How To Resize An Object In Inkscape – In 3 Easy Steps

There are a few approaches we will show you on how to resize an object in Inkscape. When an object opens, it may be too large for your current activity or screen. The size of an object can also affect the speed or slowness of the software’s response. In this article, we explore three ways to resize an object in Inkscape.

For this article, we’ll be using this fun SVG camp, but we have a wide variety of camp projects to choose from, to be able to explain well how to resize an object in Inkscape.

Let’s start by opening Inkscape and loading our SVG design. You can also resize a JPG and PNG file if you select it. With PNG and JPG files, you can get the “JPEG Bitmap Image Import” window. In this case, leave all settings as they are and click OK.

Using the transform panel to resize

If you’re using an SVG, it can be opened as ungrouped elements. To shrink all the objects together, you need to group the objects in Inkscape. This accidentally blocks all small objects while resizing.

The Transform panel provides options to move, scale, rotate, etc. on a panel. To access this panel, you need to go to Object > Transform or with the keyboard key Ctrl + Shift + M. The panel will open on the right side of the screen.

Select Scale and click the drop-down menu next to the width to change the scale to percentage. So make sure the proportional scaling option is checked before adjusting the width and height. This will resize both when one is edited.

Now go ahead and adjust the width. The Height is also adjusted. We have changed our size to 80%.

The “Apply to each object individually” option can be selected if you want to make sure that the objects are customized. We’ll leave it unchecked so that the object as a whole is resized.

Resize an image using the toolbar at the top

The second way to resize an object in Inkscape is to use the top toolbar. The toolbar consists of several options, one of which contains width and height. As we did before, we changed the scale, but this time to MM. Then we click on the lock between the W and H boxes to keep the aspect ratio.

Then we type our measurements in the W (width) box. The H (height) box was automatically adjusted based on the information in the W box.

You will notice that, unlike the transform panel, the design in the corner of the document has been resized.

Resizing object with sizing handles

When you click on the object to select, small arrows appear on the sides and corners. These are the size handles. When you click + Drag aside in or out, the design adjusts according to the movable handle.

To resize proportionally, hold down the Shift key while clicking + dragging the corner handle in the lower right corner.

Now you can edit your design, be it adding colors or editing the nodes. If necessary, you can crop the object to remove unwanted areas.

Inkscape central object

To center object in Inkscape follow these simple tips

• Select the objects you want to center
• Go to Object -> Align and Distribute… or Ctrl + Shift + A
• On the right side, you should get the Align and Distribute box. Make sure “Treat selection as a group” is selected if you want objects to stay spaced from each other.
• Click on “Center on vertical axis” and “Center on horizontal axis”

Inkscape scaling problem

If you are having Inkscape scaling problem, let’s look at this simple solution. Hope it will help.

All measurements in Inkscape are eventually translated to PPI and the receiving program often uses this to translate to the original units. Change the Inkscape setting to Geometric Bounding Box, this will exclude the line weight from the sizing.

Go to Edit > Preferences – under Tools, choose the radio button to use the geometric bounding box (this excludes the stroke width from the size, making the calculation, positioning, and sizing easier and more accurate for what you think you are setting when scaling an object).

Conclusion: How To Resize An Object In Inkscape

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Check how to draw triangle freely on Inkscape here