How to clip off unwanted lines

[gumbo23]

How can I clip off the unwanted lines at the tip of this bubble? It was drawn with the pencil tool.

Secondly, I want to be able to make freehand shapes and then improve their shape. How would I make them more smooth in their overall form?

[Lee D]

If it was drawn using the Pencil tool you can switch to the Node tool and adjust the length of the lines or adjust them to where they meet to look better. Designer doesn't have a shapebuilder tool but you can use the default shapes along with boolean operations to create custom shapes and again use the Node tool to adjust them further.

[lepr]

The trick is to create new nodes where the Curve object's path crosses over itself and then delete unwanted parts.

If an approximation is good enough, use Node Tool to add a pair of nodes (one on each "arm") very close to where the path crosses, delete the unwanted terminal nodes and then snap together the  nodes that were added.

If an exact result is required:

1. select the Curve object
2. click Add button in main toolbar (yes, use Add with only one object selected)
3. use Node Tool to select both of the coincident nodes that have been created where the Curve's path crossed over itself
4. click Break Curve button in context toolbar to separate the Curve to two Curve objects.
5. delete the unwanted Curve
6. the remaining Curve will look closed but it will still have an open path, so select the coinciding pair of nodes again and then click Join Curves (yes, use Join Curves with only one object) to merge the nodes.

In step 6, do not use Close Curve button. It will close the Curve but it will do that by connecting the coincident nodes by a zero length segment which may lead to unexpected results from subsequent operations.

Also regarding step 6, an alternative method is to drag just one of the coincident nodes slightly then snap it back onto the other node to get the nodes automatically merged, but that will depend on having particular snapping options enabled.

A real palaver! Unfortunately, user productivity seems to be a low priority in the development of the Affinity apps.

[Move Along People]

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[Gear maker]

anon2, great idea using the add to create nodes at the exact crossing point.  I never would have thought of that.  Why didn't you then: 

3. do a divide or separate curves

4. delete the unwanted curve

The result is a closed curve and easier.

[Gear maker]

2 hours ago, haakoo said:

I do like the beta 1.9 segment cutter

haakoo, what is the 1.9 segment cutter?  I don't remember seeing that in the update description and don't see it in the menu.  What am I missing?

[lepr]

3 minutes ago, Gear maker said:

anon2, great idea using the add to create nodes at the exact crossing point.  I never would have thought of that.  Why didn't you then: 

3. do a divide or separate curves

4. delete the unwanted curve

The result is a closed curve and easier.

The Add produces a single Curve (with a pinched "waist") for me, so Separate Curves is greyed out and Divide Curves has no effect.

Here is the Curve that I started with: crossed path.afdesign

(Off topic: 1.4 MB for a path with a handful of nodes is ridiculous.)

[Gear maker]

6 minutes ago, anon2 said:

The Add produces a single Curve (with a pinched "waist") for me, so Separate Curves is greyed out and Divide Curves has no effect.

Interesting I used: test5.afdesign

And have the opposite effect.  I wonder why they act so differently.  Going to have to play with that a bit.  Mine was only 11kb.  Maybe that has something to do with the difference.

[Gear maker]

2 minutes ago, Gear maker said:

Mine was only 11kb.

I did a copy and paste of your curve into a new document and when saved only had an 11kb file.  It still didn't allow divide to be used.

[Gear maker]

Okay, I used the pen tool and you used the pencil tool.  That results in the difference for some reason.  I thought that the final result of the curve would be the same with either tool, but they aren't.  Still din't make the file larger though.

[Old Bruce]

I have been playing around with this and the results seem to be more dependant on wether or not the 'fish' shape is drawn horizontally or vertically. Either pen or pencil gives similar results. Both retail and beta versions.

 

[Gear maker]

38 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Either pen or pencil gives similar results.

That's even weirder.  I took a vertical fish curve drawn with a pen, the add didn't create a dividable curves.  Then took that same curve and using the Transform Mode rotated the original curve to horizontal (approximately) and it did create a dividable curves.  Found the same using the Move tool and doing a 90 degree turn changed it from non-dividable to dividable.  Did it again using 10 degree rotations and at one point the result changed.

On 11/26/2020 at 6:47 AM, Lee D said:

If it was drawn using the Pencil tool you can switch to the Node tool and adjust the length of the lines or adjust them to where they meet to look better. Designer doesn't have a shapebuilder tool but you can use the default shapes along with boolean operations to create custom shapes and again use the Node tool to adjust them further.

Lee, what's up with this vertical vs horizontal difference?

[lepr]

3 hours ago, Gear maker said:

I did a copy and paste of your curve into a new document and when saved only had an 11kb file.

Affinity apps have been producing a minimum file size of 1.4 MB for my new documents recently. (Disabling file thumbnails is making a reduction of about 1 KB.) 

If I open an old document with a smaller file size and then save it to a new file name, I get a small new file, but all new documents (even empty) are being saved to 1.4 MB and greater. I am suspecting something responsible is in the document presets that ship with the apps, but if it isn't happening to you then I have no idea what is happening.

Edit: a new empty Affinity document saved by APub 1.7.3 is also 1.4 MB now. Very strange.

Edited November 28, 2020 by anon2

[Move Along People]

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[R C-R]

4 hours ago, Gear maker said:

I did a copy and paste of your curve into a new document and when saved only had an 11kb file. 

 It still didn't allow divide to be used.

For me, it was about 14KB. For me, both Add & Divide work with the file & with this super simple loop.afdesign version made with the Pen Tool & with just 3 nodes.

I also tried a few variations using the Pencil Tool but they all worked as expected with both the Add & Divide options. I did not notice any difference if the shape was drawn vertically or horizontally either.

Puzzling.

[lepr]

50 minutes ago, R C-R said:

For me, it was about 14KB. For me, both Add & Divide work with the file & with this super simple loop.afdesign version made with the Pen Tool & with just 3 nodes.

I also tried a few variations using the Pencil Tool but they all worked as expected with both the Add & Divide options. I did not notice any difference if the shape was drawn vertically or horizontally either.

Puzzling.

Are you saying that, with my example document and your example document, simply doing Add then Divide produces two Curve objects from the initial Curve object?

[R C-R]

18 minutes ago, anon2 said:

Are you saying that, with my example document and your example document, simply doing Add then Divide produces two Curve objects from the initial Curve object?

I am saying that either Add or Divide creates the 2 new nodes where the curve crosses itself. Then selecting both of those new nodes & using "Break Curve" results in 2 curves.

IOW, with resect to your original set of steps, in your step 2 either Add or Divide works for me but your step 3 is still needed to produce 2 curves.

[Gear maker]

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

For me, it was about 14KB. For me, both Add & Divide work with the file & with this super simple loop.afdesign version made with the Pen Tool & with just 3 nodes.

R C-R when I try your super simple loop as is I find that clicking add leaves it as a "curve".  But if I use transform to rotate it 120 degrees.  Then click add I get a "curves", which then can be divided.  Give that a try.  If I use anything from 120 thru 160 I get "curves".  170 thru 290 again I get a "curve".  300 it's back to "curves".

I don't know which action is correct.

[lepr]

16 minutes ago, R C-R said:

I am saying that either Add or Divide creates the 2 new nodes where the curve crosses itself. Then selecting both of those new nodes & using "Break Curve" results in 2 curves.

IOW, with resect to your original set of steps, in your step 2 either Add or Divide works for me but your step 3 is still needed to produce 2 curves.

lol

give me strength

[R C-R]

34 minutes ago, Gear maker said:

R C-R when I try your super simple loop as is I find that clicking add leaves it as a "curve".  But if I use transform to rotate it 120 degrees.  Then click add I get a "curves", which then can be divided.  Give that a try.  If I use anything from 120 thru 160 I get "curves".  170 thru 290 again I get a "curve".  300 it's back to "curves".

I don't know which action is correct.

For me, at its original rotation either Add or Divide leaves it as a "Curve" object (with 2 new nodes & a straight segment connecting the 2 ends). At 120° Add gives me a Curves object & Divide give me 2 Curve objects. At other angles from what I can tell I also get similar results to yours.

I don't think any of this is the correct behavior -- surely the rotation should not matter!

FWIW, I get similar results using anon2's file -- Curve or Curves depending on rotation angle & Divide or Add.

[Gear maker]

1 minute ago, R C-R said:

I don't think any of this is the correct behavior -- surely the rotation should not matter!

I agree with your statement.  What I meant was should it give a "curve" by design, or a "curves" by design?  I'm sure the design did not intend for there to be a difference depending on the angle.

[lepr]

34 minutes ago, Gear maker said:

if I use transform to rotate it 120 degrees.  Then click add I get a "curves", which then can be divided.

If you rotate my Curve or @R C-R's Curve 120 degrees, then all you need to do is Divide to get two closed Curve objects. The Add is unnecessary there.

[R C-R]

1 minute ago, Gear maker said:

What I meant was should it give a "curve" by design, or a "curves" by design?

I am not even sure why using Add on a single open curve that intersects with itself creates the extra nodes at the intersection.

[Gear maker]

2 minutes ago, R C-R said:

I am not even sure why using Add on a single open curve that intersects with itself creates the extra nodes at the intersection.

True.  But it sure will be handy.  I know I've had to do it manually at least 3 times in just the last few days.

[R C-R]

Handy or not, it does not seem an intended function of the Add (or Divide?) boolean, so I wonder if it is something we can count on in future revisions. I also do not understand why these operations close open curves -- seems like a 'feature' nobody asked for.