First time Inkscape user today. I want to attach a connector to a rectangle, but I can't access the rectangle's handle to do this because it's too big. If I hover over the outline of the rectangle, the handle appears in the middle, but if I move the cursor towards it, it disappears. The rectangle is only about 40 pixels high (is there a way to tell exactly?).

This will probably seem strange, but perhaps not when you realise I've linked a 500 x 100,000 pixel image into this file and resized the page to fit the content. (What do you call Inkscape files? Drawing? Documents? Diagrams?)

If I do the same thing in an A4 document, I have no problems with even larger rectangles.

No replies? No one else is working with such large images? I guess what's also unusual is that the image is only normal height, so perhaps I've confused the program.

My workaround, rather than make the rectangles small while I attach the connectors, is to zoom out till it starts working.

Welcome to InkscapeForum!

You can tell exactly the height of the object by selecting with the Selection tool. Then look at the control bar for the H value. (Note that unless you changed it, the measurement includes the width of the stroke.)

Inkscape files can be called pretty much anything you want to call them -- files, documents (docs), drawings, images, graphics, artwork, diagrams, etc. Usually the choice of what to call them depends on your context at the moment.

I can't reproduce your problem of the Connector tool handle disappearing (Inkscape 0.48.1, Win7, 64-bit). I even created the same size object, and resized the page to fit. When I first switch to the Connector tool (after drawing the rectangle) I don't see the handle. But as soon as the mouse pointer passes over the rectangle, the handle appears. The only way I can get rid of the handle is to switch tools, or to pass the mouse over another object. As soon as I pass the mouse over another object, the handle for that object pops up.

So maybe that's what's happening to you? Could you be passing over another object on your way to the Connector handle?

The other possibility IS related to the size of the object. Sometimes Inkscape will automatically scroll for you -- different situations depending on your settings, and how you use various features. So since the rectangle is so wide, it may be that your view shows the center of the rectangle, where the handle is. But while you're on your way to the handle, you get scrolled away from the center. If this is what's happening, chances are that the handle is still showing, except that it's somewhere outside the current viewing area. So try scrolling left or right, the full length of the object to make sure you're looking at the center of the rectangle.

I actually zoomed out to like 3.2% zoom! Then I could show nearly 1/3 of the object in the viewing area. If you've already clicked once (which anchors that end of the line) you can take the mouse outside the canvas to do....well pretty much anything except switching tools, and then bring the mouse back onto the canvas, where your line is still there waiting for you to finish. And note that I said "anything except switch tools". So if you've started the line, and switch to the zoom tool, you''ll lose the line where it's anchored and waiting for you. In this situation, you can use the zoom indicator in the extreme lower, right corner of the window, to zoom in or out, then you can go back and finish the line.

Since I don't know the specific situation on your canvas, I don't know if this would work. But you could draw the connector line by starting at the handle and ending outside the object; or start outside, and end at the handle.

Well hopefully some of that will help you solve the problem. But if not, just post a reply, with all the info, including as many details as you can; and we'll try again

PS - And don't miss the info in my forum signature for some excellent instructional material!

brynn wrote:So maybe that's what's happening to you? Could you be passing over another object on your way to the Connector handle?

Yes, that's it, thanks. I'm creating the rectangle over the image, so as soon as I move the cursor from the edge of the rectangle towards its connector handle, the connector handle for the image pops up instead. Because the image is so wide, it was way off the screen so I didn't notice.

I can reproduce this "problem" on any size drawing with any size image, so it's nothing to do with the large image size.

By zooming out a bit, I was making the rectangle small enough on the screen that I wasn't moving far enough away from the edges that it switched to the image behind it.

Is there a way to prevent this happening? I'd like to make the image just an unselectable, immovable part of the background.

If I understand what you're asking, I think if you give the rectangle some kind of fill (temporarily) it won't produce the handle for the background image when you pass the stroke of the rectangle.

Or you could put the background image on a new lower layer (or the rectangle on a new upper layer). Then the background image's layer could either be hidden or locked. Locked will make it unselectable and unmovable. Hidden will do the same thing, except when you make it visible, it would still be selectable. So maybe even both hidden and locked!

If you didn't want to create a new layer, or you have other things on that layer, you can lock the object instead. Locking objects is a little inconvenient, but I'm pretty sure the devs are working on a better setup. Anyway, for now, select the object, right click, Object Properties. Then there's a checkbox for Lock.

brynn wrote:Or you could put the background image on a new lower layer (or the rectangle on a new upper layer). Then the background image's layer could either be hidden or locked. Locked will make it unselectable and unmovable. Hidden will do the same thing, except when you make it visible, it would still be selectable. So maybe even both hidden and locked!

I still need to be able to see it. I've moved it to its own layer, moved the layer to the bottom, and locked the layer. Now it's behaving exactly how I wanted - thanks for your help!

It should have the side benefit that I won't accidentally move the image anymore, and have to undo it (if I notice).