Comment 1 for bug 298324

The Envelope and Perspective effects are under Effects menu. In 0.46 you have to draw the 4 node path into which to deform your object, but in development builds you can use Live path effects to achieve that and you can edit the transformation live on canvas. Read more about the effects: http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Effects-ModifyPath.html