languidcorpse
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Posts posted by languidcorpse
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1 minute ago, lacerto said:
Sorry, my judgement was premature. Earlier when I tried this with Gradient tool, shapes and text, my PDF exports were rasterized, but not when I just tested this again (it is only if transparencies are flattened using PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-3).
No worries! I was also quick to think it was not possible. Im glad we were wrong!
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14 minutes ago, loukash said:
Well, this kind of feathering is a no-brainer in Affinity, too.
There are a few different workflows to achieve the same goal, e.g. the Gaussian Blur layer effect:
OMG! I love you! We have a winner!!! Thanks you so very much!!!
Yes! Yes! Yes!!!
"And soon I shall have understanding of video cassette recorders and car telephones. And when I have understanding of them, I shall have understanding of computers. And when I have understanding of computers, I shall be the Supreme Being!" -
18 hours ago, loukash said:
Adobe PDF export is simply classes better than Affinity's PDFlib which is mediocre at best, pathetic at worst. Sad but true.
I've explored similar issues a few years back already:I'm certainly not here to bash Affinity. I do wish they would step up the game in terms of some core functions. The vector manipulation is behind in core everyday functionality. I love the UI and so many things about it but it seems that when I try to use it on a job I always hit something. And Im talking about straightforward layer and image manipulation. I mean Designer is a vector program. Every update is painful as I see things which seem so fluff and special case specific when there are bigger issues.
(Although in this case it was only my ignorance of the software. :P)
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20 hours ago, lacerto said:
No, it is not possible in the sense that is possible e.g. in InDesign where you can apply feathering on shapes, strokes and text and retain editability, without causing rasterization.
Yes, sadly I believe this to be the case. (edit: It is possible see below.)
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19 hours ago, NotMyFault said:
Just found a better solution:
- Duplicate the layer you want to feather
- nest one to the other in masking position
- add live Gaussian blur in masking position of inner
- Adjust strength to taste
- in my experiments the alpha values did not reach 0 to 100 but only a subset of this range. To correct:
- add a channels mixer above child layers
- choose alpha channel
- set offset to -100%
- set alpha input to 200%
now the feather works as wanted.
The file shows a 1px checkered board above a blue fill layer. You can feather the shape from hard edge to soft
Trying this now but not sure Im doing it correctly. Also it seems like a bit of a wonky workaround to be repeating often. But thanks again.
Ah Ok, I just now saw your file! Thanks! It does work, although as I said it is quite a workaround if I were to try and do something like sun rays where I might have many shapes. Seems like it could get difficult to manage. But this is a brilliant workaround for things like text where I would have one layer.
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20 hours ago, NotMyFault said:
You can add a Gaussian blur filter on any shape. This works well for shapes with solid fill colors.
In case of shapes filled with bitmap fills or fine details, you need to restrict the blur filter to the alpha channel, based on the tutorial below:
Thanks for the input but as I said, "While maintaining the vector data." I did try these and they rasterize my layer.
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21 hours ago, GarryP said:
Can you give more details about what you mean by ‘feathering’ a shape or curve”?
A curve is just a geometrical line which passes through a set of points, and a shape is just one or more curves, so I don’t understand how it could be “feathered”, in and of itself.
Also, I can’t tell if your example is what you want or what you have got.
If you could show us what you have (before you have tried your own ‘feathering’), and a visual example of what you want to achieve, then someone can probably help, but we may need more information.
In this PSD I have a shape (vector) behind my text. In the bottom I have set the feathering (live) to 12 px. This demonstration is not subtle, but this effect/technique is powerful and versatile when you need a bit of subtlety. It is also excellent for, masks, custom vignettes, sunlight, special FX etc. I use it very much in my work because it is editable. I can go back in and change the color or lighten it etc if I come in the studio tomorrow and think, “too dark” etc.
Here you can see it in action:
https://youtu.be/BXXfRHBnaFA?si=AtcyoqZJDz-ApWOr -
Is possible to feather shapes or curves? And by this I mean go back and edit while maintaining the curve data.
I realize I can feather a selection and delete or mask an image.
For example: a feathered box behind text to dim a competing background image. The outer glow is not sufficient and neither does the stoke achieve the result. This ability is also very handy for custom vignettes etc. Or feathering a photo but maintaining the curve for nondestructive edits.
(please say yes) :D
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On 8/3/2023 at 2:43 PM, Red Sands said:
Parkinson's law of triviality
The only trivial thing about this thread has been your character and contributions. Trivial and and pedantic as well as misinformed.
On 8/3/2023 at 2:43 PM, Red Sands said:I myself am involved in large projects in an industry that puts large IT suppliers to hard work with fairly large products
Who cares? More trivial and useless information. This is so irrelevant! I can't see what this has to do with anything besides how many times you can fit the word, "large" into one sentence. Do you work on large stuff? Personally, I am impressed with your largeness. I can't see how you have the time to even comment on this trivial thread.
On 8/3/2023 at 2:43 PM, Red Sands said:And those will be my last words here.
Thanks be to god!
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On 8/1/2023 at 2:07 PM, Red Sands said:
That's where you're so terribly and miserably wrong
About what? About the fact that your response was drivel.
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On 7/30/2023 at 4:15 PM, Red Sands said:
as implemented in Photoshop
Photoshop, Inkscape, Krita.
On 7/30/2023 at 4:15 PM, Red Sands said:Just try this product:
This is the standard reply. No. Defeating the process of my workflow and interrupting my process to accommodate a tool that is missing functions. No thank you. If it doesn't allow for the process to be implemented then I use a tool which does. I am a working professional and time is essential. As an art director I find this response sophomoric. I would never waste my teams time implementing a broken tool for which we would have to accommodate with our time.
I will add; these types of responses obviously come from people who do not use products on a professional creating concept art and design.
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Hi MEB,
Yeah, It's sad too, because I really like working with many of the vector tools better in Affinity. To be missing such an essential step of vector manipulation in a vector program at this point; it is years beyond acceptable. It is frustrating as a teacher I want to use the product in class, but I cannot demonstrate the workflow nor can I in good faith point students to a product which cannot provide core manipulation in a professional setting. Sadly I no longer sing its praises. I gave up.
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How do I scale the window to fullsize? I just saw on a mac there is the option to maximize the window. Is this available on the PC as well?
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Unfortunately I stopped using Affinity. I still download the updates and check to see but, no. Every time a new update is posted or a video I'm always heartbroken. It's normally some text upgrade or thumbnail thing. I would think that editing the image would have the highest precedent. Channel operations also seemed lacking if I remember.
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As a concept artist and visual developer this is a whole missing workflow. Not that it is essential every time I design but it is a great way to stumble across original ideas. Most of the professionals I know utilize this workflow often.
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This is the same problem that I have with affinity. I so love so many things about it but then in my workflow I just have to be able to load complex alpha masks directly into the alpha channel. There is not an easy way to do that. If I have something which is a simple black and white mask sure I can remake that selection. But creating one from it color channel is not always ideal nor what you wish to do.
If I have something I am pulling out of Zbrush or another package I might have a very complex black and white alpha mask that I need to plug directly into my alpha channel. If I not then the software is completely useless to me no matter how much I like it, because these parts of the workflow I use continuously in the course of the day.
Another one is if I want to create a vector mask, (as you have here mentioned) there is no way to turn a simple selection into a vector.
As an art director for decades now I can tell you that these essential tools for game development end up being deal Breakers and I would guess from reading your forums keep a lot of people from using it full time in development.
But as I said there are so many things that I truly love about it! The way that you see everything on full-size - the overall setup seems so much smarter and fresher than Photoshop but then there are only like three things that are just completely stop me in the water and I have to go back to Photoshop.
I was truly hoping in this latest release some of these would be addressed but I was heartbroken to see there are improvements for text but yet the core image tools are still missing some powerful functionality. Hire game a game artist as a consultant. Or someone in entertainment visual development. 😉
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- crate spare channel from any color channel of the greyscale layer
- load to pixel alpha
I am not following your easy instructions. I too would love to jump the adobe ship but masking is huge and I keep running into the Affinity shortcomings when try to mask things.
This is right up there with turning a selection into a vector.
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I bought all the Affinity package (all three) and have been trying to see if I use it full-time in production. Creating a vector from a selection is essential. A total deal breaker. I don't care what the excuse is, as a visual concept director, I do this much too often to go online and mess with some third party nonsense. I use this for creating 3d masks and a host of things.
Other than a few things I really like the tools but this for any vector software to lack is unacceptable.
I'm doing an edit because I do want to stress how much I really love your software. I very much wish to break free from the grip of both Autodesk and Adobe. Blender has gone beyond in the area of 3D but in the 2D software there is still a hole as long as certain functionalities are still missing. I believe this to be one major failing holding myself back.
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FreeOCR is much better. But I digress, it is a great idea to have it in AP. There is currently no good solution, Acrobat is the worst possible software. Rather than follow other packages for what AP should have why not be inventive and lead. This is a very much needed tool in today's graphic world.
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On 4/18/2019 at 2:56 PM, walt.farrell said:
Other products are available to perform OCR for PDFs (including the free Tesseract), so why Publisher?
Tesseract is not advisable for anyone not familiar with coding. Could you have picked a worst example? I realize you're trying to help but sending people to command line software is evil.
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Walt you are the man.
Is it possible to feather shapes or curves?
in Affinity on Desktop Questions (macOS and Windows)
Posted
Maybe, I have not mentioned PDFs nor do I normally use them in my art workflow.