Inkscape for Beginners Vector Coins Tutorial Video Lecture - Inkscape Design

this is Nick with logos by Nick comm and
in today's tutorial I'll be
demonstrating how to create these vector
coins using Inkscape and any point in
this tutorial you could look down at the
bottom left hand side of my screen to
see which mouse clicks and keystrokes
I'm using so we'll minimize this and get
started the first thing we'll do in
Inkscape is set the view to custom and
then we'll zoom in at a hundred percent
it will open up our align and distribute
menu with this button up top and we're
gonna want the last selected chosen from
this drop down and then we'll open up
our edit objects colors gradients and
Stroke menu so the first thing we'll do
is create any lips so let's come over to
the circles and ellipses tool click on
that and just click and drag on the
canvas to create a little ellipse like
that maybe about that width and height
somewhere in that general area doesn't
have to be exact and we're gonna take
the opacity of this and drop this about
in half and then we'll go to path and
you will choose a linked offset and
we're gonna turn that red and then we're
gonna grab this little note up top here
and just click and drag this upwards so
it's about I'd say about that much
thicker and then we'll finalize that by
converting it to a path so we'll get a
path object to path and then we were
going to create another linked offset so
we'll get a path linked offset and we'll
turn this one green and I'll grab this
little node up top and again we're gonna
pull this one up a little bit but not as
much as previously just a little bit
like that and that should be good and
we'll get a path object a path to
finalize that and now let's go to edit
and duplicate so we can create another
copy of that and let's grab our select
tool and I'm gonna turn this blue just
so we could differentiate it from the
other elements and I'm gonna hold ctrl
on the keyboard and just click and drag
this down about that much and we're
gonna send that to the bottom by
clicking this button up top this is
lower selection to the bottom and then
we're going to do is I'm going to zoom
in over this left-hand portion to do
that I'm just going to press + on the
keyboard to zoom in
and I'm gonna press down on the mouse
wheel and move the mouse to move the
page around like that so what we'll do
now is we'll grab the Bezier pen you can
grab the tool right here you could just
press B on the keyboard and we're gonna
turn this we're gonna click this little
green squiggly line that says snap the
pads we're going to turn that on and
that's gonna snap the cursor onto the
edge of any graphic and we're going to
need that here so we're gonna snap the
cursor onto the very edge of the far
left side of this bluey lips and then
click and then hold ctrl and bring this
line straight up until it snaps onto the
left edge of the green ellipse and click
and still holding ctrl we're gonna bring
this all the way over to the right and
I'm actually gonna just press down on
the mouse wheel and move the mouse over
so I could see this and it's gonna snap
onto the right side and still holding
ctrl we're gonna bring this line
straight down until it snaps on to the
right edge of this blue you lips and
then click and then we could let go of
control and bring this back to the
starting point and click that first node
to create that shape and then we'll go
to worse I'll go back to our select tool
and then let's turn off the snap two
pads we don't need that anymore
and I'm gonna hold shift in the keyboard
and grab this blue oval down there and
go to path Union okay and what I'll do
now is I'll press one on the keyboard to
zoom back out to a hundred percent and
I'm gonna click and drag over this
entire thing and bring the opacity of it
all the way up and that we can click off
of the graphic to deselect everything so
let's click on this blue shape right
here we're gonna start coloring this
thing in now we're going to start with
this blue piece down here and the base
color I'm gonna use here is this shade
of yellow down here in the color picker
I think it's ffcc zero zero and go ahead
and click on that and then we'll give
that a linear gradient come up to the
fill tab up here I'm gonna click on this
box this is a linear gradient and then
we're gonna grab our gradient tool by
pressing G on the keyboard and I'm gonna
click on this stop down here on the
right and bring the opacity of that all
the way up and I'm actually I'm just
gonna bring this node down to about here
and I'll take this node and bring that
down as well and once I get it down
there I'll
to control so it goes straight
horizontally if we don't hold control
it's gonna be off a little bit but if we
hold control it lets it either go
straight up it straight left and right
or straight up and down so I'm gonna put
this over here to the left edge and
again I'm gonna zoom in on this a little
bit I'm just going to press plus in the
keyboard to zoom in a little bit and I'm
gonna double click this line right about
here to add a new stock double click and
I'm gonna add another one and then
another one and maybe one more and I'm
gonna take this stop and I'm gonna drag
this over to the left-hand side and I'm
gonna come up here to the HSL tab and
under the H column I'm gonna slide that
to the left a little bit to give that a
shade of orange then I'll take this stop
right here and click and drag this over
to where that orange stop is maybe about
that far away and I'll go to the L
column and slide that to the right a
little bit just to make that a little
lighter and then I'll take this stop
right here I'll put this somewhere right
about there and I'll take this stop
click on that and I could think I think
I'll leave that right where it is and
I'll bring the H column to the left a
little bit as well for that one make
that a little orange as well and then
let's click on this green shape with our
gradient tool still selected we're going
to click on that green shape and you'll
know you have it selected when you see
the green show up in the bars here if
you accidentally click the red you're
gonna see the red so make sure you grab
the green one and I'm gonna give that a
linear gradient as well actually no at
first before we do that I'm gonna give
that the same shade of yellow that I
used for the base of this one so I'm
going to click this ffcc zero zero and
then I'll give that a linear gradient
and then I'll click on this stop to the
right over here bring the opacity all
the way up
bring the L column all the way to the
right and then I'll take this stop and
put it down here at the bottom and I'll
take this stop and put it at the top and
once I get up here I'm gonna hold ctrl
on the keyboard so it goes straight up
like that and then we'll go back to the
Select tool I'm gonna click on this red
ellipse right here I'm gonna give that
the same base color as well
I'm gonna make that I'm gonna I'm gonna
take the a the H column and slide that
to the left a little bit to make that
orange maybe like that and I'm gonna
give that a linear gradient as well
press G on the keyboard to get back to
the gradient tool click on that stop
bring the opacity all the way up and I'm
gonna double click this line right here
to give that a new stop and I'm gonna
bring that stop into the middle and I'm
gonna take the H column and slide that
back over to the right a little bit just
to give you that a little bit of a
lighter shade than the outer edges there
and then let's click on this black oval
in the center here and we'll make that
our base color of yellow again and I'm
gonna give that a linear gradient as
well click on this stop right here bring
the opacity all the way up and I'm gonna
make I'm gonna click this one over here
on the left I'm gonna make this one
slightly lighter maybe about that much
and we'll put this stop at the top up
here I'm grab this stop put it at the
bottom and then once you get it down
there just hold ctrl so it goes straight
up and down you want to go and straight
down we don't want it going off to the
side a little bit we want going straight
down like that and then we go back to
the Select tool what I'm gonna do is I'm
gonna right-click this and go to
duplicate and I'll turn that black just
for now bring the opacity down a little
bit and then I'll right-click this and
go to duplicate and turn that red and
then I'll hold ctrl and click and drag
this up about that much and then I'll
hold ctrl and grab this little arrow
down here and click and drag that down a
little bit as well let me bring this
back down a little bit maybe up a little
bit like that we want it sized and
positioned about that much right there
and then I'm gonna hold shift in the
keyboard and click on the blacki lips
beneath it and go to path difference and
what I'll do now is I'm gonna bring the
opacity all the way up and I'm gonna
give it our base color again which is
that yellow and once again I'll come up
here to the H column and slide this over
to the right a little bit but we want
this to go be a little darker than the
shade beneath
down here so that's pretty good right
there I can leave it we could leave that
just how it is then we go back to the
Select tool actually we already are in
the Select tool let's click on this
piece down here let's click and select
that and we'll right-click that and go
to duplicate and turn that black and
take the opacity and bring that down
about in half and hold ctrl and click
and drag this down a little bit maybe
about that much and then we can send
that to the bottom with this button this
is lower selection to the bottom and I'm
gonna bring the opacity down a little
more this is gonna make this is gonna be
like a little shadow that we're gonna
use so yeah that's pretty good
let's press 1 on the keyboard to zoom
back out to a hundred percent I'm gonna
click and drag over this whole thing and
group it together and then I'll
right-click it and go to duplicate and
hold ctrl and click and drag this one up
about that much and then I'll right
click duplicate that hold ctrl click and
drag this up about that much and let's
click and drag over all three of them
and click this button down here in the
distribute panel that says make vertical
gaps between objects equal just to make
sure that they're spaced out evenly and
then we can click off of the graphic to
deselect everything so let's take this
middle coin right here and hold ctrl and
click and drag this off to the right so
that it's sticking out a little bit and
then we'll take this coin right here
we'll right click that and go to
duplicate and put this off to the side
for now
and let's click and drag over these
three coins right here and ungroup them
with this button up top on group
selected objects so we have all those
little individual objects available for
us to use so what we're gonna do now is
you notice these this shadow is sticking
out beyond this coin beneath it we're
gonna need to fix that so what I'm gonna
do is I'm gonna click on this outer oval
right here and with that selected I'll
go to edit I'll right click and
duplicate and what I'll do is I'm gonna
grab the bezzie a pen by pressing B on
the keyboard and I'm gonna draw a shape
going around this part of the shadow too
because we want to keep this part of the
shadow as well so let's start the the
line that we're going to draw right here
and then click and let's just click and
draw a shape going around that little
piece of the shadow and into the oval
like that and then we go back to the
Select tool you could hold shift in the
keyboard and click on the oval we just
duplicated and go to path Union and then
hold shift and click on that shadow down
there and go to path intersection so now
as you can see that shadow does not
stick out beyond the coin it's just it's
just being cast on the coin right there
and speaking of which let's take this
shadow down here and just press Delete
on the keyboard to get rid of that we
don't need that one and we're gonna do
it we're not to do the same thing with
this one down here so let's let's click
on this outer ellipse right click that
go to duplicate and then we'll go back
to our Bezier a pen by pressing B and
actually you know what now let's go to
the Select tool now let's click on this
shape right here right click that and go
to duplicate and then hold shift and
click on the other shape beneath it and
go to a path Union to unify them
together so we have this one solid shape
and then we could hold shift and click
on that part of the shadow right there
and go to path intersection all right so
now it all makes sense so let's press 1
on the keyboard to zoom back out and I
think we could click and drag over all
three of these now and group them
together and then we could take up this
coin right here let's ungroup that and
click off of it to deselect and let's
take this little piece down here this
shadow let's take that and press Delete
on the keyboard to get rid of that and
we'll click and drag over this group it
back together and then I'm gonna click
it a second time to get the rotation
handles I'm gonna hold ctrl on the
keyboard and grab the corner arrow down
here and just bring this around to three
maybe three steps like that and once
you've done that let's hold shift and
click on our little stack of coins here
and to line the bottom edges with that
button in the align panel go ahead and
click on that and that's gonna put them
on the same vertical plane down there
and then we can click off of it to
deselect everything
and I'm gonna take just this coin and
hold ctrl and click and drag this over
here until it's until it looks like it's
leaning up against the other stack of
coins and then what I'll do is I'll
right-click that coin and go to
duplicate and then I'll ungroup that
duplicated copy and then unify them all
together by going to path Union and what
I'm gonna do here now is I'm gonna
create a shadow going underneath this
coin being cast on the stack of coins
that's why I'm doing this right here so
once we've duplicated that and unified
it all together let's turn that black
and bring the opacity of that down and
let's click this a second time to get
our rotation handles and once we do that
there's gonna be this little crosshair
here in the center this crosshair
represents the axis on which the object
will rotate so if I rotate now notice
how it's rotating relative to where that
little cross is if I put this up here
it'll rotate around like that so what I
want to do is take this crosshair and
put it on this upper right edge right
here maybe about right there like that
and I'll take this bottom arrow and just
rotate this around about that much and
then we could take this stack of coins
right here right click it go to
duplicate and let's ungroup them and go
to path Union to unify them all together
and then I'll hold shift and click on
our black shape and go to path
intersection and then we could lower
that beneath that coin bring the opacity
down a little bit and as you can see we
have a little shadow now being cast on
the stack of coins so let's press one to
zoom back out actually we are zoomed out
one final step that we could do is we
can make it look like we have like this
stack of coins is sitting on a surface
like sitting on a reflective surface and
there's a stack of coins being reflected
beneath it like you see I did here in
the thumbnail design so let me show you
how to do that real quick let's click
this stack of coins we'll right-click
that go to duplicate hold ctrl and click
and drag this down and then just drop
them to the bottom with that button
lower selection to the bottom and I'm
just going to hold ctrl and move this
up until it looks like it's sitting
flush beneath the other stack of coins
and it'll do the same thing with this
one right here right click that go to
duplicate only I'm gonna flip this
vertically you can click on this button
it says flip selected objects vertically
and then hold shift and click on the
other coin beneath it and we'll click on
this button that says align top edges of
objects to the bottom edge of the anchor
and it's gonna put it right beneath
there and then we can click off of the
graphic to deselect everything so let's
click on this coin right here and then
hold shift and click on this stack of
coins and group them together and we
actually gonna have to send that to the
bottom again lower selection to the
bottom and with them selected let's go
to the create rectangles and squares
tool and I'm going to create a rectangle
going over the shape of that duplicated
coin graphics you notice the dotted
outline there I'm gonna create this
rectangle going over that dotted line we
want to lead a little bit of area
bleeding through like that that's pretty
good you would want to make sure that
the rectangle is covering all elements
of that graphic you don't want anything
sticking out of the side so let's go
back to the Select tool we'll bring the
opacity all the way up we'll give this a
linear gradient and press G on the
keyboard to get the gradient tool I'm
gonna click on this stop right here on
the right and I'm gonna bring the
opacity up and take the L column and
slide it all the way to the right to
make that white and I'll take this white
copy and put it up towards the top and
I'll take this black stop and put this
at the bottom down here I'm just gonna
hold ctrl and bring that down right here
and I'll go back to the Select tool let
me take the opacity of this and bring
this down a little bit what's gonna
happen now is I'm gonna take this object
and I'm gonna mask it over the second
stack of coins right there and what's
gonna happen once I mask it over there
is everything that's white is going to
be transparent actually know everything
that's black is going to be transparent
and everything that's white is going to
show through so and everything in
between is just gonna gradually fade out
and I think it'll make a lot more sense
when you actually see it happen so let
me just hold shifts in alt and click on
this
right here in the middle so I could
select that copy down there and go to
object mask set and then we could take
the opacity of that and drop that down a
little more
maybe that's pretty good you know what
let's undo that let's go to object mask
release let me click off of that to
deselect let me take this rectangle
right here and bring the opacity down a
little bit just so I can see what I'm
doing and then I'll go back I'll press G
to get back to the gradient tool I don't
like how so much of this graphic is
showing through so I want to take this
black stop and hold ctrl and bring this
all the way up to here like that and
then I'll go back to the Select tool
bring the opacity all the way up and
then again hold shift and alt click on
that graphic and go to object mask set
see how that looks and I'd say that's
good enough for now we can take the
opacity and bring that down and let me
click and drag over the whole thing to
select everything group it all together
hold ctrl and shift and click and drag
this inwards to scale that down and as
you can see we are finished we now have
our little vector stack of coins or
tokens or whatever you want to call it
so that's how you could do that using
Inkscape if you have any questions let
me know and as always thank you for
watching