6.
Dealing with Multiple Objects 08:00
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6.1 Multiple-Objects Selection 00:46
6.2 Layers & Objects 01:43
6.3 Groups 01:40
6.4 Alignment & Boolean Operations 01:59
6.5 Clip & Mask Operations 00:49
6.6 Tweak & Spray Tools 01:17
6.7 Section 6 Quiz 6 questions
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6.1 Multiple-Objects Selection 00:46
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To edit multiple objects together, you have to select all of these first.
With the select tool enabled, hold down the shift key and click on several
objects to select these together.
You can also click and hold while dragging with your cursor to select all
the objects falling within your selection area, in one move. Do deselect
any specific object, hold down the shift key and click on it.
Whereas use the escape key to remove all selections.
Once these objects are selected, you can move scale rotate. And adjust
their appearance in the same way.
6.2 Layers & Objects 01:43
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When you start dealing with loads of objects, you may use layers and
groups to manage these quickly. Each layer is usually a large group of
objects that allows you to manage these without making selections every
time.
Open the Layers panel by selecting Layer > Layers and Objects or
pressing control or command with shift and L.
This panel lists all the layers you have, by default a single one called
Layer one, collecting all the objects of your canvas. You can select any
object by clicking on it. And check its associated layer from the status
bar below. Use the buttons on top to hide or show the list of objects, or
create a new empty layer.
Right click on any layer or object to duplicate, rename or delete it.
You can also click and drag any object to change its position, adjusting
the order of visibility in case there is overlap in your canvas.
In the same way you can move any object within another layer, for
example, the new one. Whereas right click on any object and go to
Move to Layer to move it to another layer.
Click on the eye button to hide or show any object. Or use the lock to
block selections and modifications from it. You can also hide or lock
entire layers.
Very useful to manage your canvas when you start getting lots of objects
on it.
6.3 Groups 01:40
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You may also create groups to manage smaller amounts of objects
together.
Select all of these first and then right click and go to Group or just press
control or command and G, with respect to layers, groups can be
selected with all their internal objects directly within your canvas. This
also means that you can move, scale, rotate the group and all its objects
inside without performing selections.
You can also enter inside the group by double clicking on it. This way
you go below one level and edit each single object inside the group
without breaking it. Once done, just double click outside the group to
return to the top level.
You can also select and edit any internal object by clicking on it while
holding down the control or command key. You will immediately come
back to the top level as soon as you deselect it.
In the objects panel, these groups collect objects under a g letter and
can be selected, edited and ordered, just like objects and layers. In the
same way you can add or remove any object from the group by clicking
and dragging it through the list.
Just keep in mind the main order. You first enter into a layer, then to
any group if present, and then you select the single object.
To remove any group, right click on it anywhere and go to Ungroup.
6.4 Alignment & Boolean Operations 01:59
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Inkscape includes several tools to move and modify multiple objects.
For example, you can open the Align and Distribute panel from the
Object tab or with control or command shift and A in order to align
distribute; or rearrange these objects properly, specifying the reference
under Relative to on top.
If necessary, you can remove overlapping areas between the respective
dashed contours and enable Move/align selection as group to align
multiple objects without disrupting their relative gaps.
You can also align selected nodes from a single shape or multiple ones.
Just select these with the node tool while holding down the shift key
first.
This alignment won't be performed in case you work with objects not
converted into paths yet. In this case, select the object and go to Path >
Object to Path.
From the Path tab. You can apply Boolean operations to selected objects,
especially if these are closed shapes with proper area. Use Union to
unify objects into a single one, Difference to apply the difference,
Intersection to extract any overlap region, or Division to subtract by
saving the overlapped area.
The resulted object inherits fill and stroke style from the lowest object in
position and may also change according to the order of your selections
made before performing the operation.
Pay attention that Boolean operations may not work with groups or
pieces of text.
6.5 Clip & Mask Operations 00:49
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Inside the object tab, you find the clip and the mask operations,
similar to the intersection one, with clip set you extract from the lowest
object only it's overlap area.
Whereas with clip set inverse, you simply clip the overlap region from
it. You can always come back with clip release. Whereas to clip the
second object, you just need to put it behind the first one in position.
Object Mask works in the same way with the difference so that the
lowest object is no more cut but made transparent according to the
colors of the second object. If this is black, you get a completely
transparent result.
6.6 Tweak & Spray Tools 01:17
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With the tweak in the spray tool, you can edit and manipulate a single
object or multiple one selected.
Enable the tweaked tool or press the w key and click and drag to
distribute, deform or move objects according to the mode chosen on top,
setting brush with and force on the left.
Whereas select either a single or multiple objects and enabled a spray
tool or press the a key to brush over your canvas by pasting multiple
copies of these, on top set the brush mode, such as pasting independent
copies of the selected object, dropping clones following its appearance.
Or building a single unified path.
You can also adjust the brush with its density with amount. And the
maximum variability on rotation angle and scale size.
Both the tweak and the spray tools work with groups and pieces of text
as well.
