Designer Pencil Tool - Size or Crosshair Display

[Jens D. R.]

Hi,

I was wondering if it is possible to have the pencil tool display size or crosshair instead of the pencil icon. The icon often obscures in such a way that I need to estimate where I am drawing. This results in quite a few redraws or adjusting the line after the fact.

I could not find any way to change the display of the tool in use - a pointer would be fine.

Thanks

Jens

[GarryP]

If you turn the Stabiliser ON – necessary for someone like me who can’t draw very well – the ‘pointer’ will change to a small unfilled circle with a little cross dragging behind it.
Notice the difference in my attached video – Stabiliser OFF, then ON.
Might not be useful to you – it depends on what sort of drawing you are doing – but worth knowing about.

[iconoclast]

As far as I see, the brush cursor normally appears as a circle. If it appears as a crosshair, the brushsize is verry small, so that it can't be dispayed as a circle. So if you enlarge the brushsize, it will appear as a circle.  I think that makes sense.

[GarryP]

18 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

As far as I see, the brush cursor normally appears as a circle.

The Pencil Tool, as mentioned by the OP, is the one that displays the pencil pointer (sometimes).
I think you might be talking about the Vector Brush Tool.
That said, the OP might have given the name of the wrong tool in the first place.

[iconoclast]

4 minutes ago, GarryP said:

The Pencil Tool, as mentioned by the OP, is the one that displays the pencil pointer (sometimes).
I think you might be talking about the Vector Brush Tool.
That said, the OP might have given the name of the wrong tool in the first place.

Yes, you're right. My attention deficit. Sorry!

[Jens D. R.]

3 hours ago, GarryP said:

If you turn the Stabiliser ON – necessary for someone like me who can’t draw very well – the ‘pointer’ will change to a small unfilled circle with a little cross dragging behind it.
Notice the difference in my attached video – Stabiliser OFF, then ON.
Might not be useful to you – it depends on what sort of drawing you are doing – but worth knowing about.

Thanks for the info, but I rather draw without the stabiliser.

[Jens D. R.]

2 hours ago, iconoclast said:

Yes, you're right. My attention deficit. Sorry!

I actually use the pencil tool, not the brush/vectorbrush. So I was asking about the pencil tool, which always displays a pencil icon. I would prefer a crosshair or a circle the size of the selected brush.

[iconoclast]

17 hours ago, Jens D. R. said:

I actually use the pencil tool, not the brush/vectorbrush. So I was asking about the pencil tool, which always displays a pencil icon. I would prefer a crosshair or a circle the size of the selected brush.

I don't really know why the pencil tool's cursor always is displayed as a pencil symbol. But this is in fact the way also other programs handle this, as far as I know. Possibly because the pencil tool is much more focused on drawing curves (pathes/vectors) than the vectorbrush. As far as I see, you can't draw strokes with certain brushes. You only can assign brushes to the drawn curves after you drawed the curve. This could also be the reason why there is no shape changing cursor. Because this tool initially always draws vectors only, no textured brushes (which depend on pixels).  Even though this vectors can have different thicknesses.

[Jens D. R.]

Ok, I am now using the brush tool in Designer - works well - I should have done that from the beginning. But in Photo I always use the pencil - I prefer the control over the brush. In Photo there is also the pencil icon...

Maybe one day it will get upgraded in Photo at least.

Thank you for your input.

Cheers

Jens

Edited June 2, 2021 by Jens D. R.
Spelling

[R C-R]

9 hours ago, Jens D. R. said:

But in Photo I always use the pencil - I prefer the control over the brush. In Photo there is also the pencil icon...

Where in Affinity Photo do you see a Pencil tool or icon? There is a Pixel Tool, but that is a differenty one than the Pencil.

[Jens D. R.]

My Bad, I got that mixed up - I am a bit caught up in my work switching back and forth between products. Sorry I was back in Designer again.