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I'm trying to create a shape formed by a regular hexagon and a regular pentagon that are joined by shared edge.

The problem is that the polygons made my the polygon tool are very hard to align. I've tried the connector tool, which seems to align everything nicely, but as far as I can tell requires nodes.

Is there a good way of doing this within Inkscape? Otherwise, I will just write a script to make an svg containing the appropriate shapes.

This is what happens if you try and use the polygon tool - alignment mayhem:

enter image description here

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2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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Use geometry :) (padpadpadpadpad)

build hex + pent

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For a hexagon which has an edge perfectly horizontal and a pentagon which has the peak pointing upwards and that peak's opposing edge also perfectly horizontal, if you rotate the pentagon 18 degrees (clockwise; 108-90), and the hexagon -30 degrees (counter clockwise; 90-120), you will have a single face of each which is perfectly vertical.

Snap them to a vertical guide; snap the proper node on each to a horizontal guide; adjust gap to taste; group the shapes; rotate it to final position.

This should work in any software that allows rotation by numbers, supports snapping to guides, and grouping.

[The interior angles of pentagons and hexagons are 180-(360/TotalAngles); we are rotating them by the amount they differ from vertical]

enter image description here

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  • The difficulty is aligning them and making the edge the same length.
    – Lucas
    Jun 20, 2013 at 6:51
  • Set the rulers to visible, and use that to scale the shapes so that their shared face is the same size.
    – horatio
    Jun 20, 2013 at 13:59

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