Pencil Tool resetting

[CJGould]

Let me try to describe a problem that is driving me mad.

1. I draw a line with the pencil tool.

2. I set the line up - colour/fill/line weight/cap/brush etc. 

3. Draw the next line and it resets (non of the settings are applied to the new line).

So with each and every line, I have to adjust all of these settings all over again. The only solution I have found is to copy the original line and paste the style onto the new line - either is incredibly time consuming. It must be possible to draw a line and then have all subsequent lines repeat the settings - as having to readjust every single line in a large document makes for an almost impossible workflow. 

So - how do I do this?

(Sorry if the answer is painfully obvious - but I have tried everything.)

[Dan C]

Hi @CJGould,

Welcome to the forums  

2 hours ago, CJGould said:

So with each and every line, I have to adjust all of these settings all over again. The only solution I have found is to copy the original line and paste the style onto the new line - either is incredibly time consuming. It must be possible to draw a line and then have all subsequent lines repeat the settings - as having to readjust every single line in a large document makes for an almost impossible workflow. 

This sounds like you should be using the Pen Tool, or the Vector Brush Tool, as the Pencil tool is designed to always be a simple round stroke - which is why with the tool selected the only Context Toolbar options for the tool is Stroke Width.

The Pencil tool is designed for sketching out simple lines, if you want further control over a tool then please try using the Vector Brush Tool. I hope this helps!

[Alfred]

1 hour ago, Dan C said:

the Pencil tool is designed to always be a simple round stroke - which is why with the tool selected the only Context Toolbar options for the tool is Stroke Width

Really??

Affinity Designer Help: Pencil Tool

Quote

Settings

The following settings can be adjusted from the context toolbar:

• Stroke—the colour of your stroke. Click the colour swatch to select from solid colours, a picked colour, colour gradients or from your preset or custom colour swatches.
• Width—the line thickness in points. Type directly in the text box or drag the pop-up slider to set the value.
• Sculpt—when enabled, any selected pencil stroke can be reshaped or continued; the former by drawing new start and end stops anywhere along the pencil stroke, the latter by drawing from either stroke end node.
• Controller—controls whether the tool is sensitive to real pressure ('Pressure') or speed of mouse movement ('Velocity' or 'Inverse Velocity'). Select 'None' to use neither.
• Stabiliser—enables stroke stabilisation using either a Rope stabiliser or Window stabiliser mode; the former drags the stroke end by a 'rope' to smooth the stroke but lets you introduce sharp corners at increasing rope Length (radius) values by redirecting the slackened rope; the latter will smooth the stroke by averaging sampled input positions within a Window whose size is configurable.
• Use Fill—when checked, the concave area of the stroke is filled with the currently set fill colour (from Colour panel) as you draw. In Sculpt mode, continuing strokes remains as one object, which allows the fill to be applied along the stroke's length.

 

Edited September 10, 2020 by Alfred
Coffee not needed after all!

[Dan C]

Apologies Alfred, but other than with the Controller set to Pressure (providing a stroke that may not be a simple, 'one width' curve) I'm not certain how these options don't provide the description I've provided - is this what you're referring to? Or is the issue you're raising with my wording for a 'simple round stroke'?

I'd just like to clarify as I'm not certain

[Alfred]

My apologies in turn, Dan! I thought you were asserting that the only Context toolbar option for the Pencil Tool was ‘Width’. Although there are several other options on the toolbar, there is — as you rightly point out — no option for stroke types other than a simple round one.

[Dan C]

No problem at all, these things happen and it can certainly be tricky at times to decipher exact meanings in text posts! 

[Nadia123]

My problem is the same as the OP. This is driving me crazy and makes the pencil tool unusable. For example, I'm drawing an illustration with the pencil tool where i want all lines to be 9px stroke in green color. But every time i create a new layer, the pencil settings are reset to default. Why??? How can I avoid this? 

[Dan C]

Hi @Nadia123,

Welcome to the Affinity Forums

As in my initial response here, if this is your required workflow then I'd recommend using the Vector Brush Tool and not the Pencil Tool - as the Pencil Tool is designed to be a simple 'sketch' line and therefore the settings for the tool are not preserved.

If you use the Vector Brush tool, you'll find these settings are retained when changing tool or drawing a new line etc.

I hope this clears things up!