TwangerMan

+1

As a newbie, I naively thought the point of vector-based design was scalability. However, some of Affinity Designer’s artistic potential comes from mixing in what seems to be not-quite-vector DESIGNER PERSONA elements (ex: Texture Brushes) and/or functionality (ex: FX) into a project. I say “what seems to be” because it is not quite clear to me, and it would help if Serif had a definitive explanation..is there such an animal. Adding these not-quite-vector DESIGNER PERSONA elements (or whatever they are) complicates and possibly breaks scalability when it comes time to “share” your magnificence with the world - export to a file, and print in possibly various sizes. And, please note, we haven’t even gotten to Pixel Persona yet! So I am trying to understand how to “keep” scalability. I got to this confusing point by discovering that exporting an A.D. project as a scalable SVG is not reliable. From what I have read here and experienced myself, that is a given, even if the technical reasons are not well delineated. Apparently there are a number of “things” one cannot do if you want to export as an SVG. (Can someone point me to a list?) So, if I cannot achieve scalability that way, how do I? But perhaps I should backup and first ask - Once I add these not-quite-vector DESIGNER PERSONA elements to a project, do I risk breaking my project’s internally scalability within A.D. itself, so that those elements will pixelate as I zoom in? As far as scalability outputting to a file, or more importantly, to print in a wide range of sizes…I could sure use some very detailed guidelines on how to understand this and how to get ‘er done, for current and future projects. Back to the drawing board. Literally.

Understand the sympathetic thoughts, but understand, please, I wouldn’t complain if I thought something could be 10 to 15% better. A.D. could be 1000% better. I get up and running, then someone throws rattlesnakes at my feet. Not cool. The sad part is that it mostly just needs work flow tweaks. Needs that more than the next big thing. That and fix things that should work, like exporting to SVG files.

Exporting as SVG is important to me, so I have been G-searching this issue…and apparently it is yet another one of those gotchas that I keep finding with Affinity Designer. And I was so hopeful. It’s quite like Serif has built a fine 20 bedroom mansion, invited all of us to party…but didn’t put any toilet paper in the 26 bathrooms. So I’m hiking my butt up over the sink. Correct me if I am wrong, PLEASE, but exporting as SVG from Designer appears to be buggy and unreliable for any design that goes beyond simple. God help me, but I don’t want to give the monopolistic autocrats at Adobe any more of my money, but….sheeze.

Created a large pic, 4ft x 2ft, wanting to experiment with scalability. All work done in Designer persona. Did use textured brushes. Exported SVG file is butchered. Lookin’ for some schoolin’ on the subject matter…. Wondering if it’s because of the brushes, or whut….

DMI - Nice suggestion, but for me saving creates a copy. Not perfect, but may be useful. Thanks.

Serif’s work flow paradigm seems to be the more clicks or taps the better. Maybe they think it increases our sense of satisfaction. Why create something so very powerful in A.D ., then cripple it. Hey Serif, for $1.5M, I will consult and fix this for ya.

Thanks for the info. But Wow. What a major failure. I keep seeing how this stuff is more toy than anything else. So many fundamental flaws. Must have set my expectations too high.

TimoCreations erase blend mode worked for me. I did have to set a transparent fill to black.

How do I see (and thus edit/change) which brush that I used, like when I select a one of the many curves/objects/layers in my project?

Still not there. The words “option” and “click” don’t appear on the page. Are talking about the 4 curved buttons and their respective symbols forming the outer circle of the Command Controller. The top button is “shift”, and the left button is “ctrl”…? That would leave the other buttons to be “alt” and “option”. If this is correct, I would suggest a much much better “help” file would contain this detail and say exactly what the symbols mean. Also, with only a pen and no mouse, I am left to presume a “click” is tapping the screen with the pen. in any case, I find the functionality for remembering or quickly setting the brush size to be very poorly done. Among other things. Though A.D. is very powerful in some respects, it is also crippled by a lack of imagination when it comes the interface on the iPad. Also crippled by Serif obviously not hearing their users. For instance, users have been commenting for years about the incomplete functionality of managing/editing Styles, and it is still crap.

Yep, had already found that looking for clear and specific answers. Not there.

Newbie here. How do I do an option-click?

Changing brushes seem to reset the size, which make exploring brushes a tedious process. Any way to lock the brush size?

Layer effects adjustments via the vertical slider bars disappear once I touch me pencil somewhere else on the screen. Which I guess is de-selecting the object I was applying the effect to. The effects seem to reset, and the sliders return to their original places. Am I missing a step to “apply” the FXs?