Episode 083
Episode 083 – Torn Paper Effect
by Richard Querin
In this episode I demonstrate one way of creating a torn paper effect using Inkscape 0.46.
I make use of the Freehand tool along with the Add Nodes and Jitter Nodes path effects to achieve a decent looking torn paper edge. Also, in this screencast I use a wallpaper pattern image from the cgtextures.com site which I highly recommend if you’re looking for patterns and textures for your graphics projects.
This was a relatively short one at around 15 minutes. Also, by the time I recorded the intro, I realized that I could have selected all my paths and done the Add Nodes and Jitter Nodes step to all of them at once instead of the silly way I did each one separately. Ah well, you live and learn I guess. 
You could probably make use of a torn paper effect for lots of web design stuff as well as for scrapbooking and other things – a generally useful method to add to your graphics toolbox.
Hope you like it.
Tags: edges, paper, scrapbooking, torn
February 9th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Great work Richard. I now want to apply this to my mortgage
I especially liked the into picture of the heathenx family tree… very flattering. We can only aspire to such beauty and perfection.
Great work! I look fw to the flickr group submissions on this one! Simple enough to be quite dangerous
Especially around Valentine’s day… I sense an “Ex” theme around the corner… maybe one of the Polaroid screencasts coupled with this one… a match in heaven!
Thanks again for the work you do.
February 10th, 2009 at 12:08 am
RQ
If you’ve ever watched the “Ghost Whisperer” on TV, the intro shows the girl tearing her own picture in half. Sort of interesting also.
February 10th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Just curiosity, which theme do you use on your gnome? where did you find it? It’s awesome!
On the tutorials: keep doing THIS GREAT WORK! You are amazing. A great help for all of us.
On Inkscape itself: at this pace it is going to be a really productive piece of software. Fast and loaded of features.
February 10th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
@Zombiebrainz – you’re welcome!
@DonW – I’ve never seen that show. I’ll have to check out the intro to see what you mean.
@bytecreek – glad you like the tutorial. I posted about this very same question (my Gnome Theme) in the comments on Episode 080 – you can find the comments and a link to my post about it here: http://screencasters.heathenx.org/episode-080/#comment-1374
February 10th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Wow! I forgot about that picture of Richard and I. That photo was taken on the day we graduated high school. We were so young and good looking then.
February 11th, 2009 at 11:15 am
This technique can be used in more situations than I can comfortably imagine, which is great
The downside is now I’ll have to think of an interesting way to use it for the flickr group
February 11th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
HI!
Good work – as ever-.
I have a question: what is the name of the font you’ve used in your comic at the beginning of the screencast? Is there a version of this font for windows?
Thank you for your amazing Screencasts!
February 11th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
@Particello – check out a blog post I did quite a while ago about the comic fonts. There’s a link in that post where you can get them: http://blog.rfquerin.org/2007/08/04/a-source-for-free-comic-fonts/
February 15th, 2009 at 7:21 am
Great job !
February 28th, 2009 at 4:18 am
thx for Great job Richard
May 8th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Thanks for another great screencast. I really like the torn picture effect in the intro, but it was hard to follow at that speed!
I figured it out somehow, but I have a suggestion for splitting the image:
Instead of drawing two (closed) paths over the image, you could just do this:
- import your image
- select the image and do Object -> Pattern -> Objects to Pattern
- draw a cutting line where you want the image to be split (not a closed path, just a line)
- select both the image and the line
- do Path -> Division
Now you have an exact split of the image. You probably want to add nodes and jitter the nodes of the line before you do the division, to make it look more like a real torn image.
DrTebi