Sarvasri

Problem solved. It showed up the same way on two different computers. And it printed the same way on two different printers. The reason was multiple problems on both printers. 1) The red preview means the image is too large for the paper I hadn't encountered that problem on AP and didn't recognize what it was doing! - fixed by changing Fit Type to Fit to printable That Fixed the preprint view. 2) Both printers had Yellow nozzle problems and one printer had an empty yellow cartridge. Multiple errors that showed up at the same time led to the problem printing and viewing. New Ink and multiple nozzle cleanings, and both printers are now working. Thanks for your help!!!

Some background. I downloaded this photo from pexels (free, no restrictions) as part of my drawing class. I needed a profile photo. It came as a jpeg. I opened it in Preview on Mac. It looked great. I cropped it to the current size. 942 x1300 pixels. Printing on 8.5 x 11 paper. Printing from Preview created the same ugly magenta tint. Printing from Affinity does the same. It prints exactly like the print preview shows it will print. But it looks beautiful on screen.

When I go to print this photo, the print preview turns it magenta and it actually prints this way. What could be wrong with the file and how can I fix this photo so it will print like it looks on screen.

Using the node tool, I need to be able to align nodes and distribute nodes within an object. I can't figure out a way to do that. I don't want to drag nodes one by one to a guide or to snap to another object or point. It is tedious to drag 30 nodes one by one. I want to select all the nodes and align them vertically to the uppermost node just as I would align objects and then distribute them horizontally, just as I would distribute objects horizontally. I used to do that in Canvas all the time. I can't figure out how to do it in Designer.

I would like to use Affinity Designer for scaled drawings and designs. Examples include: Architecture, Carpentry, Landscaping (hardscaping, garden design, etc.), Mapping, etc. In these applications I need to scale the document to match real world dimensions in feet, yards, kilometers, miles, etc. so that 1" or 1 cm = some larger unit of measure i.e. 1:125,000 or 1:12 or 1:1000. There are plugins for AI to do this for mapping, etc. Example: http://www.avenza.com/mapublisher Can Designer use AI plugins like Photo can use Photoshop plugins? Can Designer scale documents? I can't find it. I only saw a request for this from 3 years ago and no follow up since.

Thank you. This helped me understand a little more about the program.

I'm trying to do what I think is simple drawing, but I can't do it. For example. I want to make a cup, so I draw an ellipse for the top rim of the cup. I duplicate the ellipse and reduce its size to make the bottom rim of the cup. Then I draw two lines to connect the rims to make the sides of the cup. I cannot find any way to combine the two ellipses and two lines to make the cup. Combining cuts the top rim. The lines can't connect to the bottom rim to make a shape.

I would like to see the brush identified somewhere. On the current Mac version, if I use a brush, then another tool like the lasso, and come back to the brush tool, the highlighting showing the current brush is gone. (It's not supposed to do that, it's broken) Even if it were fixed, it's not enough. Highlighting is good, but a better method would be to show the category and brush name (plus the highlight). For instance, a box could show a breadcrumb trail similar to how it is done on some web sites and file systems. Then if I go to another category I would still know which category and brush is active. I could get back to it. Otherwise, I'm lost. (Especially, when the highlight disappears.) Having to mouse over the brushes to get the name is also cumbersome. I have to mouse over all the them looking for one I might remember I liked. We should be able to see the brush names displayed in the panel without having to mouse over them. Apple is really doing us a disservice by hiding the user interface so much and making us have to go hunting to find invisible features. In the name of reducing clutter they encourage hiding useful interface options. Dumb.

This is a problem for finding the brush you are using. If you go somewhere else in the brushes panel, unless you remember both the category and the brush, you have trouble finding it again. Yes, you can see the brush names, but you have to mouse over all of them one at a time to locate a name. And you would have to do that for every category. Not a good solution. Breadcrumbs is the best solution.

Yes, mine is a 2011 MacBook Pro, El Capitan 10.11.6. This is definitely confusing. I always lose the brush highlighting. I would like to see the brush identified somewhere. Highlighting is good, but a better method would be to show the category and brush name, plus a highlight. For instance, a box could show a breadcrumb trail similar to how it is done on some web sites and file systems. Then if I go to another category I would still know which category and brush is active. I could get back to it. Otherwise, I'm lost. Do the developers monitor these posts? Should this go in as a suggestion somewhere?

When I select a brush and use it, the brush is highlighted in the brushes panel. I know for sure which brush I'm using. Then let's say I use the lasso tool to make a selection. When come back to the brush tool, the same brush is available, but it is no longer highlighted in the brushes panel. I can see the "footprint" of the brush, but now I can't associate that brush with the panel. There is no selection. So I don't know which brush I selected last time because there is no indicator of which brush is being used right now. I am left guessing. This is on a Mac. Is the brush choice indicated somewhere else and I just don't see it? Try it and you'll see what I'm talking about.

So is there any way to identify which brush is being used after going somewhere else? Could this be something easy for the developers to include?

Hi Alfred, Great Post! So what I think Mr. Limoncelli did was create several grass, leaf, branch, and stem shapes, position them connected to his underlying large trees & ground outline shape, and then clicked the add button to connect them all together. Brilliant! In the book tutorial he had us use the pen tool in polygon mode to create the underlying ground and tree shapes, which gives a stilted unnatural linear shape to the trees and ground. I bet that he selected all points and converted them to pen mode shapes afterward to smooth out all of the outline points. His outline is all pen mode points. I learned a lot about sequence and process for creating pen shapes. Originally, I thought he drew the large background, broke the line, created the leaf and grass shapes, and then connected the curves. That would have been tedious to say the least. This idea of 1) making basic shapes, 2) duplicating them, 3) reshaping copies as desired, 4) placing them as desired, then 5) Adding them with the Add Operation, Neatly combines the whole group into a single efficient curve! Super!

Here is the file (if it works) Question on Pen Tool.tiff

My wife and I are both going through the book. We're on Whittler. The pen tool has some secrets that we don't understand I zoomed in on the 3rd file: whittler_03_shapes.afdesign I found amazing economy and skill in the use of the pen tool that we can't duplicate. We can't even figure out how it was done. If you look closely at the file, you'll see how few points create the leaf pattern. But also, look at the grey "through the leaf" holes in the leaf pattern. These seem to be independent, but there are no independent curves. The whole background appears to be a single curve. How do you do that? How was this background pen tool file created? What are the secrets to such economy of the pen tool? How was the gray "holes" in the leaf pattern created? We notice overlapping lines reverse light/dark tints. Thanks. (I included a graphic file, but I don't see it. Now trying to include it in the original post - learning the forum) Question on Pen Tool.tiff