Skip to content

Inkscape Setup Guide

This guide shows the steps to setup Inkscape for creating icons that conform to the Featherity design guidelines.

Setting up The Canvas

When opening a new document, Inkscape will create a canvas of a default size. To change the size to 24x24:

  1. Open the Document Properties dialog (File -> Document Properties).
  2. On the “Page Size” tab, under “Custom Size” set the Units to px and set both Height and Width to 24. Setting Page Size
  3. On the “Grid” tab, select Rectangular Grid and click “New Grid”. Setting Grid Properties
  4. Set the Grid Units to px and set Spacing X and Spacing Y both to 1. Setting Grid Properties
  5. Close the Document Properties dialog.
  6. To center the canvas in the viewport, select View -> Zoom -> Drawing.

Setting up The Paths

  1. Create a path or shape.
  2. With the path selected, open the Stroke and Fill panel by pressing Ctrl+Shift+F on your keyboard. Stroke Style Properties
  3. On the “Stroke Style” tab:
    • Set Stroke Width to 2px.
    • Select the rounded join type.
    • Select the rounded cap type.
  4. If the shape is a rectangle, select the rectangle and in the top of the screen below the menu bar, set Rx and Ry to 2px. Rectangle Radius Properties

Saving A File

  1. When ready to save the file, click Save As and select “Optimized SVG” as the file type. Save As
  2. After clicking Save, to conform with the other icons in the package, set Pretty Printing to use spaces and set the indentation depth to 2. Optimize