I've searched/looked everywhere to figure this out, but have been unsuccessful. I want to:
...position an object (circl) by manually specifying its center coordinate. For example I want to place a circle so its center is at x=2.00, y=4.00. I am trying to use the x & y edit boxes at the top of the window.
However it has behavior that I cannot understand. Sometimes the values in those boxes are based on the upper left corner of the box surrounding the circle. Other times I can get it so it is the center.
I have to do a "bunch" of clicking, it almost seems random clicking. Sometimes I'm lucky and can get it right away, other times I can't get it at all.
I think I just need help understanding how those boxes work. I can't find any info in the manual.
To me, there is no direct way to draw a circle by entering its center coordinates. But there is a quick workaround using xml-editor.
Draw a circle, whatever its diameter or center coordinates. Just leave it selected and open xml editor (ctrl + shift + X). There you can alter its cx and cy values (coordinates of its center) and its radius (rx and ry - same values for a circle).
Thanks for the response. However, I have no issue drawing a circle. The issue is placing it in the exact spot I want.
I really just need to understand how the X/Y coordinate edit boxes behave. They seem erratic to me. But I think its that I just don't understand their behavior. I can make them move the circle to the exact spot I want sometimes.
? Cy and Cx set its center on the exact spot you want
One issue can come from the stroke width with visual bounding boxes : changing stroke width then changes bounding box size (if you add 4 pixels to the stroke, bounding box increases by 4 pixels. Check in global inkscape preferences > tools if bounding boxes are set to geometric : then modifying stroke width will not change bounding box size.
My apologies, I may not be making myself clear. A short description what I'm doing may help.
I want my circle to be located at a specific location (X/Y) on the page in inches. (rulers are set for inches)
I select the circle and the bounding box you mentioned appears. At that point, the edit boxes at the top of the screen reflect the upper left corner of the bounding box.
If I click on the circle twice more the behavior seems inconsistent. Only about 15% of the time do I get the behavior I want. That is a + sign appears at the circle center; if I click on the + sign, light gray cross hairs appear and the edit boxes now have the circle center coordinates I can enter my exact location and the circle center is placed at those coordinates.
My guess is its not a bug, but my lack of understanding. But I've searched everywhere and haven't found anything to enlighten me.
When center of rotation is displayed (ie when you click two times with selector tool) :
if you click on rotation center one time this displays two faint lines and this way x and y coordinates of this object are the ones of its rotation center.
this behavior remains for this object until you click again on rotation center to toggle to the previous mode when x and y are the coordinates of the bounding box upper left corner.
So there is a direct way to set the coordinates of the center of a circle. And, as you can move the rotation handle (click and drag), you can choose any arbitrary reference point to set the coordinates of an object.
I think that, provided you did not turn it to path, if you select one circle with selector or node tool (or with objects panel) and click on ellipse tool (or press e key), you can still alter rx and ry.
Maybe it was a problem with the older version 1.3 on Mac, but I swear that I tried to do exactly that. Never mind, with 1.3.2 it works as expected, great :)
Beginners' Questions Positioning an Object by Entering Coordinates
Inkscape.org
I've searched/looked everywhere to figure this out, but have been unsuccessful. I want to:
...position an object (circl) by manually specifying its center coordinate. For example I want to place a circle so its center is at x=2.00, y=4.00. I am trying to use the x & y edit boxes at the top of the window.
However it has behavior that I cannot understand. Sometimes the values in those boxes are based on the upper left corner of the box surrounding the circle. Other times I can get it so it is the center.
I have to do a "bunch" of clicking, it almost seems random clicking. Sometimes I'm lucky and can get it right away, other times I can't get it at all.
I think I just need help understanding how those boxes work. I can't find any info in the manual.
Please help, thanks.
To me, there is no direct way to draw a circle by entering its center coordinates. But there is a quick workaround using xml-editor.
Draw a circle, whatever its diameter or center coordinates. Just leave it selected and open xml editor (ctrl + shift + X). There you can alter its cx and cy values (coordinates of its center) and its radius (rx and ry - same values for a circle).
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the response. However, I have no issue drawing a circle. The issue is placing it in the exact spot I want.
I really just need to understand how the X/Y coordinate edit boxes behave. They seem erratic to me. But I think its that I just don't understand their behavior. I can make them move the circle to the exact spot I want sometimes.
? Cy and Cx set its center on the exact spot you want
One issue can come from the stroke width with visual bounding boxes : changing stroke width then changes bounding box size (if you add 4 pixels to the stroke, bounding box increases by 4 pixels. Check in global inkscape preferences > tools if bounding boxes are set to geometric : then modifying stroke width will not change bounding box size.
My apologies, I may not be making myself clear. A short description what I'm doing may help.
I want my circle to be located at a specific location (X/Y) on the page in inches. (rulers are set for inches)
I select the circle and the bounding box you mentioned appears. At that point, the edit boxes at the top of the screen reflect the upper left corner of the bounding box.
If I click on the circle twice more the behavior seems inconsistent. Only about 15% of the time do I get the behavior I want. That is a + sign appears at the circle center; if I click on the + sign, light gray cross hairs appear and the edit boxes now have the circle center coordinates I can enter my exact location and the circle center is placed at those coordinates.
My guess is its not a bug, but my lack of understanding. But I've searched everywhere and haven't found anything to enlighten me.
Sorry for pestering so much.
Hello, I have just experimented with some circles using v1.3.2
Created circle
change to selection tool
click on the circle two times (now in rotate mode)
a green circle is at the centre with some cross hairs
clicking on this will toggle the x/y origin points from top left to centre
when in centre mode two faint gray lines passing through the centre (one horizontal one vertical) show on the canvas
Hope this is of some help.
Ah, interesting, I see. TIL :
When center of rotation is displayed (ie when you click two times with selector tool) :
So there is a direct way to set the coordinates of the center of a circle. And, as you can move the rotation handle (click and drag), you can choose any arbitrary reference point to set the coordinates of an object.
Thanks dwhall and Tom17
Yes, that's exactly what I've been doing, it just seems to be inconsistent. Maybe its just the way I'm "clicking".
I have been working with it this morning and I'm having more consistent behavior. I'm trying to be more deliberate with my clicking. ???
Thanks for all the input.
Another useful tip is that if the rotation centre is accidentally moved it can be returned to the centre point with a Ctrl-Shift-click
Thank you Tom17 for bringing up this issue. I stumbled across a similar problem: how to change the radius of a circle numerically after drawing it.
There seems to be no way to show the Rx and Ry fields again after once entering the values.
However, David248 helped me, too: just use the built-in XML Editor to change radius (or rx/ry for ellipses) or cx/cy.
I think that, provided you did not turn it to path, if you select one circle with selector or node tool (or with objects panel) and click on ellipse tool (or press e key), you can still alter rx and ry.
I must admit, you're so right :)
Maybe it was a problem with the older version 1.3 on Mac, but I swear that I tried to do exactly that. Never mind, with 1.3.2 it works as expected, great :)