Hi, I'd like to be able to draw tapered lines (pencil tool + ellipse setting), but since this tool has a fill layer by default it seems to be linking the ends of paths when I use the warp tool ("push parts of paths in any direction"). I'm using a mouse and not a tablet so this method seems the simplest way to draw lines and then smooth them to remove irregularities, but I can't seem to find any combination of settings to stop the unwanted side effect from occurring.

What do I need to do to simply draw a tapered line and then push it into place without otherwise altering it's properties?

Use a different way to 'push it into place'. See also: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=35217

This method even without the joining problem seems less effective than using the pencil with either spiro mode enabled or raising the smooth setting slider to 50 or more. can you show a pic of what you are trying to do, there may be other ways to do it

Moini wrote:See also: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=35217

Well that's freakin' weird, that's actually a copy/paste of another thread I made on reddit around the same time as this one. Is this something you've seen happen before? Might wanna check out reddit.com/r/inkscape to see if someone's copying posts to act as a vehicle for spam links. I'm going to try the suggestions druban made above and if I'm still having problems I may come back.

Ah. Not good... Thanks for the hint :-/ I hate to waste time on stuff that nobody really cares about... At least, maybe this time it was useful, who knows.

I've found a couple entries there that sounded familiar...

druban wrote:This method even without the joining problem seems less effective than using the pencil with either spiro mode enabled or raising the smooth setting slider to 50 or more

This seems to have solved the issue, thanks. I was so fixated on the fill and stroke settings I didn't think to try the basic tool settings.

Moini wrote:I've found a couple entries there that sounded familiar...

Hrm, super weird. If you ever look into it give me a heads up since I'm curious as to what's happening there.

That said, +1 to Inkscape! I'm pretty sure it's not that I'm inept -- Illustrator just really isn't very intuitive and I'm glad to finally be able to draw vectors without fiddling with settings ad nauseam.

Edit: As for the warping issue, it seems to resolve the problem if I select 'Path>Object to Path' after drawing a line. A bit of a hassle but still much more streamlined than what I was doing.