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Feature Request - Mode to preserve original objects after boolean operation


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Last evening I did an illustration that required cutting existing objects into smaller pieces.  While a "knife" feature would be nice, in this case boolean operations were satisfactory, however, the experience would have been more convenient if the boolean operations had an option to preserve the original objects.  I was doing a long sequence of splitting one object by a second by first subtracting the 2nd from the 1st, then intersecting the 2nd with the 1st.  Of course, that only worked when I manually made two copies of both both objects before doing the booleans.

This feature doesn't have to be as customizable as the CorelDRAW equivalent where the operation source and target can be separately preserved or discarded, but it would be handy if a modifier key simply preserved the original objects.

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@Arceom, I don't think that actually improves anything for me.  The issue is that once the original objects are booleaned -- or compounded, take your pick -- they are no longer available as inputs to another boolean -- or compound -- operation.

It would offer an advantage if I could produce a result object from a compound using one mode, then change the mode on the compound and produce a different result object.  But I don't believe you can produce a "flattened result" object from a compound in that way.

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I second the OP's suggestion. It's not that rare that you want to use an object for more than just a single boolean operation. Yes, you can do a workaround by duplicating it. But it kinda scares me that this forums seems to turn into some kind of "I have a workaround for that"-forum. Isn't an application meant to support your workflow without using tons of workarounds?

Edited by Andy05
edited wrong wording

»A designer's job is to improve the general quality of life. In fact, it's the only reason for our existence.«
Paul Rand (1914-1996)

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55 minutes ago, Andy05 said:

I second the OP's suggestion. It's not that rare that you want to use an object for more than just a single boolean operation. Yes, you can do a workaround by duplicating it. But it kinda scares me that this forums seems to turn into some kind of "I have a workaround for that"-forum. Isn't an application meant to support your workflow without using tons of workflows?

Andy,

What part of the original suggestion does Arceom's video not demonstrate as existing capability? What part of it is a mere 'workaround'?

JET

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Really? Use the same object on various other objects for boolean objects. Oh! You can't? See! It's a workaround which doesn't work at all.

»A designer's job is to improve the general quality of life. In fact, it's the only reason for our existence.«
Paul Rand (1914-1996)

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Hi sfriedberg,
I'm not sure if this process - layer clipping - is applicable to your use case but in certain situations it may help. See animated gif for an example where i've clipped a few objects inside a circle and even inside another object already clipped by the circle and also changed their order in several ways: 

layer_clipping.gif

Note: i don't intend to devalue your suggestion/feedback in any way, just presenting another workflow for this (in case it's applicable and helps in some way).

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@Arceom, @MEB, @Jet_Affinity the ability to create compound or do layer clipping to create one boolean result is not in question.  The request is to allow an object to take part in multiple boolean results, to afford a more efficient workflow.

And I don't mean multiple results over time but only one at any given time.  I mean multiple simultaneously existing results, each of which can be independently transformed and styled.

Having one object participate in multiple compounds (or clipping stacks) would obviously violate the fundamental tree/hierarchy nature of the layer stack, and is therefore a complete non-starter of an idea.  Fortunately, participation in boolean operations does not have that issue, which is why I requested a mode in which the inputs to a boolean operation would be preserved.

Again, this feature does not have to be as configurable as the CorelDRAW boolean operations.  Simply preserving the input objects when (for instance) the Shift key is held down would suffice.

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If there were a Geometry action which could take a subtree in the layer stack (e.g., a compound or layer clipping arrangement) and produce a new single layer with the (current) result of the subtree leaving the subtree unchanged, that would be another way to get the same sort of functionality.  But that's a much, much more complex operation than simply preserving the inputs to a boolean operation.

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Yes.  "Leave original source object" and/or "Leave original target object".  CorelDRAW lets you pick either, both, or neither.

(If it's not apparent from the rapidly moving narration, take a look at the checkboxes at the bottom of the Shape panel in the upper right of the video.)

 

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