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Task

Your challenge is to create a vector graphic background. This skill can be used for a variety of things; Game Backgrounds, Animations, Websites, Laser Cutting etc

A simple concept that can look professional and high quality!

Step 1 - Inkscape File

Open Inkscape

Change your layout to landscape - File > Document Properties

* It should already be A4 but if not change

Step 2 - Create Your Background

Use the Bezier Tool to create your layers. If you can use the bezier tool you can create anything!!!

Click to start and then on the next point click and drag to create curves, continue this till you get back to your starting point and to make it one path click back on the starting point.

Have fun and try different curves.

Use the Nodes Tool to click the individual nodes and you can adjust by either moving or changing the curves.

Continue to make different layers.

Step 3 - Add Colour

There are colour options at the bottom, otherwise open your Fill & Stroke panel - Object > Fill & Stroke

If you need to change the layering order use the top to bottom tools.

In the fill & stroke panel use the fill menu to choose your colour and the stroke menu to turn off the outline.

An easy effect is to use a similar colour palette and adjust the lightness > darkness

Step 4 - Creating details

Add some trees.....

Use the Star tool. In the settings you need 3 Corners for a triangle and then you can play with the Spoke Ratio and Rounded settings till you get what you are after.

Then you want to repeat, scale (flatten, widen etc) and layer to create a tree shape

Add a rectangle for the trunk.

To align them all through the center you select them all and then using the Align & Distribute tool (Under Objects) select Center on vertical axis. You should see all the objects align down the center.

You also need to join these shapes to make one object Path > Union

Step 5 - Adding details to layers

Make a few duplicates of your tree to the side of the canvas.

Take one and position it on your background

To scale it if you hold down CTRL while you resize then it will scale proportionately.

Once you have it in the position you want select both the tree and the layer (Click one then hold SHIFT and select the other).

Path > Union this then makes the two objects one.

Repeat as much as you like.

STEp 6 - finished product

You can add other details like clouds, buildings, animals etc

Once you are happy you need to save the files in the appropriate format.

Firstly save the inkscape file (should have been doing this along the way)

Then you need to Export and Inkscape is set up as PNG. For this example we are going to export the Page.

EXTRA - Gradients

To add more depth you could add gradients to your layers.

Make sure you save as so you have a separate file compared to the original

EXTRA - Laser Cutting

You can turn this into a shadow box.

The laser cutter needs lines to follow......

First Save As and add laser cutter to the file name.

STEP 1 - Resize

At the moment this is A4. We are going to create a shadow box 1/4 of the original size as four layers will fit an A4 size.

Select all your objects (CTRL +A) and on the measurements bar at the top click the lock image to scale proportionally. I changed the width to 140mm (the height will change automatically).

STEP 2 - Create Border

To Make a shadow box you need a border.

Create a rectangle over the background layer or use the dimensions from your resizing above ie 140mm x 98mm.

Now Copy and PASTE IN PLACE

Change dimensions to 5mm smaller than the original rectangle

i.e 135mm x 93mm

Align the 2 rectangles through the centre both vertically and horizontally

Duplicate the frame 3 more times, and space out on Canvas

STEP 3 - Combine layers with Border

Separate all the pieces into the right rectangles. Make sure that the coloured objects are over lapping the inside border.

Once in place change objects to a stroke and no fill.

*** If you have objects floating, like my clouds, you will need to draw a rectangle connecting it to the border. Then you need to select the two objects ie cloud and rectangle and path > union

This next part you need to do each object individually...... we need to make the objects from our image join as one for the inside frame.

To do this select the object and the inside frame (Shift click) then Path > Difference. You should see it join together now.

Repeat for all objects.

For the back piece if it is solid then just delete the inside frame.

If you have narrow parts like my tree trunks you might need to use the Node tool to click individual nodes and move. You can select more then one and adjust.

You should have something that looks like the image on your right.

STEP 4 - File for Laser Cutter

Make sure your file is saved, you can used the Inkscape .svg file

Put your file on a usb and head to the laser cutter

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