Subtract not working as it should

[Markcq]

Is anyone else having issues with the subtract feature in Designer? I have two ellipses. I want to subtract the one from the other to form a crescent moon shape. Instead of doing that it keeps both ellipses and forms a weird angular connection on (image 2, 3, 4 and 5). Or it does the subtract, but then the two points that need to be corner or connector points are cured points, so the sharp corners are twisted (I tried to recreate this, but it didn't come up now... It came up while I was teaching an Affinity Designer class). I've tried converting the shapes to curves before doing subtract... same thing.

The only thing that worked in the end was to Divide the shapes instead and then delete the excessive parts... A bit of a roundabout way to work.

Macos 10.15.4 (MacBook Pro 13-inch, 2018)
Affinity Designer 1.8.3

[Move Along People]

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[Markcq]

9 hours ago, haakoo said:

Works as expected on win 10 beta version.
FYI there is a crescent quick shape in affinity programs

Yes, I’m aware of the fact that there is a crescent shape, but this is something that came up as I was showing someone what add, subtract, intersect, etc. does... and shapes as seen in the attached screenshots is not what is expected. This is the first time I noticed it, hence trying a few locations and positions...  not all positions produced that result, only some... it just seem a bit unstable and buggy.

[Sean P]

Hi Markcq,

Could you attach a copy of your document please? Sometimes the Boolean issues can be really finicky about the size and positioning of the objects in the document. I've just tried a quick test file here using 1.8.3 and that was fine!

[Markcq]

6 hours ago, Sean P said:

Hi Markcq,

Could you attach a copy of your document please? Sometimes the Boolean issues can be really finicky about the size and positioning of the objects in the document. I've just tried a quick test file here using 1.8.3 and that was fine!

Hi Sean,

Sure, I quickly created a document with 3 examples. Select the two circles and hit subtract. I repeated each example a number of times to be sure that it wasn't a one-hit-wonder.

Subtract Bug.afdesign

Edited May 4, 2020 by Markcq
Just added the fact that I repeated the experiments

[lepr]

16 minutes ago, Markcq said:

Hi Sean,

Sure, I quickly created a document with 3 examples. Select the two circles and hit subtract. I repeated each example a number of times to be sure that it wasn't a one-hit-wonder.

Subtract Bug.afdesign

You'll find that a non-destructive subtract works with your examples. A non-destructive boolean is performed by holding down opt/alt key when clicking the boolean button or picking the boolean command from a menu. Then you can use Convert To Curves command if you need the boolean operation to be destructive. I'm only suggesting this as a workaround until there's a fix - obviously, the destructive operation should just work. Maybe non-destructive booleans are using more reliable code from 1.7.x.

 

 

[Markcq]

18 minutes ago, anon2 said:

You'll find that a non-destructive subtract works with your examples. A non-destructive boolean is performed by holding down opt/alt key when clicking the boolean button or picking the boolean command from a menu. Then you can use Convert To Curves command if you need the boolean operation to be destructive. I'm only suggesting this as a workaround until there's a fix - obviously, the destructive operation should just work. Maybe non-destructive booleans are using more reliable code from 1.7.x.

 

 

That's a good work-around, thanks for that. I also found if I use Divide and then delete the parts I don't want it also worked, so that's my current work-around if I bump into a funny one (although it does sometimes leave behind small bits of paths that need to be cleaned up)... It doesn't always happen, but technically it is something that shouldn't ever happen.

[lepr]

29 minutes ago, Markcq said:

That's a good work-around, thanks for that. I also found if I use Divide and then delete the parts I don't want it also worked, so that's my current work-around if I bump into a funny one (although it does sometimes leave behind small bits of paths that need to be cleaned up)... It doesn't always happen, but technically it is something that shouldn't ever happen.

I think you'll find it quicker and less messy to opt-click the boolean button and then press cmd+enter, instead of clicking divide button and then selecting and deleting unwanted parts and debris.

[Sean P]

Thanks for the file Markcq, I've reproduced the issue and passed it onto development.