UI in Inkscape Part 2

This time we will use Inkscape to create a sound on/off button. First create a square with the rectangle tool. I like to have simple whole number sizes. To do this, click on the square you created with the select tool. At the top there should be a bar that has a W: and a H: (if you can’t see this bar, enable it under View – Show/Hide – Tool Controls Bar). I set my square to 500 for both the width and the height.

Tool control bar

Sound on button

 Now add another square on top (W: 200, H: 350). Select the “Edit paths by nodes” tool (second from the top). Then press the “Convert selected object to path” button at the top (or press Shift+Ctrl+C). The square should now have a red outline. We can now drag the nodes of the square around. Holding Ctrl while moving a node will move it only horizontally or vertically. I’m going to make my square into a sideways trapezoid to look sort of like a speaker. Next, make some rounded rectangles. Align them on the vertical axis. Use the select tool to rotate the top and bottom rectangles (click the rectangle with the select tool until it shows curved arrows. Now we have a nice sound on button. Save your work as a .svg file. 

Use the select tool and drag over the entire image to select it all (or use Ctrl+A). Then export the image as a .png using the export sidebar (press Shift+Ctrl+E).

Export sidebar

Sound off button

Now we can make a sound off button. First, delete the rounded rectangles. Then change the color of the big square to red. Now make a new rounded rectangle. Make it quite long. Rotate it and then duplicate it. Select the duplicate and flip it horizontally (button at the top or press h). Cool! Don’t forget to export your work (as a different file!!! Don’t accidentally overwrite the previous image!)

Tips: Using simple whole numbers keeps things consistent. It’s much easier to work with 100x100 than 234.43x234.43. Use power of 2 numbers (2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, etc…). Use the align tools a lot, to keep things as organized as possible. Don’t overcomplicate things! Use the shapes you have made and duplicate/flip/mirror them.