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In older versions of Inkscape, when you selected a shape in the document's shape library, there were fields for description, title and label you could set. I can't find these in Inkscape 1.3 (but data I entered in older versions appear in 1.3). I have tried double-clicking, right-clicking, Object properties (but then the shape is deselected), Object Attributes etc, all to no avail.

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2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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Inkscape 1.3 uses the Object ID for the name of a symbol.

To rename a symbol:

  1. Delete all instances of the symbol from your canvas if there are any.

  2. In the Symbols panel, select the symbol you want to rename, and hit the "minus" button at the bottom of the panel.

  3. This will remove the symbol from the Symbols panel, and place the object on the canvas for editing (no longer a symbol), then make sure you select this.

  4. If there's more than one object that makes up the symbol, group them. If they are already grouped or if there's only one object anyway, skip this step

  5. In the Object Properties panel Shift+Ctrl+O set the ID to a unique name

  6. Add the symbol back to the symbols panel by hitting the "plus" button at the bottom of the symbols panel. It will have a new name based on the ID you entered.

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  • After a bit of testing, it seems it only keeps the id if the object to convert is a group, otherwise it'll automatically rename it to something like symbol-12 (removing a symbol places it in a group on the canvas). I believe it's much more reliable to set the 'Title' input in the 'Object Properties' instead.
    – Xrott
    Nov 18 at 18:38
  • @Xrott - I'd defer to your method which is clearly superior. This is just me trying a kind of hack. I suppose removing from the Symbols panel to the canvas would really be better only if you really need to edit the symbol, and then put it back as a symbol.
    – Billy Kerr
    Nov 18 at 19:13
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On top of setting the 'Title' input in the 'Object → Object Properties' panel before converting an object to a symbol, you can use the new 'File → Document Resources' panel to rename symbols directly:

Screenshot of the 'Document Resources' panel with an example symbol being renamed

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  • That's handy. Didn't know it existed. +1
    – Billy Kerr
    Nov 18 at 19:03
  • I don't get it. if you rename the symbol using Document Resources, this will change the name for the local instance only not the symbol itself that's already in the symbols library?
    – s.ouchene
    Nov 19 at 10:01
  • @s.ouchene This should work, in 1.3. Editing the symbol name in document resources changes the name of the symbol, in the symbols panel. I just tested it. Works perfectly.
    – Billy Kerr
    Nov 19 at 13:19
  • @BillyKerr: I believe there is a misunderstanding. I have tried it on both (Linux & Windows for 1.3.x and 1.4-dev versions) but it changes the name of the symbol "instance" only, not the original symbol (in the list of symbols).
    – s.ouchene
    Nov 19 at 20:37
  • @s.ouchene I can't reproduce this in 1.3 in Windows. I see that 1.3.1 is out now. Could it be a new bug perhaps?
    – Billy Kerr
    Nov 19 at 20:59

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