Hi, I am new to Inkscape. I would like to know if you can cut out a circle from a layer so that the layer below can show through?

Thanks!

Yes.

1 - Draw a rectangle using Rectangle tool
2 - Draw a circle on top of the rectangle, using Ellipse tool
3 - With Selection tool drag out a selection box around both the rectangle and circle (this selects both of them at the same time)
4 - Path menu > Difference

Please see my signature for links to manuals and tutorials

Thanks Brynn - can you tell me how I can get a photograph to show up underneath that cutout circle and rectangle, yet not show through the rest of the rectangle? Right now it's ghosting through because I have a blend color on the rectangle.

Yes, there are several different things that can cause partial transparency. Since you're a newbie, and I seem to recall the Rectangle and Ellipse tools are partially transparent when you first open Inkscape, I would guess this is either coming from the alpha value of the color of the rectangle, or Opacity.

1 - Object menu > Fill and Stroke > Fill tab
2 - Look at the slider bar which is labelled "A:", and make sure it's all the way to the right (value of 255).
3 - If that doesn't fix it, look a little bit below that for the Opacity slider bar. It should also be all the way to the right, with a value of 100 (it's percent, in this case).

If neither one of those works, this little tutorial/article explains all the different places to check for partial or full transparency (partial in your case). https://forum.inkscapecommunity.com/ind ... article=18

Ok thanks Brynn, it was the opacity slider bar that was not at 100%