The Book of Inkscape

13.2 Dynamic and Linked Offsets

We’ve already seen the regular offset commands (12.4 Offsetting) that expand (outset) or contract (inset) a path perpendicular to its direction at each point. Those commands are destructive—once you offset a path, you lose the original. There exist, however, nondestructive versions of the same commands: dynamic offsets and linked offsets.

Note

Dynamic offsets and linked offsets are conceptually very similar to path effects—they, too, have an invisible original path, the visible offset path, and the parameter specifying how much to offset. However, for historical reasons, offsets are not implemented as path effects and therefore are not available in the Path Effect Editor dialog. It appears likely, however, that in ...