coloring spaces within shapes

[vik]

I am wanting to be able to color spaces created by overlapping shapes such as that created when a circle is partially overlapped by a triangle for instance.  I want the colors of each space to be different.  Would applying a mask be the only way or does someone have a great idea?  Many thanks.

[h_d]

Hiya @vik and welcome!

I'm not entirely sure what you mean - something like this perhaps?

Changing the blend mode on the triangle in the Layers panel (here I've set it to Lighten) modifies the appearance of the underlying colour. But it's quite a limited effect, in that the resulting blend is dependent on the original colours) You could duplicate the triangle and choose a different blend mode on the top copy:

 

but if you wanted anything more complex then tbh using masks is probably going to be your best bet.

[loukash]

Another option is to use boolead divide to split all partial shapes into individual objects.
This is a destructive process, so make sure to duplicate your objects first if you want to keep the original shapes intact.

Other than that, many users are eagerly waiting for Serif to finally implement a shape builder tool. Until that happens, you may want to try e.g. the VectorStyler beta app for creating such complex operations. The vector paths can be easily exchanged with Designer via system clipboard: that happens presumably either as PDF or SVG.

[vik]

not sure if i am replying the most effective way but thank you to loukash and h_d.  Both answers are most helpful!    The shape builder tool sounds perfect.. ...