Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Expand stroke with arrowheads ? Possible ?


Recommended Posts

Sorry if this has been asked before, I searched but could not find an answer.

 

I currently have a few lines to which I have applied "arrowheads" start and end (actually I used circles instead of arrowheads..) and now I am trying to "flatten" the design.

However, I am unable to convert to curves (a stroke is already a curve) and when I choose "expand stroke", the stroke itself is expanded as expected, however the arrow ends have vanished... is this expected behaviour ? Is there any way I can achieve this simple task ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This works okay for me in Designer 1.8.3.641 on Windows 10.
With a double-arrow-head line I get three layers after expansion, one for the curve and one for each arrow, see attached image.
I think this is the first time I’ve tried expanding the stroke of a curve with arrow-heads, that I can remember, so I might just be lucky this time.

Annotation 2020-06-26 150234.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, GarryP said:

This works okay for me in Designer 1.8.3.641 on Windows 10.

It also works for me using AD for Mac.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Garry beat me to it. I think using “Align Stroke to Inside” (or to outside) not working as expected has been reported as a bug.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You’re welcome.
I don’t think you should have needed to think about the alignment type; it should have just worked (unless I’m missing some important information).
As R C-R said above, it could have already been reported as a bug (however the same problem is still evident in the 1.8.4.650 beta).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It’s perhaps not surprising that the same bug manifests itself in the iPad version of AD.

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
39 minutes ago, wigglepixel said:

Could this get some attention by Affinity to fix this?

If it is not reported in the bug forum and it remained only as a question, then I doubt it.

Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.4.0.2301
Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155.
Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155.
Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
  • 2 years later...

Confirmed in Designer 2.0.4 on Windows (don’t know about the 2.1 beta).

When “Align Stroke to Inside” or “Align Stroke to Outside” is set then the arrowhead is lost from the stroke expansion.
However, when “Align Stroke to Centre” is set then the arrowhead is expanded as expected.

This was reported as a bug on Desktop, and acknowledged by a staff member, and logged, in May 2021: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/141557-is-this-a-bug-why-in-cant-convert-to-curves-or-expand-arrowheads/

It was previously reported as a bug for iPad, and acknowledged by a staff member, and passed to development, in August 2019: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/94571-expand-stroke-with-arrowheads/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I must be honest, I can't see the advantage/difference of setting the alignment to inner or outer, rather than centre. In what circumstances do you need to use these settings?

Acer XC-895 : Core i5-10400 Hexa-core 2.90 GHz :  32GB RAM : Intel UHD Graphics 630 : Windows 10 Home
Affinity Publisher 2 : Affinity Photo 2 : Affinity Designer 2 : (latest release versions) on desktop and iPad

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

In what circumstances do you need to use these settings?

I can’t think of any, and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone come up with a good reason to be able to set them to anything other than “Align Stroke to Centre” for an open curve.

As you said in another thread, the superfluous options should probably be disabled, for open curves, unless someone can come up with a good reason not to. (And they can always be re-enabled if someone comes up with a good reason later.)

There’s a chance that not disabling the other options is simply a case of erring on the side of caution, not wanting to ‘break’ something that could be useful but not generally known about.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, PaulEC said:

I must be honest, I can't see the advantage/difference of setting the alignment to inner or outer, rather than centre.

The proposals and benefits of using the Inner/Outer option for curves have been discussed and proposed several times on the forum, but in the current concept of Affinity they are completely irrelevant - and it is therefore a bug (of the design) that these options are not disabled and it is therefore possible to select them (although they do not have no meaning). The fact that these completely meaningless (actually unused) curve parameters cause another problem with the Expand command is only a consequence of this faulty design.

Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.4.0.2301
Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155.
Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155.
Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.