Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Interpolate SVG Inkscape


So I've been trying to create a long shadow effect in Inkscape using an SVG image. As you can see, I've been able to do this with a shape.


enter image description here


But haven't found a way to do so with an SVG image.



enter image description here


What I'd normally do is select both paths and choose Extensions>Generate from path>Interpolate, but of course, in my experience, this requires a path. I've tried various ways to convert the image to a path, but have thus far been unsuccessful.


So my questions are: Is there a way to create a long shadow effect without a path? If not, is there a way to convert the SVG image to a path?


All I should need is an outline of the image.



Answer



After seeing your file, I can answer.


At first, duplicate the Tardis with Ctrl-D, then select just the duplicate, hit repeatedly Shift-Ctrl-G to ungroup all the nested groups until appears the message "No groups to ungroup in the selection".


The groups contain text and other objects, so you have to use Path...Object to path, and again Shift-Ctrl-G until done.


A lot of objects


Hit Ctrl-+ to make an union of the path: you have the outline of the Tardis:



Union


The union contains some undesired nodes, you have to edit it and remove them:


Odd nodes


Now, you can proceed to interpolate, by placing a copy of your outline:


two paths to interpolate


And using "Extensions...Generate from path...Interpolate":


interpolated image


I've used 100 steps but I don't like the result (but I don't use often the interpolate tool and perhaps it can be tweaked a bit), so I've made a test with "Extensions...Generate from path...Motion" with a Magnitute of 1000,0 (seems to be the maximum), and (after some ungroup and an union of the result) I prefer this way better:


with the motion is better


The motion uses less nodes, and I suggest you to give a look to this function.



For a longer shadow you can duplicate the result of the motion and place it conveniently:


final image


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