Merge curve layers - Affinity photo

[slaterousJ]

Hi,

anybody knows how to merge two curve layers resulting in a single curve layer?
I remember the "pathfinder"-tool in Photoshop, that did it's job.
In Photo I only found the Layer->geometry stuff. But none of it merges the layers.

Thank you
 

[thomaso]

30 minutes ago, slaterousJ said:

I only found the Layer->geometry stuff. But none of it merges the layers.

Can you demonstrate how it reacts & how the UI is offered to you?
I get this (a + b) after selecting  2 layers (a, b) + choosing the "Add" option:

 

[slaterousJ]

I'm in affinity photo. 
In designer I got that toolbar and it works. 
But it's missing in photo.

[Ron P.]

9 minutes ago, slaterousJ said:

I'm in affinity photo. 
In designer I got that toolbar and it works. 
But it's missing in photo.

Right-Click on the Toolbar and select Customize Toolbar, or go to View>Customize Toolbar. (Not customize tools).

Now you should be able to drag the Geometry toolbar from the Customize dialog to where you want it on the toolbar.

 

[Alfred]

21 hours ago, slaterousJ said:

In Photo I only found the Layer->geometry stuff. But none of it merges the layers.

There should be an ‘Add’ option on the ‘Layer > Geometry’ submenu. But as @Ron P. has pointed out, you can customize the toolbar if you want to use a button instead of the menu option.

[Ron P.]

21 hours ago, slaterousJ said:

In Photo I only found the Layer->geometry stuff. But none of it merges the layers.

Ok re-reading your post, maybe you're not wanting the curves added together?

IF not, then there's right-clicking on one of the layers and selecting Merge Visible. OR go to Layers>Geometry>Merge Curves.

[slaterousJ]

Thanks for the toolbar-extension-tip.
I tried in photo and designer, but it didn't work (see screenshot)
I exported an eps and combined the shapes in illustrator. 

 

[slaterousJ]

13 minutes ago, Ron P. said:

Ok re-reading your post, maybe you're not wanting the curves added together?

IF not, then there's right-clicking on one of the layers and selecting Merge Visible. OR go to Layers>Geometry>Merge Curves.

Thank you. I tried that first.
But merge visible "pixelates/rasterizes" the curves and "merge curves" keeps the intersections.

[MEB]

Hi @slaterousJ,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
Do you mind attaching the afdesign file with these two objects please? You can delete the rest. Thank you.

[slaterousJ]

Here:

hf.afphoto

[Ron P.]

I don't know why it's doing that, however I discovered if you reverse the layers, ie; put the "S" shaped on the bottom then boolean ADD it works correctly.

[slaterousJ]

20 minutes ago, Ron P. said:

I don't know why it's doing that, however I discovered if you reverse the layers, ie; put the "S" shaped on the bottom then boolean ADD it works correctly.

Ah, nice... Thanks.
I didn't think about changing the layer order.

[Ron P.]

Your welcome.

[thomaso]

30 minutes ago, Ron P. said:

I don't know why it's doing that, however I discovered if you reverse the layers, ie; put the "S" shaped on the bottom then boolean ADD it works correctly.

Is this the expected behavior, or rather a bug? – Is there a visual indicator in the UI to detect such a possible issue?

[slaterousJ]

For an add-action, the order shouldn't/can't be relevant.
So I think it's rather a bug.. hmm

[MEB]

Hi @slaterousJ,
It is indeed a bug, that's why i requested the file. The output you got (as shown in your third post) is wrong. The order is irrelevant.
If you perform a Merge Curves (Layer > Geometry menu) and then the Add operation it also works fine.
I've added your file to our log to be tested against new/revised code. Thanks for your support.

[thomaso]

3 minutes ago, MEB said:

It is indeed a bug,

2 hours ago, thomaso said:

Is there a visual indicator in the UI to detect such a possible issue?

… anything visible in the failing curve which may get noticed by the user if experiencing similar situations?

 

[MEB]

Hi @thomaso
No, because it should work without issues.

[Tenthrow]

I have very similar issues with pathfinder in Designer. It comes up for me more often when merging overlapping text (or shapes that are similar). It always works as expected in Illustrator. Examples attached.

[R C-R]

6 hours ago, Tenthrow said:

I have very similar issues with pathfinder in Designer.

Have you tried changing Layer > Fill Mode to Alternate?