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Node Tool Actions:


 


Discoveries in Moving and/or Aligning Entire Objects using the Node Tool


 


To select all of the nodes on any given object/path you must first click on either any part of the path or any node of the object to highlight all of the individual nodes on the object. Then you can drag a selection rectangle around every node to select all of them or individually do a “shift-click” on every node to individually select them all or just the one you chose.


 


Once this is done you may then drag the object and/or the selected nodes by placing the cursor directly over any selected node and drag the object/nodes to a new location all at once


 


You can also use this technique with the “Snap” option turned on to directly ‘snap” any given node of one object to any given node of another without distorting the original object.


 


If the object/path you are trying to move as a whole with the cursor on any given node is overlapping another object the selection rectangle drawn by the “Node Tool” will only select the nodes on the selected object and not those of the underlying object. This is a big plus.


 


Downside?


 


Using the above method to move and snap an object/path without distorting the original only works if you move the object with the node tool directly over a node.


 


If you accidentally happen to place the cursor over ANY line or curve segment and not directly over a node while trying to move the object (regardless of how many nodes you have selected) two things will happen.


 


1. If the cursor is on a curve segment it will modify the curve.


 


2. If the cursor is on a straight line segment it will convert it into a curve segment (immediatelyi use “command-z” to undo that action).


 


Both of these options is an undesirable side effect that will unintentionally modify the object when your initial intent is to only move it in tact or just the selected nodes.


 


Obviously this is an unintended consequence but something you should be completely aware of. I have one suggestion as to how to handle the accidental modification of a path at this point that might work.


 


Possible Solution:


 


If two or more nodes on a path are currently selected then DO NOT allow the tool to modify individual line or curve segments as this node selection would be a indication that the user is only interested in moving the individually selected nodes and not modifying any of the segments.


 


Hope these discoveries are of help to all.


 


Max



OS X Ventura 13.0.1, Mac Studio M1 Max, 27" Apple Studio Display, 32 GB SSD. Affinity Universal License for 2.0.

Mac User & Programmer since 1985 to date. Author of “SignPost” for vinyl sign cutting.

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Downside?

 

Using the above method to move and snap an object/path without distorting the original only works if you move the object with the node tool directly over a node.

 

If you accidentally happen to place the cursor over ANY line or curve segment and not directly over a node while trying to move the object (regardless of how many nodes you have selected) two things will happen.

 

1. If the cursor is on a curve segment it will modify the curve.

 

2. If the cursor is on a straight line segment it will convert it into a curve segment (immediatelyi use “command-z” to undo that action).

 

Both of these options is an undesirable side effect that will unintentionally modify the object when your initial intent is to only move it in tact or just the selected nodes.

 

Hi Max,

This doesn't seems a downside for me, neither i see them as an undesirable effect. I believe this is by design and it's one of the things that differ form Illustrator and make AD much more user friendly (unless you're used to Illustrator obviously).

 

In Illustrator if you click the object first with the Direct tool it lets you drag a curved segment to adjust the curvature but if you pick a straight segment it does not. It just moves the entire segment instead, kind of what you're asking. But where's the consistency? How can a user predict intuitively the behaviour of a tool if it's inconsistent in the way it works? If you want to do the same to a straight segment in Illustrator you will have to pick yet another tool: the Anchor Point Tool.

 

AD is much more consistent, intuitive and direct: if you want to move the entire object use the move tool. If you want to move nodes use the node tool. In the node tool, if you drag a path (no matter if straight or curve) it deforms/adjust the path; if you select a node(s) and drag them you move the nodes without distorting the paths. It's a question of picking the items to which you want to apply an action. 

 

If you don't want to distort a path don't pick the shape/object by its path. Pick the nodes (the structure) that conform that path. If you did it accidentally, undo comes to the rescue. Illustrator is unnecessarily complex with lots of subtleties and workflows that must be learnt before one gets productive.

That's why I think AD does it way better. And this is a good example of it. It's much more user friendly to new users to distort/adjust the paths.

 

Regarding what you're proposing it doesn't help me particularly since sometimes i select more than two nodes from different shapes to correct some boolean operations manually (to compare control handles positions etc). Unless that rule is applied to nodes from the same shape. Anyway i'm still unsure if we really need more (unnecessary?) constrains here, because this is a matter of just picking the correct items we want to adjust.

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Thanks MEB, you've pretty much explained our reasoning.  It is entirely by design.

 

Having the behaviour of dragging a line segment depend upon whether the line segment if curved or straight is not helpful.  The user cannot realistically tell the difference in certain cases.

 

We discussed adding some modifiers to affect the dragging of line segments - perhaps Ctrl to perform curve dragging while keeping the handle directions fixed, and Cmd to allow for moving the entire segment (effectively dragging the nodes at either end, as AI does with straight segments).  So - we offer the same functionality as AI, but without the guess work on the users part.  You chose what the action is by use of modifier keys.

 

Of course, we'll sprinkle some snapping magic onto that as well to make ours that little bit better.   ;)

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Thanks for the feedback guys.


 


I think your approach of not particularly using Illustrator as a guide is good. In the end Illustrator will have to probably follow your lead. Maybe someday Illustrator will be on the leading edge of your trailing edge trying to catch up with you.


 


I also do not necessarily disagree with your logic here. My main problem was that of accidentally converting a straight line segment into a curve segment accidentally but also knowing that will happen should probably prevent you from doing it twice.


 


I do like the fact that when using the node tool you can select a path, then drag a selection rectangle around all the nodes to highlight them then move the entire object placing the cursor on one of the nodes using snap to position the object using one node over a node on another path. This allows you to snap one particular node to a node of another object by moving the entire object by a node.


 


I also made another post under “Feature Request” regarding using the “Node Tool” with the “option” key to change it to a “cut” tool which should be pretty intuitive when a small “x” appears under the node toll.


 


Just something to think about.


 


Suggestion:


 


Also noticed that the “Action: Close Curve” is also used to close the end points of any path even if they are straight line segments. This was not readily apparent because of the way it is worded until I tried it. Possibly consider renaming this to “Action: Close Path” which is more intuitive, covers both bases and says exactly what it really does.


 


Thanks for listening.


 


Max



OS X Ventura 13.0.1, Mac Studio M1 Max, 27" Apple Studio Display, 32 GB SSD. Affinity Universal License for 2.0.

Mac User & Programmer since 1985 to date. Author of “SignPost” for vinyl sign cutting.

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Beta: 1.0.19046

 

The node tool now allows going from curve segments to straight line segments by option-clicking on the last curve point and clicking for the next line segment.

 

Works beautifully and intuitively.  Thanks guys.

 

Max

OS X Ventura 13.0.1, Mac Studio M1 Max, 27" Apple Studio Display, 32 GB SSD. Affinity Universal License for 2.0.

Mac User & Programmer since 1985 to date. Author of “SignPost” for vinyl sign cutting.

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