The object you just dragged should now have lots of little grey squares on it, proving that it is the vector object. Just to be sure you got the right object, click on the 'Edit path nodes or control handles' tool (a black arrow with three blue squares on a blue arc).

A vector version of your frame image should now be in the main Inkscape window, although it might be hard to see it at this point.Ĭlick the vector object and drag it to the side.

In the Trace Bitmap window, select the Brightness radio button in the Image Brightness section at the top, then press the OK button at the bottom. With the image selected, use the Path->Trace bitmap. Open Inkscape, create a new document, and either drag and drop your MyFrame.png file onto the Inkscape canvas, or use the File->Import. Then save your file as MyFrame.png or something like that. Select black (#000000) as your foreground color and paint your frame onto the canvas.

Open Gimp and create a new document in Gimp with a transparent background. This tip shows you how you can create custom image frames fairly easily using GIMP and Inkscape. This article is part of the Tips & Tricks series.

Inkscape vs gimp vector tracing