How to apply a stroke only to the selected nodes in Inkscape?

Question

I have this shape.

I want the stroke (outline) to be around only the inner circle cutout, not the whole thing. If I go to the Fill and Stroke tab(Shift+Ctrl+F) and try to apply the stroke paint, it will do it for the whole shape, not the part that I need.

I've tried selecting the individual nodes and applying the stroke to them — won't work.

I can make it work with two different objects, the shape and circle with outline, but I don't want to do that.

Anybody knows how to do this?

Answer 1

I'm not an Inkscape user.

Typically with compound shapes you can't define a stroke on only one section or part of a compound shape. The entire purpose of a compound shape is that it's seen as one object.

You need to duplicate the circle and apply a stroke to the duplicate if you wish to retain the "hole" or "counter" in the full shape.

Answer 2

As per Scott's answer, you have a compound path which can only have one stroke attribute.

Here's a workaround with instructions specifically for Inkscape

1. Select the object and do Edit > Duplicate
2. Do Path > Break apart - this will release the compound path
3. Select the outer piece, delete it, leaving the filled circle inside
4. Select the filled circle
5. In the Fill and stroke panel, set a stroke and remove the fill
6. Select the whole design
7. Do Edit > Group