How to move two hadles of the same node together?

[R.I.P. Affinity 26.03.2024]

How to move two hadles of the same node together? On the equal distance, like in Illustrator by default.

[loukash]

affinity.help/designer/English.lproj/pages/CurvesShapes/edit_linesAndShapes.html

[chessboard]

Short answer: when you press left and right mousebutton and click on a handle, both handles move synchronized. When you click with both mouse buttons on the node, the node is moved and both handles stay in place.

I would rather prefer using a hotkey (CTRL-SHIFT for example) to switch to this behaviour instead of using both mouse buttons, because when using a stylus there are no two buttons to click ( as with the surface pen for example).

[RNKLN]

7 hours ago, chessboard said:

I would rather prefer using a hotkey (CTRL-SHIFT for example)

Not sure if I understand this correctly, but on my Mac, when I used CTRL and SHIFT when moving node handles, they move simultaneously. E.g. when I move one of them to make a curve wider, the other one moves in the opposite direction symmetrically. 

[Andy05]

1 hour ago, RNKLN said:

Not sure if I understand this correctly, but on my Mac, when I used CTRL and SHIFT when moving node handles, they move simultaneously. E.g. when I move one of them to make a curve wider, the other one moves in the opposite direction symmetrically. 

At least on Windows, this doesn't work alike. It only limits the movement of the handles to steps of 45°. But if I move one handle away from it's source node, the other handle isn't moving the same distance. Actually, I didn't notice any different behaviour using [Ctrl]+[Shift] or [Shift] alone. Does [Crtl] have any effect in this case at all (on Windows systems)?

[Alfred]

4 minutes ago, Andy05 said:

At least on Windows, this doesn't work alike. It only limits the movement of the handles to steps of 45°. But if I move one handle away from it's source node, the other handle isn't moving the same distance. Actually, I didn't notice any different behaviour using [Ctrl]+[Shift] or [Shift] alone. Does [Crtl] have any effect in this case at all (on Windows systems)?

Ctrl on Windows is equivalent to Cmd on a Mac. Because Macs have an extra modifier key, for the equivalent of pressing the Mac Ctrl key on Windows we have to do that horrible thing with both mouse buttons that @chessboard described.

[R.I.P. Affinity 26.03.2024]

4 hours ago, Alfred said:

Ctrl on Windows is equivalent to Cmd on a Mac. Because Macs have an extra modifier key, for the equivalent of pressing the Mac Ctrl key on Windows we have to do that horrible thing with both mouse buttons that @chessboard described.

So, is it impossible to move both handles synchronized, with a stylus on Windows?

[R.I.P. Affinity 26.03.2024]

14 hours ago, chessboard said:

Short answer: when you press left and right mousebutton and click on a handle, both handles move synchronized. When you click with both mouse buttons on the node, the node is moved and both handles stay in place.

I would rather prefer using a hotkey (CTRL-SHIFT for example) to switch to this behaviour instead of using both mouse buttons, because when using a stylus there are no two buttons to click ( as with the surface pen for example).

Thank You. It works with a mouse buttons, but "Ctrl+Shift" doesn't change anything. And it doesn't work with my pen as well. So, its impossible so far, from what I see.

[loukash]

These modifier shortcuts should definitely be user configurable.
I mean, strictly "technically" there are enough other (modifier) keys available on a Windows keyboard. And I'd expect that there are also 3rd party utilities that would even let you remap hardware keys as you see fit, much like the venerable Karabiner (couldn't do without!) for MacOS.

[Alfred]

8 minutes ago, darwinwasright said:

It works with a mouse buttons, but "Ctrl+Shift" doesn't change anything. And it doesn't work with my pen as well.

As I explained in my previous post, Ctrl+Shift is the Mac version. Whether you can do the Windows RMB+LMB thing with a stylus depends on the buttons available and how configurable they are.

[R.I.P. Affinity 26.03.2024]

6 hours ago, Alfred said:

As I explained in my previous post, Ctrl+Shift is the Mac version. Whether you can do the Windows RMB+LMB thing with a stylus depends on the buttons available and how configurable they are.

Ok, I got it. It doesn't work with my wacom pen as well, however, I do have RMB on it. And when I move handle and press RMB on the pen it just opens RMB's menu. Unfortunately, I don't use a mouse in my work. Here is an examples: 1st with a mouse, 2nd with a pen.

[Alfred]

1 minute ago, darwinwasright said:

It doesn't work with my wacom pen as well, however, I do have RMB on it.

The tip of your pen is (or should be!) the LMB.

[R.I.P. Affinity 26.03.2024]

17 minutes ago, Alfred said:

The tip of your pen is (or should be!) the LMB.

Yes. That's the point of using pens. But still, it doesn't work.

[PixelPest]

And I was thinking the whole time about dragging 2 handles from a sharp point like so: 🤔

[chessboard]

15 hours ago, darwinwasright said:

Yes. That's the point of using pens. But still, it doesn't work.

Right. That doesn't work with Wacom Pen. Each time you press the button, that is assigned to the RMB, the context menu pops up, even if the pen tip (LMB) ist pressed first. This must have to do with the Wacom driver and how it handles simulating mouse clicks.

In inkscape you have the option to turn a node into symmetric mode, so that its handles stay symmetric when moved, without the need for any hotkey. I think this is one of the best solutions to this. In Photoline you can use SHIFT, CTRL and ALT in specific combinations to move the handles solely, connected, symmetrical and so on. That works also fine, but makes fidelling with the hotkeys a bit more guesswork.

[R.I.P. Affinity 26.03.2024]

1 hour ago, chessboard said:

Right. That doesn't work with Wacom Pen. Each time you press the button, that is assigned to the RMB, the context menu pops up, even if the pen tip (LMB) ist pressed first. This must have to do with the Wacom driver and how it handles simulating mouse clicks.

In inkscape you have the option to turn a node into symmetric mode, so that its handles stay symmetric when moved, without the need for any hotkey. I think this is one of the best solutions to this. In Photoline you can use SHIFT, CTRL and ALT in specific combinations to move the handles solely, connected, symmetrical and so on. That works also fine, but makes fidelling with the hotkeys a bit more guesswork.

Yep. That would be a good solution.

Edited May 13, 2021 by darwinwasright

[chessboard]

I just discovered that it is possible to adjust the handles one after another to bring them into the same length by using the SHIFT-Key on Windows. The manual just hints this very curtly: "You can also use this key to extend a pulled control handle. The original direction of the control handle is retained." (Translation from german manual by me).

What the manual doesn't tell is, that by holding the SHIFT-Key and stretching the handle in its original direction you can move it to a point that is as far as the handle on the other side. When you reach the exact point it snaps to it and to little marker lines on the handle lines indicate that both handles are now adjusted with the same length. This works with smooth points as well as with sharp points.

Would be really helpfull if the manual would mention this particularly.

[R.I.P. Affinity 26.03.2024]

1 hour ago, chessboard said:

I just discovered that it is possible to adjust the handles one after another to bring them into the same length by using the SHIFT-Key on Windows. The manual just hints this very curtly: "You can also use this key to extend a pulled control handle. The original direction of the control handle is retained." (Translation from german manual by me).

What the manual doesn't tell is, that by holding the SHIFT-Key and stretching the handle in its original direction you can move it to a point that is as far as the handle on the other side. When you reach the exact point it snaps to it and to little marker lines on the handle lines indicate that both handles are now adjusted with the same length. This works with smooth points as well as with sharp points.

Would be really helpfull if the manual would mention this particularly.

Interesting. But moving both handles synchronized u can see the curve changes irl.