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Tip on Exporting
I'm assuming you've got Inkscape running.
I'm also assuming you've got some basic knowledge of how to use Inkscape.
preamble
It seems many Inkscape users are under the impression that all objects in an Inkscape document must be selected in order to export to a bitmap (PNG file, in Inkscape's case).
I've drawn a very simple document below: a rectangle, ellipse, spiral and star. The ellipse is just a tiny bit out of the definition of my page (250 pts by 250 pts), and that's deliberate for the sake of understanding how Inkscape works.
The ellipse was the last thing drawn. Let's begin exporting. We'll use the .PNG format.
Export: just the rectangle selected
The grey rectangle was clicked once making it the only object selected. Let's perform an export:
From the toolbar:
From keyboard: Ctrl + Shift + E
From menus: File → Export Bitmap...
- Export Area: leave it at "Selection"
- [ ] Hide all except selected
Inkscape exports this:
Leaving the rectangle selected, hold the Shift key and click the ellipse. With both rectangle and ellipse selected, repeat the export steps above. Open the new PNG file and you should see this:
And when the rectangle, ellipse and spiral are selected:
Note that at no time is the star selected when exporting.
what's the point?
If I were to work on a desktop background set to 1680 x 1050 covered in artistic swirls, spirals, shapes and so forth: I may wish to have one of the larger swirls leave the side of the 1680 x 1050 base rectangle and return again elsewhere. A star may make only a partial appearance on this work of art.
If I select all items in my document and then export them, the final export will exceed 1680 x 1050.
how else can I achieve this?
Let's continue with the 1680 x 1050 desktop idea.
We could easily begin by changing the document's size:
From the menus: File > Document Properties...
From the keyboard: Ctrl + Shift + D
On the first tab (Page) in the centre is the Page Size. Underneath the list of choices is "Custom Size".
- For "Units" select PX.
- For "Width" select 1680 (or any width you prefer)
- For "Height" select 1050 (or any height you prefer)
Now I create a base rectangle of 1680 x 1050. I can add many objects that extend outside the page size. When I decide I want to export my work of art, I begin as usual:
From the toolbar:
From keyboard: Ctrl + Shift + E
From menus: File → Export Bitmap...
- Export Area: Here's where we change it from "Selection" to "Page". That's right, click Page to the left of Selection.
View the exported PNG file. See how only what was in the page size exported? Nothing that is outside the page's borders will be seen.
