Affinity Designer-things that make you go hmmmm..

[BARBAKANE]

I've been using AP for quite a while now & I love it. So I decided to try AD, cuz I figured for 1/2 price now you can't go wrong.

I d/l'd the demo, and I'm REALLY trying to like AD. After 5 hrs (!!!!) of trying to use it, I really have gotten nowhere. Cases in point...

1. The pen tool is not the pen tool. When I select a pen tool, I expect it to act like a pen..ya know, draw a line.

2. Why can't I erase something in the designer persona. I should be able to erase anything at anytime. That seems like too many added steps. One click sky replacement is possible nowadays, I figure erasing whenever you want should be possible.

3.Why can't I add text in Pixel mode.....see #2

4. When I use a certain brush, then edit something else on that same page, then select what I created with that original  brush, the system doesn't tell me what brush I originally used. So it would seem, if I use three different brushes, one three different days, creating something in the same document, is it possible for AD to tell me which brush I used?

5. Why is there a "cat" tool?

6.I created another thread concerning the lack of separate forums for AD, AP, and Publisher. Makes searching extremely hard.

These are the most glaring things I've come across. This is not a criticism (ok, maybe it is), just trying to understand some things I kinda took for granted would be easy.

[firstdefence]

Affinity Designer is a vector app, it's capabilities are different to Affinity Photo, Affinity Photo is a raster app so focused on pixel editing.

1. The pen tool draws a curve or path, you can add strokes and fills.

2. Erasing in the way you are thinking is based on pixels, you can erase raster/pixel based objects in the pixel persona of Affinity Designer 

3. Pixel Persona is for editing raster objects, you can add text in draw persona.

4. Brushes need work, it's been asked for and noted a few times.

5. Why not?

6. That's not going to happen, many have suggested the same including me but this is the way Affinity are doing it. It helps to add good post titles, post tags and fill in your sig with system info and the apps you use. 

You will find more but that's what forums are for.

 

[v_kyr]

Well, Designer (AD) is first of all a vector graphics tool and not a bitmap/raster manipulation tool like Photo (AP).

1. You draw a vector line (and no pixel line) and a vector line is defined through coordinate points/nodes.

2. For vector graphics you erase vectors by erasing/removing vector points/nodes.

3. You add text in AD in a more vector oriented fashion, the advantage you can scale up/down without pixelation.

4. Selected/used brush indication is still a weakness in AD.

5. The cat tool (shape) is an easter egg, so to say a tribute to cats.

6. That's the way the forum is organized so far.

 

[Pšenda]

15 hours ago, BARBAKANE said:

5. Why is there a "cat" tool?

 

 

[Greyfox]

16 hours ago, BARBAKANE said:

5. Why is there a "cat" tool?

 

I'm disappointed that the cat isn't the same as the one in the help file 😭

[PaulEC]

Dunno why they decided to change the Cat Tool, IMHO the original was much better than the new one. It almost makes me want to stop using Affinity apps and go back to Adobe (Assuming they still have Merlin!)

[Xzenor]

For me this is the biggest "HMMMM!!" in Affinity Designer. I cannot wrap my head around how this basic feature is still missing.

 

[Pšenda]

46 minutes ago, Greyfox said:

I'm disappointed that the cat isn't the same as the one in the help file 😭

 

[Xzenor]

18 hours ago, BARBAKANE said:

I've been using AP for quite a while now & I love it. So I decided to try AD, cuz I figured for 1/2 price now you can't go wrong.

I d/l'd the demo, and I'm REALLY trying to like AD. After 5 hrs (!!!!) of trying to use it, I really have gotten nowhere. Cases in point...

1. The pen tool is not the pen tool. When I select a pen tool, I expect it to act like a pen..ya know, draw a line.

2. Why can't I erase something in the designer persona. I should be able to erase anything at anytime. That seems like too many added steps. One click sky replacement is possible nowadays, I figure erasing whenever you want should be possible.

3.Why can't I add text in Pixel mode.....see #2

4. When I use a certain brush, then edit something else on that same page, then select what I created with that original  brush, the system doesn't tell me what brush I originally used. So it would seem, if I use three different brushes, one three different days, creating something in the same document, is it possible for AD to tell me which brush I used?

5. Why is there a "cat" tool?

6.I created another thread concerning the lack of separate forums for AD, AP, and Publisher. Makes searching extremely hard.

These are the most glaring things I've come across. This is not a criticism (ok, maybe it is), just trying to understand some things I kinda took for granted would be easy.

1. That's vector drawing for you. You may want to read up on that. The pen tool is very common for vector design.

2. Read up on what vector art is. It's based on lines instead of pixels.

3. Never used that. Probably the same reason as 1 and 2.

4. Nothing is perfect.

5. Not a clue.

6. That has nothing to do with the Designer application itself.

[lineweight]

The behaviour of brushes and absence of what I'd call "line styles" are the two things that baffle and frustrate me most about Designer.

[Greyfox]

1 hour ago, Pšenda said:

 

Thank you, happy now😃

[lepr]

19 hours ago, BARBAKANE said:

1. The pen tool is not the pen tool. When I select a pen tool, I expect it to act like a pen..ya know, draw a line.

Try the Pencil Tool and Brush Tool. Both are in the Designer Persona and produce vector paths.

 

19 hours ago, BARBAKANE said:

2. Why can't I erase something in the designer persona. I should be able to erase anything at anytime. That seems like too many added steps. One click sky replacement is possible nowadays, I figure erasing whenever you want should be possible.

 

A vector eraser as found in some other apps has been requested and we hope for one to be implemented in Designer.

 

19 hours ago, BARBAKANE said:

5. Why is there a "cat" tool?

It's a clever interface for the vector warping tools that are so useful to a graphic designer.

[iconoclast]

Quote

5. Why is there a "cat" tool?

What a question! Of course it's because some people told that they have seen mouses lurking around their computers.

[Old Bruce]

47 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

What a question! Of course it's because some people told that they have seen mouses lurking around their computers.

One Mouse several Mice.

One Moose several Moose.

One Goose several Geese.

One Rolls Royce several Rolls Rice.

...

English is and always will be weird.

[iconoclast]

Yes, you're right. But what about mouse au chocolat?

[Old Bruce]

Just now, iconoclast said:

Yes, you're right. But what about mouse au chocolat?

Mmmmm.... 

Never had the option to have more than one, but in English the singular already has an extra 's' in the mouse (chocolate mousse) so maybe that is taken care of?

 

[iconoclast]

3 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Mmmmm.... 

Never had the option to have more than one, but in English the singular already has an extra 's' in the mouse (chocolate mousse) so maybe that is taken care of?

 

Yes, but remember: every consonant has its calories (or joules? Damn, if this crazy little austrian would have been more successful, everyone would talk german today, and it would be much easier for me, kidding around with you - if we would have survived!).

[R C-R]

In addition to the Cat tool, there is also a "cat" unit of length that can be used in field expressions in place of mm, px, etc. In 1.9 it appears to be equivalent to 2012.598425 px or 27.952756 inches, which seems to be an odd choice.

[Alfred]

14 minutes ago, R C-R said:

27.952756 inches, which seems to be an odd choice

27.952756 inches is 710 millimetres, which (unlike 709 mm or 711 mm) isn’t odd.

[BARBAKANE]

OK, so ANOTHER 2 hrs and I still have nothing to show for it. AD is SO HARD TO USE. I simply want to trace something, but it seems I can't even do that.

I find not a single thing is intuitive.  My frustration level is thru the roof right now, and it seems my only alternative is to delete it and find something easier to use. I have absolutely no intention on trying to create stunning pieces of art. I'm simply trying to create a logo.

[carl123]

2 hours ago, BARBAKANE said:

I simply want to trace something, but it seems I can't even do that.

There are load of videos on YouTube showing how to do that

 

[iconoclast]

Have you ever used another vector graphics software? They all work almost similar. You can draw lines and figures by setting key points with the pen tool first. These points will be connected automatically with a pathline. This is not a line that gives image informations to your image. It's just a sort of scaffold for your drawing. To give it image informations, you have to give it a stroke with a width and a colour. And you can manipulate the form of the path by dragging handles outoff the key points (Beziér Curves). To do that, hold the Shift key to drag a double handle or the Alt key for a single handle. Without holding a key you can move the points. To fill a form with colour, you should close it by clicking the last point on the first one or by using the second of the Action buttons in the tool settings bar.

You can even use the predefined forms (rectangle, ellipse...) to draw, because you can even form them like other pathes. You just have to rightclick on them and click on "Convert to Curves", so it will have key points that can be manipulated. And you can combine forms by overlapping them, selecting both or even three or four and using one of the Buttons Add, Subtract, Intersect... in the tool settings bar.

Vector graphics are not like raster graphics. Raster graphics are based on pixels. They are Rasters of, for example, 3000x4000 pixels. Each pixel has just one colour. It's a kind of mosaic. In vector graphics the image datas are based on vectors. That are things like points in a coordinate system, angles, curvatures, gradients from a certain starting point to a certain end point and so on. Vector Graphics are also displayed in pixels on your monitor, but they don't consist of pixels. Because of this they can be scaled without any loss of quality.

But, by the way, you're right, to create vector graphics is a little less intuitive. You have to understand the principle first. Then it will work easily.

[Xzenor]

6 hours ago, BARBAKANE said:

OK, so ANOTHER 2 hrs and I still have nothing to show for it. AD is SO HARD TO USE. I simply want to trace something, but it seems I can't even do that.

I find not a single thing is intuitive.  My frustration level is thru the roof right now, and it seems my only alternative is to delete it and find something easier to use. I have absolutely no intention on trying to create stunning pieces of art. I'm simply trying to create a logo.

Get a tutorial or something. Don't blame the software of your own ignorance. 

You don't even respond to the answers you've gotten. You're only bitching about how hard it is.

it's not gonna get any better with that attitude.

Read a manual or watch a tutorial. Put the effort in to understand the difference between pixels and vectors and don't expect to understand it all overnight.

[BARBAKANE]

No Xzenor....I'm bitchin about the fact that nothing is intuitive. I've watched video after video. And sorry I'm not living up to YOUR expectations about what I should do. I'll say it yet AGAIN, after seven hours of trying to get my head around it, not the mention the time spent watching videos, it's frustrating. I'm sorry I'm not an expert like YOU apparently are, but I gotta move on. Peace out.

To everyone else, thanks for the pointers but AD is not for me.

[Xzenor]

4 hours ago, BARBAKANE said:

No Xzenor....I'm bitchin about the fact that nothing is intuitive. I've watched video after video. And sorry I'm not living up to YOUR expectations about what I should do. I'll say it yet AGAIN, after seven hours of trying to get my head around it, not the mention the time spent watching videos, it's frustrating. I'm sorry I'm not an expert like YOU apparently are, but I gotta move on. Peace out.

To everyone else, thanks for the pointers but AD is not for me.

How am I supposed to know, if you don't respond to anything? You start with a rant and your next comment is also a rant.

It actually is intuitive for a vector program.. like honestly, look at InkScape, a free alternative. It's way worse. But, if it's the first time working with vectors then it indeed is hard to grasp. It just has to click at some point. I'm not an expert at all but I learned bit by bit by following tutorials. You can always use the pixel persona but since you already own Affinity Photo that's kinda useless since it's just a stripped down version of that...

If AD is not for you then that's fine. I hope you can give it a shot again sometime once you understand the value and use of vector images. It's really great for logos for example. Maybe start by playing around with some simple existing ones instead of starting from scratch.