How To Reset The Bounding Box In Designer...

[Brian Lucas]

Hi,

Is there a way to reset the bounding box in designer after you rotate an object?
I'd appreciate any answer.
Thanks, Brain

[Old Bruce]

If it is a simple thing, not a group, then you can use the Add from Layer > Geometry > Add and you will wind up with a reset bounding box. Obviously if it is a group or a Curves layer more needs to be done.

[Brian Lucas]

Thanks, Old Bruce. I have a group. I believe Affinity Designer needs a tool to reset the bounding box like adobe illustrator.

[Dan C]

Hi @Brian Lucas,

Although not technically a 'reset', if you need to quickly edit an object that you've rotated you can use Cycle Selection Box on the Context Toolbar, with the Move Tool activated - 

This will change from 'base box' to 'regular bounds', which should show the non-rotated bounds for your rotated object, as such -

I hope this helps

[R C-R]

3 hours ago, Brian Lucas said:

I believe Affinity Designer needs a tool to reset the bounding box like adobe illustrator.

Just curious but where would you want or need to do this to do something you can't do using the Cycle Selection Box feature @Dan C mentioned?

[Customer Feedback]

On 11/22/2021 at 5:19 PM, Brian Lucas said:

Thanks, Old Bruce. I have a group. I believe Affinity Designer needs a tool to reset the bounding box like adobe illustrator.

Very much, yes. It is incredibly annoying to deal with.

[Bungfil]

It is possible to reset all bounding boxes by exporting as pdf and then opening the pdf file.

[lalcimo]

I found a "workaround" on resetting the bounding box for the following objects:

GROUPS: Ungroup then regroup. Skew, rotation, and bounding box will be reset.

SHAPES: It's impossible in itself but you can place it in a group to have the bounding box reset.

CURVES: Use an operation on your OBJECT. For me, I create a small rectangle and place it on a curve that I want to reset. I use ADD operation on them. Do take note that if you have round corners, they would be baked. I suggest that remove them first, and then reapply after resetting the bounding box. Also, the NEW OBJECT would have the fill and stroke of the OBJECT UNDERNEATH. In my example, it used the green fill instead of the red.

 

I do hope that Affinity would have a simpler way to reset the bounding box permanently, but for now, these workarounds would do.

 

[GarryP]

2 hours ago, lalcimo said:

Use an operation on your OBJECT. For me, I create a small rectangle and place it on a curve that I want to reset. I use ADD operation on them.

Note: You don’t need to add the new layer before doing the Geometry operation, you can just select the layer and use Geometry Add. (This works with Curve, Curves and Shape layers – amongst others – but it will, as you say, bake shapes into curves.)

[lalcimo]

22 hours ago, GarryP said:

Note: You don’t need to add the new layer before doing the Geometry operation, you can just select the layer and use Geometry Add. (This works with Curve, Curves and Shape layers – amongst others – but it will, as you say, bake shapes into curves.)

Ooh. I didn't know you could do that. XD

[Godlessape]

I have a group of objects at an angle, to which the bounding box is skew and I want to very simply transform it but the angle of the box make it impossible to do evenly. I cant do the "add" workaround because of the group. A simple "cycle-box-orientation" handle would be very helpful.

 

[Dan C]

Hi @Godlessape,

Does Select > Cycle Selection Box with your group selected allow you to achieve the transform you require?

[Godlessape]

Im working on an ipad. The only "select" option I can find (outside of the selector tool itself) is in the three dot menu which offers "select all" so im not sure where Select>Cycle Selection Box  option might be located on an ipad?

[Dan C]

Apologies! On the iPad with your Group selected and the Move Tool active, select the Move Tool icon on the Context Toolbar and in this list you should see the 'Cycle Selection Box' option - 

I hope this helps!

[Godlessape]

Ha! That does help! Thanks mate!

 

[dok]

Hello, found this helpful topic as I was looking for a "reset bounding box" option somewhere.

Imho it would be very useful to have this option, I used to use it very often in Illustrator

Thanks.

[R C-R]

11 minutes ago, dok said:

Imho it would be very useful to have this option, I used to use it very often in Illustrator

Does selecting the object & using Geometry > Add not work for you? You can create a keyboard shortcut for that if you want to make it easier to use.

[JET_Affinity]

I've said this before in other threads, but it is pertinent to this thread, too. so...

Every serious vector-based illustration program should provide for transforming selections disproportionally in any direction needed, not just horizontally and vertically.

So first, it is a very good thing that Affinity bounding boxes 'remember' their contents' rotation. Since Affinity does not provide transform tools, but only provides transform handles on bounding boxes, that is the only way to perform on-page scaling in directions other than vertical and horizontal. Yes, I agree that one should be able to permanently re-set an object's to page-normal when desired, but a rotated bounding box is a very useful thing.

Inkscape, for one example, insists on all bounding boxes always being page-normal. So when you need to scale a rotated  selection in the direction of its rotated orientation, you have to 'un-rotate' it so that the desired direction of scaling is either horizontal or vertical, perform the scaling, and then re-rotate it to its intended orientation. That's needlessly tedious.

But Affinity's treatment is still senselessly limited. Consider an object that is rotated 35 degrees. Its rotated bounding box is 'remembered'. So you can disproportionately scale it in either the 35 degree or 125 degree directions. But by what logic is it assumed that the illustrator does not need to scale the rotated object in some other direction that is pertinent and meaningful to the illustration.

Affinity bounding boxes provide an absurdly redundant FIVE rotation handles! One of them already has a different visual treatment: the 'lollypop' handle. Give that handle a practical and useful difference: Enable it to rotate the bounding box around the selection when a modifier key is pressed, thereby enabling the illustrator to 'aim' the transform handles in whatever direction needed, relative to the selection.

JET

[momsthewordus]

On 8/10/2022 at 1:56 AM, Bungfil said:

It is possible to reset all bounding boxes by exporting as pdf and then opening the pdf file.

The cycle selection idea works great, but it is not permanent. The bounding box returns to normal after you click off the object.

I often need to center images that are made of smaller images (some rotated). The bounding box for the group is not tight enough around the image to center it correctly. The Geometry Add idea doesn't work for me, either. Exporting to a PDF and then opening it was a perfect solution for my projects. Thank you, Bunfil.

[momsthewordus]

I finally got geometry add to work. I had to add a little rectangle above my shape, group them together, and then use geometry add on the group. It only works for me if they are grouped first.

[fdarnel]

Hi,

Well, in Designer 2, if i use Layer Geometry Add on a curve, the object just disappears…

Same thing if grouped with a rectangle.

[walt.farrell]

5 minutes ago, fdarnel said:

Well, in Designer 2, if i use Layer Geometry Add on a curve, the object just disappears…

Make sure it's a closed curve. Geometry operations don't work with open curves.

[Dan C]

3 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Make sure it's a closed curve. Geometry operations don't work with open curves.

However, in V2.2 the 'Add' Geometry option will no longer reset the Bounding Box, even for a Closed Curve object. This has been discussed further recently here -

A feature request for a dedicated 'Reset Bounding Box' option is currently logged with our developers, under consideration for a future version

[fdarnel]

OK, so wait and see… Thanks.

[Leusing]

Please add the function to permanently reset the "cycle selection box", not only temporarily. Thank you.