Craft Edge

Bear with me...I'm clueless and confused...I found a pic of a hibiscus flower. I traced the bitmap, saved it as svg and went to cut it in scal...there was a teeny outline around the whole thing. What do I need to do to have it just be solid pieces. Also, is there a way to connect the pieces if there...

it turned out nice! I am pretty sure Garfield is copyrighted and from what I understand, you aren't allowed to post projects using such pictures here....am I right? I did a cute project using a character but haven't shared it for this reason..

Thanks! That worked...however, is there a reason that when I hit "break apart" the image is all black? Please tell me this program gets easier! I was all excited to get my SCAL and now it seems like I need to be a computer genius to do anything!

I will definately watch the video. I am still trying to get rid of the writing. I tried path-break apart-select-delete ....what tool should I be clicked on?

Sorry if this has been addressed already. I couldn't find an answer and I am just trying to figure out inkscape. I found a pic I liked, traced the bitmap and got the image I wanted. There is lettering on it that I do not want. How do I remove that? Also how can I fill in the whole shape in black to ...