## Instructions - Master document setup: File > Document Properties to exact delivery size (A4/logo 1920px/etc), scale 1px = 1px, grid 10px + snap to nodes/handles, color-managed sRGB profile attached before drawing. - Draw beziers properly: Pen (B) straight clicks for corners, click-drag for smooth curves, Shift+C convert corner/smooth, handles at ~1/3 segment length for clean arcs, simplify (Ctrl+L) to kill redundant nodes. - Edit nodes surgically: Node tool (N) marquee + sculpt, join/break at end nodes, align node handles symmetrically for logos, stroke-to-path (Ctrl+Alt+C) before boolean ops on outlined text. - Trace bitmaps deliberately: Path > Trace Bitmap with Brightness-cutoff for logos (threshold ~0.5, no smoothing) vs Colors mode (4-8 scans) for art, despec + vector-simplify after, always compare at 200% for jaggies. - Use clones and symbols for systems: Edit > Clone for repeated icons (one master edits all), Symbols library for logo kits, tiled clones for patterns, unlink (Shift+Alt+D) only the instance you must customize. - Set text-on-path logos: draw circle/bezier guide, Text > Put on Path, kern manually at 25-50 tracking for badges, convert to path (Shift+Ctrl+C) before handoff so fonts never break. - Handle typography right: import brand fonts, flowed-text only for drafts (convert to regular text for export), letter-spacing over fake-bold, outline strokes on final logo files. - Build logos in construction layers: `00_Guides / 01_Construction / 02_Artwork / 03_Color-ways / 04_Export`, lock guides, keep 1-color + reversed + full-color variants, clearspace box = cap-height X rule. - Color for screen + print: fills in flat hex for SVG, duplicates recolored via Extensions > Replace color for print CMYK mindset, overprint preview via PDF export check, never rely on screen-only gradients for single-color cuts. - Align and distribute precisely: Align panel relative-to-page for centering, equal gaps with Distribute, group (Ctrl+G) per logo lockup, guides + snapping for optical (not just mathematical) centering. - Export SVG master + print PDF correctly: save Plain SVG (not Inkscape SVG) for web/handoff, PDF via File > Save a Copy with "Convert texts to paths" + PDF 1.5, bleed added via page-size + 3mm guides. - QC vectors: View > Outline mode for stray nodes, Extensions > Clean up document, validate SVG in browser at 16px favicon size + billboard scale, print B&W test for single-color legibility. ## Examples - Good: 12-node bezier mark, symmetric handles, clones for icon set, text converted to path, Plain SVG + PDF/X handoff. Bad: 400-node auto-trace, unsimplified, flowed-text breaks on client machine. - Good badge: text-on-circle with manual kerning, clearspace box, 3 color-ways. Bad: warped raster text pasted into vector file. - Good trace: 2-color logo brightness-cutoff, despeckled, 200% clean. Bad: 16-scan color trace of a flat logo, muddy edges. ## Workflows 1. Setup: doc size + grid + sRGB, construction layers, guides locked. 2. Draw: bezier construction, node refine, stroke-to-path + booleans. 3. Systemize: clones/symbols, color-ways, text-on-path badges, convert text to path. 4. Ship: Plain SVG master, PDF print copy with bleed, browser + B&W QC. ## Templates - Inkscape CLI export commands: - `inkscape logo.svg --export-type=png --export-filename=logo_1024.png -w 1024 -h 1024 --export-dpi=300` - `inkscape logo.svg --export-type=pdf --export-filename=logo_print.pdf --export-text-to-path --export-dpi=300` - `inkscape icons.svg --export-type=svg --export-plain-svg --export-filename=icons_plain.svg` - Batch: `for f in *.svg; do inkscape "$f" --export-type=pdf --export-text-to-path --export-filename="print/${f%.svg}.pdf"; done` - Logo package list: `logo_master.svg | logo_plain.svg | logo_print.pdf | logo_1024.png | logo_mono.svg | README_sizes.txt` - Text-on-path steps: `Circle guide > Type badge text > Text>Put on Path > Kern 30 > Path>Object to Path` ## Tools - Inkscape Pen/Node/Trace Bitmap/Clones/Align panels + XML editor for SVG cleanup. - librsvg/browser preview + Ghostscript PDF check, SARAH file tools for logo version logs. ## Advanced - Build parametric icon grids: tiled-clone rows with translate offsets, one-symbol update propagates to full decks and favicon sets. - Optimize SVGs with scour/SVGOMG after Plain-SVG save: strip metadata, collapse groups, round to 2 decimals without breaking curves. - Prepare cutter/plotter files: single-path strokes, no fills, 0.1mm hairline spec, mirrored weeding variants for vinyl. - Node economy rule: under 20 nodes per logo glyph, symmetric handles, Ctrl+L simplify until shape just holds — fewer nodes cut cleaner. - Boolean build order: union base shapes first, difference cutouts second, stroke-to-path before intersect; keep construction copies on locked layer. - Badge-text kerning: +25 to +50 tracking on circular text, baseline-shift optical center, convert to path before export. - Color-way system: full-color + mono-black + reversed-white + single-foil variants via clones, swatch palette shared across files. - Favicon pipeline: 1024 master > CLI export 180/64/32/16 PNG set > 16px legibility check > ICO compile. - Print-bleed build: page size + 6mm total, artwork extended past trim, texts converted to path, PDF 1.5 with bleed box. - Scour command: `scour -i icons_plain.svg -o icons_min.svg --remove-metadata --enable-id-stripping --shorten-ids` - Handoff package: Plain SVG + print PDF + PNG set + outlined-text copy + font license note + hex sheet. ## Quick Reference - Doc: exact delivery size, 1px=1px, 10px grid + node snapping, sRGB profile attached. - Beziers: click corners, drag smooth curves, Shift+C convert, handles 1/3 length, Ctrl+L simplify. - Trace: brightness-cutoff ~0.5 for logos, 4-8 color scans for art, check 200% for jaggies. - Clones (Edit > Clone) for icon systems; unlink (Shift+Alt+D) only customized instances. - Text-on-path badges: circle guide, manual kern 25-50, convert to path before handoff. - Layers: guides / construction / artwork / color-ways / export; 1-color + reversed variants. - Ship: Plain SVG master + text-to-path PDF 1.5 with bleed; outline-mode + 16px QC. ## Documentation - Inkscape Tutorials + Manual: beziers, tracing, clones, text, export (inkscape.org/learn,inkscape.org/doc). - W3C SVG spec essentials: paths, viewBox, text-on-path (w3.org/TR/SVG). - PDF/X print handoff basics from your print shop spec sheet. - Scour/SVGOMG optimizer docs for web-ready SVGs.