colinml

Just following up to say that many of my questions I've had about *why* things work the way they do are being cleared up as I go to make changes in an existing drawing. Thanks to everyone who offered guidance.

If I draw a square with the pen tool, I still need to do the same steps in order to subsequently select just one line, so I'm not sure what you mean. Why do you assume I haven't been watching the videos or that I underestimate their value?

Yes, I was using some brushes created by a user that she made specifically for adding seam allowances. The problem I was having was that I was struggling to figure out how to NOT add seam allowance to some lines, and that led me to figuring out how to select only certain lines to add seam allowance to.

I’ll have to study this some more. Thanks for taking the time to make this video. This may indeed be something I need to incorporate. It’s so frustrating being at the beginning of the learning curve because I know there must be a good reason why something as (seemingly) simple as selecting a line would involve multiple steps, but I just don’t have enough experience to be able to comprehend the reason. So I end up just wondering if I’m doing it wrong, especially after reading everything in the help menu and watching every video with “selecting” or “selection” in the title, and not finding anything related to my question.

Thank you. Yes, that streamlines it a little. Appreciate the help!

If I knew the answer to any of your questions, I wouldn’t need to ask here.

Another Designer newbie question. Imagine a square. I want to select one line of the 4 in order to edit it. (I'm adding a seam allowance to a pattern, but the particulars aren't important). As far as I can tell, I must first convert to curves, then select the node tool, then right click on the points at each end of the line, choosing "break curve" each time, then select the move tool and, then, finally, select the line I want to edit. Is it really that many actions just to select a single line, or is there a more efficient way? Thanks!

Yes, exactly. I don't know what I don't know, so difficult to construct search terms for that.🙂

As a general response to both of you, thank you. That gives me the information I needed to decide whether to press forward in learning how to use Affinity Designer and not have to use Illustrator. Now that I've seen a glimpse of how to do these simple tasks, I see that it's actually easier than my (scant) 1990s CAD experience.

Aammppaa, thank you. I will have to go back and review the steps to using the shape builder tool, so I can delete the parts I mean to delete, but, yes, I see how this works. I do have a related question, though. Strokes seem to default to width "none." And shapes are always filled. Is there a way to change the default and/or is there some reason I would not want to change the default? I don't understand why I would want my shapes to disappear if unfilled, nor why I would want to have to define a stroke width every time I made one.

Greg, yes, very helpful. Thank you. Apologies for not mentioning this is Designer. Unless I misunderstood, your instructions actually led to a 14x14 bag (instead of 12x12), but I was able to figure out that I could return to the move tool and change the overall dimensions while preserving the taper and the arc. However, I did notice that, when making the arc, it did not snap to the margin as did the other nodes when I was moving them. Is there an additional step to get an arc to snap? I think my confusion was that I was used to entering numbers, rather than dragging and looking at the ruler. So, for example, if I wanted to move a node one inch, I would enter either positive or negative 1 inch, depending which way I wanted to move, and on which axis. And, typically, a box popped up with space to enter dimensions. Moreover, I don't see a way to measure lines, other than comparing them to the ruler, or watching the tiny measurements change as you move the node.

I'm not sure this software is appropriate for what I want to do (make patterns for sewing handbags), or maybe the way my brain works is just not compatible. I have already spent hours figuring out how to set up to print across multiple pages so I can tape together the patterns and have everything aligned. Now I'm simply trying to draw and edit some simple shapes, and I'm lost. I used a CAD program many years ago, and the way I think of starting is to draw a box with the overall dimensions and then alter the box to add things like an arc at the top or narrowing the bottom. I watched a video of someone doing this with Adobe Illustrator, and it made sense (Sewing with Steve. He makes a backpack). I don't really want to subscribe to Illustrator, but I also don't want to spend many hours learning that Affinity isn't quite the right software for my purposes. Can someone do this: Draw a 12x12 square "hand bag". Change the top of the square to an arc with a 1 inch rise. So now the square is still 12 inches high, to the top of the arc. Then narrow the bottom of the square by 2 inches so that the "bag" tapers. Now the bag should be 10 inches wide at the bottom, 12 inches wide at the top, 12 inches tall along the center line, 11 inches tall to the end points of the arc. Can you list the steps you used to do this? Forever grateful.

Thank you. I think I understand. The key term is "spread." I can start there.

I think this is a very basic question, but I don't know enough about the software to be able to use the right search terms to find the tutorial I need. I'm planning a drum-leaf bound book of photography. This method uses single sided photo paper, which is folded into folios, and the "backsides" of the folios are glued to each other. IOW, when you open the book cover, and flip past the end papers, you arrive at page 1 visible on the right. Page "2" and "3" are stuck together, and then page "4" and "5" are visible (but they are actually page 2 and 3, if that makes sense). I'm trying to understand if there is a way to set up my project so that Affinity understands this is what I'm doing, or if I need to think up a way to force it. I anticipate several issues, like getting pagination right, and dealing with design elements that carry across pages, etc. Can someone direct me to the right section of the manual or a tutorial? Thanks!