Travis

Welcome to Lesson 2. In this lesson, we'll be working with shapes. We'll be using the tools located in the Tool Bar to create basic shapes. Then we'll manipulate those shapes to create effects we're looking for. This is a pretty easy lesson. We'll only be using a few tools in the Tool Box to create our shapes; Rectangle Tool, Circle Tool, Polygon/Star Tool, and the Bezier Tool. Other than the Text Tool, we won't be using the other tools in this class. Tool Options If you remember from the last lesson, we have the Options Bar across the top of the screen. This area changes, depending on which tool you have selected from the Tool Box. You'll find many additional options for your tools so you can have greater control over your shapes. When working with a tool, be sure to check this section and see what options are available. There may be times when you change these options to create a certain effect, but when you try to make a simple shape again, it may inherit your previous options. Usually, the Options Bar will have a reset button to reset the values to default. Rectangle Tool Click the Rectangle Tool from the Tool Box, then on your work area, drag your mouse to create a rectangle. To create a perfect square, hold down the Ctrl button and drag. After you created your square, you'll notice a small square in the upper left corner and lower right corner. These are resizing nodes. With your Rectangle Tool still selected, click and drag on one of these nodes. You will notice it will resize your square along the X & Y axis. If you hold down the Ctrl button while dragging, you can constrain the aspect ratio and resize along the X & Y axis proportionally. In the upper right corner of your rectangle, you'll see a small circle. Click and drag this node. This will round the corners of your rectangle. This is a very handy feature that we'll use a fair amount. It adds a softness to your patterns. After creating a square, choose your Selector Tool from the Tool Box and click the rectangle you just created. You will see arrows on each corner pointed diagonally and arrows on the center of each side pointing in and out. These are resizing nodes. (If the arrows on the corner look like they're curved, click the rectangle again to get to your sizing options) If you grab the corner node (diagonal arrows) and drag them out, you will notice that you resize the rectangle along the X & Y axis. This allows you the greatest freedom of resizing. If you hold down the Ctrl button while resizing, this will constrain the aspect ratio, which enlarges the X & Y axis proportionally. The arrows on the center of each side will only resize the rectangle along that axis. This is a great way to elongate one side without affecting the other side. Click your rectangle again. Now you'll see curved arrows on each of the corners and arrows on the center of each side that is parallel to the side. We are now in Rotation and Skewing mode. Click and drag the curved arrows in the corner. You'll notice that you're rotating your rectangle. If you wish to constrain the rotation to 15-degree increments, hold down the Ctrl key. This is very useful if you want to change the rotation to a common angle like 45 degrees or 90 degrees. Let's move to the center of your rectangle. You'll notice a + that looks like a crosshair. This is your rotation's center point. By default, it starts in the center. However, we can move this crosshair to anyplace you'd like. Click and drag the crosshairs outside the rectangle, then rotate the rectangle. You'll notice the rectangle now rotates around this new point. This is a very useful option, especially when you want to duplicate a pattern that radiates out from a common center point. Now, let's return to the arrows on the center of each side of your rectangle. These are skewing nodes. Click and drag these arrows and you'll notice the rectangle becomes skewed. It will keep the edge parallel to the original, but move the corner up and down equally along both edges. This allows you to modify your shape in a symmetrical way without any advanced editing. Using a combination of rotation and skewing, you can come up with a lot of unique shapes. Circle Tool The Circle Tool works much the same way as the Rectangle Tool. Click and drag to make an ellipse. To create a perfect circle, hold down the Ctrl button and drag. Choose your Selector Tool from the Tool Box. Click the circle to get your resizing nodes. This works the same way the Rectangle Tool works. You have the arrows in the corners that will enlarge the X & Y axis. To constrain the aspect ratio, hold down the Ctrl button. The center arrows will resize only along the chosen axis. Click the circle again to get your Rotation and Transformation options. Again, this works the same way the Rectangle Tool works. The curved arrows in the corner allow you to rotate an object. Hold down the Ctrl button to constrain the rotation to 15-degree increments. The center crosshairs can be moved to change the rotation center point. The arrows in the center of each side of your selection will allow you to skew your circle. Let's go back to the Circle Tool. Select the Circle Tool from the Tool Box and select the circle you've been working with. You will see two small squares along the edge of your circle. Just like the Rectangle Tool, these allow you to scale the object. You'll also notice a small circle on the edge of your drawn circle. By clicking and dragging this circle, you can make a partial circle. With the options in your Options Bar, you can choose if it will make a partial circle or a pie-shaped circle. The pie-shaped circle will use the natural center point of the circle to make its pie shape. Now here's a trick to switch between a partial circle and a pie-shaped circle. When you're dragging, the circle node that's being manipulated (highlighted in blue, you can control whether it's a partial circle or pie-shaped circle by dragging your mouse through the blue node. This will toggle between the two options. Also note, if you're trying to draw a new circle, but it's coming up as a partial or pie-shaped circle, you can click the button in the Options Bar to make it a full circle. Polygon/Star Tool The Polygon/Star Tool works much the same way as the Rectangle Tool. Click and drag to create a polygon or star. You'll notice that you can't make a polygon/star elongated. By definition, polygons are symmetrical. If you wish to elongate an axis, you must resize it using the Selector Tool. Choose your selector tool from the Tool Box and click your polygon/star. You will receive the same resizing options as the Rectangle Tool. You have the arrows in the corners that will enlarge the X & Y axis. To constrain the aspect ratio, hold down the Ctrl button. The center arrows will resize only along the chosen axis. Click the polygon/star again to get your Rotation and Transformation options. Again, this works the same way the Rectangle Tool works. The curved arrows in the corner allow you to rotate an object. Hold down the Ctrl button to constrain the rotation to 15-degree increments. The center crosshairs can be moved to change the rotation center point. The arrows in the center of each side of your selection will allow you to skew your circle. Select the Polygon/Star Tool from the Tool Box and select your polygon/star. You can choose whether the shape you drew is represented by a polygon or star by selecting the appropriate icon option in the Options Bar. If the polygon option is selected, you'll notice a single square node on the edge of your polygon. This is a resizing node and will resize the polygon proportionally along the X & Y axis. If the star option is selected, you'll see two squares along the edge of the star. The square on the outside corner is a resizing node and will resize the star proportionally along the X & Y axis. There's also an inside square. This node will change the sharpness of the star. You can also add a skewed spiral to the star as well by moving the node off-center. Holding down the Ctrl button will keep this node centered between the outside points, thereby making a perfect star. You'll also notice in the Tool Options that you can choose how many corners your polygon/star has. You can also round the corners of your polygon/stars here. There is also a randomization option, while not having much practical use, is kind of fun to play with. Lastly, there's an icon to set your polygons/stars to the default setting. Bezier Tool The Bezier Tool is a unique one and I'll only be covering the very basics in this lesson. We'll really look at what it can do in Lesson 5. But for now, know it can create lines or shapes. Select the Bezier Tool from the Tool Box. Click once in on your document and release (it is important that you don't drag.). Then move your mouse to another location on your document and click again. This created a straight line from one point to the next, much like a dot-to-dot puzzle. Hit Enter on your keyboard, and now you have a straight line. We'll learn to turn this straight line into a curved line in Lesson 5. You can also create closed shapes. Click once in your document, then click somewhere else. Create 4 or 5 points, then return and click on the beginning point (it has a small square node at the beginning point). This will close the shape. You'll notice that this tool doesn't have any options in the Options Bar. This tool will be used to make line drawings, add detail, and create more complicated shapes later in the class. Working With Color Now that we are creating shapes, it is important to look at how to color these shapes. Coloring is a great organizational tool to color-code shapes based on purpose. It also helps for illustration. But in the end, you'll most likely use a gray interior with a black outline for easy cutting and making your pattern printer-friendly. To color a shape, simply choose your Selector Tool from the Tool Box, select your shape and click a color in the color palette. It is as easy as that. To color the stroke (outline), right-click on the color you wish to choose and select Set Stroke. You can also hold down the Shift key and click a color in the color palette. To change the stroke width, right-click the number to the right of the Stroke color box (lower-left corner of the screen). A pop-up menu will have a number of presets available. Note that a single straight line is considered a stroke and is colored as such. However, curved lines can have a fill, which could cause problems later on. We'll cover this topic later in the class. But be aware that lines made with the Bezier Tool may cause problems if a fill color is applied. To remove the fill color or stroke color, right-click on the Fill or Stroke boxes in the lower-left corner of your screen and choose Remove Fill or Remove Stroke. For better control over your color, click the color box next to the Fill or Stroke boxes in the lower-left corner. This will pop up a docked dialog box. You have a number of options to choose from, including color selection preferences, opacity, and gradients. Since we don't use color when creating scroll saw patterns, we won't be covering these options in this class. Duplicating You'll be duplicating shapes a lot. You'll do this to make copies of a shape to use in a different part of your design, or you may duplicate an entire design as a backup copy, in case your experiments go terribly wrong. Duplicating can be done in a couple of ways. You can copy and paste an object. Copy by going to Edit>Copy (or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C). Paste by going to Edit>Paste (or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V). You can also duplicate an object by going to Edit>Duplicate and a copy of your object is placed directly on top of your original. However, I prefer using the shortcut Ctrl+D for duplicate. Selector Tool Options With your Selector Tool active, click your object. On the right side of the Options Bar, you'll see the Height and Width boxes (H and W) along with a pull-down menu that offers various measurement units. I'll choose inches. You'll notice that the height and width change to reflect the dimensions in inches. You can type in specific values in the height and width fields and it will change your object dimensions accordingly. You'll use this a lot when creating scroll saw patterns, especially when size plays an important role. There is also a lock icon between the height and width fields. This will lock the aspect ratio. So whenever you scale the object (with either the height or width fields or by using the resize nodes on the object), the resizing will occur equally along the X & Y axis. Next to the height and width area, you'll find X & Y access fields. This is where your object appears in the X & Y coordinates of your document. This is represented in pixels and references to the bottom left corner of your object selection. You could use this for specific placement, but I find it much too cumbersome to use. To the left of the X & Y coordinates, you'll find quick layering tools. This is different from the Document Layers hinted at in the previous lesson. Rather this is the order of objects within the layer. We'll be covering this in the next lesson, so we won't dwell on that now. To the left of the layers buttons are the flip and rotate options. This is very useful for flipping your objects. Select one of your shapes and choose either Flip Horizontally or Flip Vertically. When you combine this with duplicate, you can start to put together a nice symmetrical pattern. Try selecting an unusual shape. Then duplicate it (Ctrl+D). Then click the Flip Horizontally button in the Options Bar. Then move over your object to the right of the original object. Now you have a mirror image. Select your object again, duplicate it, then lip vertically. Put that directly below your original object. Do the same for your first object. Now you can see that you have the beginnings of a pattern. You can rotate an object 90 degrees clockwise or counter-clockwise by using the Rotate buttons. However, I usually prefer using the rotation nodes on the object while holding down the Ctrl button. Assignments: We've learned how to use the basic shapes and how to manipulate them. Take a little time and play with these tools, rotate, resize, skew, duplicate, flip, and whatever else catches your fancy. The more you play with this program, the quicker you'll learn how the tools work with one another.

Welcome to Making Scroll Saw Patterns with Inkscape. This class will last for 4 weeks with 2 lessons released each week. Each class will include a video demonstration, written out instruction, downloadable source materials, and an open forum where you can get your questions answered. I encourage you to ask lots of questions. That's what this class is all about. Here's a quick rundown of what you can expect from this class: Lesson 1 - Introduction To Inkscape Lesson 2 - Creating Simple Shapes Lesson 3 - Aligning Our Objects Lesson 4 - Building Complex Shapes Lesson 5 - Nodes and Editing Lesson 6 - Working With Text Lesson 7 - Designing A Trinket Box Lesson 8 - Designing A Desk Clock This class will be a bit more difficult than the GIMP class. Mostly because Inkscape is a different way of thinking than what we're used to. The first 6 lessons will be mostly fundamentals without much inter-connectivity to one another. But these are the essential building blocks we use to create our scroll saw patterns. Everything will start to make sense in Lessons 7 & 8 when we start applying what we have learned to create a scroll saw pattern. So if you feel a bit lost, you won't be alone. Just stick with it. You'll get it soon enough. Once all the lessons are completed, I suggest you go through the class again. I have a feeling the second time around, everything will click for you. What Is Inkscape? Inkscape is a free vector-based graphics program similar to programs like Corel Draw and Adobe Illustrator. It can be used to design scroll saw patterns like trinket boxes, candle holders, trivets, and other functional/decorative type items. It is also very useful for traditional fretwork designs. Inkscape is open-source software. A large community comes together and programs this software in their spare time. The source code is available for anybody to download, study, modify or improve. Since a large community programs the software together, no one person actually owns the software. This is why Open Source Software is free. There are several advantages to open-source software. First, obviously, is the fact it is free. Second, since a large community is programming the software, the program is always advancing and adding new features (assuming the community is active). Lastly, since the software source code is open to scrutiny, it is very unlikely that viruses or other malware can be inserted into the code. Someone will spot it and remove it immediately. So you can feel safe about downloading this great software. Bitmaps vs. Vectors There are two basic types of graphics out there. There are vector-based graphics created by programs like Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, and Inkscape. Then there are bitmap or raster graphics like those created by Adobe Photoshop, Corel Photopaint, and GIMP. Vector-based graphics are mathematical representations of an image. Vectors are composed of nodes that define the space in relation to other nodes to create shapes, lines, and curves. These complex shapes are then layered upon each other in order to define an image. The advantage of vector graphics is the file size tends to be much smaller. You may enlarge or shrink down a vector graphic without losing quality because the nodes stay within the same relative position to one another. The mathematical formulas recalculate the image based on node information, so there is no information that is lost (or gained) during resizing. Bitmaps are rectangular grids of pixels (blocks of color) used to define a picture. The more pixels that are used in an image, the more information the image contains. This is called resolution. The higher the resolution is, the more detail you can pull from an image. You can enlarge a low-resolution graphic. But since a low resolution only has so much information (number of pixels), when you enlarge it, it only spreads that information over a larger area. You do not gain additional detail by enlarging a low-resolution graphic. (You can see an example here). So why would we want to work with vectors? Scaling is a big advantage. Often, we scale our patterns to the size we need for the stock we have on hand. Since quality is not lost with resizing, vector base graphics very useful. The second is the ability to quickly alter a graphic. If a line or edge isn't quite right, we can go in and move the line to the appropriate place. We can also add and subtract from the image quickly and efficiently. The ease of editing also comes with the ease of designing. Each element is separate from one another and its properties independent of other objects. So it's very easy to move things around, line them up, flip, rotate, and any other function. Once you know how to use the tools, you can make a simple scroll saw pattern in a matter of minutes. One drawback to vector graphics is that vector graphics can only be viewed by people who have a vector graphic program installed on their computer. To work around this shortcoming, it is advised that you export your vector graphics to a bitmap before sharing your patterns. Bitmaps have the advantage of being universally accepted. Downloading Inkscape You can find a copy of Inkscape on their website at http://www.inkscape.org. At the upper right of the screen, you'll see a "Download Now" button. Click this and you'll automatically download the latest edition of Inkscape. Once it is downloaded, go ahead and install your new program. Inkscape Resources The Inkscape website has a number of really great resources. They have their documentation/user manual, tutorials, wiki, and support forums. Be sure to check out what they have to offer. This would be the first place I'd turn to if you wanted more information on a certain function. Inkscape is a popular program. You can find lots of tutorials on the internet. Just Google "Inkscape Tutorials" and you'll find a lot of great resources. YouTube is another great place to find some great video instruction. Most of the tutorials on the internet focus on illustrations since that's really what Inkscape is intended for. So you may have a tough time finding a tutorial focused on what you want to do with it. However, this is a great way to learn the ins and outs of Inkscape. Once you understand the tools, you can do anything you want. The User Interface Go ahead and launch Inkscape. The program will launch with a brand new document. In the center of the screen, you'll see a rectangle. This represents your printable document. Anything inside the printable document will be printed. Anything outside will not. By default, the document size is A4. But since I live in the US, I prefer working with US Letter (8.5x11"). To change my document size, go to File>Document Properties. This will pop up a new window. Choose "US Letter". You may be looking for an OK button or an Apply button, but there isn't any in this pop-up window. You'll notice whenever you choose a preset, the paper on your screen automatically updates. When you chose the document size you prefer, just click the red X in the upper right corner. File Menus This should be no surprise. This section is the menu section you find on any program across the top of the screen. Each menu has a number of options organized under a menu title (File, Edit, View, Layer, etc). These menus contain access to all of the functions within the program. The very first thing I do when learning a new program is to go through each of these menus and look to see what they offer. This will give you a good idea of what the program can do and how it's organized. You'll also notice shortcut keys next to the menu options. For functions that you use on a regular basis, it is very helpful to learn those shortcut keys. Tool Bar Directly below the file menus, you'll see a toolbar with your most commonly used buttons. It starts with your traditional buttons such as File, Save, Import, Export, Undo, etc. You'll also find access to other Inkscape-specific functions like duplicate and grouping. Probably the two tools you'll use most often are the Text Property button and the Align And Distribute button. You can see what each icon represents by hovering your mouse over the icon for a moment. A tooltip will pop up with a short description of what that tool does. Take time to look at each tool. Below the Tool Bar is the Options Bar. We'll discuss this in a moment. Just know that it is directly below the Tool Bar. Tool Box Along the left side of your screen is the Tool Box. This houses the tools you'll need to build your shapes and drawings. Most of the tools deal with making shapes or lines. However, there are a few editing tools available there too. Hover over each tool to pop up a tooltip that explains what the tool is used for. Take time to see what tools are offered. Bottom Options Along the bottom of your screen, you'll see a color palette that spans the width of your screen. You have a number of colors to choose from. This is the area where you set the color for your fill (color of the object) by clicking and where you can set the stroke (outline of the object) by right-clicking and choosing Set Stroke. Below the color palette in the left corner, you'll find a section that says Fill and Stroke. This indicates your chosen fill and stroke colors. Next to the stroke color, you'll see a number. This shows the size of the stroke. Right-click on this number and it will pop up a number of presets along with a remove option. Next to the Stroke and Fill area is a box with up/down options. This refers to the opacity/transparency of your selected object. For this class, this should always be set to 100%. Next are a few icons; an eye, a lock, and a pulldown that says Layer 1. This is your layer options. While layers are very useful for complex illustrations, they're not necessary for what we want to accomplish. We won't be using these options. Following that is the tooltip area. Whenever you have a tool or option selected, this area will show some helpful tips or instructions on how to use this tool. The last box shows you where your cursor is located. This may be helpful to some, but I don't use it. Next to that is your zoom box. This allows you to zoom into the area where you are working so you can see the detail easier. Options Bar We're returning to the section directly below the Tool Bar. This area changes depending on which tool you have selected from your Tool Box. This will give you a lot of control over whatever tool you are currently working with. Be sure to click each tool in the Tool Box and see what options you have available in this section. You will start to see the possibilities opening up from the basic tools in the Tool Box. The most common option you'll use in this class is the scaling options when your selector tool is active. Here you'll be able to lock the aspect ratio and type in specific sizes for your objects. Rulers Along the top and left side of your work area, you'll see a ruler. This comes in handy when laying out objects. You can change the unit of measure in your document properties (File>Document Properties). Look for the Default Unit section under the General section (Page tab). Choose whichever measurement you're comfortable with from the pulldown menu. Dialog Boxes We'll have a lot of dialog boxes pop up from time to time. These dialogs offer additional control over a particular function. There are two types of dialog boxes. The first is pop-up dialogs. These will float on your screen until you close them. Often you'll only use them once, and you'll close them when you're done. The second dialog is docked dialogs. These are dialog boxes that you'll use a bit more often. These will dock on the right side of your screen. If you open multiple docked dialogs, they will stack on top of each other. Just use the scroll bar to navigate to the dialog you need. You can close any of the dialogs by clicking the X in the upper right corner. These dialogs do take up a bit of space, so in order to keep them handy, but not in the way, you can make them into buttons. To the left of the X in the upper right corner, you'll see a small triangle. When you click that, that dialog becomes a button on the right side of your screen. When you need the dialog again, just click the button and it pops up. This is especially handy for dialogs that are only accessible through the menu system. Navigating your Document You'll need to move around your document quickly and easily. There are a number of ways to navigate your document. Panning up and down, or left and right is pretty easy. You can simply use the scroll bars located on the bottom and right side of your work area. Alternatively, you can click the middle mouse-wheel button and drag. Zooming in and out is necessary for seeing small detail. You'll be doing this quite a bit. To zoom in and out, use the + and - keys on your keyboard or number pad. Alternatively, you can roll the middle mouse wheel to zoom in and out. You can also use the Zoom tool in the Tool Box. Clicking will zoom in, whereas Shift-clicking will zoom out. You can also use the zoom box in the lower right corner of the screen. Assignments: Download and install Inkscape Check out the menu options. Click each tool and see what options are available in the Options bar. Start playing with the program.

Originally published in The Village Square - Sept. 2009 Your walls are covered and your shelves are overflowing with your scroll saw projects. Then it finally dawns on you; maybe you should start selling your work. But what should you charge? This is a tough question to answer. After all, you want to make it affordable so people would actually buy your products. But at the same time, you don't want to short change yourself. While pricing structures can range from picking a number out of the air to complex formulas, here's a good way to come up with a price for your scroll sawn art. First, you must decide what your time is worth to you. Are you happy making $15/hr? $30/hr? Be sure to keep this figure realistic. While it would be nice to make $150/hr, chances are that my work isn't worth more than $15/hr. Once you come up with a number, this becomes your target income goal. Next, figure out what it would cost to make your product. Figure in your time and material cost. Material costs not only includes the materials used to make your product, but it also includes expendables like scroll saw blades, masking tape, paper, and printer ink. Figuring out the costs of your expendables might be a bit of a guessing game, but try to put a ballpark figure on it. While you're at it mark up the material costs by about 20%. After all, you still have to hoof it over to the lumber store, pick your stock, haul it back home and organize it. Don't overlook expenses that occur in the sales process. Are you going to craft shows? Chances are, you'll be spending all day trying to sell your wares. Be sure to compensate yourself for your time. Plus there are booth fees and travel expenses to figure in too. Online markets charge listing fees and take a sales commission. Plus any time that you spend listing your products. See where I'm going with this? Now it's time to figure out what price to charge for your product. So take your time multiplied by your target income goal plus material costs. This is your price. But wait. We're not quite done yet. Now that we have a price, we have to figure out if the market can bare that price. When you come up with a number, compare it to what others sell similar items for locally. If others are selling it for more, raise your prices. If they're selling it for less, decide if you'd be willing to take less. If not, see if you can reduce your time or cost to get the widget price closer to the market price. There are many times where it just isn't worth your time to make that particular product. But there are many other items that you can make that has a nice profit margin. You may also consider the law of averages. Perhaps one product has to sell below what you'd be willing to take, but another product is selling for more. These two products may balance each other out in the long run. Naturally, custom work will cost more than items that can be "mass-produced." Making several of one item is usually more time efficient than making them one at a time. If you do portrait style cuttings, be sure to stack cut your items so you get 3 or 4 copies. Other items, make jigs where possible to speed up production. Also, keep an eye out on how to reduce material costs and any expendables. Often little compromises result in huge savings, thereby increasing your profit margin. And lastly, know who your customer is. Flea market folks won't pay $35 for a free-standing puzzle, but a patron of an art museum would. Be sure to research your customers and what others are doing. Find someone who is doing well and copy them (their method, not their patterns). No need to re-invent the wheel. Hopefully, these tips will get you on your way to selling your wares. It's nice to earn a little extra money to keep yourself in sawblades and buy a new tool on occasion. But if you don't sell anything, don't worry. After all, it's the journey, not the destination that counts.