as requested on support…
Given a file:
where the outline will not join, it can be seen that the problem is the closed geometry which makes up part of the outline:
Selecting and going into Node Edit mode:
we can see that it would be rather awkward to edit this, since it is a polyline, rather than a curve, so re-creation is the better option (we will show how to edit such a closed curve after we have one so as to fully “close the loop”).
There are two tools which could be used to begin this process:
- Create Curve
- Create Polyline
(it’s also possible that this curve is a portion of a circle, so a circle could also be used — working out how to do that is left as an exercise for the reader)
Using the Curve tool would require clicking-dragging twice, so we will instead use the Polyline, which is two clicks and a Done:
Done
Node Edit
Select each node and toggle it from sharp/smooth
Once one has off-curve nodes which may be readily accessed, drag each so as to re-create the desired curve:
iterating as necessary until it is re-created with a level of accuracy workable for the project:
Done
Select all the Open Vectors:
Join Vectors:
Yes
If still not joined, and the Join Vectors tool is no longer an option, this is usually caused by redundant geometry — select one segment:
and then shift-click on the next to try to select elements which will have contiguous endpoints:
Repeating this until the entire outline is selected or a piece of geometry is found which overlaps with the current selection or the Join Vectors command is not eligible for a given selection (the latter is the case here)
zoom in and determine how much geometry is involved, and if redundant elements may be selected and deleted or, that a given element doubles back on itself:
The dots indicate the endpoint of the geometry and should be at the ends — that they do not indicates that there is redundant geometry included in this geometry:
Done
It will be necessary to delete all such redundant nodes, at which point, the entirety of the outline should probably be re-created…