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I wish to draw a rectangle with no fill, but only a stroke. I would like to erase a certain portion of one side, going out from the middle. I have attached a picture of what I would like to obtain at the end:

enter image description here

I know how to make the box in Inkscape, but I haven't figured out how to remove the part in the middle such that it looks symmetric. Does anyone know if it is possible to achieve this latter feature in Inkscape?

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These are the steps to create a box with a symmetrical opening in Inkscape:

Cut out method

  1. Draw two boxes, one for the resulting end box, another for defining the opening.

    enter image description here

  2. Select both objects and choose Object - Align and Distribute... to align to the Center on vertical axis (choose another axis for opening on the sides), relative to "Biggest object":

    enter image description here

  3. Cut out the small object from the big object with Path - Difference.

  4. Enter Edit path nodes mode to select four inner nodes:

    enter image description here

  5. Delete the segment between these nodes (make sure you had not set the node edit mode to preserve shape):

    enter image description here

    enter image description here

Working with nodes

Another approach is working with nodes. This will not let you define a fixed width of the object in the way a second box allows but it is also fit to create a symmetrical opening.

  1. Create close box.
  2. Select Path - Combine to break nodes.
  3. Select two nodes in Edit node mode.
  4. Insert new node two (or more) times.

    enter image description here

  5. Select Object - Align and distribute.

  6. Select all nodes on base line.
  7. Choose Distribute nodes horizontally for symmetry.

    enter image description here

  8. Select nodes between opening.

  9. Delete segment between two selected nodes.

    enter image description here

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