Layer Effects for fill only, not stroke.

[JimY]

When I apply an Inner Glow effect (in this case set to multiply) it affects the stroke as well as the fill. How do I get it to only apply to the fill? Attached is the image of the applied effect (on the right), but I still need the white stroke (on the left). I've read a few, multi-step solutions to this issue, but none allow making a simple transformation to the object without making the exact same transformation to a duplicate object.

This project will indeed have edits and revisions as I go. So it will be a nightmare to repeat each transformation to multiple objects, instead of one.

Any way to apply effects to fill only, not stroke? In Adobe Illustrator it's easily done in the Appearance Panel. But not so in Designer.

[iconoclast]

Hi JimY!

If you create the stroke with the "Outline" function of the Layer Effects, it will not be affected by the inner glow or other effects..

[JimY]

Thank you for your solution. But still not exactly what I need. If you look at my 2 attached samples, if I specify Alignment: Inside, then all the exterior corners are sharp and interior corners are rounded. If I choose Alignment: Outside, then all the exterior corners are rounded and interior corners are sharp. I need ALL corners to be sharp. Alignment: Center will at least be consistent and give all corners a slightly rounded look. I may have to settle with that, but I really wanted all corners to remain sharp.

I will probably end up using the Centered option, but wish Designer could pull off the same effect with all sharp corners. Thank you for showing me another feature that I was unaware of!

[iconoclast]

"Center" alignment creates some rounded corners inside, as far as I see - but it looks the same with a normal centered stroke. Doesn't it?

I'm afraid that the only other solution is to create the fill and the outline on seperate layers.

[JimY]

A normal stroke does not have rounded corners (see my attached image in the original post at the top) unless you specify Round Join in the Stroke panel. Miter Join produces nice, sharp corners.

I realize that I can create one layer with the stroke and another layer for the fill, but that's exactly what I'm trying to avoid. I know I'll be making edits and I don't want to have to edit two individual objects every time I move a node or adjust a curve.

Thanks again for your input and help.

[carl123]

Certain blend modes do not affect the colour white

Play around with different blend modes (e.g. Glow) to see if you can still get the effect, you want

 

[iconoclast]

8 hours ago, JimY said:

A normal stroke does not have rounded corners (see my attached image in the original post at the top) unless you specify Round Join in the Stroke panel. Miter Join produces nice, sharp corners...

Yes, sorry, the "Outline" of the Layer FX doesn't offer the "Join" function.

Possibly the "Symbols" function ("View" > "Studio" > "Symbols") allows you to do what your looking for. But I'm not sure, and I don't know if it will be much easier as just using two different layers for fill and stroke. I'm still not familiar to this function.

[JimY]

First, I'll reply to carl123. Blending mode did help, but I wish it could have matched my original attempt a bit closer. Instead of using the Inner Glow as a darker color and choosing Edge with a Multiply Blend Mode, I filled the object with the darker color, then used the lighter color as the Inner Glow color and chose Center instead of Edge and with a Blend Mode of Screen. The Screen Mode kept the white stroke from being affected. But then I couldn't get the noise affect to take hold. I would apply noise, but it would not show up. And when I returned to the Effects Panel, Noise would be returned to zero. So for some reason it would not accept noise. So instead, I applied noise to the fill color and then it worked. You can see the differences in the attached shot. On the left is the process described above. Nice sharp corners on the stroke and pretty much the same effect as I tried originally, on the right (with the rounded corner Outline effect applied). My only complaint (and I'm nit-picking) is that the noise doesn't have that nice, funky look as it did originally (on the right). Now the noise is a little too clean. But again, I'm nit-picking.

Thank you for making me think in terms of Blending Modes. That helped tremendously!

[JimY]

Now let me reply to iconoclast. Symbols would not be a solution. Symbols allow you to take an object, or group of objects, and have them repeated throughout your document. You may have meant Styles. But unfortunately, that wasn't a solution either (at least everything I tried with Styles didn't work).

I really appreciate all the input. It's great to have creative souls like you and carl123 willing to lend a hand.

[iconoclast]

2 hours ago, JimY said:

Now let me reply to iconoclast. Symbols would not be a solution. Symbols allow you to take an object, or group of objects, and have them repeated throughout your document. You may have meant Styles. But unfortunately, that wasn't a solution either (at least everything I tried with Styles didn't work).

I really appreciate all the input. It's great to have creative souls like you and carl123 willing to lend a hand.

No, I meant "Symbols". I thought that you could possibly create one filled form on one layer and a duplicate of it with no fill, but an outline stroke, on another, and you could scale, rotate, distort... both at once with the "Symbols" feature. But this doesn't seem to work.

Seems like the best opportunity would be to create this two layers and put them into a group. So you can at least scale and rotate both layers at once if you select the group layer. To move the same nodes of both layers (to distort the form), you can select them by first selecting both layers, then dragging a rectangle with the Node Tool over them and then drag them with the mouse or move them with the arrow keys. But I don't know if there is a way to drag the handles of a node of both layers at once. At least I didn't find a way yet.

Not the easy solution of your dreams, but I'm afraid there is no easier way.

[JimY]

Looks like the work-arounds are endless. Just shows that Designer still has a way to go before it is truly the Illustrator killer. And I'm continually finding scenarios where Illustrator has a simple solution, but Designer can't quite do the job. But it keeps getting better. I submitted a "wish list" months ago and hope to see those features introduced in the near future. For now, I'm forced to continue using Illustrator. But with the help of people like you and others, I'm making strides in using Designer to the best of its abilities. Looking forward to the day that I can rely solely on Designer.