JDW Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 I've noticed some strangeness when importing my *.ai files in Affinity Designer. You can do this test to see what I am seeing: 1. In Illustrator, sketch a rectangle and color it 100% K (in a CMYK file), then make it 60% transparent. 2. Save a PDF compatible *.ai file. 3. Open your *.ai file in AD. 4. Note inside "Layer 1" you have "(Group)" and inside that you have "(Curve)" 5. Note the "Opacity" slider in the "Color" tab is set to 100%. 6. With "Layer 1" selected in the Layers palette, decrease that "Opacity" slider (the one OUTSIDE the Layers palette) to say 50% and you can see your object lighten but the "Opacity" slider snaps back to 100%. Do that again when you have "(Group)" selected and the same thing happens. But do that when you have "(Curve)" selected and your chosen value sticks! Strange. Very strange. 7. Note that you can also change the separate "Opacity" slider that resides inside the Layers palette. And only "(Group)" shows 50% (the value you set in Photoshop), while "Layers 1" and "(Curve)" show 100%. All this is very confusing to me. First of all, why not just import than single object as a single object? Why create two objects "(Group)" and "(Curve)"? Next, what is different about the Opacity slider in the Color tab, which sits just millimeters away from the separate Opacity slider inside the Layers palette? Sorry if my questions are confusing but I myself am confused. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilleG Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Can't answer the rest of your questions but the Opacity slider in the Color tab affects only the color that your are currently using. The little circle to the left of the slider is a toggle for Noise, which again will be applied only to the current color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted July 15, 2015 Staff Share Posted July 15, 2015 Hi JDW, The opacity slider that's contained inside the Colours tab affects the colour's alpha (as LilleG was pointing out). The opacity slider inside the Layers panel affects the opacity of the selected layer. They perform different functions. Quote A Guide to Learning Affinity Software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDW Posted July 16, 2015 Author Share Posted July 16, 2015 LilleG and MEB, thank you for explaining the difference between the two Opacity sliders. Coming from Illustrator I was a bit bewildered by it. That's because in Illustrator when I think of changing the Opacity, I simply open the Transparency panel and move the Opacity slider, affecting my currently selected object. The only other Opacity slider I normally use in Illustrator is the one in the Gradients panel, which let's me create a gradient that fades from a color to nothingness. The reason I was confused in Affinity Designer is because I've been conducting compatibility tests on my *.ai files, resaving them with PDF content in Illustrator (which I normally don't do because file sizes are massive) and then opening them in AD. I noticed a couple transparency oddities on the conversion of one of my *.ai documents and that led me to the Opacity sliders in AD. I understand the situation now though. It's a learning process. Thanks for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimGoshorn Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Opening from Illustrator can be less that optimal. I opened a file which I had named objects and organized into layers and groups and when it opened, it had no names and the organization was gone. Also be aware that symbols come over rather oddly as well. Wish the Illustrator format wasn't proprietary :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.