Hello, I am very new to InkScape and vector graphics in general. I downloaded InkScape a month ago and did one project which came out great.

Now I'm working on something completely different. I need to print a 17x17 crossword puzzle on a very large poster (2' x 3') so I want to create it from scratch with InkScape so that it will scale up properly. It's basically a big grid with some black cells, numbers in some of the cells, and lots of text around it (the title and clues).

I have searched for information on how to do this but searching on "grid" gives lots of false positives because "grid" has another meaning in graphics-land. Searching on "checkerboard" gets a fill pattern but not a customized one.

Do I need to create and clone a bunch of squares with (fill/no fill) patterns and just align them with each other? That seems so labor intensive! Or is there a way to create a square and then create the lines inside it and fill inside some of the cells that way?

The outside border around the edge is thicker than the inside lines between cells.

Also, since I am a rank beginner, I am having trouble just creating a square with a border around it!!!

I did search the internet and the manual and this forum but did not find anything that helped.

[ETA: I just Googled "Inkscape" + "crossword" - I didn't do that before because it seemed so specific that I didn't think anything would be out there! But it seems there is something: http://www.vimeo.com/782413?pg=embed&sec=782413. I just watched this video and it appears to be what I need unless anybody on this forum has a slicker method. Create a square, use node tool to make sure it's a square, snap to grid, copy, paste in place, move copies and keep copying and pasting until you have a grid of the size you want then fill some of the cells. The only thing this doesn't do is allow me to make the outside border thicker.]

Friend, you have come to the right place. Check out this video tutorial.

At about two minutes in, he shows how to make a grid using the "rows and columns" function. Modify it to your situation and it should be what you need.

Crossword puzzles are typically generated with specialized software. While it's possible to create a crossword puzzle with Inkscape, a streamlined tool will give you quicker results. I.e. you put some stuff in the questions/answers database (or use a pre-build one), specify width and height, and that's it.

Hi SureWhyNot and Aho,

Thanks for your responses! Sure, that video was great - the rows/columns idea really will speed it up. Aho, this is a one-off project, I won't be creating another one, and it has to scale up to 2' x 3' for printing, without losing quality, which is why I wanted to create it in a vector-based graphics program.

Quick question,

I can do without this if it's difficult to do, but the grid should have thicker lines around the outside border. Would you suggest I create a square on another layer underneath the main grid, that is slightly bigger than the crossword grid, and give it a black border? I'm thinking that would give the effect I need.

OK, I've watched both videos and in the first one, when he creates the object and sets the stroke/fill properties, he sets the fill to "none" and then sets the stroke to black, which creates a line around the square. I tried doing the same thing and my square is completely invisible even when I have it selected. How can I make it have a black line around it?

Make sure your stroke weight isn't too small.

Also, are you making this with the intended sizes? I mean, is your page 2' x 3' or is it scaled a bit?

Hi Sure,

At this point I am just messing around with one square making sure I can create it, move it, snap it to the grid, set its border, etc. I'm not making it any particular size. I figure I can do that later when I start on this for real, after I've "mastered" a single little square!!!

Aha - I see what I did wrong - in the stroke paint I had every value on the RGB scale set to 0. I needed to set the A to 255 (is A = All?). That set it to black, and now I can play with it. Woo hoo!

Do you think I should set the page size to 2' x 3' to begin with? Or just make it smaller and then when I take it to the printer, he will scale it up to fit the size I want?

A=Alpha. Alpha is how opaque/transparent it is. At 0, it would be invisible.

Edit: You should set the page size to what you need to print as.