Dr_No Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Oh … hello again. Time now for another exciting question in the never-ending series ‘How You Do Dat!?’ This time it's a Question From The Crypt regarding creating separate / multiple paths on a single layer with the Pen Tool in Affinity Designer 1.9.3 … to begin: When drawing a series of paths (e.g., neon light tubing pieces 'n parts) intended to be on a single layer but separated by a small space indicating connector points (rather than a continuous path), Designer insists on creating a new pixel layer for Path II's segment after I conclude creating the initial segment with Path I. I've found NO way to keep the paths unified on a single layer. Penning the entire path and going back afterward to dance the ‘Break Curve’ tango has been tried, but … Dat Don't Work! It simply creates a new layer and breaks the formerly intact path into Multi-Paths. Frustrating it is. I need the multiple paths for the neon light tubing on one Paths layer so as to apply lighting FX, etc to ONE layer rather than multiple layers (which can - and does - create errors in FX uniformity). All hints, tips, trix, and Secret Sauce recipes are appreciated … Quote Mac Pro (Mid-2010) G5, 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon i7; macOS ‘Sierra,’ 12GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD 5770; S271HL Acer Display (1920 x 1080); Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher 1.10.8, Photoshop CS6, Illustrator CS6, InDesign CS6, QuarkXpress 9.5.4.1, ON1 RAW 2020, Portrait Professional Studio64, Topaz Labs Suite, Nik Collection, LibreOffice; separate Western Digital external HDs for storage Proudly Wearing the Shame of ThoughtCrime … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bruce Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Draw your path segments. Select them. Go to Layer > Geometry > Merge Curves. Quote Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 Affinity Designer 2.4.1 | Affinity Photo 2.4.1 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.1 | Beta versions as they appear. I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_No Posted May 2, 2021 Author Share Posted May 2, 2021 Does that procedure work with the line segments being on separate layers? Is there no way to create all segments on the same layer? I hafta ask ’cos I don't know … Quote Mac Pro (Mid-2010) G5, 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon i7; macOS ‘Sierra,’ 12GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD 5770; S271HL Acer Display (1920 x 1080); Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher 1.10.8, Photoshop CS6, Illustrator CS6, InDesign CS6, QuarkXpress 9.5.4.1, ON1 RAW 2020, Portrait Professional Studio64, Topaz Labs Suite, Nik Collection, LibreOffice; separate Western Digital external HDs for storage Proudly Wearing the Shame of ThoughtCrime … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Bruce Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 4 minutes ago, Dr_No said: Is there no way to create all segments on the same layer? Not to my knowledge. Quote Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 Affinity Designer 2.4.1 | Affinity Photo 2.4.1 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.1 | Beta versions as they appear. I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loukash Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 activate the "Add new curve to selected curves object" button create a path Select > Deselect (actually deselects only the last node but keeps the path/layer selected) start a new curve on the same layer etc. Quote MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_No Posted May 2, 2021 Author Share Posted May 2, 2021 Thanks for the tip … this appears to be able to do exactly what I'm attempting to do. If I'm reading the steps correctly (and that's always a crap-shoot), it seems that this enables all drawing to be completed on a single layer with separated sections of a single unitary path, nicht wahr? If that's the end result, then the logical extension is that the single yet magically separate path segments are on a single layer, thereby making all FX applied to that layer appear on all separate segments contained thereon. That, in turn, means the single-yet-composite paths layer can further be modified with blend modes, etc. Alles ist richtig, ja? Thanks again for this tip … Quote Mac Pro (Mid-2010) G5, 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon i7; macOS ‘Sierra,’ 12GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD 5770; S271HL Acer Display (1920 x 1080); Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher 1.10.8, Photoshop CS6, Illustrator CS6, InDesign CS6, QuarkXpress 9.5.4.1, ON1 RAW 2020, Portrait Professional Studio64, Topaz Labs Suite, Nik Collection, LibreOffice; separate Western Digital external HDs for storage Proudly Wearing the Shame of ThoughtCrime … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loukash Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Genau so isses. The real trouble begins in the very moment you decide to move some of those path segments to a new layer, after all… This has been discussed a few times recently – been there so I know – but in case you can't figure it out or can't find the other threads, feel free to ask for a … wait for it … workaround. Quote MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R C-R Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Keep in mind that whether you use Merge Curves or Add new curve to selected curves object all the curves will share the same fill & stroke properties as well as any applied FX. That may or may not be what you want. 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...
Dr_No Posted May 2, 2021 Author Share Posted May 2, 2021 ‘Workaround’ appears to be The Word of Majique … it sounds as if moving the path segments post-creation is when the fun really kicks in. Maybe the majique words one path can speak to the others are ‘Bitte, vorbeigehen zum durfen?’ - or not, as the case may be. Quote Mac Pro (Mid-2010) G5, 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon i7; macOS ‘Sierra,’ 12GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD 5770; S271HL Acer Display (1920 x 1080); Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher 1.10.8, Photoshop CS6, Illustrator CS6, InDesign CS6, QuarkXpress 9.5.4.1, ON1 RAW 2020, Portrait Professional Studio64, Topaz Labs Suite, Nik Collection, LibreOffice; separate Western Digital external HDs for storage Proudly Wearing the Shame of ThoughtCrime … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_No Posted May 2, 2021 Author Share Posted May 2, 2021 3 minutes ago, R C-R said: Keep in mind that whether you use Merge Curves or Add new curve to selected curves object all the curves will share the same fill & stroke properties as well as any applied FX. That may or may not be what you want. (Harrumph-harrumph! Ahem … oyez! oyez! oyez!) … Actually, that's REZACKLY what I'm hoping to achieve. If those properties apply equally to all combined strokes and curves, modification is then uniform. Oh lawdy! I yam a happy boi. Quote Mac Pro (Mid-2010) G5, 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon i7; macOS ‘Sierra,’ 12GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD 5770; S271HL Acer Display (1920 x 1080); Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher 1.10.8, Photoshop CS6, Illustrator CS6, InDesign CS6, QuarkXpress 9.5.4.1, ON1 RAW 2020, Portrait Professional Studio64, Topaz Labs Suite, Nik Collection, LibreOffice; separate Western Digital external HDs for storage Proudly Wearing the Shame of ThoughtCrime … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R C-R Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 2 minutes ago, Dr_No said: … it sounds as if moving the path segments post-creation is when the fun really kicks in. As long as you keep all the paths in the same layer you can use the Node Tool to alter the paths in the usual ways. But there is no way to move a curve out of the layer other than by dividing or separating the curves into individual layers & then optionally using Add, Merge curves, etc. to move the others back into one layer. Usually, it is much less hassle to use groups. 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...
loukash Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 13 minutes ago, R C-R said: much less hassle to use groups Or compounds. Quote MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PixelPest Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Maybe try this setting: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loukash Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 24 minutes ago, Dr_No said: moving the path segments post-creation is when the fun really kicks in Some folks enjoy dancing on glass splinters, others are getting the same kick by splitting merged Affinity curves. Quote MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_No Posted May 2, 2021 Author Share Posted May 2, 2021 I'll try anything … well, once, anyway. Thanks for the tip. Quote Mac Pro (Mid-2010) G5, 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon i7; macOS ‘Sierra,’ 12GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD 5770; S271HL Acer Display (1920 x 1080); Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher 1.10.8, Photoshop CS6, Illustrator CS6, InDesign CS6, QuarkXpress 9.5.4.1, ON1 RAW 2020, Portrait Professional Studio64, Topaz Labs Suite, Nik Collection, LibreOffice; separate Western Digital external HDs for storage Proudly Wearing the Shame of ThoughtCrime … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R C-R Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 21 minutes ago, PixelPest said: Maybe try this setting: It is the same one @loukash mentioned above as step 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...
Dr_No Posted May 4, 2021 Author Share Posted May 4, 2021 Thanks to all for your input … Da WINNAH! Is: Add New Curve to Selected Curves Object. Works fine, tastes great, less filling, and lower in calories. Can ya aks for more … ? I think not. Thanks again. Quote Mac Pro (Mid-2010) G5, 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon i7; macOS ‘Sierra,’ 12GB RAM, ATI Radeon HD 5770; S271HL Acer Display (1920 x 1080); Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher 1.10.8, Photoshop CS6, Illustrator CS6, InDesign CS6, QuarkXpress 9.5.4.1, ON1 RAW 2020, Portrait Professional Studio64, Topaz Labs Suite, Nik Collection, LibreOffice; separate Western Digital external HDs for storage Proudly Wearing the Shame of ThoughtCrime … Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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