How to draw speech bubbles

· by

Contents
This is a quick article I have had as a draft for quite a while. It might not be finished or have other problems, but I still want to share it.

The nice icon is from Wikimedia Commons and part of the Crystal Clear project by Everaldo Coelho.

Preparation

  1. Install inkscape.
  2. Get an image where you want to put the speech bubble.
  3. Add text with F2

Now it should look like this:

Speech bubbles
Preparation

Rectangle

Now you have to put a rectangle (F2) or an ellipse (F5) around your text. The rectangle should be placed below the text (Page down).

To make positioning easier, group the text and the surrounding box:

  1. Select the box by clicking on it
  2. Shift + Click on the text
  3. Group with Ctrl + G

Now it should look like this:

Speech bubbles
Preparation

Indicator

To add the "indicator" that shows who spoke, press Shift + F6 and add a triangle that overlaps with the box:

Speech bubbles
Preparation

Then press F2 to modify the path by nodes. Add some control nodes in between by double-clicking on the path in between:

Speech bubbles
Preparation

Then delete them. Now you have those round curves that can be manipulated with the little circles:

Speech bubbles
Preparation