jackamus Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 On perusing through some of the threads I noticed something to do with Boolean operations. I am familiar with some Boolean terminology but have no idea how it applies to vector drawing. Can someone give me a short explanation of how it applies to AD? If voting made any difference it wouldn't be allowed! Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools. To be ignorant of world happenings is forgivable - to be willingly ignorant is unforgivable. Truth does not need to be protected only lies do. Mac OS Monterey 12.6.4 AD version 2.3.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted September 7, 2015 Staff Share Posted September 7, 2015 Hi jackamus, That's just the general name for the shape operations you can perform with shapes: Add, Subtract, Intersect, Divide and Combine (the icons you find in the Draw Persona toolbar in the Operations section. A Guide to Learning Affinity Software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon1 Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 https://vimeo.com/110131937 And some go crazy about non destructive boolean operations :) ...it really is nice, although I´ve never used it jet, but definitely useful :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gear maker Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 https://vimeo.com/110131937 And some go crazy about non destructive boolean operations :) ...it really is nice, although I´ve never used it jet, but definitely useful :) MBd, I thought I was the only one that didn't use the non-destructive operations. Knock on wood, I have never regretted that practice. :rolleyes: They seem great, but still... iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) with macOS Sierra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackamus Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 Hi jackamus, That's just the general name for the shape operations you can perform with shapes: Add, Subtract, Intersect, Divide and Combine (the icons you find in the Draw Persona toolbar in the Operations section. boolean_operations.png So it has nothing to do with Boolean algebra! How did the developer's choose this name? If voting made any difference it wouldn't be allowed! Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools. To be ignorant of world happenings is forgivable - to be willingly ignorant is unforgivable. Truth does not need to be protected only lies do. Mac OS Monterey 12.6.4 AD version 2.3.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MattP Posted September 8, 2015 Staff Share Posted September 8, 2015 It's just a convention - in full it should be referred to as 'Boolean Geometry Operations' but people (including myself) often corrupt it to 'boolean operations', 'bool ops' or 'geometry operations'. It's simply being used to convey the idea that you are manipulating your geometry by adding (union), subtracting, intersecting, etc and these are very similar to the things you could achieve with AND, OR, NOT, XOR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MattP Posted September 8, 2015 Staff Share Posted September 8, 2015 Can I ask anyone if they've tried using the boolean geometry operations much in the current beta? I spent 3 weeks rewriting lots of it and I'm obviously very scared by the fact I've not heard a dickie-bird about them yet! ;) I don't know if that means nobody has encountered errors, or if they're so broken that nobody is using them! ;) (Incidentally, I did try every single file I had that used to fail and they all succeed perfectly now, so I haven't deliberately unleashed a monster on you all, I'd just like some affirmation that I've improved things or not!?!) :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackamus Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 Hi Matt, Understood. It would great if Boolean geometry could be used with groups. How about that? If voting made any difference it wouldn't be allowed! Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools. To be ignorant of world happenings is forgivable - to be willingly ignorant is unforgivable. Truth does not need to be protected only lies do. Mac OS Monterey 12.6.4 AD version 2.3.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MattP Posted September 8, 2015 Staff Share Posted September 8, 2015 Hi Jack, Do you mean kind of like the 'compound' shape object? If you hold down Alt (Option) when you click the button to Add/Subtract/etc then you'll see that in the Layers panel it has constructed a compound object - it's a hierarchy like a group where the individual objects contribute with their own 'mode' (add/subtract/etc) and can be manipulated freely (or their mode changed) and yet the result is always shown as the result of the operations. Try adding a stroke to the compound object itself and notice it runs around the geometry constructed from the underlying objects as you manipulate them :) Thanks, Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MattP Posted September 8, 2015 Staff Share Posted September 8, 2015 I'm actually quite tempted to make this non-destructive operation the default, to be honest... :unsure: Paekke, anon1 and safoster71 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackamus Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 This sounds like a good move. Although my use of this feature is limited it would seem to make it easier to 'undo'. The number of times I track back and forth to Layer>Geometry>Divide can be quite tedious. If voting made any difference it wouldn't be allowed! Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools. To be ignorant of world happenings is forgivable - to be willingly ignorant is unforgivable. Truth does not need to be protected only lies do. Mac OS Monterey 12.6.4 AD version 2.3.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Harris Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I'm actually quite tempted to make this non-destructive operation the default, to be honest... :unsure: Makes sense to me. You can always Convert to Curves later if you need to, but you can't convert to non-destructive later. ronnyb and Paekke 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted September 8, 2015 Staff Share Posted September 8, 2015 It will also make it immediately discoverable. As it is now it's hard to know that option is already available in the software. In my case however it will add a bunch of more clicks to convert everything to flatten shapes in certain types of work. It would be nice to have a way to revert back to the current workflow trough a setting in the Preferences. A Guide to Learning Affinity Software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronnyb Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 +1 for defaulting to non-destructive operations in all affinity apps... I'm actually quite tempted to make this non-destructive operation the default, to be honest... :unsure: A simple Non-destructive mode checkbox in the Context Toolbar should do the trick without having to send the user diving into the app's prefs... It will also make it immediately discoverable. As it is now it's hard to know that option is already available in the software. In my case however it will add a bunch of more clicks to convert everything to flatten shapes in certain types of work. It would be nice to have a way to revert back to the current workflow trough a setting in the Preferences. Paekke 1 2021 16” Macbook Pro w/ M1 Max 10c cpu /24c gpu, 32 GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Sonoma 14.4.1 2018 11" iPad Pro w/ A12X cpu/gpu, 256 GB, iPadOS 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon1 Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 ronnyb, I think that really is a great idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted September 8, 2015 Staff Share Posted September 8, 2015 Yes, a checkbox in the context toolbar would be even better. Thanks ronnyb. A Guide to Learning Affinity Software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paolo.limoncelli Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Can I ask anyone if they've tried using the boolean geometry operations much in the current beta? I spent 3 weeks rewriting lots of it and I'm obviously very scared by the fact I've not heard a dickie-bird about them yet! ;) I don't know if that means nobody has encountered errors, or if they're so broken that nobody is using them! ;) (Incidentally, I did try every single file I had that used to fail and they all succeed perfectly now, so I haven't deliberately unleashed a monster on you all, I'd just like some affirmation that I've improved things or not!?!) :) Here I am with a feedback! :) I worked on a file with lots paths performing numerous booleans, MAS version was laggy and CPU load close to 100% only selecting and nesting layers. I switched to Beta and things were far better. Don't know if it deals with new Boolean implementation yet... :D The white dog, making tools for artists, illustrators and doodlers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrograde Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I'll give the new version a test too. Booleans are a big part of my work flow. A non-destructive workflow would be awesome, as long as it doesn't become a mess once "applied". :-) Speaking of which, I have yet to "expand" a stroke yet with the new beta... hope to see some improvements there as well. Cheers Matt for all of the hard work. http://www.kevincreative.com https://www.behance.net/kevincreative https://dribbble.com/kevincreative https://www.instagram.com/kevincreative/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_B_C Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Just a question, Ronny … the checkbox idea is great, but I wonder in which Context Toolbar you would like to have the checkbox to be placed. Currently we can invoke Boolean operations from many different tools (as long as at least two shapes stay selected while choosing the tool) … :huh: ronnyb 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronnyb Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I'd say put it on every tool's Context toolbar which allows the user to have two shapes selected and apply a boolean... This got me thinking about having a dedicated Boolean tool on the palette, which would allow the creation of non-destructive compound shapes via selection and subsequent specification of boolean operator... or perhaps its done via keyboard modifiers (Cmd = Add, Option = Subtract and Cmd + Option = Divide, or something that makes better sense). I guess something like Shape Builder in Illustrator, but better; more intuitive, fluid and non-destructive, more Affinity style... Just a question, Ronny … the checkbox idea is great, but I wonder in which Context Toolbar you would like to have the checkbox to be placed. Currently we can invoke Boolean operations from many different tools (as long as at least two shapes stay selected while choosing the tool) … :huh: A_B_C 1 2021 16” Macbook Pro w/ M1 Max 10c cpu /24c gpu, 32 GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Sonoma 14.4.1 2018 11" iPad Pro w/ A12X cpu/gpu, 256 GB, iPadOS 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackamus Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 I would vote for a dedicated Boolean tool. Shortcuts are a great help but the more there are the more we have to remember. I use a cheat sheet to remind me of what does what. ronnyb and A_B_C 2 If voting made any difference it wouldn't be allowed! Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools. To be ignorant of world happenings is forgivable - to be willingly ignorant is unforgivable. Truth does not need to be protected only lies do. Mac OS Monterey 12.6.4 AD version 2.3.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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