As you can see from the image above, I am trying to add a glow by duplicate + blur the text " ubuntu ". But sadly, however I try to cover the base text, it does not cover all the 4 sides of a letter. Resultant glow is a bit patchy. I am trying to achieve a finer glow around the text.Is there any method so that the duplicate text outlines the base text by say 3px or 5 px and to which I can apply the blur ? Thanks.

You can use outset (amount is fixed from preferences), linked offset (best choice, because it creates a duplicate that updates if you change the original text), or dynamic offset (on a duplicate you have to create), or use a copy of the same size text and add a stroke of the desired width to it.

(the last option gives the most accurate result for thin outsets like this)

Thanks @druban @Moini . The duplicate + stroke method works great

I have an offtopic doubt. As you can see, the colour palette at the bottom is very thin. It used to be bigger. I don't know what reduced its height. Is there any way to restore it to the bigger size as it comes with the default ? Thanks.

all the way to the right of the palette there is a little arrow that pops up a menu, change the size option

Thanks @druban. It worked

I am not clear how to make the linked offset increase by a set amount. I am doing several individual letters and would like the offset to be exactly the same for all of them.
Thank you!
Lezlie

You could also try the Filters > Shadows and Glows > Drop Shadow... filter. The name is a little misleading, as this can be used for more than just drop shadows.

Within the dialog is a "Shadow type" pop-up, which includes "Outer" and "Outer cutout" - one of which might get you close to what you want. Note that the "Live Preview" doesn't seem to be terribly live with regard to colour changes, so you may need to toggle it on and off when you change the colour in order to get a better preview.

That's not directly possible in the GUI (Graphic User Interface*), and even with creating a lot of somewhat clunky guides to snap to it won't be very precise.
But if you select each text object after giving it a linked offset and go into the XML editor (ctrl-shift-x) there's an attribute called "Inkscaperadius" that lets you precisely enter every object's linked offset amount. Remember it's ctrl-enter to commit a change in that editor, not just enter.




(for Ragstan: also stands for 'Gophers Under Indiana' and 'God Uses Inkscape' )

Hi.

I am impressed. Quick learner!