Hi All,
I purchased a file that is a Monogram that I am told (after the purchase) " If you are using the glowfroge app to add the names I think you need a premium subscription with them unfortunately."
So, I have been learning Inkscape" and would like to know rather than spend for the premium how to add the text to the file. If anyone can either tell me or point me I would sincerely appreciate it. I hope this makes sense. Here is what happened when I tried to figure it out.
I looks like you just needed to “join” the text with the main image, so it would become one image. That is my guess.
Press ctrl+A (to select all of it), then go to the “Path” menu and choose “Union” (I think that is what it is).
Thank you! I will give that a shot…
Also learn to use the view modes and double check your work with Outline mode. (I assume Inkscape has such a view mode.)
If you see overlapping lines line this, you probably won’t get what you want.
You want this.
Path/pathfinder/boolean operations, whatever they call them in Inkscape, can be confusing at first. Keep your Undo key warm and check your work as you go.
Hi,
Thank you, I will try that. Everything I do ends up simply cutting the area with the text out…
So, after an all day research project I have found a video of exactly what I need to do. When I perform the steps laid out which are only a few, the video version works perfectly and in my inkscape the text simply disappears. Yes, I made 100% sure I was not skipping anything but no luck. Just wated to update you all I am still stuck. If needed, here is the video for adding the text to an ornament: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s4V5L1Uavo&t=313s
Not sure what my next step is but, I need to get this done… ugh…
In InkScape you must convert text by selecting it and clicking path, object to path. Then you can use path union when you want to connect it to something else.
I’m pretty sure @beerfaced has hit upon your problem/soulution.
Inkscape is powerful but hard to learn because it is literally a group project. Stick with it!
If you are going to do a lot of things that are the same except for the name or other little thing take a look at cuttle. https://cuttle.xyz It makes things so easy when you have a dozen or more of the same thing with slight variations.
I agreed with beerfaced.
I will add, unless this thing is going to be the full size of the print area, that’s a very skimpy font choice and the resulting lettering will be very fragile. The laser can certainly cut it, but the kerf can result in almost razor-thin parts, and you have to take that into account. In Inkscape, the Outset function is good for “fattening up” delicate designs, and instead of fooling with settings, I’ll just scale the whole thing up or down before applying, visually observe the results, and then scale it back down. Of course, you could choose a different font, but if that’s the one you want, my approach works just fine.
Close but if we’re being precise:
Create and align your text as desired. Then:
If you skip the ungrouping the union step will fail. It can be hard to figure out why but at the very bottom of your inkscape window there will be small text that says one of your selected objects is not a path. That’s because in this scenario you’d be attempting to do a union on a path and a group.
In fact at the risk of getting too deep here the new version of Inkscape sometimes makes nested groups of letter shapes when you do object to path. This happens when converting large chunks of text so it probably won’t happen here.
It’s easy to tell if you’re good to go: control-a to select all. At the bottom of the screen if it says something like “12 paths selected” then you’re all set.
Hi all,
So I performed the steps as described (see PDF) no go. I really appreciate all of the advice, thank you. I decided to purchase some Inkscape training so you don’t have to bang your head against the wall with me 
again thank you!! I need to get this done and at this point I don’t think it is me. Although I am not sure if it is the file somehow or something else. I am still very new and I did not want to learn new to me software, I really thought I could get away with purchasing files…But here we go… (who was I kidding, if I want to start a new business I should have known I would run into “stuff”) 
Union issue.pdf (1.4 MB)
The issue here is that you’ve already broken apart the overall frame of the piece. There are two ways to solve this, you can either combine all of the black lines plus the blue outline (essentially everything but the letters) into one item by using the combine command under path or you can just select the words and that little surrounding hole and do Difference.
You’re really close to a solution. Honestly if you upload that SVG I can combine it correctly in about 10 seconds. It’s literally just a matter of being familiar with the Boolean operations and path manipulation.
Also, if you’re a verified owner on the discord we could do a screen share and I can walk you through it.
For more information on becoming a verified owner you can check out #19 here:
@evansd2 Thank you for the offer, I appreciate it very much.
I don’t want to end being the guy who uses the forum as my personal helpdesk
I do have the Discord app and this is what I get when I login:
OK piece of cake.
File as given. It’s a bunch of independent path objects.
Path->Combine into one big path.
Just to be able to see that it worked correctly, assign a fill, and see if it looks like the shape you want. I chose blue because why not:
Make and scale/align your text.
Convert that text to a path as we’ve discussed. Then select everything and do Path->union:
Take a closer look to be sure you’re happy with the text alignment:
Looks good to me! Turn off the fill.
It’s ready to go. HOWEVER, there are a few best practice steps to do now to get the best results.
Ideally, you will cut the outline last. To do that you have to make the outer path a different color. Do Path->break apart (the opposite of combine):
Now assign different colors to the internals and externals:
Lastly, select all and group it so you don’t ever knock any of the parts out of alignment, and you’re ready to roll.
I have a little more advanced discussion coming in just a sec, if you want to wait a few mins for my thoughts on the design itself.
If you don’t mind could you tell me where the server name is located? The post states upper left.
this is my “upper left”
thanks!!
Upper left of discord.
Well now, no need to show off 
you could have waited a few minutes to make it “seem” harder… LOL
Seriously, I really appreciate how nicely you laid this out. Makes perfect sense.
Thank you!
Ahhhhh… newbies…
So this file has what I’ll affectionately call “jank” going on. This is often the case with files you buy online, where people are working fast instead of carefully. This may be by design, you might like the imperfection etc. This is what I am talking about:
See how the spiral is kind of “lumpy”? it has a bunch of inconsistency in terms of the shape of the curve. As I said, this may be your preference, maybe you like the hand drawn aspect. In general I like my designs to be a bit cleaner, and so I would probably redo this entire design to my liking.
It’s possible to repair the curves manually with a lot of practice and understanding on how to manipulate nodes and bezier curves. I took a quick swing at the top spiral, I’m not sure I love it, but this is how it wound up:
Not bad for a first draft, I still don’t love the hook on the spiral, but it’s definitely better.
It involved a lot of reworking nodes and guides to help me get it to this point:
I’m not sure it’s worth fixing this design, just something to keep in mind when you’re shopping designs in the future. You’ll find a lot of designers with wildly variable skills making files like this, looking closely at the details is always a must when buying these kinds of designs.
