Creating text SVG’s in Inkscape is actually super easy and a great way to start designing your own SVG files. There are just a few basics you will need to learn and you’ll be ready to dive right in.
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Enter Some Text
First, you’ll want to make sure you have a lot of really great fonts installed on your computer. Inkscape pulls fonts directly from your computer so you’ll be able to access anything you’ve installed while you’re working in Inkscape. Creative Fabrica is a FANTASTIC place to get fonts. They offer several free fonts or you can purchase a font bundle. You could even sign up for a font membership and get access to millions of fonts.
Create a Path
Once you have some fonts installed you’re ready to start creating text SVG’s in Inkscape. To pull in some text simply click the “text icon” in the left menu bar and then click on your page. Type the text you want and then go up to the font selection bar in the top left and choose your font. You can have fun designing and combining different fonts to make a truly unique design.
Now that you have your text entered in the fonts you want it’s time to make it an SVG. Simply entering the text will not create an SVG file. To create text SVG’s in Inkscape you need to turn your text into a path. To do this just select your text and then go to “path” in the top menu bar and then choose “object to path”. This will turn your text into a path. From here you can click into each individual letter of your text and edit however you’d like. Maybe you want to reposition some things or make some letters smaller and some bigger.
Unite Your Path
Get your text looking how you want it then select each letter by dragging a box around them or holding shift and clicking each letter until they are all selected. Now go to “path” and “union”. This will weld the path so that everything stays in place when you transfer your SVG to Cricut or whatever program you’ll use to cut it. Now you can go to “file” and “save” and save your text SVG file as an “Inkscape SVG”.
That’s really all there is to it. Just a few simple steps…
- Enter your text
- Turn your text to a path
- Select each letter and “unite” your path
- Save your new SVG
Make sure to watch the video above for a more detailed tutorial.