Perforated paper

Pattern along Path

Using the Rectangle Tool draw a rectangle:





draw a rectangle: And with the Ellipse Tool a circle (keep the Ctrl key pressed to get a circle):





a circle (keep the key pressed to get a circle): Select the circle and then the rectangle:





And put the circle on the path defined by the rectangle ( Effects > Generate from Path > Pattern along Path ). Ensure copies are Repeated , the deformation type is Snake and adjust the space to fit the size of your circle:





). Ensure copies are , the deformation type is and adjust the space to fit the size of your circle: You will get a contour made from circles for your rectangle:





Select the contour and substract it ( Path > Difference ) from the rectangle:





) from the rectangle: This is the perforated paper:





Change its color in something paper-like, white or something near white (a very light yellow for old paper):





For a shadow which will make the paper more visible duplicate the shape and make the copy black:





Put it at the bottom of the stack and move a little to the right and down:





Slightly blur the shadow and if you want adjust its transparency:





the shadow and if you want adjust its transparency: Optionally, for increased realism rotate it a little:





Tiled Clones

With the Ellipse Tool create a circle:





create a circle: Create tiled clones ( Edit > Clone > Create Tiled Clones ). Leave the symmetry as simple translation and change the Shift X Per column and Shift Y Per row to something to fit the size of your circle (here I used 20%). Set the number of rows and columns (here 6x8) to get the desired size of the stamp:





). Leave the symmetry as and change the and to something to fit the size of your circle (here I used 20%). Set the number of rows and columns (here 6x8) to get the desired size of the stamp: The result is a grid like this:





Select and delete the inner circles and leave only a border like this. Select all and unlink the clones ( Edit > Clone > Unlink Clone ). Select all and make an union ( Path > Union ).





). Select all and make an union ( ). Draw a rectangle at the desired size and put it under the border made from circles:





Substract ( Path > Difference ) the border from the rectangle:





) the border from the rectangle: Change its color and add a shadow:





Align and Distribute

Create a Rectangle :





: And a circle:





Select the circle and create a lot of duplicates ( Edit > Duplicate ). The number depend on the circle size and rectangle width (here I made 18 circles):





). The number depend on the circle size and rectangle width (here I made 18 circles): Select all the circles and the rectangle:





And use the Align and Distribute dialog ( Object > Align and Distribute ):





dialog ( ): Align the circles (relative to biggest item , which is the rectangle) evenly by horizontal :





, which is the rectangle) evenly by : Select the circles, perform an union ( Path > Union ) and move the result at the top edge of the rectangle:





) and move the result at the top edge of the rectangle: Duplicate and move the copy to the bottom edge:





Make two more copies, rotate them by 90 degrees and move them to the left and right edges. Adjust their position as needed:





Substract the lines of circles from the rectangle ( Path > Difference ) one by one:





) one by one: And get the perforated paper:





Change the color and add a shadow:





The postage stamp

Import or make on the spot whatever image or drawing you want to put on the stamp:





Make sure it is in a rectangle:





Add the issuer name (here I used "Posta Romana" - "the Romanian Post") and the denomination (I used "2 bani", the moral equivalent in the Romanian language to the English "two cents"):





My stamp image was too simple so I added more texture to the background:





Draw the paper, a rectangle , and put it under the image:





, and put it under the image: Using one of the ways described above transform the rectangle in perforated paper and you are done:





Done

Feedback

a disclaimer will appear here soon









Many thanks to my friends at OpenArt.ro, www.xdrive.ro and Inovatika for motivating me to write this.

In this easy tutorial we will learn to create postage stamps using Inkscape, the results will look like this:Stamps look like tiny pictures on paper with a white perforated paper. This is the most important thing for a stamp and the core of this tutorial:I will present three ways to create the perforations, use what you like best.Now for the easy part:Use any kind of perforations, larger, smaller, round or elliptic, any kind of image, even photos, put the stamp on vertical or horizontal, the possibilities are endless:You can leave comments, complaints, suggestions, praises on my blog Romanian translation is also available.