a2jc4life Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 I've noticed that the geometry tool often has only some of the options available, with all the others greyed out. I don't understand the pattern or logic behind this. Can someone explain to me what causes these options to become available/unavailable (apart from issues that would make them all unavailable)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firstdefence Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Can you demonstrate/show an example? Quote iMac 27" 2019 Somona 14.3.1, iMac 27" Affinity Designer, Photo & Publisher V1 & V2, Adobe, Inkscape, Vectorstyler, Blender, C4D, Sketchup + more... XP-Pen Artist-22E, - iPad Pro 12.9 (Please refrain from licking the screen while using this forum) Affinity Help - Affinity Desktop Tutorials - Feedback - FAQ - most asked questions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pšenda Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Maybe this? Quote Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.4.0.2301 Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155. Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155. Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a2jc4life Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 I want to cut the dark starburst out of the white starburst (so I essentially have a thick outline). I can "add" or "divide." All the other options are greyed out. I run into similar options with relative frequency -- and see people post about similar issues frequently -- and I thought thar rather than posting individually about a zillion different individual scenarios, it might be good to know what kinds of things affect those menu options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a2jc4life Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 I think in this instance it's because only the white starburst is a vector object. The black one is a pixel layer. But I can't convert it to curves (that's also greyed out), and I don't understand why. I created both of them with the shape tool, and I converted the white one to curves, but it won't let me convert the black one. (Interestingly, I can rasterize the layer, but I can't convert it to curves.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pšenda Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 12 minutes ago, a2jc4life said: Interestingly, I can rasterize the layer, but I can't convert it to curves Affinity does not have a vectorization tool (see Autotrace on the forum). 14 minutes ago, a2jc4life said: I think in this instance it's because only the white starburst is a vector object. The black one is a pixel layer. This is exactly what is mentioned in the referenced thread. Quote Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.4.0.2301 Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155. Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155. Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a2jc4life Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 9 minutes ago, Pšenda said: Affinity does not have a vectorization tool (see Autotrace on the forum). That is not exactly true. It doesn't have an image trace, no. But it does have a "convert to curves" option (which, as noted, worked on the identical shape object in the other layer). And it has vector-based tools within its options -- like the pen/node tool and (sort of) the shape tool. Pšenda 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a2jc4life Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 As a side note for anyone else reading this, I stumbled across this in a video about other things. Starting at 12:50 is an alternate way to visually cut a shape from another shape, which apparently doesn't require that they be vector objects. (This video attached by default and I'm not sure how to resize it. Sorry.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R C-R Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 2 hours ago, a2jc4life said: That is not exactly true. It doesn't have an image trace, no. But it does have a "convert to curves" option (which, as noted, worked on the identical shape object in the other layer). "Convert to Curves" works only on shape objects. It 'bakes in' the shape parameters (number of points for stars, the curvature of hearts, etc.), converting the shape to a regular vector object defined by its nodes instead of by shape parameters. So your problem is that your black starburst isn't really a shape; it is just a raster image (a pixel layer) of a starburst. If it originally was created as one of the star shape objects, you must have rasterized it, perhaps by accident. All that aside, if all you want is a thick white starburst outline, you do not need the black pixel layer at all. Just set the stroke thickness of the white shape to the thickness you want, its color to white, & its fill color to none. Pšenda 1 Quote All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7 Affinity Photo 1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a2jc4life Posted April 26, 2021 Author Share Posted April 26, 2021 I tried the stroke option. It wasn't possible to find a combination of stroke settings that actually left the inner and outer points of the starburst pointy like they're supposed to be -- at least not at that stroke width. Perhaps I did rasterize it by accident. In any event, I started over and was able to get everything converted the way it should be so I could subtract it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R C-R Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 2 hours ago, a2jc4life said: I tried the stroke option. It wasn't possible to find a combination of stroke settings that actually left the inner and outer points of the starburst pointy like they're supposed to be -- at least not at that stroke width. You can make the star pointy by setting the stroke to use the Miter Join option & increasing the Miter value. There are only 3 objects in this Miter join.afdesign file, one star, one red curve, & one black rectangle behind the red curve. Quote All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7 Affinity Photo 1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a2jc4life Posted April 27, 2021 Author Share Posted April 27, 2021 Thanks! I'll try adjusting that value next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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