Category Archives: written tutorial
draw a cute cartoon dinosaur
How do you rotate in inkscape?
How do i rotate is one of the most frequently asked questions for beginner Inkscape users. There are multiple ways to rotate in inkscape, and this FAQ will show you the basics for three of them. The three different ways for rotating objects are: the toolbar buttons, the on-canvas rotation handles, and the transform dialog.
10 of the Best Inkscape Tutorials
Here is an old list of 10 of the Best Inkscape Tutorials from back in 2009. All the links should work now, again.
Convert boring photos into acrylic paintings
Here is a neat howto from Libre Graphics World on how to use Inkscape and the GIMP to create a simple, colourful acrylic painting effect from a boring, lifeless photo.
Modifying your helicopter
So, you have followed the tutorial posted a few days ago, and created a cartoon helicopter of your own in Inkscape.
However, you have decided to do some modifications to your vehicle, adding extra weaponry and gadgets. Luckily, Chris Hildenbrand did a follow-up tutorial on how to modify your vector helicopter, which is pretty easy thanks to the power of Inkscape and SVG!
Boring to Cute in 5 Easy Steps
Drawing a 2D Helicopter with inkscape
Here is an awesome, detailed, step-by-step on drawing a side-view 2d helicopter by Chris Hildenbrand. Chris’ tutorials yield some impressive results, however they are aimed at intermediate inkscape users.
Update: After this tutorial, be sure to check out the next one in the series, that shows you how to modify your helicopter!
Render a bitmap Image using Tiled SVG Clones to create a nice effect
quick block arrow inkscape tutorial
Ever wondered how to quickly create a block arrow with inkscape? This quick tutorial shows you how!
creating vector grunge
Web design layout with inkscape
Here is another great tutorial from Josh over at Tucson Labs. In this tutorial, Josh walks you through designing and exporting a webpage layout with inkscape.

simple text effect: outline styling.
here is another awesome tutorial from Troy Sobotka (author of the chrome text tutorial). This tutorial details how to create the following outlined text effect:

Graffiti / Street Art type design
Here is a tutorial to create a vector design in a street art / graffiti style. This tutorial does not go into much detail on each of the steps, is more of a demonstration of the workflow the artist used to create the design. Well worth a look for intermediate and advanced Inkscape users.
Creating an Inkscape Filter effect to style text
Here is a quick how-to outlining the process to create custom inkscape SVG filters to style text. The tutorial covers the procedure to create a filter for text with a shadow, slightly inset text and raised, super glossy text. The tutorial also has a downloadable SVG so you can open up the image in Inkscape and play with the filters yourself.

inkscape text tricks
This tutorial covers a multitude of hidden inkscape text tricks, including changing the baseline, rotation and kerning (spacing between) individual letters in a text block. All these effects are achieved by manituplating the text object, you can edit the text itself at any time!
Creating an Urban Design using Concentric Circles, Clouds and Spiro Swirls
Here is a neat tutorial showing how to create an urban design by layering different types of vector elements. In this tutorial, you first create a range of concentric circle stamps (or “brushes”), and layer them on top of different coloured cloud silhouettes. Finally, you create a whole bunch of swirls using the spiro curve and path effects.
Shiny Button Tutorial for Inkscape Beginners
Inkscape FAQ: How do I crop in Inkscape?
One of the most frequently asked questions from Inkscape users is “how do i crop an image or object?” The Clipping feature is by far the easiest and most versatile way to crop vector or bitmap/raster objects in Inkscape. This FAQ provides you with a step by step tutorial covering the basics of clipping.
Let’s start with our little monster friend that i downloaded from the Open Clip Art Library:

Bitmap Images in SVG — Embed or Link?
Layer Effects with Inkscape
Alexandre Prokoudine [blog | twitter] covers creating layer effects with Inkscape. In this detailed article, Alexandre talks you through hand-editing the SVG XML in inkscape to apply filter effects (e.g. Gaussian blur) on whole layer (rather than on an object or group level). Note that to achieve this behaviour, you will be diving deep into inkscape SVG internals, so this tutorial is recommended for advanced inkscape users.
Creating a Business Card Template and Basic Business Card with Inkscape
Here is a great tutorial for creating business cards using Inkscape. This tutorial has two main sections.
The first details how to create a printer ready template from a PDF guide using clones and guides. Using clones in this fashion to create a template in inkscape is awesome; once the template is created correctly, the changes that are made to the original populate thoughout the rest of the tempate!
The second section provides a detailed process for creating a basic business card (with a nifty pinstripe background). This portion of the tutorial is a great introduction into basic fill / stroke techniques, pattern fills and text editing and kerning.
Drawing an anime style eye with inkscape
Here is another tutorial from libregraphicsworld describing how it illustrate an eye in the anime style.

Inkscape FAQ: Why do my gradients change when I move or resize an object?
The gradient tool in Inkscape is a powerful feature that allows artists to add and edit linear and radial colour gradients on-canvas. Gradients in vector graphics provide the ability to provide the illusion of depth and light to otherwise flat images. When combined with the blur filter, gradients can be used to create photo-realistic vector images.

- A Lamborghini Gallardo drawn entirely with Inkscape vectors.
However, having gradients behave strangely when moving or resizing an object is a common issue encountered by Inkscape users.













