Inkscape

Introduction to Styling

Objects in SVG can have various types of styles applied to them, and Inkscape offers multiple approaches to applying these styles.  Unfortunately, this makes the discussion of styling objects fairly complex.  This chapter aims to simplify the discussion as much as possible while revealing the possibilities of Inkscape and SVG drawings.  Accordingly, this introduction will focus on explaining the types of object styling and a little bit about alternative ways of applying styles.

Fill

Fill is the color or pattern applied within the path borders of an SVG object. Each SVG object has some kind of fill (except diagram connectors). 
Note : Even bezier and freehand lines have fill, although by default it is set to transparent.

There are three basic types of fill:

  • Solid Fills - invariant color fills the object.  This color can have an opacity setting from 0 to 100 (0 being completely transparent, 100 being completely opaque).
  • Gradient Fills - are a combination of two or more colors (or transparencies).  A gradient begins with the first color and blends smoothly into the next, etc.  Gradients can either be linear or circular.
  • Pattern Fills - are comprised of repeating images which can be selected from a preset or defined by the user.  They can be either paths and shapes or bitmaps.

In addition, the fill can be set either to render or not render at any place where the object crosses over itself with the even-odd or non-zero settings.

Stroke Paint

Stroke Paint is the color or pattern applied to an SVG object's stroke.

Stroke Paint settings are basically the same as fill in that they consist of solid colors, gradients or patterns.  Stroke Paint cannot be set to even-odd - it always renders when it crosses over itself.

Stroke Style

Stroke Style is a group of settings affecting the geometric properties of an object's stroke, such as width, decorative markers, dashing, etc.

Alternate Application Methods for Styles

Apart from selecting style types individually from the dialogs, there are several ways to paste copied styles by keystroke:

Copy Styles from Other Objects

If you want to copy styles from one object to another, you can do so easily by copying the object as normal (press Ctrl+C) and then paste the style by pressing Shft+Ctrl+V.

Copy Dimensions from Other Objects

There are six options for copying dimensions from one object to a new object.  They are found in Edit > Paste Size

Paste Size - paste both the copied height and width to the selected object(s) so that the whole selection has the same dimensions as the original

Paste Width - paste only the copied width to the selected object(s) so that the whole selection has the same width as the original

Paste Height - paste only the copied height to the selected object(s) so that the whole selection has the same height as the original

Paste Size Separately - paste the copied height and width to each selected object individually (when multiples are selected) so that each separate object within the selection has the same height and width as the original

Paste Width Separately - paste the copied width to each selected object individually (when multiples are selected) so that each separate object within the selection has the same width as the original

Paste Height Separately - paste the copied height to each selected object individually (when multiples are selected) so that each separate object within the selection has the same height as the original