Bri-Toon

Is that for all of the Plus apps? Someone said there will still be new patches.

I know, but I guess the other people in the class didn't.

Well then, you know me pretty well to decipher me from all other Brians. I feel so special. So Max, are there any features particular you are looking for?

If think that would be interesting.

You're welcome, Max. I learned some new things from Alfred as well. Right on. I did not know that. In that page, I was trying to figure out, "Did I post that at one point?" My username on the CommunityPlus Forums is also Brian, but no, that's a different one. I guess I'm losing my mind. :blink:

Back when I was in college and when I was first introduced to Illustrator, it was CS6 at the time, and I recall many people being disappointed with the new look. Also, I guess CS6 got a lot buggier than CS5.

Welcome, Max. Even though I am not really staff, maybe I can help answer your questions in the meantime. 1st question: Is Serif PhotoPlus X8 the same as Affinity Photo really? No. Affinity is made by Serif, but I read from MEB's post a while back that the Affinity products were made from the ground up. Plus, there are some features exclusive to Affinity Photo and some to PhotoPlus. 2nd question: If I purchase Serif PhotoPlus X8, will I get Affinity Photo for free or not? Sadly no. Affinity is a separate suite of applications with a different engine and some different features. 3rd question: Will Affinity Photo (Windows) be cheaper than Serif PhotoPlus X8 ? I assume so. Photo and Designer are out for the Mac, and they're much cheaper than the Plus applications. 4th question: What do I do? Do I get Serif PhotoPlus X8 now, or do I wait for Affinity Photo for windows? It depends on the features you are looking for. It won't affect your second question. Do keep in mind that there is a free "Starter Version" for the Plus applications, and there will be a free beta for each Affinity application. You can experiment with them to decide which to choose.

Actually, what you said about which tool is selected, Mike, I've been having that problem as well. I have an additional monitor for my laptop for doing on-screen drawing, but the monitor picture is more dull than what is on the laptop screen. Plus, the sunlight coming through the windows does cause a glare (mostly on dark pictures). So I do support your point on that.

I can understand where the Affinity team came from though. They probably figured the latest look is the approach to take. Plus, it's still merely new. I'm aware that the color of the UI is changeable in the Adobe products. With that screenshot you provided, I do feel that the Preferences window could still be better. Maybe allow the different sections to have picture icons, or allow the font to be larger, or something. In many ways, I do feel Adobe is less decorative than Affinity. I have something to share with you. With the exception of the icons not being colored, I would love Affinity to have the look as shown in Adreas' post here.

I'm surprised in how many people are turned away from the interface. While I do prefer a lighter look myself, most graphic designers come from Illustrator; which also has a dark look. Plus, Affinity was previously exclusive to Mac. I'm realizing that most Mac applications usually consist of gradients and structures whereas Windows' applications have a more flat look. (I know the new El Capitan and Sierra are getting flatter, but they still consist of gradients.) But hey, every user has their preference.

The transparency tool is practically a transparent gradient. Select the objects you want and just click and drag. I think you'll like it.

Well explained. When I get around to Designer again, I'll mess around with these two options again. Sorry for changing the discussion, KipV. We're done now, unless you have more questions about doing basic layouts. ;)

No apologies needed. I always thought dragging paths beside the thumbnail was what did the clipping (clipping mask). I didn't know it was done by dragging paths underneath each other (or I forgot). So with the option to "paste inside," I assume that is the same as clipping. I think I was getting confused because I would always drag objects on a blank thumbnail to organize my layers, and that didn't change my drawing as the video showed. Whereas, dragging them on an actual object will clip them. I get it now. If it's okay that we're still off topic, so what is the advantage of cropping when clipping can be used to do the same thing? The target object that is being clipped can just have no opacity, and then it will look as if it were cropped. Right?

That's cool. Good for her.

You're welcome.

Thank you for sharing that, Alfred. I actually didn't know about the feature to lock children. (You would think I would by now.) Anyway, when the man nested the paths inside the path of the frame, did he drag them under the thumbnail? (I can't enlarge the videos here.) I'm aware that will create a mask as shown, but if he dragged the paths under the adult layer, I thought that would just create a sublayer.

Well she has the drawing skills alright, better than what I can do (though I am still four years behind). Her art looks really cool. I'd be interested in any online drawing tutorials or speed drawing videos (if she's up to it). I take it she's big on Star Wars. Who isn't? It rocks.

I edited my post, because I misread what you said. There can be different scales of opacities in one. It is the same deal if you changed the opacity of a layer, and then all of it's sublayers, and then all of its paths separately. It depends on how you select them. Be careful and take note how you change the opacity. Some options only adjust the layers, and some paths, fills, strokes, etc. In Illustrator, I would use several effects, but then I couldn't find where they were. I realized later, I applied them when I selected a single path. That's why they wouldn't show up when I selected a group of paths.

Gdenby, I'm glad to hear it. It's great when kids grow up doing something they love. Anyway, you said there's a link to a blog your 31 year-old made. I think you forgot to add it. :P

Hey guys, Most of you probably know me by now (I've been here a lot). First of all, I know there have been several topics on smoothing or a smoothing slider. This is not what the topic is about. I want to share my idea to add "weighted" smoothing. What is it some of you may ask? It is a feature in which the stroke drags slower than in which the speed of the cursor travels. It's purpose is to reduce shaky hands resulting to smoother lineart. It's most known in painting programs, but not so much vector programs. I have an example recording of myself making a wobbly line in Krita with different smoothing settings set, and then I experiment with Lazy Nezumi. Here is the video to see how it works. I think this would be a great addition to the program. I hope people approve. Even though Lazy Nezumi works very well, it's very buggy in Designer. A long line goes right across my drawing.

By the way, KipV, in regards to my comment earlier... ...it was a video on the constraints feature which will be released in Designer 1.5. I may have not explained it well in my quote, but this certainly looks great for layouts.

This is so nice. I am happy for your daughter, and I hope she's brave enough to have her work shown here. Let her know that a member (Brian) is routing for her to keep drawing and keep learning. I showed some kids how I draw my cartoon characters on the computer, and they too got interested. Kids are a lot of fun.

You're welcome.

Sure thing.

Sorry, but I don't believe there is. If you're using Windows, there is a tool to create flow charts in DrawPlus (made by the same team that made Affinity).