LIT Logo

Legal Innovation & Technology Lab
@ Suffolk Law School

Using Inkscape to Create and Edit Vector Graphics

Estimated Time (Reading & Exercises): ~30 min.

You are welcome to join our Slack Team. There you can ask and answer questions relating to this lesson under the #howto channel. See How To for more. VIDEO PROTIP: After starting playback, you can expand a video to full-screen by mousing over it and clicking the full-screen icon. You can also speed up playback by clicking the gear icon, choosing "playback speed," and picking your speed.

First, download and install Inkscape. Watch the first video below to get a feel for Inkscape and learn some of the nomenclature. Then try your hand at producing an image from scratch by following along with the second video.

Inkscape in Less Than Ten Minutes

This video will show you how to perform common tasks in Inkscape. Watch the entire video to get a crash course in Inkscape basics, or jump to the time indicated below to view how to perform a specific task. Note: these links will open the video in a new window at the time specified.

  • Introduction (0:29)
  • Create Predefined shapes (0:36)
  • Select, scale, and rotate objects (2:21)
  • Cut & paste objects (3:05)
  • Raise and lower selections (3:24)
  • Align and Distribute objects (3:48)
  • Group and ungrouping objects (4:11)
  • Draw paths and create shapes (Bezier Pen) (4:36)
  • Edit paths (4:59)
  • Add text (to path) (6:02)
  • Saving your work (7:11)
  • Your Challenge, Should you Choose to Accept It: Make the LIT Logo

    To get you used to working in Inkscape, let's start by making a simple image like the LIT Lab's logo. Open up a new project, and follow along.

    FWIW, here are the color codes for the blue background (002e5dff) and the golden flame (f1b828ff).

    Back to Main How To