I am very new to this and want to start by creating a bow tie template to cut on the laser machine. I have downloaded a simple line drawing image from the internet and imported it into inkscape. I have traced a bitmap image and "stroked". I was surprised to see that this then showed 2 separate lines: one inner, one outer ...but both with nodes. I don't want to cut twice...I just want to cut once, one outline. How do I do this in inkscape ?

The autotrace function does not create lines. it only creates filled shapes. It is sometimes possible to run your picture through a pixel editing program like GIMP to fill the interior and create a solid shape which then would trace as an outline in Inkscape.

Depending on the picture, you can also:

- use Boolean operations (e.g. Path > Break apart, then Path > Union)
- use the node tool to remove the additional nodes
- use https://github.com/fablabnbg/inkscape-centerline-trace for tracing