Inkscape

I want to fill an A4 sheet with random black dots

Asked by Phil Headford

The idea is to print a pad for an optical mouse.

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Phil Headford
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Hachmann (marenhachmann) said : 		#1

Hi Phil, do you have a question about the A4 sheet with the random black dots? What have you tried?

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Phil Headford (flos-madasafish) said : 		#2

I haven't tried anything. I don't know where to start.

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Phil Headford (flos-madasafish) said : 		#3

Yes, I raised that question.
I replied on the Inkscape forum -
I haven't tried anything. I don't know where to start.

On 15/06/2020 00:10, Hachmann wrote:
> Your question #691288 on Inkscape changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/inkscape/+question/691288
>
> Status: Open => Needs information
>
> Hachmann requested more information:
> Hi Phil, do you have a question about the A4 sheet with the random black
> dots? What have you tried?
>

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Hachmann (marenhachmann) said : 		#4

Hi Phil,

in case you are still looking for the info:

- draw a black circle
- keep it selected
- use the spray tool

See http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Spray.html

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Phil Headford (flos-madasafish) said : 		#5

Thank you, Hachmann
I have started experimenting from the starting-point you recommended.
I hope to report back soon.

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Phil Headford (flos-madasafish) said : 		#6

Following the lead from Hachmann, I ended up by drawing a rectangle slightly larger than the A4 canvas. I then set the paint to light grey (#F4D7D7), went to the "Fill and Stroke" settings (Ctrl+Shift+F), and selected the the Pattern fill. Beneath the 'Pattern Fill' legend, I scrolled down to the Sand (bitmap) option (near the bottom) and clicked that. Near the bottom of the "Fill and Stroke" frame, I set Blur to 0% and Opacity to 100%. Next, I exported the image as a PMG. On double-clicking the saved file, my default image viewer (it's called 'Image Viewer') showed the standard tartan-like fill which represents a transparency layer. So I needed to collapse the layers into one. I spent half an hour trying to find out how to do that. It must be possible to do it in Inkscape, but I failed. So I opened the file using the GIMP and used that to 'Flatten' the file, which I saved as sand.png. I also took a copy of the file and used extreme settings in 'Hue and Saturation' to make a darker version (sand2.png). My monochrome laser printer dealt with these files in seconds.
I borrowed a 3M mouse pad. I can't detect any difference between the behaviours of the three mouse mats. The lighter design (sand.png) might coceivably save a little nattery life with a cordless mouse.
 sand.png https://k00.fr/qvgieh6c
sand2.png https://k00.fr/22t7xfrv

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