Making Straight Lines with Guide

[GeekyGal]

I apologize if this question has been asked before; I can't find it.

I'm new to Affinity Photo from GIMP. In both programs, when you hold down shift while using most tools (eraser etc.), you get a straight line. With GIMP, a line is shown while you hold down shift, enabling you to better approximate what you're doing. I don't see this in Affinity Photo. Is there a way to enable this?

Attached is a GIMP screenshot to show the guide line that I'm talking about, in case I'm not making any sense.

Thank you!

[h_d]

Hi @GeekyGal and welcome to the forums! 😀

You can't quite do that, but you can use guides. First pull down the View menu and make sure Show Guides and Show Rulers are enabled.

  

You can then drag in editable, adjustable guides from the left ruler (vertical) and the topic ruler (horizontal).

You can also use the Guides Manager and Snapping Manager to control how tools work with guides, adjust guides precisely and more.

Cheers,

H

 

 

[GarryP]

This really depends on which tool you are using and which mode the tool is in.
For example, the Pen Tool has four modes and what you can do is slightly different in each.
Try each mode – selectable using the Context Toolbar – and try dragging instead of clicking. Then try tapping the right-mouse-button or holding it down while dragging and see what happens when you release either the left- or right-mouse button first.
There are all kinds of combinations so it may take some practice before you can be comfortable with them (I’m not yet).
See my attached GIF which shows some different things.

Is this the sort of thing you mean? If not, please say which tool you are using and give a little more detail about your requirements.

P.S. If you want to draw horizontal, vertical, or 45 degree lines then you can hold down SHIFT to see a yellow ‘guide’ line showing where the line will go.

[GeekyGal]

On 2/19/2020 at 3:41 AM, GarryP said:

P.S. If you want to draw horizontal, vertical, or 45 degree lines then you can hold down SHIFT to see a yellow ‘guide’ line showing where the line will go.

Thank you both! This is basically what I was looking for, but with the eraser tool. It doesn't seem to exist in Affinity Photo. Oh well. 

Your GIF was quite helpful actually. I'm much happier now that I have two columns for my interface, and the foreground/background swatches showing.