Claus

I'm using the bounding box to scale curve handles. However the concept of the bounding box has a flaw when one side of the box is close to zero. In the attached example the left bounding box has zero height and you have no handles to scale vertically. In the middle one the height is so small you have to work zoomed in so much it's unusable. The third example works. My suggestion is to have a minimum bounding box so all points are selectable always. I noticed this functionality in another vector package but I forgot witch. Of course following this idea even a selection of a single point should have a working bounding box.

I know, we had this conversation before. As others here I repeat my favorite request to keep it visible. I’m pretty sure most requests are duplicates. So to repeat myself, with the current bounding box gizmo you can’t scale a selection of points with a custom center. I have also asked that scaling a single point will scale the curve handles, like Illustrator. Since a single point has no bounding box (or points that are aligned horizontally or vertically) a dedicated tool is needed.

After v. 1.8 has been released I’ll only ask for one thing: dedicated scale tool. The current bounding box scaling does not work in many cases. I need something like Illustrator, select anything, objects or nodes, click once to set the scale center and drag to scale.

Got it! Sorry for missing that part. Why the extra key press though? If I choose to display the transform origin it’s because I want to use it.

As in several other threads I'm trying to get the bounding box concept to work as Illustrators scale and rotate tools. In this side by side demo you see on the left that Designers "Transform origin" seems to be broken when working with nodes. It also shows that you cant use the bounding box transform if points are aligned. On the right side I'm using Illustrators scale and rotate tools to work on selected nodes. The tools work on everything, even on a single node, click to set origin and drag to transform. The Affinity transform bounding box could be tweaked to do this if the developers feel strongly against adding a dedicated scale tool. It would first of all need to respect the Transform Origin, secondly I need a proper bounding box so I can scale the node handles. scale points.mov

This is getting very close to what I need. But you need to solve a problem. I love that I can scale the handles of points with the bounding box and the transform origin feature. But due to the nature of the bounding box you cant use it on points that are alined vertically or horizontally because the bounding box only have a dimension in one direction. While I don’t know if it would be a problem in other situations I suggest that the bounding box always has 4 corners and in those situations the corners are slightly offset in order to make them selectable.

Thanks for supporting/moderating my request. Claus

While advocating for a more general and versatile transform tool I'm going to throw in the idea of implementing this kind of gizmo in the attached video. This is kind of standard in 3d applications. You have move, scale and rotate handles coming out from the origin and you can position the origin and enter exact values for the transformations if needed. The screencast is made using SharkCad but you get the same in Rhino or Fusion 360. Scale points.mov

You’re right, I confused it with using the bounding box transform on selected nodes. Sorry. Still need a solution for that though.

I was referring to the Point transform tool, it's flawed. While it may work on some point configurations it's useless if the points you work on are aligned. Thevru asked for a proper transform tool and I simply try to examplify why it's needed.

Ben, as I pointed out in this thread the point transform tool is basically broken. It will not work on selections that don’t have two dimensions, like two points on a curve that are aligned vertically or horizontally, the handles don’t show up. Claus

Matt, I have attached a screen recording showing how I use scale and rotate in Illustrator to modify points. I press A or V for selection and S or R for scale or rotate. It's very effective. scale nodes.mov

Is there any chance we will ever get a dedicated scale tool? I mean, select anything, objects or nodes, click to set origin and drag to scale (shift-drag to constrain proportionally). To me it’s industry standard. The current scaling options and the new node tool are interesting but limiting.

The point transform tool is a nice addition but only scales proportionally and you have to use a node as a handle. Seems like a very specific use. Would it be an idea to make it work on nodes too, fewer tools to learn.

Hi fde101, I appreciate all the input and suggestions. However I blame this on the general idea that we must dismiss all conventions and reinvent everything to prevent bloat. The first two things I tried when testing the app was to join curves like Illustrator (average and join) and scale control points (like on the video). In Designer it takes more steps to achieve. When you do this kind of vector work for 25 years it’s like playing the piano or driving a car. And it’s a bit like, well, for the sake of keeping our car simple you can only take left turns. And for sure, you can get anywhere you want to go even if you can only turn left, but you have to make a lot more turns and drive a lot more road.

This is scaling nodes in Illustrator. I don't see a way to do this in Designer. Please educate me if I'm wrong. Node scaling.mov

I was hoping for a dedicated scale tool in this version, like Illustrator I guess. I use the scale tool to symmetrically scale node handles or to scale a selection of nodes or curves with a custom center, click center and drag to scale. I don’t see that functionality here. I bought Photo and Designer hoping to replace Adobe’s apps but until these basic functions are in place it’s not possible. I know there is an ambition to reinvent everything but sometimes you just have to give people what they are used to. A dedicated scale tool would not have to replace the bounding box drag-to-scale feature but would be a supplement.

BEFORE the end of august is actually today since tomorrow is THE end of august. Just sayin.

I just cancelled my CC subscription, actually painless. Normally they would ask 50% of the remaining months paid as a penalty but my cunning plan was to change to their cheapest plan and then cancel. In the process my credit card got declined and guess what, they cancelled everything automatically and I’m free to go. They don’t like users without credit cards. I started as a graphic designer but don’t depend on it anymore and for the last few years I tried to avoid opening Illustrator because whatever tool I was looking for would probably have changed or retired and the loading had become so long it was not worth it. So for me committing to faster and simpler software was not hard. However now I’m without my usual toolset I have some observations and worries. First of all you only have to work for a short while in Designer before you find something you can’t do. Split a curve easily, join curves easily, split a closed shape with a curve, scale anchor points, text wrap just to name the ones I came across the first 5 minutes. On the other hand I have a tool that creates a heart to my specification. I’m wondering how that got on the to-do list before the others. Also I noticed in other threads that the developers seem to ride a middle-high horse when it comes to evaluating users suggestions. Sometimes, just sometimes, give people what they ask for. Anyway, I believe this line of products will be serious competition for Adobe. I’m hoping for the history to repeat itself when Indesign killed Quark. However at the time of introduction Indesign had addressed every single user need that Quark had disregarded in all their arrogance. I don’t see the same situation here so adoptation is sure to be less revolutionary. I just hope these great applications will evolve quickly. Btw. I just bought the iPad Designer app, not sure I need it but it’s the coolest thing ever.