Eagle Works

I guess we can learn to be happy with what we have and hope for the future! I use a keyboard macro program (Macro Express Pro, and there are many others) to do a number of things for me. One I like is a shortcut to give me View/Studio in one fell swoop instead of several clicks. Also, to set swatch, color, stroke and other tasks. I know, not much, but sometimes it just irritates me to have to drill down for something over and over. Thanks for listening ... Bob

I have made a number of my personal changes to the original shortcuts list. I was hoping for some sort list of the current shortcuts. Does not appear to exist. Maybe someday ...

Hello all ... I hope everyone is surviving the pandemic. I am so read to get over this. I'm obsessing about shortcuts. I like them, I use then. A lot! Is there any list available, XML, or whatever, that shows the shortcuts that we have set up in AD? I know there has to be something out there similar to the Preference file and others, buried deep in the root system! The current shortcut assignment panel leave a lot to be desired. Can't search it, can't list them. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks for the quick response. Now, I have something else to think on and study ... Masks! I had no idea what they were and how they worked! That was indeed my problem. Didn't know I did it and what I did to get there. Getting the layers corrected fixed the issue. I'm sure I will have a need for masks down the road, but not now! Thanks again for the help.

Hello all. Something happened to my drawing. All was working well. I drew up all the feathers for my Heron wing. Then something changed. What did I do?!!! I drew the Heron tail but I can't do anything with it. It only shows up if selected and only in outline. I did some test paths just below that and the same thing happened. No fill or stroke. There are two layers that I am working on, 'These will not show up' and 'Tail outline'. I must have turned something off or on. I have run out of things to try. Any suggestions? Thanks for listening ... Heron 7.afdesign

Hello again. I'm getting it figured out. Like I said, trying to find the right origin place takes a number of tries, Another question about this project; As my feathers rotate up. the bottom end of the feather needs to shrink in size. If you look at the attachment, I'd like to squeeze the end together where the red line is. Bring other corners toward the middle about half way. And not affect the other end. The percentage this is not changing it enough, so I think I need to do it manually. I can't seem to figure out how to manipulate the handles to do that. Is there a way to do this? Any thoughts on this? Thanks for listening.

Thanks G13RL ... I was on the right track. Just needed to go a little further. The trick is where to put the origin so it creates the right curve. Undo is your friend!

Hello all ... This is an old post and maybe I can't post on it. My question is relevant, but would start a new thread if told to. I understand how the % thing works. Like *90% would make it 90% smaller. Is there a way to use repeat or duplicate to make each iteration say 90% smaller than the last instead of having to enter the % each time? By setting it up and the power duplicate or whatever it is called? And by positioning the origin point, I could create this arc of duplicate and smaller objects. Of course, I can do this manually, but curious. Thanks for listening!

Thanks v_kyr. I'll take a look. I'm going to post a couple of pictures and try and explain a question/problem I have. My pictures won't post. I get an error message of -200. Size is only 30kb. Any thoughts on this?

Hello all. Hope you are all keeping safe in these crazy times! I am trying get my arms around creating Mandala in AD. I have looked at a number of tutorials. I pretty much get the gist of how it works, using symbols and layers and flip on vertical. I just can't seem to get the correct layers set up. It seems that they are using the pixel personal. I would like to do it in vector, if that is possible. I had looked at the tutorial by 7th Season Studios. I have gone through that several times, but still not working. I tried to make contact with him, but have not had any luck with that. Anyone have a good tutorial they use? Or step by step instructions? I'll put together a few screen shots of what my problem layers look like tonight. Just wanted to get started on this. Thanks for listening ...

Thanks. That web site has a ton of info. I'll be spending some time on it. Nits? I need to do some research on this number. I'm assuming higher is better? Looks like mid-500 is a good number. Can I check the nits on my current HP laptop? I'll go to HP to see. Thanks again ...

Thanks for the info. I'll have to go over it. That looks like a pretty in dept web site. Also, glossy or matte monitor? Is one better than the other? Probably matters if used in or out doors? Would like to hear of any first hand experience with stylus/tablet? Thanks ...

Hello all! Hope you are all safe and sane! I am working my way through learning Affinity Designer. I feel like I am doing pretty good with it. I am focusing on line art drawings at the moment. I have not tried brushes yet, but it will happen. And I will also get into Affinity Photo I am looking to get a new laptop and want to focus on the monitor. I am thinking of a 2-in-1 or convertible type to be used as laptop or a tablet. My questions have to do with monitor. I want to be sure that I can use a pen to work with drawings and photos. I have not worked with brushes yet, but I'm guessing that pressure control of the pen is important in drawing. I know the monitors are all touch screen. But, do they work well with a pen? I'm looking for suggestions for brand/model of a 2-in-1 laptop that I can consider that performs well with a pen in tablet mode. Is there one out there? Or do need to consider a Wacom tablet or iPad to get the performance I am looking for in a pen. Any thoughts, experiences, suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks for listening ...

Hello all .. Hope you are all safe and sane wherever you are! In working with handles, I usually run into some issues. Nothing serious. I am looking for techniques, shortcuts, or other ways of simplifying my flow. If I am to trace an outline with the pen tool, first job for me is to start working with the handles to get the curves to look like I want. Changing the nodes from sharp to smooth or smart, or the other way. A lot of back and forth. That is the nature of this beast! Another way for me to get bit map traces is to use Inkscape to create the .svg.. Of course, sometimes the return is so full of nodes, the task is sometimes more than it is worth, and I just draw from scratch with the pen tool. Sometimes what I want to do is drag both handles of a node in or out at the same time. The only way I know how to do this is press both the right and left button of the mouse at the same time. Now I use a Logitech Trackball and this is not the easiest thing to do. I was wondering if someone had a better way of doing that? Another thing, I have a long broad curve with one node in the middle. It can take some effort to try and get both handles exactly even on the curve. It may look good, but when you zoom out, you can see it might be a little off. Is there some way to make sure that both handles are equidistant from the curve? Some command that I could set to a shortcut? OK, enough for now. Any tips, tricks, etc. on working with handles? Maybe a hidden tutorial? Thanks for listening ...

OK, thanks to all for your help. I need to do more practice with Boolean. Watch a few tutorials. I got what I was looking for. Thanks to G13RL for the tip on dealing with the tongues and to the rest of you for your thoughts ... Be safe ...