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Why is it so hard to get snapping to work?


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It's not hard to understand all the options in the drop down menu. I seem to have to go through the same pi festival all the time to just get a node in node mode to (say) snap to a line.

I'm trying to move a node and I want it to snap on to the edge of another curve and so I turn on snapping and select "snap to geometry" and it's not doing it. So I try again and it's still not doing it. So I think to myself, maybe it's the other buttons for snapping, but no it's not them either. Then after repeated efforts I end up trying to move the node and suddenly it won't let me move it at all, instead it'll only let me move the handles..

And so on and after so much effort mucking about trying to get it to work it finally decides to do what it's supposed to be set to do, snap to the god damn edge of the curve!

Why is this happening? What am I doing wrong? 

So far as I can see I'm not doing anything wrong, and it's just the software not working

I hope it's me doing something not right though

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Sorry to hear. Even after several years of enthusiast usage i run into this or similar issues. Snapping is another prime example of extremely powerful tools which need lots of training and practice to really master them.

I have a few hints:

  1. Temporary disable forced pixel alignment and move by whole pixels. (Most important!)
  2. less is more. In case of snapping issues, disable all snapping options except the single required one.
  3. Create snapping presets. Snapping settings heavily depend on the specific situation, presets allow you to quickly change.
  4. Think different. If unable to getting snapping to objects to work, use guides (and snapping to guides) as workaround. Guides can be placed and adjusted with great fine-level control by mouse or numeric input (guides manager). Use x and y-guides in combination is giving you a crossing point.
  5. Another option is to create helper objects like rectangular vector shape. Again, disable all unneeded snapping options except the option you need.
  6. Watch the tutorial videos again occasionally. 

Hope that this might help, good luck 🍀 

 

PS

for me, (forced) pixel alignment was the major culprit in most cases of snapping issues. Especially wrong combination can bite you hard, as Photo might have a different view (vs. your expectations) if snap to whole pixels or move by whole pixels has priority. And in every case, Photo will enforce its point of view 😂 

 

Edited by NotMyFault
Added PS section

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3 hours ago, NotMyFault said:

for me, (forced) pixel alignment was the major culprit in most cases of snapping issues.

Also a setting often being overlooked: Candidates

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8 hours ago, awakenedbyowls said:

a node in node mode to (say) snap to a line

Also to remember:
If you want a node to snap to its own object, enable the context toolbar snapping options.

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In reply to all of the above:

I'm doing all those things NotMyFault. It was an issue last night when I was using my XP-Pen but this morning on the mouse it no longer seems to be an issue. Force Pixel Alignment isn't turned on, but maybe something to do with Candidates? I don't know what that setting is all about and need to look into that.

As for the Context Toolbar Snapping Options - I'm always a bit confused as to what they're for. I think it's for snapping the handles to the geometry of objects. The main snapping is for nodes and the context snapping buttons are for handles - or is that an oversimplification?

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15 minutes ago, awakenedbyowls said:

As for the Context Toolbar Snapping Options - I'm always a bit confused as to what they're for

Hover over the buttons and read the tooltips.

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3 minutes ago, loukash said:

Hover over the buttons and read the tooltips.

I'm doing that but struggling to differentiate between some of their functions and the tick boxes in the snapping menu.

Also, in the snap menu if I select "snap to object geometry" the nodes I'm drawing snap to the curves and nodes of objects I'm drawing and other objects. But what is "snap to shape key points"? I drew a shape and then turned that on and started drawing a curve and nothing is snapping to anything on the shape. But if I select "snap to geometry" instead then the nodes snap to the edges and corners of the shape?

It seems like "snap to geometry of selected curves" in the context toolbar is just doing the same as "snap to object geometry" in the snapping menu, the only difference is the latter will snap to other objects whereas the context toolbar option only snaps to the object I'm currently drawing. I don't understand why the setting are organised in this way. It's really confusing!

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1 hour ago, loukash said:

Always useful to look at the instructions..

Which I have, and I've done the tutorials but there is a point where you have to just go out and start playing around with the settings to get a feel for them.

I forgot "snap to shape key points" is for snapping objects together and not for snapping nodes to objects. However, I just drew two simple squares and turned this setting on and tried to snap them together - nothing. But when I select "snap object to bounding boxes" they snap together and line up no bother. What's that all about? What am I not doing there that I need to be doing?

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1 hour ago, MEB said:

Hi @awakenedbyowls,
Snap to shape key points in to snap to notable points of a shape like the center of a circle for example:

 

So a shape "key point" is the centre point of a shape then and nothing to do with nodes or curves? I am unable to figure out what else this might refer to. I guess we might be getting down to semantics here but a "key point" of something in my view could refer to any of the nodes in a shape, as well as perhaps geometrical points of interest.

In the page posted above on Snapping it says "Snap to shape key points—when checked, objects can be aligned to key points on shapes, such as the start and end of a rounded corner" - but from what I can see there and in my own examples is this option allows NODES to be snapped (not objects). I can't get objects to snap to anything, and also what does "start and end of a rounded corner" mean? 

 

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4 hours ago, awakenedbyowls said:

So a shape "key point" is the centre point of a shape then and nothing to do with nodes or curves? I am unable to figure out what else this might refer to.

From some quick tests it seems like only certain quick shapes have a "key point," which for some of them like the segment & crescent shape tools may not be at the center of the shape as drawn but at the center of its bounding box, which might be completely outside the shape.

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  • 4 months later...

@MEB Another confused individual here. Could you please explain how "Snap to shape key points—when checked, aligns [objects/nodes] to key points on shapes, such as the start and end of a rounded corner" ? With this setting enabled it seems I can only allign nodes to the center of certain objects like MEB showed in a video before. I'm working on a video tutorial on snapping in Designer but I'm really struggling to find a scenario where nodes would align specifically to the start of a rounded corner.

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34 minutes ago, Heres Johnny said:

@MEB Another confused individual here. Could you please explain how "Snap to shape key points—when checked, aligns [objects/nodes] to key points on shapes, such as the start and end of a rounded corner" ? With this setting enabled it seems I can only allign nodes to the center of certain objects like MEB showed in a video before. I'm working on a video tutorial on snapping in Designer but I'm really struggling to find a scenario where nodes would align specifically to the start of a rounded corner.

What exactly is the "start and end" of a "rounded corner"? And what exactly is a "rounded corner"? Also what are you trying to snap to possibly two points, the "start and end"?

You can snap to nodes using the node tool, select both objects with the move tool and switch to the node tool. Now select the nodes (so they are highlighted) of the object you wish to have snap to and drag them to the node on the "rounded corner".

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I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

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26 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

What exactly is the "start and end" of a "rounded corner"? And what exactly is a "rounded corner"? Also what are you trying to snap to possibly two points, the "start and end"?

You can snap to nodes using the node tool, select both objects with the move tool and switch to the node tool. Now select the nodes (so they are highlighted) of the object you wish to have snap to and drag them to the node on the "rounded corner".

I'm quoting the built-in help guide as the wording is a bit confusing and I cannot replicate what's described there. I know how snapping works in general. Not meaning to sound like an ass, but I'm not an amateur, so no offense but this answers nothing. Would love @MEB to help if possible—or anyone who can actually show me how Snapping to Shape Key Points helps align nodes to the Starts/End of a Rounded Corner specifically. The only thing I actually managed to snap nodes to (with this setting) was the center of another shape as shown by @MEB. I'm creating training materials for Affinity users in a company I work for, and this is confusing the hell out of me 😵 Would appreciate your help!

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Again I need to know what exactly is a start / end of a rounded corner. I am thinking you might mean the end of a straight line and the start of a curve. But I am not certain. Here is a triangle with rounded corners, I made it with the pen tool and the Corner tool I also duplicated it and then converted that to curves, baking in some nodes. On the Converted to curves copy I can snap to the nodes using the node tool. I cannot snap using the move tool. I cannot easily determine where the end of the straight line is on the curve with the rounded corners made by the curve tool, there is literally nothing to snap onto.

Is the upper one showing the "start / end of a rounded corner"? If so then you'll have to convert to curves and use the node tool.

2115090499_ScreenShot2021-10-11at12_59_09PM.png.df720d184ef00fb8c29d74e162907db9.png

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

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14 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

Again I need to know what exactly is a start / end of a rounded corner. I am thinking you might mean the end of a straight line and the start of a curve. But I am not certain. Here is a triangle with rounded corners, I made it with the pen tool and the Corner tool I also duplicated it and then converted that to curves, baking in some nodes. On the Converted to curves copy I can snap to the nodes using the node tool. I cannot snap using the move tool. I cannot easily determine where the end of the straight line is on the curve with the rounded corners made by the curve tool, there is literally nothing to snap onto.

Is the upper one showing the "start / end of a rounded corner"? If so then you'll have to convert to curves and use the node tool.

2115090499_ScreenShot2021-10-11at12_59_09PM.png.df720d184ef00fb8c29d74e162907db9.png

Again, I'm literally quoting the help guide built into Affinity Designer (the same one that's available online) and that's exactly what I'm trying to figure out—what is the start/end of a rounded corner that the "Snap to shape key objects" setting is supposed help me snap things to.

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17 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

If so then you'll have to convert to curves and use the node tool.

But that would run counter to the meaning of this choice - "Snap to shape key points".

 

For functionality as described in the Help, at least as I understand it, this option works for me.

image.png.13f505d5782c5d3a6f605a5bb10d5cbb.png

"Snap to shape key points" has no effect on this.

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I think a detailed tutorial video explaining the snapping options and how they work would be a very good idea, if you have to use phrases like "It's my understanding," "my take on it is...," and "as I see it" then whatever you are using requires clarification.

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3 hours ago, firstdefence said:

I think a detailed tutorial video explaining the snapping options and how they work would be a very good idea, if you have to use phrases like "It's my understanding," "my take on it is...," and "as I see it" then whatever you are using requires clarification.

Thank you.

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7 minutes ago, Heres Johnny said:

the setting "Snap to shape key points"

The problem is that Key Points are the Edges and Mid-Points of the bounding box, they have nothing to do with the actual shape of the object.

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

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1 hour ago, Old Bruce said:

The problem is that Key Points are the Edges and Mid-Points of the bounding box, they have nothing to do with the actual shape of the object.

Then wouldn't the help guide be plain wrong and misleading? I mean, it could just be the case, but who knows at this point? lol. Would love anyone from the official dev/support team to elaborate on this

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4 minutes ago, Heres Johnny said:

Then wouldn't the help guide be plain wrong and misleading?

Yes, it is quite obtuse at times and other times it is outdated or just wrong. Overall though it is quite good.

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

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