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What You'll Be Creating

In today's tutorial I'll be demonstrating how you can design a vector isometric-style heart that looks as if it's made of pixels, using Inkscape. 

If you're looking for premade logo templates, you can purchase one over on GraphicRiver.

1. How to Set Up a New Document

Step 1

Go to View and make sure you have Custom selected.

Inkscape view customInkscape view customInkscape view custom

Step 2

Go to View > Zoom and select Zoom 1:1 to make sure you're zoomed in at 100%.

Inkscape view zoomInkscape view zoomInkscape view zoom

Step 3

Click on the Align and distribute objects icon in the top toolbar to open up the alignment panel. Then click on the Fill & Stroke icon in the top toolbar to open up the Colors, gradients and strokes menu.

Inkscape opened panelsInkscape opened panelsInkscape opened panels

Step 4

Go to File > Document Properties (Control-Shift-D) and deselect the boxes that read Show page border and Show border shadow, and then close out of that window.

Assign document properties in InkscapeAssign document properties in InkscapeAssign document properties in Inkscape

2. How to Create the Base Shape

Step 1

Grab the Create Stars and Polygons (*) tool and set the parameters in the toolbar up top to the following specs: 

  • Regular Polygon
  • Corners: 6
  • Rounded: 0.000
  • Randomized: 0.000
Inkscape stars and polygons toolInkscape stars and polygons toolInkscape stars and polygons tool

Step 2

Hold down the Control and Shift keys on your keyboard and click and drag on the canvas to create a polygon where the corners are pointing vertically as depicted below. 

Creating a polygon in InkscapeCreating a polygon in InkscapeCreating a polygon in Inkscape

Step 3

Change the color of the polygon to red and bring down the Opacity to 50% using the Opacity Percentage tool in the Fill and Stroke panel.

Make the polygon redMake the polygon redMake the polygon red

Step 4

Grab the Select tool (F1) and turn on the lock icon between the W and H fields in the top toolbar. Then, change the value of the W box to 300 and press Enter to establish the width of the polygon as 300 pixels. After that, turn on the Snap to cusp nodes box in the Enable snapping toolbar at the very top of the window. 

Lock the proportions and set the widthLock the proportions and set the widthLock the proportions and set the width

Step 5

Right-click on the polygon and select Duplicate (Control-D) to create another copy. Make that copy blue, and then click and drag the new polygon and snap the corners of it to the lower left corners of the red polygon.

Make duplicate copy and turn it blueMake duplicate copy and turn it blueMake duplicate copy and turn it blue

Step 6

Right-click the blue copy and select Duplicate (Control-D) to create another copy. Make that copy green, and then snap the corners of it to the lower right corners of the red polygon.

All 3 polygonsAll 3 polygonsAll 3 polygons

Step 7

Right-click the green polygon and select Duplicate (Control-D) to create one more copy. Change the color to black, and snap the corners of it to the center of the three colored polygons as depicted below.

All 4 copies of the polygonsAll 4 copies of the polygonsAll 4 copies of the polygons

3. How to Trim Down the Base Shape

Step 1

Right-click on the black polygon and select Duplicate (Control-D) to create another copy, and with that copy selected, hold Shift on the keyboard and click on the blue polygon. With them both selected, go to Path > Intersection. You should end up with the following:

Intersection of the black and blue polygonsIntersection of the black and blue polygonsIntersection of the black and blue polygons

Step 2

Now we have to do the same with the red and green polygons. So right-click on the black polygon again and select Duplicate (Control-D), hold Shift and click on the red polygon, and then again go to Path > Intersection.

Intersected area of the black and red polygonsIntersected area of the black and red polygonsIntersected area of the black and red polygons

Step 3

Click on the black polygon, hold Shift and click on the green polygon, and then go to Path > Intersection. You should end up with a three-part polygon in three different colors.

Three piece polygonThree piece polygonThree piece polygon

4. How to Color the Shapes

Step 1

Click and drag over all three shapes to select all objects (Control-Alt-A), and then use the Opacity % slider to bring the opacity back up to 100%.

Solid fill polygonSolid fill polygonSolid fill polygon

Step 2

Click off of the objects to deselect everything, and then select the blue portion of the polygon. With it selected, go over to the Fill and stroke panel, and under the Fill tab, change the RGBA value to ff2a2aff.

Change the color to redChange the color to redChange the color to red
Changed color to redChanged color to redChanged color to red

Step 3

Select the red object at the top of the polygon, and then go over to the Fill and stroke panel, and under the Fill tab, change the RGBA value to ffaaaaff.

Updated polygon colorUpdated polygon colorUpdated polygon color

Step 4

Select the green object on the right side of the polygon, and then go over to the Fill and stroke panel, and under the Fill tab, change the RGBA value to 800000ff.

Fully colored in polygonFully colored in polygonFully colored in polygon

Step 5

Click and drag over all three shapes to select all objects (Control-Alt-A), and then Group (Control-G) them together and change the value of the W box to 100 and press Enter to establish the width of the polygon as 100 pixels. 

Polygon size changed to 100 pixelsPolygon size changed to 100 pixelsPolygon size changed to 100 pixels

5. How to Create the Heart Shape

Step 1

With the polygon selected, Right-click on it and select Duplicate (Control-D), and then snap it onto the top left corners of the original polygon.

Snap polygon number 1Snap polygon number 1Snap polygon number 1

Step 2

Repeat the process with the duplicated polygon so that you have three polygons stacked in the following order:

Snap polygon number 2Snap polygon number 2Snap polygon number 2

Step 3

Repeat the process one more time with the most recently duplicated polygon, and then Duplicate (Control-D) it one more time and snap it directly above the previous polygon.

Snap polygon number 3Snap polygon number 3Snap polygon number 3

Step 4

Duplicate (Control-D) the most recently selected polygon and snap it onto the upper right corners of the previous polygon.

Snap polygon step number 4Snap polygon step number 4Snap polygon step number 4

Step 5

Duplicate (Control-D) that polygon and snap it onto the lower right corners of the previous polygon.

Snap polygon step number 5Snap polygon step number 5Snap polygon step number 5

Step 6

Duplicate (Control-D) the most recent polygon, and then snap it onto the bottom right corners of the polygon beneath it.

The heart is now halfway completedThe heart is now halfway completedThe heart is now halfway completed

We now have half of the heart completed. 

Step 7

Returning to the original polygon at the very bottom, Duplicate (Control-D) that three times and snap the copies onto the top right corners of each other in ascending order.

Beginning to construct the right side of the heartBeginning to construct the right side of the heartBeginning to construct the right side of the heart

Step 8

With the most recently duplicated polygon still selected, Duplicate (Control-D) it and snap it directly above the original polygon.

Snap polygon step number 8Snap polygon step number 8Snap polygon step number 8

Step 9

Duplicate (Control-D) that polygon again and snap it onto the upper right corners of the polygon on the left side.

Snap polygon step number 9Snap polygon step number 9Snap polygon step number 9

Step 10

Finally, Duplicate (Control-D) the polygon one more time and snap it onto the lower right corners of the previous polygon.

Awesome Work, You're Now Done!

And with that, our design is complete! We've successfully created a pixel heart using Inkscape.

Completed pixel heart design with InkscapeCompleted pixel heart design with InkscapeCompleted pixel heart design with Inkscape
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