things i miss from illustrator

[Durss]

Hello there !

I discovered Affinity Designer some month ago after searching for Illustrator's alternatives (adobe prices becoming ridiculous...) and i finally took some time to check it. It seems very promising, the simple fact it opens my latest version illustrator files with no major issue is very good. Also, it's WAY smoother to navigate my file (lots of boards inside it with 3D projections).

I really feel like i could use it in place of Illustrator, except for some features that make my life much easier, so i though i could give you some "noob" feedback

 

I use Illustrator 99% of the time to create laser-cut designs (examples : secret-box, another, something-else) and as it consists of many layers it's sometimes hard to keep a global view of it.

That's where 3D extrusion from Illustrator becomes handy and life/time saving to me. With it I can get a better look of the final assembly and it saved me many times from mistakes i made i my measurements. When assembling the 3D renderings i realized some things didn't match as they should. I always blamed 3D rendering thinking it wasn't accurate, fact is, it was always issues in my designs.

Here is an example :

 

 

Another tool i use A LOT, that works very well with the 3D extrusion, is the "global edit". It allows to edit all the similar shapes of the project. It's way more flexible than the "object instance" option (which i didn't find in AD?) as it can find the edited shape inside 3D rendering and inside "path-finder" objects.

This allows me to edit a 2D shape and instantly get the 3D rendering to make sure it's ok.

 

Finally, something very different from illustrator is the way the "path-finder" (boolean operations) options work. In illustrator it makes a group of object with a special rendering that we can ungroup anytime to revert to normal. In AD it seems to modify the object with no way to revert back. Again this option is very crucial to me as i may use a shape as a hole on a part of my designs and as a "fill" in other parts. Being able to modify all at once is a must have to me. I can't count the number of times i forgot to update parts of my designs before i discover this illustrator's feature.

 

That it for my first tour of it, maybe i missed other ways to achieve what i want, sorry if that's the case.

My only goal is to give you ideas on how to make your product even better. What you've done is already pretty solid and i have no doubt it's perfect for many people working on graphic designs. 

But for my specific needs (and i know i'm probably part of very few people having those needs) it's still difficult to take the leap and switch from Illustrator to AD.

 

Congrats for your work and count on me to keep an eye on your product

[2ddpainter]

Hi durss

Here are a few suggestions that came
to my mind while reading your post

first - 3D extrusion
Affinity Designer (AD) have no 3D extrusion
but maybe the "Iso Studio" is enough as a workaround for you.
(you can also change the ISO-Angels, to may fit better for your needs)
In AD go to "View" > "Studio" > "Isometric"
You can find a Tutorial in the AD Forum Tutorials.

second - "global edit"
Look on "Symbols" in AD these may help.

Symbols may also help in point: " edit a 2D shape and instantly get the 3D rendering "
Well 3D rendering is not possible but you can edit a (Symbol) Shape
and this will change the Isometric (Symbol) Shape too.
- If you have a Symbol, go to the Layer open it
   and select the curve in it, than you can edit it.
 

third - " (boolean operations) "
Do you know " Live Booleans " in AD ?
it may be similar to what you are looking for
- Select the Objects you like to Boolean.
Than hold the ALT-Key and make the boolean you like.
The Result are a "Compound Object" in the Layers in this
Compound Object are your Objects untouched and you
can make further edits with them.