muddypawsco

For anyone needing the contour function for similar purposes to mine (vinyl cutting).  There is a workaround to get similar results, It's quite a few steps so I made a video.  I accidentally expanded stroke twice on the blue stroke, the second time was not necessary and didn't actually do anything, just a whoops!
 

ContourWorkaround.mp4

Yeah, and as mentioned, that's great as a purely visual workaround but as soon as you bring those into vinyl cutting software it turns into a giant mess.  The contour tool creates separate objects, not strokes.  I appreciate the "how to" though, I'll use it for now for anything I don't have to run through my cutter.

…and to take things a step further, you can actually make a contour from a dash line, too…

…

 

…or a pressure line…

…

…actually Ad has a much easier contour function than Ai does. No work around needed.
Here it goes, I hope this helps…
Step 1, take any object and apply a stroke to it. In this case the stroke is red, weight is 7,5 pt. You can use all attributes you would usually do when it comes to strokes, in this case round corners and stroke aligned to the outside of the object. Color panel shows a blue fill and a red stroke color.

Here in split view you can see that the stroke is indeed a stroke and not an object (yet).

Step 2, convert object to curves in Layers menu.

Step 3, without deselecting the object, choose Expand Stroke again from the Layers menu.

Now the stroke has become an object as is clearly visible in split view. Also, the color panel no longer displays a stroke color.

Step 4, now I can apply another stroke to the new (red) object, this time an orange color, weight is 8 pt.

…and Expand Stroke again.

Here you can see that the orange stroke has become an object, too. Again, the color panel does not indicate a stroke color anymore.

This is the result.

And these are the single parts dissected.

Thank you @muddypawsco for the clear explanation!! That was what kept happening (trying to use combine before Divide).
I think I was playing around with the boolean operations earlier in my exploration with AD and didn't quite have a handle on how Divide worked on its own. When I saw the Inkscape tutorial I took it as a necessary step because the functions seemed to be so similar. There do seem to be a few extra artifacts and pieces, but they are easily moved out of the way to focus on leaving only the shape segments you want to keep for a potential design.
Not to detract from the rest of those who still wish to see a Shape Builder tool created for AD (it's workflow benefits are undeniable), but this really helps clarify a key workaround for some situations.
 

Status: Beta Release
Purpose: New features, fixes
Requirements: Purchased Affinity Designer
Mac App Store: Not Submitted
Download: Here
 
This Beta has been updated to fix a translation issue as of 2pm (BST), Thursday 24th August. Aside from the translations, the application remains the same so you only need to download it again if you had a problem. Sorry for the inconvenience.
 
This beta version represents a substantial change to our codebase and as much as we have tried to ensure the quality of the code, it should be considered to be not suitable for production use. This means that you should not attempt to use it for commercial purposes or for any other activity that may be adversely affected by the application failing. In addition it is definitely worth noting that files created in Affinity 1.6 may not open in 1.5 so always make a copy of your important documents before opening them in 1.6 to ensure you do not accidentally overwrite them and are unable to open them in your 1.5 version.
 
To use this beta, simply download the file from the link given above and double-click on the file to open the installer. Follow the instructions to install the beta version. The beta sits alongside the Mac App Store version and will not interfere with it.
 
Fixes/Improvements:
Fix for incorrect grid behaviour with isometric grid in Metal view mode, also Triangular grid misbehaviour Fix for incorrect document background area being drawn when zoomed in on an Artboard document in pixel view mode (fixed for Metal view only) Fix for text frame resize via double-clicking handle causing crash Fix for crash on EPS import Fixed some PDF import issues Added ability to rotate the selected nodes in the Node Tool - via the Transform panel Fix for studio panels not correctly restoring their hidden/visible state between application sessions Path text now allows baseline editing when text is multi-line Further tweaked Expand Stroke results to not be so aggressive Miscellaneous other fixes and tweaks

Have you checked out our help files? AD shortcuts are all available there in a list?

The creative guys here at Serif Labs knocked up keyboard shortcuts cheat sheets - hope you find them useful!
 
Now updated PDFs for 1.4
 
Affinity Photo
 
Affinity Designer
 
Both together

Thats what im talking about! I live breathe and die by shortcut key combinations! THANK YOU!!

We don't expect to be able to export AI files ever, I'm afraid. It's a proprietary format owned by Adobe. The best we can do is export in PDF. Although we can import them, that's because they include PDF stream and we actually import the PDF.

I'm not sure text on a path is in photo, but it is in designer. And it's really easy! Just draw a path, hover the text tool near the line until you get a little wavy bezier icon below the cursor, click and type. I've attached a video.
 
I'm not sure if this feature will make it into photo, it seems like a bit of mission creep to me, but maybe one of the Affinity devs has an answer.
text on path.mov

Hi all. I'm alive and kicking.The , um, recent unpleasantness is all over and I'm none the worse for the wear.  
 
And then there's this: here's good news and bad news.
 
Bad news, is that I have no freaking idea when the final part of the tutorial will be done. 
 
Good news, is that now that I'm hale and healthy (so to speak), I'm experiencing an unbridled rush of creativity and energy. And it's all directed at my comics. Unfortunately, the art is strictly raster and not vector. So my use of AD is limited. And since it's comics, I'm using Manga Studio and not AP -- as I enjoy having my entire story open at once (from 24 to 130 pages) and being able to effortlessly go from page to page. Again, it's that using the best tool for the job at hand thing. 
 
Over the past two weeks, I've written and laid out a 130 page Graphic Novel. The longest sustained narrative I've ever done, btw. It's a story that's been clamoring to get out of my mind-maze for some time and I just let loose and let it out. It's one of those things, artistically, that I cannot let go of and it is all-consuming until I finish it. All. 130+. Pages. Of. It. 
 
If I could be excused, this once, and post work not done in an Affinity product, I'd like to share a bit of the work with y'all. This is from what I plan to use as a back cover of the story and (maybe?) as a promo piece for the Graphic Novel (it's title is Hard Rock Candi, btw). The art is still WIP, but the text is "golden" as in finished. 

 
Going just a titch current-event-y, I began writing this story before the brouhaha in Indiana, US began and as time passes, the story becomes more relevant. Art should always strive to shake up the status-quo, whenever possible, ya know. 
 
Anyway, backing away from completing the tutorial is not a decision I made lightly. I gave it much thought. It would take about 2-3 weeks to complete (and some time to catch up with the changes in AD and the introduction of Affinity Photo) and at this time, it would be time that needs to be used to work on the graphic novel and two other stories that I'm con-currently working on. IOW, my heart's in doing my comics and not in the tutorial. 
 
I'm sure most here understands how the creative river flows and understands my decision. And if you don't, my sincere apologies. I do suggest checking out everything Ronnie McBride's doing. His tutorials are really good and he's worked up a good backlog of stuff on his YouTube channel that every one should get caught up on.
 
I'll still be around, but not to the extent I was last year.
 
See y'all around these parts, fellow pixel-pushers!

Hey mate, sorry If I hurt you! My point of view is that a Comic font can be used only for eye catch elements, but maybe its only because I'm a Web Designer!  :lol:
 
Peace and sorry again!  ^_^

@MastroPino: saying that ComiCraft's YaddaYaddaYadda or Blambot Casual is like ComicSans is like saying that The Last Ship TV series is like the Titanic Movie because they both take place on ships.  While I'm quite aware that studies have shown that sans serif fonts don't have the retainability of serif fonts, I chose the fonts I used because:
I'm a comics guy. Love me good hand-drawn comic styled typefaces It fits my "voice" and the visual style of the tutorials. I did try a few other typefaces: Berkeley Oldschool, Cason 224 and others. I kept going back to the ones I used because it just felt better to me. On the next to last page of the tutorial document there's a colophon that lists all the fonts I used. The tutorial is meant to be read while working on the exercises, so the goal is to build up "muscle memory" in the exercises. The text is merely an end to a means, so the actual retention of its contents isn't important compared with the practice of the contents.  The basic style and font choices were based on my illustrations I did for my book, Manga Studio 5 Beginner's Guide published by Packt Publishing. My editors loved it and encouraged me to use it throughout the book. When I showed my editor the basic format for my "In Action" series of tutorials (of which The Pumpkin Tutorial is just one of a few I've done so far), He really liked it.  ​The fonts I use have excellent Kerning and Leading along with other OpenType features that just blow ComicSans out of the water. I would suggest that you duplicate some of my text in ComicSans and actually compare them. You'll see right off that there's major differences between them.
 
While I'm normally a relaxed guy there's subjects that'll get me riled up. ComicSans is one of them. I absolutely despise that font with a passion that is totally out of proportion to any logic. The thing I hate most about ComicSans is how it has made a lot of typographic "sins" acceptable to those who don't really understand typography and, especially, comics. So while I do admit I made my font selection to be different than most other tutorials, I did spend hours picking and choosing the specific fonts I used to make the tutorial look the way I wanted it to. 
 
So that's that. Let's not speak of this specific subject again, 'kay? 
 
Glad you liked it and I'm planning on completing it in the next few weeks. 

Why would anyone want to spend precious time on a tutorial? Manuals have everything you need, so just have one of those to hand and get stuck in. Well, that's what I thought before having a go at Mike's pumpkin thing.
 
All I can say now is that I really enjoyed the journey with this, and not only has it taught me the basics with AD, but made me realise the value in investing time in learning through a tutorial. I recognise the huge effort Mike has made here, and now add myself to the growing list of people who have appreciated his efforts. 
 
Thank you so much.

I'm new in these parts but I'm interested in finally learning how to use vector drawing software.
I'm taking Ronnie's Udemy course and posted a short review over at Udemy.
Wanted to share it in this thread, too:
 
"Top class.
 
I’ve only done the first half or so but can already tell you that this is a very good course.
I did get a 50% discount by using the coupon on Ronnie’s website, but would still be happy if I’d paid full price.
Ronnie really knows his stuff and is one of those people who can not only do but can also teach others to do. His delivery is clear, well paced, and thorough. He’s also responsive to questions and comments. Difficult to think what else you could ask for in any instructor.
He’s given me exactly the sort of confidence I was hoping for (and like I say, I’m only half way through.)
I imagine that someone, somewhere, is writing the first of a whole bunch of introductory books about Affinity Designer. If their plan is to give a beginner as good a grounding as Ronnie gives us in this course then they’re going to have their work cut out in my opinion.
(I might add that I’ve found the quality of courses on Udemy pretty mixed, and requested refunds on several because they either represented really poor value for money or didn’t get close to delivering what they promised. No refund needed on this one, for sure.)
Recommended."
 
EDIT: Just wanted to add that I’ve now watched the whole course and the final part is every bit as good as the earlier material.
 
Ronnie takes us through a project, based on his own hand-drawn sketch of a cartoon-style alien creature. Everything from importing a photograph of the sketch through to inking and colouring and applying some pretty cool features, using those tools that he gave us such a thorough introduction to in the earlier videos. So in this part of the course alone we get more than an hour and a quarter of watching an expert do his thing. The commentary is detailed, clear, and well-paced, just like all the stuff we saw earlier on.
 
We also get useful information on project management - not only the file structure for each project (working files, imports etc) but also the naming and arrangement of layers within any particular AD file. And at the end, since Ronnie can’t contain his enthusiasm for the software, we get a detailed bonus lecture on making pixel selections from a photograph.
 
If you’re at all serious about learning Affinity Designer you’d almost certainly get an absolute ton of goodness from this course.
If it was ‘Recommended’ before, it’s now ‘Highly Recommended’.
 
We can only hope that one day, when Udemy get their quality control sorted out, all courses will provide this kind of value.
 

I just got as far as page three, and read this bit:
 
Get in the habit of saving your files often. Sometimes even do a Save As... to save incremental copies. Sometimes things get corrupted -- it's always good to have a fall back.
 
At his very moment I'm looking at ways of ensuring that our save mechanism is totally robust (in a way you won't see from other similar apps).  We've had one case of files being saved to a USB drive and getting corrupted, but I'm almost 100% sure that this was due to the drive being disconnected early. We actually designed our file format to guard against file corruptions.  I'm confident that we will crack the USB drive issue as well.
 
Our file format actually includes a versioning system, much like a database. When you do a save, only the differences are tacked onto the end of the file, and only when the whole file is written do we finalise the file and make your changes permanent.  This means, in theory, that you can try to save and it could fail due to a drive being disconnected or a power outage and your original file should be preserved.  We use the same strategy to make our Auto saving completely non-intrusive - if it's taking too long to auto save and you start to try using a tool, we just stop it dead and wait until your machine is having some down time.
 
So, while your advice is absolutely right, we're hoping our technology is going to protect your files further, and between our regular saves and auto saves, you're going to have to worry about this less.
 
Of course, we can't do anything about your drive dying or you accidentally deleting stuff - it's always good to make backup copies!

Hi All, 
 
I'm Joe Carter, a Graphic Designer from Spokane, WA. I've used graphic software since 1991 - starting with Freehand and a little bit if Illustrator. I've been out of the Graphic Design field for almost 15 years and kept trying free software and trials to figure out what I wanted to use. Today I took the plunge and bought Affinity Designer! I love this software and am excited to see what comes with the whole Affinity Suite! Currently Beta testing AD and AP as well. 
 
Thanks developers for being so responsive to your customers! 

Just purchased your course and I'm excited to get Started!!! :):)