2) Another way to Draw Chains

In my last post, I talked about how to draw rings, chains, and picots using the circle and pencil tools in Inkscape. I briefly mentioned that Inkscape is a tricky program to use. Let me add that there are multiple ways to reach the same outcome. Case in point: drawing chains.

Today, I will talk about another method to draw chains. Here is the result:

To draw the chain pictured above, we will need to use the Bezier tool and nodes to transform a straight line into a curve.

The Bezier tool can be found just underneath the pencil icon on the side bar:

After selecting the Bezier tool, choose the option to "Create regular Bezier path," found at the top of the screen:

(Please Note: If you have selected "Create Spiro path" the following instructions will NOT work)

With the Bezier tool, we can form a line by clicking on two points on the screen. Below, I've chosen a point where I would like my chain to begin and end:

After you have clicked on a starting and ending point, it is important to press Enter on your keyboard, otherwise, the Bezier tool will continue to create new lines. When you are finished, you will notice the green line turns into a solid black line:

Now it's time to turn this line into a curve. To do so, select the Node tool:

With the node tool, click and drag any portion of the line to create a curve. I've chosen to drag from the center of the line:

To get a more rounded look, we will have to add more nodes. With the Node Tool, select your chain and click on the Add Node icon at the top of the screen.

Now you can click on the spot where you'd like to add another node. I've chosen a spot closer one of the rings, which has placed two new nodes (one on either side):

Now I can use the Node Tool to reshape the chain again.

Here's how it looks after it's done: