Mirror Horizontally.

[Hywel Harris]

If I am creating a heart shape that remains symmettrical I need to use symbols to create the two halves then flip one of them. How do you do that quickly and simply? I have tried the mirror buttons but that mirrors about its own centre not an edge.

CorelDraw is exceptionally good at this using the various key modifiers it can be done just using the mouse and Ctrl Shift etc.

Or do I need to draw a rectangle around all the objects (obviouslt centred correctly) then select the mirror object and the rectangle then mirror them?

[Alfred]

29 minutes ago, Hywel Harris said:

I have tried the mirror buttons but that mirrors about its own centre not an edge.

Having created the wrongly aligned mirror copy, you can easily move it to the correct position by turning ‘Snapping’ on and dragging it with the Move Tool. Hold down the Shift key to ensure that its vertical alignment is maintained.

[thomaso]

This is a known issue (lack/missing feature) and discussed before. Actually there is no such easy mirror method in Affinity which allows to set a specific flipping axis. Neither a custom set transform origin nor the according point in the transform panel does the trick. Instead you need to flip + move afterwards as @Alfred recommended above. Maybe you want to add your note to an existing feature request or create a new one in the feedback forum.

 

[walt.farrell]

Having drawn half of a shape, you can duplicate it (Ctrl/Cmd+J).

Then select it with the Move Tool active, so you have a bounding box:

Then grab the bounding box handle that I've highlighted, and drag it straight to the right through the opposite handle and keep going until you have the width you want, which will give you this:

[Hywel Harris]

1 hour ago, walt.farrell said:

Having drawn half of a shape, you can duplicate it (Ctrl/Cmd+J).

Then select it with the Move Tool active, so you have a bounding box:

Then grab the bounding box handle that I've highlighted, and drag it straight to the right through the opposite handle and keep going until you have the width you want, which will give you this:

There is no way to keep that at the original size though.

[walt.farrell]

4 minutes ago, Hywel Harris said:

There is no way to keep that at the original size though.

You can let Snapping help, and another copy to serve as a guide for the snapping.

1. Draw the object half.
2. Ctrl/Cmd+J to duplicate it twice. We'll call them original, copy 1, and copy 2.
3. Make sure snapping is on.
4. Use the Move Tool to move copy 1 to the right so the left edge of its bounding box snaps to the right edge of the other copies' bounding box.
5. Now use the Move Tool to grab the center left bounding box handle of copy 2, and drag it to the right until it snaps to the right edge of copy 1's bounding box.
6. Delete copy 1.

[thomaso]

4 hours ago, Hywel Harris said:

If I am creating a heart shape that remains symmettrical

In case you can live with pixel instead vector: in the Pixel Persona the Brush Tool has a Symmetry / Mirror option in the context toolbar, including an adjustable symmetry axis.

https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/tutorials/designer/desktop/video/331186550/

 

[Hywel Harris]

1 minute ago, thomaso said:

In case you can live with pixel instead vector: in the Pixel Persona the Brush Tool has a Symmetry / Mirror option in the context toolbar, including an adjustable symmetry axis.

https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/tutorials/designer/desktop/video/331186550/

 

No sorry needs to be vector

[Hywel Harris]

2 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

You can let Snapping help, and another copy to serve as a guide for the snapping.

1. Draw the object half.
2. Ctrl/Cmd+J to duplicate it twice. We'll call them original, copy 1, and copy 2.
3. Make sure snapping is on.
4. Use the Move Tool to move copy 1 to the right so the left edge of its bounding box snaps to the right edge of the other copies' bounding box.
5. Now use the Move Tool to grab the center left bounding box handle of copy 2, and drag it to the right until it snaps to the right edge of copy 1's bounding box.
6. Delete copy 1.

I am aware that there are multiple workrounds but this simple task should be a one click and drag (with a modifier key)Or a modifier to the mirror button icon (to make it use the transform panel centre location)

[walt.farrell]

3 minutes ago, Hywel Harris said:

I am aware that there are multiple workrounds but this simple task should be a one click and drag (with a modifier key)Or a modifier to the mirror button icon (to make it use the transform panel centre location)

Perhaps. But this is the Questions forum, not the Feature Requests forum.

If you want a change to the program you need to post there (or find an existing request to agree with).................

[Alfred]

42 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

You can let Snapping help, and another copy to serve as a guide for the snapping.

1. Draw the object half.
2. Ctrl/Cmd+J to duplicate it twice. We'll call them original, copy 1, and copy 2.
3. Make sure snapping is on.
4. Use the Move Tool to move copy 1 to the right so the left edge of its bounding box snaps to the right edge of the other copies' bounding box.
5. Now use the Move Tool to grab the center left bounding box handle of copy 2, and drag it to the right until it snaps to the right edge of copy 1's bounding box.
6. Delete copy 1.

You don’t really need a second duplicate. If Snapping is on, when you drag the left-hand edge of the copy far enough to the right, the app will show you that it’s snapping the width to be the same as the original.

The above screenshot is from the iPad version of Affinity Designer but the same principle applies to the desktop version.

[loukash]

9 hours ago, Hywel Harris said:

If I am creating a heart shape that remains symmettrical I need to use symbols to create the two halves then flip one of them. How do you do that quickly and simply?

Like this:

It's really that simple.™
Then group the two symbols for easy transformation as a whole.
You can also unlink the symbols and merge both curves to a single object when you're satisfied with the shape.

[Hywel Harris]

19 hours ago, loukash said:

Like this:

 

It's really that simple.™
Then group the two symbols for easy transformation as a whole.
You can also unlink the symbols and merge both curves to a single object when you're satisfied with the shape.

Sorry, I guess if you're coming from Illustrator that might be simpler. In CorelDraw its way quicker, it's one action. Ctrl-Click left middle handle, rrag right and right click before releasing.

Done.

CorelDraw is just more efficient . I don't mind that AD isn't quite as good yet, but I'd hope the dev's are taking the best ideas  from other applications rather than whats presented in the "industry standard" application.

[loukash]

5 minutes ago, Hywel Harris said:

CorelDraw is just more efficient

You are aware that Affinity has a Heart Shape tool, right?
It wasn't what you were asking for, hence no one has originally mentioned it.

[Hywel Harris]

6 hours ago, loukash said:

You are aware that Affinity has a Heart Shape tool, right?
It wasn't what you were asking for, hence no one has originally mentioned it.

No, its isn't what I want, I used it merely as an example of the problem.