How to use digital papers in Inkscape

You can use digital papers in Inkcape to add patterns and textures to your designs. This works great for stickers, card projects and even sublimation. In today’s tutorial we are going to show you how to insert the digital pattern into the designs/text that you create in Inkscape. You will then be able to save and export to cut in other software.

We will be using this glitter digital paper bundle to add to a shape. We have also downloaded and unzipped our purchased product.

Step 1 - Import the Digital Paper

To begin we want to import the digital paper for our design. Open Inkscape then go to File > Import.

Locate where your folder is stored then select the glitter paper that you want to use. Now click Open.

A new window will open called jpeg bitmap image import. Leave the settings as is and click on OK.

Your digital paper will appear in the workspace. At this point, you can resize the image then save as a PDF so that you can print for your projects.

Step 2 - Add Digital Paper to Shape

You can make use of ready made shapes from the left side toolbar. You can also create a shape using the Bezier Curve Tool. This will not work with a PNG or JPG file, it has to be an editable path. We used a star shape.

Click on the digital paper to select it, then go to Object > Pattern > Objects to Pattern. This will add the pattern to the patterns library.

Open the Fill and Stroke panel by going to Object > Fill and Stroke. It will open on the right hand side. Make sure to select the shape or design you want to add the digital paper to.

In the Fill and Stroke panel, click on the Pattern icon fill.

The pattern will now fill the shape.

You can select the pattern and delete it as we no longer need it.

Step 3 - Fill Text with Digital Paper

You can also fill text with digital papers. On the left side toolbar click on the Text Tool that looks like a capital “A” icon. Click on the document then start typing.

Repeat Step 2 above to insert your digital paper. Here we used a blue glitter digital paper.

Change the font by clicking on the Font Family top left when in text edit mode. To enter Text Edit mode double click on the text. We used a bold handwritten font called Uncle Grump.

As before, make sure to select the digital paper. Then go to Object > Pattern > Object to Pattern.

Select the text object and follow the same process in Step 2 to add the pattern to your text. You will see that the text fills with the previously used digital paper.

We need to change the digital paper to the recently uploaded one. So, click on the pattern drop down box. Here you will find a list of patterns including the ones we uploaded. Your latest upload should be the newest one added to the list. Click to apply to your text.

Here is the result of changing our digital paper pattern.

You can also add a pattern to text using the Clip function in Inkscape. Digital papers can be used as seamless patterns but you can make your own seamless pattern. Your design is now ready to be saved in a format of your choice and used in other projects.