What makes an Affinity Designer vector graphic unscaleable?

[Roderick885]

I am completely new to anything regarding graphic design, so please bear with me. I do understand that vector graphics are scaleable without any loss of quality as they consist of mathematical descriptions of curves and shapes and are not pixel based. So far so good. Now I can apply various operations in AD Designer persona to a vector graphic that - to my understanding - add pixels to a shape or curve and thus make the graphic (or parts of it) lose it’s scaleability but maybe I am completely wrong. My question is: Which of the following would add pixel based non scaleable elements to a vector graphic:

 

[     ] -  a gradient fill to a shape or curve.

[     ] - blurring a shape or curve.

[     ] - any effects layer.

Any tips to manage issues around this topic are welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

Rod

[GarryP]

Welcome to the forums @Roderick885

Adding a gradient fill – via the Gradient Fill Tool (Fill Tool in Designer and Publisher) – should not make the layer a bitmap/raster (pixels), even when it is exported.
Adding a gradient fill – via a Gradient Overlay Effect – will make the exported layer a bitmap/raster but the layer in the document will remain a vector.
Adding a Blur Effect to any layer will make the exported layer a bitmap/raster but the layer in the document will remain a vector.
Using the Blur Brush on a vector layer will convert the original layer to a bitmap/raster.
All Effects will make the exported layer a bitmap/raster but the layer in the document will remain a vector.

Unfortunately, these rules are just things you need to learn over time, and the answers above only cover the areas you mentioned.

I hope this helps.

[Roderick885]

Thanks Garry your answer helped a lot.

[thomaso]

It also depends on your output format, even an export as PDF (vector) can cause rasterization by a specific PDF export setting (or even PDF version). So also so called "transparency" in a PDF, like color calculations (e.g. layer blend modes), can cause rasterisation in a PDF (but don't inside the layout document).