Hi!
I need to display transparency correctly during drawing time. I can't find solution for a years.
Please note that it is *NOT* related to produced SVG and any other files or results. Transparensy in saved files is excellently supported.
But i ask about showing checkerboards in main drawing area *during* drawing, as in other graphic editors, when i select transparency of my background in File->Document properties.
Currently it is *white* non-changeable colour used for background. You not see it when don't change opacity, but it can easy reproduced by reducing background opacity. What i mean i show on attachment. What i *should* see in all area of drawing, i mark with green circle; but what i get i show with red circle.
If white non-changeable background was not made intentionally, i file a bug or feature request of course. (What is better in this case?)
Or there is a known solution already exist? Something like setting internall wallpaper for work area in Inkscape; i will then just set checkerboard wallpaper and viola
Thanks so much for such a great vector-edition software. It is very useful and cute.

P.S. I'm use Ubuntu and Gnome.

I'm sure someone with more knowledge will answer this, but in the mean time, (and I don't know if this will even help your situation), you could change Inkscape's default background to be a checkboard, like other programs have (you will have to create the checkerboard pattern yourself, then use it to replace the one Inkscape comes with).
good luck

I think Flamingolady is right: You can add new layer (call it "checkerboard" for example), and put it under all your other layer:


Then, make a checkerboard on it. To achieve that, you could could draw just 4 squares (two being light grey, the other ones being dark grey) then you select and group them all:


then you make them a pattern like this:


then you can delete them, and you draw a big rectangle. Open the Fill & Stroke dialog, and fill your rectangle with your pattern:


Make your rectangle as big as necessary.

You can then lock your checkerboard layer so it won't go in your way while you draw on the other layers:


Now you can just draw on top of your checkerboard layer.

Welcome to InkscapeForum!

Everything that you see and use regarding the Inkscape background, whether canvas or finished image background is intentional, and there is no bug that I know of.

jpka wrote:Currently it is *white* non-changeable colour used for background.

Currently the canvas looks white. It is transparent, even though it looks white. It can be changed though, in Document Properties > Page tab > General > Background. Note that if you don't change the alpha (A) value, it will remain white/transparent, no matter what color you have otherwise chosen. Changing the alpha value is the only way to have a non-transparent background in the finished image. But there is no option for a checkerboard.

Mathieu147 and flamingolady are both right about the checkerboard pattern. If you want to have a checkerboard pattern to indicate a transparent background, then do nothing to the Background setting in Document Properties. Next, you have to literally draw a checkerboard like Mathieu147 describes. If you just need that for one Inkscape file, that's all you need to do. But if you want to always have a checkerboard pattern, you can make the document that M147 describes, into your default template.

To do that, File menu > Save As, name the file default.svg, and save in Inkscape/share/templates. Now whenever you open a new document, it will show that checkboard pattern. If you ever do need a doc without the checkerboard, you could just hide that layer containing the checkerboard.

Hi Friends!
Thank you so much, and thanks for providing me such a well written step-by-step insruction, it works for me very well. But, it is mostly workaround, not problem solution.
Suddenly, i found confirmation of the fact that what i see is really a bug, and it is already been reported... 5 years ago , and still not solved. 'Still' - i mean using current Inkscape version, available from Ubuntu repo's, it's 0.48; while it looks that can be solved in Inkscape 0.49.
Please see https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/169623.
Please subscribe on that bug, if it affect you.
Thanks again!

jpka wrote:Suddenly, i found confirmation of the fact that what i see is really a bug, and it is already been reported... 5 years ago :geek: , and still not solved. 'Still' - i mean using current Inkscape version, available from Ubuntu repo's, it's 0.48; while it looks that can be solved in Inkscape 0.49.
Please see https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/169623.

To clarify: that feature request [1] already has been addressed in the development branch (i.e. the change has been committed and can be tested in development snapshot builds > r10784).

The changes (ignore the transparency of document background for the purposes of displaying Inkscape's UI, but preserve the specified transparency when exporting a PNG image) will be available in the next major release (0.49). Subscribing or adding comments/complaints to the report won't make Inkscape 0.49 available earlier (it will be released when ready).

[1] Note: Inkscape's bug tracker at launchpad.net tracks both: bugs and feature requests - see the 'Importance' field in the summary table at the top of the page (feature requests have the importance set to 'Wishlist'). This does not mean that feature requests (missing features) are considered as bugs.

This does seem like it should be a standard document or preference setting. Personally I don't use checkerboard transparency ever (especially in vector graphics), but it's rare that I ever find a program that doesn't have it at least as an option. Still, I can't speak for it's usefulness from personal practice because I have none.