White gaps in between the shapes composing a QR code

[Augustin]

I created a QR code and downloaded the SVG version to edit it in Affinity Designer, even though the shapes that make the QR code are made to snap, there is a white gap that also shows on the exported version, this sometimes happens when snapping to shapes, but because the QR code is composed of many small shapes, it is much more noticeable.

[Alfred]

Welcome to the Serif Affinity Forums, Augustin.

Are the edges of the shapes aligned to pixel boundaries? Have you tried to Boolean ‘add’ any of the adjacent squares?

[Augustin]

I did try applying boolean "add" to some shapes, but for some cases it makes it even worse, you can see in the attached image above the thicker white lines are those I use add on, the rest thin lines are like that since the beginning, even if I manually move individual shapes to make them snap correctly. The only way of changing this is to make the shapes overalp

[Alfred]

Assuming that you started with square corners everywhere, my guess is that you rounded the shapes before trying to Boolean ‘add’ them. I think you should find that you avoid those gaps if you add the shapes first.

[Gear maker]

Augustin, some of the white gaps are wider than others so I would guess there is a snapping issue on some of the parts.  Anyway would it ruin the effect if you were to add just a very slight stroke the same color as the fill to the shapes?  If you group all the shapes you can add the stroke to the group and it will affect all the shapes in the group.  You only need a stroke just to cover the width of the white lines.

If you zoom way in, while in the node tool, do the corner nodes of the individual squares align perfectly one on top the other?  If not this would be the reason the add did not work.

[Augustin]

They align perfectly. I added a second screenshot of other shapes that have a gap in between snapped shapes, even I applied a boolean add to all of them

[firstdefence]

Upload the .afdesigner file so we can take a look properly.

[Augustin]

qr code.afdesign

[G13RL]

Hi Augustin,

The shapes are not perfectly aligned, resulting in the formation of gaps between them, even after "Add".

[firstdefence]

Had a look at the file and there are some misplaced shapes like these...

[firstdefence]

Out of curiosity which app did you use to create the QRCode?

[Augustin]

I thought I aligned them correctly, there are some cases in which even if I realign them some shapes will add correctly, and other one will have even thicker lines.

I use qr code monkey for the qr codes

[Augustin]

I made a new one, when applying to add to certain shapes the gap gets even larger

qr-code-2.afdesign

[Alfred]

One way to tackle this kind of problem, though tedious, should be pretty reliable: using the Node Tool, drag on the edges to create overlaps between adjacent shapes so that they add correctly.

[G13RL]

You can also block the three similar shapes in the corners (the top two and the bottom left one), select the set and press "Add", the gaps will disappear.

[Augustin]

Thank you! Why did blocking those shapes changed something? For the first suggestion, I do that when I have problems with other projects in which I have at most ten lines misbehaving, but for this one it would be to long, as I have to make many of these qr codes

[G13RL]

If you don't do this these forms will fill up and it will be even more work to restore them to their original appearance.

[G13RL]

You could hide or remove the three white shapes from the three corners, but that would also make additional manipulations.