape, click once on it, and then look on the right side of the window for preferences.xml

(C isn't an abbreviation for Computer or Compaq. It stands for the C drive, which is the main hard drive for your computer. There might be other drives named D, E, F, etc.) (just fyi

)

red hot vinyls · Postby **red hot vinyls** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 8:25 am

its poxy vista!!! haha yeah i know c: is the drive its just the path i went to to get to where i thought you were telling me to go. ill have a look again...hold on!!

red hot vinyls · Postby **red hot vinyls** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 8:28 am

oh right yes we are in the same place sorry compaq (c:) > users > paul then nothing (well not what im looking for anyway ??? :evil:

red hot vinyls · Postby **red hot vinyls** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 8:30 am

screenshot

opps too big

red hot vinyls · Postby **red hot vinyls** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 8:35 am

screenshot small enough!!!

Postby **brynn** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 11:22 am

Actually a bigger screenshot would be better. I still think you aren't in the right place. Is this what Windows Explorer looks like in Win8 (still I'm assuming that's what you're using)? Can you show the whole screen (except block any personal info if necessary)?

red hot vinyls · Postby **red hot vinyls** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 11:54 pm

its vista im using.

here is a full size screenshot showing the path taken to get there at the top??

does that help?

thanks for your time

nyk

Postby **brynn** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 12:55 am

Ah-HA!! Vista! I found this about Vista, how to find AppData (apparently is hidden in Vista) https://techqa.wordpress.com/2008/08/24 ... ows-vista/

red hot vinyls · Postby **red hot vinyls** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 2:36 am

YAY!!! found it. well some of it. screenshot!!! am i in the right place now? is it the bottom one? what do i do with it?

nyk

red hot vinyls · Postby **red hot vinyls** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 2:40 am

this is a screenshot of what opens (i.e. not much) when i click on that file???

nyk

Postby **brynn** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:52 am

No, you don't need to open it. So if it's open, close it. Then highlight the file, just like in this screenshot: 17.34.01.png

Then delete.

red hot vinyls · Postby **red hot vinyls** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 2:39 am

thanks for all your help. all sorted now!!

nyk

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