Fun with Inkscape

Aqeel Zafar wrote a very helpful conversion of BittBox's Reflection tutorial. I used it to help with the new logo here. I know I probably could've done it a lot faster in GIMP, but vector graphics are so much more scalable. Besides, it's high time I figured out how to use them right; it's the best way to make character sheets, for one.

Anyway, I just figured out how to do that blur-based glow that graces the logo text. I've known how to make glows in GIMP and PS for years, and thankfully it's pretty similar in Inkscape.

How to make glows in Inkscape:
First, you want to make a copy of the target object. There are several ways to do this, but I prefer to use Duplicate because it doesn't lock the glow to the same color as the original like Clone does.

• Press Ctrl+D to make a duplicate of the selection, or click Edit->Duplicate.

Once you have your copy, you want to give it a blur so you can see the original through it. You may want to adjust opacity as well, though it's usually not necessary.

• Press Ctrl+Shift+F to open the "Fill and Stroke" dialog.
• At the bottom of the window, move the "Blur, %" slider as desired. 3% is what I used.

At this stage, you can move the blurred object a bit for a drop-shadow effect. Keep in mind that if the copy is above the original and you want it below, you can just hit PageDown to lower the selected object in the stack. Similarly, PageUp raises the selected object. Also, if you want a glow from behind the object, instead of over it, hit PageDown here. This gives a similar effect to a solar eclipse, with the corona glowing around the moon.

• Hit PageUp or PageDown to raise or lower the selected object.
  

Object layering and Blurs are incredibly useful. Play around with combinations; you can get some nice-looking effects that are simple to create, and are scalable as well.