Shotster Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 I often find that I want to make a border or outline transparent such that it "cuts through" all underlying layers. For example, consider the attached image below. Is there a way to make the outline transparent such that the red background appears? I realize I can jump through all kinds of hoops by expanding strokes and performing boolean operations, but that's quite cumbersome and time consuming. Is there a way to set transparency such that everything beneath (save perhaps for the art board) is transparent? (Only a "yes" response is valid. 😉) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyJack Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 yes R C-R and Jens Schmidt 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotster Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share Posted August 3, 2020 14 minutes ago, JimmyJack said: yes 😐 Some additional info... There's an "erase" blend mode for layers. Why can't we have that option wherever a blend mode can be selected, such as for outlines in the layer effects panel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotster Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share Posted August 3, 2020 Wow, I just learned that the Erase blend mode is in the Appearance panel for strokes and fills! The only problem is that it doesn't work like it does for layers. For layers, the Erase blend mode erases everything in all layers below, whereas in the Appearance panel for a specific layer, it affects only that layer. I guess that kind of makes sense though. I was previously unaware of this, and it's a big deal, because it means I can do certain things more easily now. I'll have to experiment a bit, but this looks quite promising! 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotster Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share Posted August 3, 2020 22 minutes ago, Shotster said: For layers, the Erase blend mode erases everything in all layers below Correction: The effect is constrained to the group in which the erasing layer resides. This is even more useful! I was able to achieve the desired effect with just layers and blend modes... I wish I'd been aware of this long ago. I've got a lot more experimenting to do. This is huge! 😃 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotster Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share Posted August 3, 2020 Even works with transparency gradients! Wow, this is huge! Why didn't somebody tell me about this before! 😜 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotster Posted August 3, 2020 Author Share Posted August 3, 2020 No, as long as I can specify the resolution, PNG format is acceptable. That said, being able to output in vector format would be ultra sweet. I do wish, though, that Affinity had better PNG optimization. I routinely get 50% to 70% reduction in file size using a free online utility. 😐 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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