How do I join paths with Pen tool? (Attached video)

[DesignByAdrian]

Hello, I want to migrate from Adobe Illustrator, but fail to find how to do basic pen actions. I'm looking for how to join two existing paths while drawing a new path between two anchor points. 

How do I achieve the same effects as attached video?

Thank you in advance

[firstdefence]

If I understand you correctly this is the icon you need to click on when using the pen tool.

[DesignByAdrian]

40 minutes ago, firstdefence said:

If I understand you correctly this is the icon you need to click on when using the pen tool.

That doesn't seem to work for me. I just end up with a new path which start and end anchor points lie in the same points as the other paths.

[R C-R]

5 hours ago, DesignByAdrian said:

I'm looking for how to join two existing paths while drawing a new path between two anchor points. 

Try this:

1. With the Pen Tool, draw the new path as a separate object, using snapping to make sure its start & end nodes are colocated with the appropriate nodes on the two existing paths.
2. Switch to the Node Tool & select all three paths.
3. On the context menu, click the "Join Curves" button.

Note: On Macs, holding down the CMD key with the Pen Tool selected will temporarily switch to the Node Tool, avoiding the need to switch tools in step 2. I am not sure what the equivalent would be for Windows.

[DesignByAdrian]

11 hours ago, R C-R said:

Try this:

1. With the Pen Tool, draw the new path as a separate object, using snapping to make sure its start & end nodes are colocated with the appropriate nodes on the two existing paths.
2. Switch to the Node Tool & select all three paths.
3. On the context menu, click the "Join Curves" button.

Note: On Macs, holding down the CMD key with the Pen Tool selected will temporarily switch to the Node Tool, avoiding the need to switch tools in step 2. I am not sure what the equivalent would be for Windows.

Thank you for the tip! Is this the only solution, though?

Choosing "join curves" every time is a really cumbersome. Can't I in some way just continue an already drawn path?

[R C-R]

33 minutes ago, DesignByAdrian said:

Can't I in some way just continue an already drawn path?

To add more nodes to the path of an open curve, make sure one of the nodes on either end of it is selected & continue adding nodes to it with the Pen Tool in the usual way. But note this will not automatically join it with any other existing path. For that, you must select both curves & use the "Join Curves" action.

Also note that this action will join open curves at their nearest end nodes -- it does not matter if any nodes on either curve are selected. So to avoid creating unnecessary nodes on the joined path, make sure the two nodes at the point where you want the join to occur are colocated.

[DesignByAdrian]

10 minutes ago, R C-R said:

So to avoid creating unnecessary nodes on the joined path, make sure the two nodes at the point where you want the join to occur are colocated.

If Affinity allowed to just draw from last point, this wouldn't be an issue. Do developers read the forums, or do I submit feedback somewhere else?

Thank you or your tips though, at least I can go through with it.

I'm a bit disappointed, though, as this means that I'd be much faster in Adobe Illustrator, which I'm trying to get away from.

[R C-R]

7 minutes ago, DesignByAdrian said:

If Affinity allowed to just draw from last point, this wouldn't be an issue.

It allows you to continue drawing with the Pen Tool from either the beginning or ending node of an open curve, starting at whichever of those two nodes is among the currently selected ones. If no node is currently selected, a new curve is started. If one or more nodes are selected but none of them are either the beginning or ending node, the curve is continued starting from the end node (the one with the red outline). Combined with the options available on the context toolbar, this offers a choice of several different behaviors.

What it does not do is reselect any node after all of its nodes have been deselected.

Note that by using the hot key to temporarily toggle the Pen Tool to the Node Tool, many node-related things can be done without constantly having to change tools.

59 minutes ago, DesignByAdrian said:

Do developers read the forums, or do I submit feedback somewhere else?

There is a Feature Requests & Suggestions forum. Please refer to the text at the top of that page before starting a new topic in it.

[Fixx]

OK, you can make a path active and continue drawing it. Here is the trick:

This looks like active node but it is not. Instead:

Now the node is active and clicking to it with pen tool will continue as single path.
Clear? (Not very. Why the first image node is red when it is not active? :-D)

[Old Bruce]

The top image has a red node because that one is the end node.

[R C-R]

5 hours ago, Fixx said:

Why the first image node is red when it is not active?

Because as both @Old Bruce & I have mentioned, whether selected or not it is the end node. When either the Pen or Node tool is active, the context toolbar "Reverse Curves" button  will toggle the direction of any selected curves. For open curves, this reverses their beginning & ending nodes & thus which node has the red outline; for closed curves there is no visible change unless the "Show Orientation" box on the context toolbar is ticked, in which case the tiny red direction indicator on the red node will change direction.

Active (selected) nodes are filled with blue. Multiple nodes on multiple curves can be selected at the same time by using the shift key or a marquee drag when the Node Tool is active, including when the current tool is the Pen Tool & the hot key modifier is used to temporarily toggle it to the node mode.

So for example, as below you could have 4 curves plus 6 nodes selected. By noting which nodes are filled with blue & which are outlined in red, there should be no confusion about which items are selected or will be affected by the various actions & options that can be applied to them.

 

[Fixx]

OK, I get it.  Thanks.