[Expand Stroke in Affinity Designer not working]

14 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

My understanding is that it works with the pure vector brushes (the ones I pointed out), but does not work with the others (which have raster components).

If I draw a shape using either of the first two brushes in the Pens category, or any of the brushes in the Basic category, I get a (Curve) layer. If I then use Layer > Expand Stroke it becomes a (Curves) layer, with most nodes doubled, and when I use the Node tool I can pull those nodes apart to make a wider stroke.

None of that happens if I draw a shape using the other "vector" brushes.

 

Yes ok, but I looked at those ones and they do indeed work with Expand Stroke. It's just they don't look anything like the form they take on the menu - they are just drawing out as normal vectors (on my copy anyway)

However..

If I tick Scale With Object in the Stroke menu then it scales the stroke size to whatever size I want to resize the object to, which is effectively the same as expanding the stroke into a shape and resizing it.

[Expand Stroke in Affinity Designer not working]

2 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Sorry; I thought we were discussing Expand Stroke. That should work with those brushes, as they are true vector brushes.

Yes that's what we're talking about - the fact Expand Stroke doesn't work with Vector Brushes.

If it does work and I'm missing something then I'd love to know what?

[Expand Stroke in Affinity Designer not working]

52 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

I think you could also use the first two brushes in the Pens category (Solid Pen with Pressure, and Solid Pen with Pressure and Opacity).

Or any of the brushes from the Basic category. This was deleted in 1.9, but you can get it by following these instructions from Affinity Spotlight:

https://affinityspotlight.com/article/get-legacy-affinity-brushes/

The first two brushes in the Pens category just seem to draw normal lines, I looked at them. Not sure what I'm doing wrong there.

There is still the option to resize the brushes and adjust the stroke. I don't know if there is a way to set it such that the rate at which resize are the same though? If there is then this is effectively the functionality I'd be looking for from using the Expand Stroke feature.

[Expand Stroke in Affinity Designer not working]

So how does one convert a sketch made using the vector brush tool into a vector shape then? 

There surely must be a way. If not then that is disappointing indeed. Why is it called a Vector Brush Tool if it's raster?

...

So basically I have to sketch using the pencil tool and set the properties? Struggling a bit with that. Say I want a curved line that starts and ends with a point (eg. engraving #64) I can set the pencil stroke to draw that and then expand stroke. Is that possible, because all I seem to be able to do is draw a basic line set at whatever stroke width and then change it after in the preferences.

[What graphic tablet?]

Would you guys recommend a graphics tablet as opposed to an iPad?

Just thinking this might be a cheaper option so decided to look into it. I've never used one though, does it just serve as an alternative monitor that allows the user to use a pen? In other words could I design on Affinity and use one simultaneously with the software running on a bigger monitor?

Maybe though, an iPad would have the additional benefit of allowing me to take my work with me on the go.

[Is the Apple Pen necessary?]

5 minutes ago, Alfred said:

The Apple product is, as usual, very well engineered, and you do get things like tilt functionality which is missing from cheaper devices, but to some extent you are paying for the brand. The latter doesn’t only apply to Apple!

 

Well let me tell you, I paid £1,000 for a macbook in 2007 which had to go back a year later to have the ODD replaced, which always before and after made this really awful noise when slotting in discs. The fan was noisy from the start and after a couple of years caused the bottom of the screen to darken. The bluetooth connection to the mouse was constantly jittery and the little nub on the top for scrolling stopped working well after less than a year. The staff in Genius bar in Glasgow were very rude and condescending, and they threw me out for complaining that my macbook hadn't been repaired properly, the security were laughing at me behind my back with the manager also (in hindsight I should have written a letter of complaint and probably would have been given a new one). I understand that there are always outliers and occasionally faulty products at manufacture, but that was my experience with Apple products and their lousy customer service. 

As well as that I had an iPod Classic a few years ago that kept dropping all the tunes and had to be reset, and skipping in the middle of tracks so probably had a faulty hard drive. 

So I remain on the fence as to whether or not Apple products really are better than any others, or they are just designed to look all minimalist and futuristic. If I was to buy an entry level iPad though I'm sure it would be reliable so far as using it with Affinity goes though. As with many others though I would prefer if there was an Android version and I'd buy a decent Samsung instead. 

[Is the Apple Pen necessary?]

11 hours ago, Alfred said:

You need a capacitive stylus, so I don’t think you can use just any old plastic pencil, but an Apple Pencil isn’t strictly necessary (which is just as well, because devices such as the iPad Air 2 that I’m using don’t support the Apple Pencil). I have a Meko stylus that I use if I want greater precision than I can achieve with my fingertip or one of those soft rubber things.

Cheers. I googled alternative apple pens after posting this and found a few cheaper versions. I guess this is probably just another example of Apple over-pricing their stuff. I had one of their bluetooth mice years ago and it was rubbish! 

5 hours ago, DM1 said:

You can enable Family Sharing in your mums account allowing up to 6 family members to download and use the app.

Good to know. If it's still half price when/if I take the plunge I might just buy my own copy anyway as I registered the app on my mum's device with her email address. 

[Affinity for Android]

On 5/28/2020 at 10:02 AM, Medical Officer Bones said:

There is now: Krita!

https://krita.org/en/item/first-krita-beta-for-android-and-chromeos-in-play-store/

Is this still in development? I can only find some helper app with 5k+ downloads on Google Play.

Ideally I'd like to use Affinity on a tablet device. I just tested it out on my mum's iPad and sent the file to myself and opened it up on the Windows version and it was exactly the same, which was neat. Does Krita offer this functionality?

I'd have more confidence in alternating between platforms using the same software.

[Request to Change The Avatar In My Profile]

OK then here goes my second post in lieu of uploading an avatar in 3 days 👍

[Is the Apple Pen necessary?]

I'm thinking about investing in a basic iPad so I can have the functionality of being able to work faster and without the inevitable wrist strain that comes from using a mouse too long on the Windows version. 

I'm just wondering what the advantages are of paying circa £100 for an Apple Pen? 

I have bought a copy on my mum's iPad (which means if I get an iPad then I'll probably have to buy another copy because of the way it's tied to your Apple account -  I was hoping there would be a 30 day trial version) and all the basic features seem to work with my finger or the cheap pen I use with my phone. 

This is one of the ones with the soft rubber nubs, so I suppose my question really is if I just used a plastic pencil would it work in the same way?

I don't really fancy forking out an extra hundred just for a pen. Do I really need the special pen?