Affinity Designer Questions

[phoenixjen]

I uploaded an image from Pixabay and when I save it as an SVG it saves in all black letters. Is there a way to get this (PNG) file to save with separate colors?

Thank you.

Jenny

 

[R C-R]

It would be helpful if you mentioned what image you downloaded from Pixabay.

[phoenixjen]

Sorry about that. This is the image. 

 

[walt.farrell]

Did you do anything to the PNG image before trying to export it as an SVG?

 

[phoenixjen]

2 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Did you do anything to the PNG image before trying to export it as an SVG?

 

No

[walt.farrell]

In that case, I am puzzled by why you want to save it as an SVG, since the SVG will simply contain that raster image.

But when I Open your PNG, and Export it as an SVG, it has the same colors as the original PNG file has. So I don't know why you're only getting black in your SVG.

[phoenixjen]

Maybe the problem lies with the fact that when I import it into my Cricut program, it’s called Design Space, it comes in as one image all black and white. I might call that company and see if there’s something different I need to do with the file.

[Dan C]

When exporting documents for Cricut from Affinity, please follow the below linked FAQ -

[walt.farrell]

4 hours ago, phoenixjen said:

Maybe the problem lies with the fact that when I import it into my Cricut program, it’s called Design Space, it comes in as one image all black and white. I might call that company and see if there’s something different I need to do with the file.

I think perhaps the issue is that Cricut is expecting vector lines, and you don't get that when you start with a PNG (raster) image.

Edit: Upon further research, I see that Cricut Design Space says it can accept raster image formats (JPG, PNG), too.

[phoenixjen]

4 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

In that case, I am puzzled by why you want to save it as an SVG, since the SVG will simply contain that raster image.

But when I Open your PNG, and Export it as an SVG, it has the same colors as the original PNG file has. So I don't know why you're only getting black in your SVG.

Clearly I am a beginner, but basically there is no way to put the red letters on its own layer so it gets split up in Cricut Design Space?

[walt.farrell]

6 minutes ago, phoenixjen said:

Clearly I am a beginner, but basically there is no way to put the red letters on its own layer so it gets split up in Cricut Design Space?

There is, and I see that Cricut Design Space says it can handle raster image file formats, though that would still give you a single layer.

Which Affinity application(s) do you have available? That will determine which set of tools would be available to you to split that file for exporting as an SVG.

 

[phoenixjen]

7 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

There is, and I see that Cricut Design Space says it can handle raster image file formats, though that would still give you a single layer.

Which Affinity application(s) do you have available? That will determine which set of tools would be available to you to split that file for exporting as an SVG.

 

I have Affinity Designer. It is the trial version. I am going to buy the full program today.  What I need is the red letters to be on a separate layer (?) so when I import it into Design Space it will cut on it's own layer when you cut the different colors.

[walt.farrell]

For Designer, here's one approach:

1. Select the layer in the Layers panel and duplicate it (Ctrl+J on Windows, or Cmd+J on Mac). Hide the lower layer, via the Layers panel.
2. Switch to the Pixel persona:
    
3. Using the Rectangular Marquee Selection Tool, select each block of the black letters, and press Delete. When you have done that for all 4 blocks of black letters on that layer, you will have just the red letters on their own layer.
    
4. Hide that layer using the Layers panel.
5. Make the lower layer visible. On this one you'll delete the red letters, using that same approach: select a rectangle of red letters and press Delete.
6. You now have the bottom layer with just black letters, and the top layer with just red letters.
7. Make sure both layers are visible, via the Layers panel. Export to SVG as you did before.

Your SVG file will have two pixel image layers. I have no idea whether it will work in Cricut Design Space, however.

 

 

[MikeW]

Attached is a vector version--it's not exact but perhaps close enough.

thankyou.afdesign

[phoenixjen]

9 minutes ago, MikeW said:

Attached is a vector version--it's not exact but perhaps close enough.

thankyou.afdesign 91.48 kB · 0 downloads

That worked in Cricut Design Space!! What did you do to get it to work like that? I would like to know for further reference.

[phoenixjen]

47 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

For Designer, here's one approach:

1. Select the layer in the Layers panel and duplicate it (Ctrl+J on Windows, or Cmd+J on Mac). Hide the lower layer, via the Layers panel.
2. Switch to the Pixel persona:
    
3. Using the Rectangular Marquee Selection Tool, select each block of the black letters, and press Delete. When you have done that for all 4 blocks of black letters on that layer, you will have just the red letters on their own layer.
    
4. Hide that layer using the Layers panel.
5. Make the lower layer visible. On this one you'll delete the red letters, using that same approach: select a rectangle of red letters and press Delete.
6. You now have the bottom layer with just black letters, and the top layer with just red letters.
7. Make sure both layers are visible, via the Layers panel. Export to SVG as you did before.

Your SVG file will have two pixel image layers. I have no idea whether it will work in Cricut Design Space, however.

 

 

I loved how I can go to the pixel persona to work on the layers. Unfortunately it didn't work in Design Space. 

[MikeW]

1 minute ago, phoenixjen said:

That worked in Cricut Design Space!! What did you do to get it to work like that? I would like to know for further reference.

I used a different application that has envelope warp capabilities. I put your bitmap on a bottom layer. I created two more layers as seen in the AD file for black/red. I typed one line of text then duplicated it. Warped it to more or less match the warping in the bitmap for the line the duplicate was on. Then did the same for each line. Converted the text to curves and did a little cleanup on a few letters to straighten them. Exported as a pdf and opened in AD. Saved and uploaded the file.