Hi!

I am designing a wrist-watch.

The watch is to have a certain scale on it

As you can see I've done the spokes, now I want to cut them off at the red arc

Problem is I can't figure out how to do it - I've tried overlaying a circle object with the desired radius and using MENU->Object->clip->set which makes it look like I want it to. Only problem is that I have to group the spokes before applying the clip, and the clip is applied to the group, not the individual spokes - so when I ungroup the spokes they return to their original length.

Question:
How do I cut off the spokes at a desired radius so that each spoke has a desired length (and ultimately does NOT cut through the center of the circle)?


Another question:

The spokes seems to be defined in grid coords:
a line that starts at x1,y1 and ends at x2,y2

I'd rather have a definition like this:
a line that is H units long, W units thick, starts at x,y and has a rotation of D degrees.

That would be a much better definition for my purposes - is it possible to work in Inkscape like that?


I hope I've made my question clear enough. I'm a newbie with Inkscape and might not use the right terms all the way through

TIA for any answers that can help me

Acebone

Don't group the spikes, instead combine them into a single path, then Cut, delete the extra stubs, and break apart the spikes.

I don't think you have the options you want, but you can move the objects rotation center to the center of the dial so it can server as an origin for rotation. Stroke width can be adjusted if you're using lines, but you can also use rectangles, you can adjust width and height of a rectangle independently of the rotation.

I'd also recommend you try the Create tiled clones feature, a short guide here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5242&p=22693#p22693

Only problem is that I have to group the spokes before applying the clip, and the clip is applied to the group, not the individual spokes - so when I ungroup the spokes they return to their original length.

Question:
How do I cut off the spokes at a desired radius so that each spoke has a desired length (and ultimately does NOT cut through the center of the circle)?

Well, clipping would be the ideal solution. You should be able to clip them without grouping. Have you tried that and got unacceptable results? If so, what were they?
Otherwise, Path menu > Intersection should work as well.

I'm sorry I can't answer your second question, but hang in there, and someone else will be along

Acebone, have you looked in your inkscape preferences, under clippaths/masks? There is an option for three kinds of grouping behaviour: do not group, each object gets own group, all objects in one group.
You probably already know this, but just in case

Uummmm....no, there is no such setting there....???
There are only 2 -- remove clipping path/mask after applying; and use top selected object as clipping path/mask.
But I'm using 0.47, the last stable release, so maybe that explains it.

I'm not clear what these settings do though, or how it's pertinent to this issue. Could you educate me?

Oops, I just now noticed that prkos' reply somehow posted ahead of mine. Sorry I missed that; thought I was the 1st reply.

Ah, so it offers the option of automatically grouping objects before grouping.
Just one more wonderful improvement to which to look forward!

Just want to say thank you for all the answers!

Still experimenting with the various suggestions, so can't really comment on the answers yet

so it offers the option of automatically grouping objects before grouping

I have to say that's a very original interpretation of 'do not group clipped/masked objects'! (Just kidding)
Seriously, I know what you mean but ... let's say you have a very large group of objects that you are masking. Now you want to edit the mask - let's say change the fill gradient, or scale the pattern, or even use a different object as a mask. Wouldn't you want to save yourself the time that it takes to select all these objects again and instead still have them in a group when you unset and reset the mask? Sure, there are ways around it, but this seems easy and automatic - and best of all you don't have to use it if for some particular reason it doesn't suit your workflow...

acebone wrote:
The spokes seems to be defined in grid coords:
a line that starts at x1,y1 and ends at x2,y2

I'd rather have a definition like this:
a line that is H units long, W units thick, starts at x,y and has a rotation of D degrees.

It is possible to use Width/Height and X/Y.
For objects:

Use the Selector Tools Control Bar (bar that is just above the canvas), X and Y position the bottom-left corner of the selected object's bounding box. The W and H can be set in the Control Bar too. The "lock" icon will preserve the objects w/h ratio when resizing.

For lines (Strokes):

The same x/y above applies, to manipulate the width via the Stroke's Width setting (>Shift+Ctrl+F, >Stroke Style), Style Indicator (bottom left corner) right click the number next to the ~Stroke's Style indicator

Rotation:

You can set the rotation step's degrees:
>Inkscape Preferences (>Shift+Ctrl+P)
-Steps
-Rotation snaps every: ____ degrees
>When drawing paths, with the Bezier Tool holding >Ctrl will snap the angle to the degree steps from the above Rotation Preference.
>The Keyboard Rotation keys will also snap to the above rotation snap setting
[ key = left rotation,
] key = right rotation
These [, ] rotation keys also work with >Alt+, >Ctl+

acebone wrote:How do I cut off the spokes at a desired radius so that each spoke has a desired length (and ultimately does NOT cut through the center of the circle)?

Ok, since you used the clip feature and want to see other options:

Best way (other than clipping & >path >intersection)to do this for your application of the stop watch:
>use the Tiled Clones, >Edit >Clone >Creat Tiled Clones... feature, 'breakout a calculator' and do the math, much easier than 'playing' with the Tiled Clones Dialog.

Fastest (newbie) way to do this for your application of the stop watch:
1. Create a Single path (click with Ctrl+), then Select it (Selector Tool), click twice or ~Shift+S to enable rotation/skewing editing of the path.
2.Re-position the "Center of Rotation" the tiny cross-hair at the center of your path. The notification display will (bottom center) update when you float your mouse over the cross-hair. When the notification display updates >Drag the center of rotation to the path's bounding box (bottom center), easier if you Zoom In to do this.
3a. Dupilicate, ~Ctrl+D or Clone ~Alt+D (as many times as needed) this first path, the duplicates/clones will be directly above the original. Enable rotation/skewing ~Click Twice or ~Shift+S, Now Rotate the duplicated/cloned paths.
-or-
3b.Use the 'Stamp" feature, as you drag the first path rotation handle tap the 'Spacebar" and a Duplicate for each tap will be placed on the canvas.

done