Edward Hume wrote:
I have since learned how to work with nodes. I take True Type font items that are drawings instead of a letters (Tom Murphy's Tombats, in this case), but just imagine the letter O as a test case. Place it on a page, then stretch it to the desired size. You will note that it has an inner boundary and an outer boundary. What is between them is black. If you try to fill the object with a color or a gradient, you will color the line ( what is between the inner and outer boundaries) surrounding the space, not the space inside the O.
The workaround: Make a clone of the O. Convert the clone to a Paths. Select the clone, then pick the Node tool. Now, either delete all the nodes in the outside ring or all the nodes on the inside ring. Either way, you end up with a black circle. The circle is either the size of the inside of the O or the outside. This circle will take a fill. Fill it, then slide it back over to the original O and set it yo be uderneath the original. Now you have filled the O.
Could you be looking for Path > Break Apart (Shift + Ctrl + k)? That should work for your "O" example.
Aaron Spike