KCP

Thank you, RC-R. That worked.

How do you extend an existing path as demonstrated in this Illustrator? Start the vid at 4:23/24:11.

#oldbruce, Thanks. I didn't try ESC because whenever you do that in Photoshop after resizing, the ESC button cancels out that operation. So, it's a two-step process in AF (ESC then V), which is still better than manually pressing the Move Tool. #walt.farrell, That is an option, Walt, although I frequently zoom way in while kerning because I use spacers, so constantly unzooming then rezooming would be a time-consuming nightmare. In, Photoshop, with the Text Tool engaged, you can resize the text by holding ctrl + shift, and you can move the text around by holding ctrl and dragging. Those would be convenient features in AF. Anyway, thank you both for the suggestions.

Are there keyboard shortcuts for navigating while in text-tool mode? When I'm kerning and hold the space bar to move the page around, it just adds spaces to my text. Likewise, if I hit V to exit out of the text tool, all it does is type a V. Having to manually click out of the text tool while I'm kerning is a time-consuming pain in the neck. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks, KC

I found a practical thread on the topic, which explains it in the context of what I understand about CMYK and use in my workflow. I'll run some test prints through an offset printer to see how well the AD settings correspond. Thanks again for all of the input. It's encouraging to see that there are dedicated AD users keeping track of this software's development. I'm a little surprised that the Serif mods, if there are any here, aren't more active in addressing these types of questions about their product. It would be very helpful for users trying to apply their products in professional workflows. We need a software suite that tempers Adobe's monopoly. https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/questions/2984/what-kind-of-black-should-i-use-when-designing-for-cmyk-print

Thank you all for the information. It never occurred to me that it was only in CMYK, which, indeed, it is. The CMYK black turns to pure black when I change the color space to RGB. I feel foolish for not thinking that through before opening a forum. I've spent most of my career working in Photoshop. I've prepared numerous PS files for CMYK printing, and always refer to the Proof-Colors, function, although the blacks always look the same. Not recognizing this in AD appears to be a newbie mistake. One of the threads (100% Black is converted to CMYK) opened by HerrSchulz presented what appears to be an issue with AD in this regard. There was quite a bit discussed in that thread, although his comment about making a living and not having available time to pursue a time-consuming learning curve of what he seemed to mean as hacks or workarounds resonates with me. I need to be able to use this software as efficiently as AI or begrudgingly bite the bullet and return to Adobe's subscription-based model. AD has some amazing attributes, although every time I try to work in it efficiently, I come across another lack of a time-saving function that is available in AI. The lack of a shapebuilder is one glaring example. I'd be okay with using the divide function in the boolean panel if it worked, although it doesn't. It divides the large parts along with numerous slivers along the dividing lines, which leave visible gaps along those lines. And then the program will crash if you try to do anything with them. Anyway, as a new user who approached this software as a working alternative to Adobe, it does not feel ready for prime time. I would be willing to pay twice as much or more for the software if those issues were resolved and it rivaled Adobe pound-for-pound. Thanks again for the help, KC

It is my understanding that the Gray-Scale Swatch to the right of the drop-down menu is permanent. See the screenshot (red arrow). Although I find this swatch very useful, the black is not black. It is a dark shade of gray, as you can see from my screenshot. I cannot find a menu from which to change this. Is there a hidden preference menu from which I can change the colors in this permanent menu? Thanks in advance, KC

Jimmy Jack, Thank you for this GIF. It was exactly what I needed to solve this problem. Chrome is my default browser, although I remembered from back in the day that you can pause and restart GIFS in Internet Explorer. That enabled me to dissect your GIF essentially frame-by-frame and follow your process. AD is not as robust as Illustrator, although I'm not currently in production mode and couldn't justify paying Adobe's annual subscription price anymore. I've used Adobe since the nineties, so this Affinity learning curve can be frustrating, although there seem to be hacks for everything I've encountered, so far. This forum is proving to be indispensable. I hope that I'll eventually know this software well enough to return the favor. Thanks again, KC

Like this:

It also looks like the offset is an opaque stroke. I'm looking for a space in the offsets.

It doesn't look like you expanded the strokes.

Last night, I tried expanding the stroke and then dividing all of the parts. It was a nightmare. It divided the stroke into hundred of tiny slivers that I couldn't even see until I zoomed way in. Illustrator's Shape-Builder makes AD almost useless in comparison for this type of function. I'd love to see a screencast of how you did this process in AD. Thanks for the post.

It's obviously an easy process with Illustrator's Shape-Builder tool, although there must be a workaround for AD.

Yes, Interlocking the rings as you've done here is the easy part. Interlocking them with the offset (outline, as you refer to it) is what I'm trying to accomplish.

I want to accomplish what is in the video.