I used to use drafting programs quite frequently in the past. One common action that I performed quite frequently was offsetting lines, which was pretty simple to do. Every once in a while, I find the need to do something similar in Inkscape. While not quite as easy and straightforward, offsetting paths in inkscape can be done:
1. Draw a path
2. Copy Path
3. Paste in Place
4. Open up Path Effects (Path > Path Effects)
5. Click the + icon to add a new path effect
6. Click on the “Offset”
7. Enter an “offset” distance. For the join, I used “Miter”
When offsetting the path, it tries to close the path with an additional line that I didn’t want, so I have to manually remove it. I would love to find a way where it doesn’t do this automatically, but in the meantime, to remove the unwanted line segment:
1. Click on the newly offset line
2. Convert to a path (Path > Convert to Path)
3. Go ahead and break the path where needed and remove the unwanted segments.
