[Inkscape-user] Area Selection Tool?

[Chris Spencer]

I really enjoy using Inkscape for refining and processing line art.
Sometimes I'll use Inkscape to color, however, this requires me to
create a new shape by meticulously tracing areas by hand. Is there any
tool that would just let me click an empty area and have it
automatically create a new shape by detecting the edges of nearby paths?
This vector equivalent to the bitmap fuzzy-select/magic-wand tool would
be extremely useful.

Chris

[bulia byak]

Post by Chris Spencer
I really enjoy using Inkscape for refining and processing line art.
Sometimes I'll use Inkscape to color, however, this requires me to
create a new shape by meticulously tracing areas by hand. Is there any
tool that would just let me click an empty area and have it
automatically create a new shape by detecting the edges of nearby paths?
This vector equivalent to the bitmap fuzzy-select/magic-wand tool would
be extremely useful.

Interestingly, requests for such a tool have been recently seen with
high regularity. We have an RFE for it, describing how it could be
implemented:

http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1123138&group_id=93438&atid=604309

so now the only thing missing is a volunteer who would be willing to
implement it :)

[Hibbs, Phil]

Is there any tool that would just let me click an empty area and
have it automatically create a new shape by detecting the edges
of nearby paths? This vector equivalent to the bitmap fuzzy-select/
magic-wand tool would be extremely useful.

Would you want it to follow invisible edges? I commented on the feature
request, but someone else said that it would be better to rasterize the
image, trace the shape, and then vectorize the result. I think this is a
mistake, it should follow edges exactly. If there are hidden edges then this
can be overcome by creating a number of shapes and welding them together.

__________________________________________________
Phil Hibbs | Capgemini | Rotherham
Technical Consultant
__________________________________________________

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[bulia byak]

Post by Hibbs, Phil
Would you want it to follow invisible edges? I commented on the feature
request, but someone else said that it would be better to rasterize the
image, trace the shape, and then vectorize the result. I think this is a
mistake, it should follow edges exactly. If there are hidden edges then this
can be overcome by creating a number of shapes and welding them together.

It was me who said it's much better to make this tool act as the
corresponding tool in bitmap editors. Otherwise, why bother? Filling
is a visual concept, and it should behave visually, e.g. run into
white areas of bitmaps and gradients, ignore invisible lines, etc.
Just fill what is _seen_ as continuous, without taking into account
the vector invisibles. If you want filling to stop at some line, just
make that line visible temporarily. Another advantage is that this
will allow changing the filling threshold, whereas a "vector fill"
will always be strictly binary. In short, my approach would provide
some new and otherwise unachievable capabilities, whereas a "vector
fill" will be simply a shortcut for a sequence of boolean ops.

[Alan Horkan]

Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 12:50:05 -0300
Subject: Re: [Inkscape-user] Area Selection Tool?

Post by Hibbs, Phil
Would you want it to follow invisible edges? I commented on the feature
request, but someone else said that it would be better to rasterize the
image, trace the shape, and then vectorize the result. I think this is a
mistake, it should follow edges exactly. If there are hidden edges then this
can be overcome by creating a number of shapes and welding them together.

It was me who said it's much better to make this tool act as the
corresponding tool in bitmap editors. Otherwise, why bother? Filling
is a visual concept, and it should behave visually, e.g. run into
white areas of bitmaps and gradients, ignore invisible lines, etc.
Just fill what is _seen_ as continuous, without taking into account
the vector invisibles. If you want filling to stop at some line, just
make that line visible temporarily. Another advantage is that this
will allow changing the filling threshold, whereas a "vector fill"
will always be strictly binary. In short, my approach would provide
some new and otherwise unachievable capabilities, whereas a "vector
fill" will be simply a shortcut for a sequence of boolean ops.

Flash and Freehand have capabilties very similar to what you describe. I
found it confusing at first but it is a much more direct way of using the
same boolean operations and I can see why some artists love it. (I'm
still asking myself if it is right for everyone and really the more
intuitive approach.

Sincerely

Alan Horkan

Inkscape http://inkscape.org
Abiword http://www.abisource.com
Dia http://gnome.org/projects/dia/
Open Clip Art http://OpenClipArt.org

Alan's Diary http://advogato.org/person/AlanHorkan/

[Chris Spencer]

Post by Hibbs, Phil

Is there any tool that would just let me click an empty area and
have it automatically create a new shape by detecting the edges
of nearby paths? This vector equivalent to the bitmap fuzzy-select/
magic-wand tool would be extremely useful.

Would you want it to follow invisible edges?

Do you mean shapes that are completely invisible due to no fill or
stroke? If the shape had a fill but no stroke, I would still want to
include the visible edge produced by the fill. But if the shape was
completely invisible I suppose I wouldn't want it included. Of course,
I'm flexible on this, since I could always remove the invisible object
if I didn't want it included in the new shape.

Post by Hibbs, Phil
I commented on the feature
request, but someone else said that it would be better to rasterize the
image, trace the shape, and then vectorize the result. I think this is a
mistake, it should follow edges exactly. If there are hidden edges then this
can be overcome by creating a number of shapes and welding them together.

I see your point. How do the boolean functions do it? I suppose the
effect is similar to what you'd get if you performed a boolean "exclude"
with your target objects and a temporary generic object that completely
encompasses the empty (use "intersection" if the area is non-empty) area
you wish to create into a new shape. However, you would then delete all
points/paths in the new shape not directly connected to the shape
currently under the cursor. Obviously, this functionality is dependent
on the use of an action in the right-click pop-up menu, as opposed to
something under the Path menu.

To basically, this feature is already present. It's just really
inconvenient ;)

The only problem I see with my approach is how to auto-generate the
generic object to use in the boolean operation. You'd have to somehow
detect the virtual bounding box dimensions of the area "selected" by the
cursor.

Chris

[Chris Spencer]

Is there any tool that would just let me click an empty area and
have it automatically create a new shape by detecting the edges
of nearby paths? This vector equivalent to the bitmap fuzzy-select/
magic-wand tool would be extremely useful.

Also, an additional use for this feature would be to allow easy
"decomposition" of paths. Meaning, if you hand a single path that
composed several visibly separate objects, you could remove or copy one
of these objects just by clicking it. This would be amazingly useful.

Chris

[bulia byak]

Post by Chris Spencer
Also, an additional use for this feature would be to allow easy
"decomposition" of paths. Meaning, if you hand a single path that
composed several visibly separate objects, you could remove or copy one
of these objects just by clicking it. This would be amazingly useful.

You can just as easily do Path > Break apart for that.