Trouble with Pacific Railway logo lesson in manual

Asked by Barbara Mc.

I am learning the manual and am up to the Pacific Railway logo (and, yes, I did donate. :) ). After I trace to Bitmap, I try to shift the image using the instructions but nothing happens. I have done it several times and cannot figure out what I'm doing wrong. I think I'm following the instructions exactly. Any ideas about what I can do or maybe an inadvertent mistake that I might not be aware that I'm making?

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Brynn
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Brynn (brynn4inks-deactivatedaccount) said :
#1

Well this is the first time I've actually read that tutorial closely. It certainly is involved! But it also shows how to get much better results from Trace Bitmap, than just tracing a whole image once. So that really is clever! And certainly a whole lot of basic skills are covered, along the way.

I've read down through step 3, but not to step 4 yet. So far, I haven't found anything about "shifting". Can you point me to the specific place in the tutorial where things start to go wrong? (maybe I need to read further?)

Revision history for this message
Barbara Mc. (enna1921) said :
#2

Thank-you, Brynn. Yes, I should have made my language more specific. In
Step 3, it says to use the Transform dialogue to move the path a page to the
right by setting the Horizontal pixels to 500 and the Verical pixels to 0,
then selecting the Relative Move button and clicking on Apply. After
repeating the trace, I should be able to see two diagrams as shown under the
instructions. I never see the path on the right of the trace (the one that
has a small circle with the yin yang symbol inside a large circle) after I
have followed the instructions. I only see the image on the left. After a
few tries, I decided to see if I could move the photo to a different layer
as per the instructions in Step 4. I couldn't do that either. I'm all out
of ideas. I hesitate to go farther because I feel that I would be missing
out on important info. if I can't do this.

Thanks for any help you can provide. :)

Barbara

-----Original Message-----
From: Brynn
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2015 3:52 AM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #268638]: Trouble with Pacific Railway logo lesson in
manual

Your question #268638 on Inkscape changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/268638

    Status: Open => Needs information

Brynn requested more information:
Well this is the first time I've actually read that tutorial closely.
It certainly is involved! But it also shows how to get much better
results from Trace Bitmap, than just tracing a whole image once. So
that really is clever! And certainly a whole lot of basic skills are
covered, along the way.

I've read down through step 3, but not to step 4 yet. So far, I haven't
found anything about "shifting". Can you point me to the specific place
in the tutorial where things start to go wrong? (maybe I need to read
further?)

--
To answer this request for more information, you can either reply to
this email or enter your reply at the following page:
https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/268638

You received this question notification because you asked the question.

Revision history for this message
Brynn (brynn4inks-deactivatedaccount) said :
#3

Ok, now that I've read step 3 very thoroughly, I would suggest that this tutorial is not suitable for new users. It leaves too many gaps and stumbling blocks for a new user.

I like that it covers the "hows and whys" and how it scans with different settings to get different results from different parts of the image, but that really should be an advanced technique.

This manual isn't necessarily meant to followed from start to finish. And if you're looking for that kind of introduction to Inkscape, I would suggest following some tutorials. That Hiking Club tutorial is a good one to start (although you may have already done it). Have you seen the tutorials in the Help menu? I always like to recommend those, because they are Inkscape SVG documents, and you can practice with the illustrations, right there in Inkscape!

If you need to learn how to use Trace Bitmap specifically, maybe you'll want to stick with it. Or if you're just determined to do it.....

I think the problem you're stuck on, is that the results of the Brightness Cutoff trace is black, and it's right on top of the black parts of the original image. That's why it wants you to move it over, so you can see the results. I'm not sure why it wants you to move it exactly 1 page width away. You could just grab it with the Selection tool and drag it over, to see the results.

To continue following that tutorial, after you do the Brightness Cutoff trace, *without deselecting* open Transform dialog and move it over.

However, if you follow the tutorial from the top, you may also have the results of multiple scan with Grays option, also on top of the image, because the tutorial never tells you to undo, or delete your results, when it tells you to try something else. It seems to just keep trying different scans. And things can get really confusing, really fast! It really isn't written very well for new Inkscape users, in my opinion.

Revision history for this message
Barbara Mc. (enna1921) said :
#4

Hi, Brynn

I have gone through the tutorials in the help menu and found them excellent.
Is the Hiking Club more advanced than the help menu? I do want to learn
Inkscape thoroughly. I'm housebound with a long-term illness and doing this
is keeping my mind and spirit alive. I don't want to give up. I did
realize that the scan with the grey tones was supposed to be a separate scan
from the second one so I did them separately in different attempts. I also
figured out why the instructions said to move the scan over. I believe we
were told to use the Transform command because later in the tutorial, the
two images have to be put back together and the Transform command is more
precise than using the select command. I'll try one more time over the next
couple of weeks, making sure not to deselect. Hopefully, this time it will
work.

If the Hiking Club is an intermediate tutorial, please let me know where it
is. I haven't heard of that one before.

Thanks.

-----Original Message-----
From: Brynn
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 9:56 AM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #268638]: Trouble with Pacific Railway logo lesson in
manual

Your question #268638 on Inkscape changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/268638

    Status: Open => Answered

Brynn proposed the following answer:
Ok, now that I've read step 3 very thoroughly, I would suggest that this
tutorial is not suitable for new users. It leaves too many gaps and
stumbling blocks for a new user.

I like that it covers the "hows and whys" and how it scans with
different settings to get different results from different parts of the
image, but that really should be an advanced technique.

This manual isn't necessarily meant to followed from start to finish.
And if you're looking for that kind of introduction to Inkscape, I would
suggest following some tutorials. That Hiking Club tutorial is a good
one to start (although you may have already done it). Have you seen the
tutorials in the Help menu? I always like to recommend those, because
they are Inkscape SVG documents, and you can practice with the
illustrations, right there in Inkscape!

If you need to learn how to use Trace Bitmap specifically, maybe you'll
want to stick with it. Or if you're just determined to do it.....

I think the problem you're stuck on, is that the results of the
Brightness Cutoff trace is black, and it's right on top of the black
parts of the original image. That's why it wants you to move it over,
so you can see the results. I'm not sure why it wants you to move it
exactly 1 page width away. You could just grab it with the Selection
tool and drag it over, to see the results.

To continue following that tutorial, after you do the Brightness Cutoff
trace, *without deselecting* open Transform dialog and move it over.

However, if you follow the tutorial from the top, you may also have the
results of multiple scan with Grays option, also on top of the image,
because the tutorial never tells you to undo, or delete your results,
when it tells you to try something else. It seems to just keep trying
different scans. And things can get really confusing, really fast! It
really isn't written very well for new Inkscape users, in my opinion.

--
If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
know that it is solved:
https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/268638/+confirm?answer_id=2

If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
following page to enter your feedback:
https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/268638

You received this question notification because you asked the question.

Revision history for this message
Barbara Mc. (enna1921) said :
#5

Just realized what you meant by Hiking Club logo. Yes, I already did that
one successfully. And all the previous ones.

-----Original Message-----
From: Brynn
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 9:56 AM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #268638]: Trouble with Pacific Railway logo lesson in
manual

Your question #268638 on Inkscape changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/268638

    Status: Open => Answered

Brynn proposed the following answer:
Ok, now that I've read step 3 very thoroughly, I would suggest that this
tutorial is not suitable for new users. It leaves too many gaps and
stumbling blocks for a new user.

I like that it covers the "hows and whys" and how it scans with
different settings to get different results from different parts of the
image, but that really should be an advanced technique.

This manual isn't necessarily meant to followed from start to finish.
And if you're looking for that kind of introduction to Inkscape, I would
suggest following some tutorials. That Hiking Club tutorial is a good
one to start (although you may have already done it). Have you seen the
tutorials in the Help menu? I always like to recommend those, because
they are Inkscape SVG documents, and you can practice with the
illustrations, right there in Inkscape!

If you need to learn how to use Trace Bitmap specifically, maybe you'll
want to stick with it. Or if you're just determined to do it.....

I think the problem you're stuck on, is that the results of the
Brightness Cutoff trace is black, and it's right on top of the black
parts of the original image. That's why it wants you to move it over,
so you can see the results. I'm not sure why it wants you to move it
exactly 1 page width away. You could just grab it with the Selection
tool and drag it over, to see the results.

To continue following that tutorial, after you do the Brightness Cutoff
trace, *without deselecting* open Transform dialog and move it over.

However, if you follow the tutorial from the top, you may also have the
results of multiple scan with Grays option, also on top of the image,
because the tutorial never tells you to undo, or delete your results,
when it tells you to try something else. It seems to just keep trying
different scans. And things can get really confusing, really fast! It
really isn't written very well for new Inkscape users, in my opinion.

--
If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
know that it is solved:
https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/268638/+confirm?answer_id=2

If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
following page to enter your feedback:
https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/268638

You received this question notification because you asked the question.

Revision history for this message
Barbara Mc. (enna1921) said :
#6

Just tried it again and it worked. Yay! I must have inadvertently
deselected on my previous tries. Simple mistakes can cause so much
aggravation. Thanks for your help.

-----Original Message-----
From: Barbara Mc.
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 7:36 PM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #268638]: Trouble with Pacific Railway logo lesson in
manual

Your question #268638 on Inkscape changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/268638

You gave more information on the question:
Just realized what you meant by Hiking Club logo. Yes, I already did that
one successfully. And all the previous ones.

-----Original Message-----
From: Brynn
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 9:56 AM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: Re: [Question #268638]: Trouble with Pacific Railway logo lesson in
manual

Your question #268638 on Inkscape changed:
https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/268638

    Status: Open => Answered

Brynn proposed the following answer:
Ok, now that I've read step 3 very thoroughly, I would suggest that this
tutorial is not suitable for new users. It leaves too many gaps and
stumbling blocks for a new user.

I like that it covers the "hows and whys" and how it scans with
different settings to get different results from different parts of the
image, but that really should be an advanced technique.

This manual isn't necessarily meant to followed from start to finish.
And if you're looking for that kind of introduction to Inkscape, I would
suggest following some tutorials. That Hiking Club tutorial is a good
one to start (although you may have already done it). Have you seen the
tutorials in the Help menu? I always like to recommend those, because
they are Inkscape SVG documents, and you can practice with the
illustrations, right there in Inkscape!

If you need to learn how to use Trace Bitmap specifically, maybe you'll
want to stick with it. Or if you're just determined to do it.....

I think the problem you're stuck on, is that the results of the
Brightness Cutoff trace is black, and it's right on top of the black
parts of the original image. That's why it wants you to move it over,
so you can see the results. I'm not sure why it wants you to move it
exactly 1 page width away. You could just grab it with the Selection
tool and drag it over, to see the results.

To continue following that tutorial, after you do the Brightness Cutoff
trace, *without deselecting* open Transform dialog and move it over.

However, if you follow the tutorial from the top, you may also have the
results of multiple scan with Grays option, also on top of the image,
because the tutorial never tells you to undo, or delete your results,
when it tells you to try something else. It seems to just keep trying
different scans. And things can get really confusing, really fast! It
really isn't written very well for new Inkscape users, in my opinion.

--
If this answers your question, please go to the following page to let us
know that it is solved:
https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/268638/+confirm?answer_id=2

If you still need help, you can reply to this email or go to the
following page to enter your feedback:
https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/268638

You received this question notification because you asked the question.

You received this question notification because you asked the question.

Revision history for this message
Best Brynn (brynn4inks-deactivatedaccount) said :
#7

Oh good, I'm glad you got it figured out!

Revision history for this message
Barbara Mc. (enna1921) said :
#8

Thanks Brynn, that solved my question.