Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Subtract text from complex shape


Recommended Posts

Hello,

 

I am trying to subtract some text from a complex shape. I have converted text to curves. I need the object (black in the pictures) to have a void/be transparent in the middle of it, in the shape of the letter "M". However every time I try subtracting the red "M" (that is above) from black shape (on bottom), it just leaves the shape still completely filled with black and just adds nodes to the middle of the shape. For the sake of the pictures I have shown and example with the "A" next to it, and that works being over the edge of the shape. But the subtract was done with just the "M" and the black shape with out the "A", so it is not due to doing the "M" and "A" at the same time. I dont know what I am doing wrong...

I checked with the node tool that the curves are closed before trying to subtract. In case that would cause a problem, but they are closed. 

I have tried the "subtract" button in the upper right, as well as the from the drop down menu. I also tied "merge curves" from the drop down menu. I did "divide" to see if I could just delete the "M" afterwards to get the void that way, but it does not work, the same thing is happening as with subtract.

Also, I should add that in the picture examples where you see the nodes for the "M" in the Black shape, that "M" can not be selected by its self, it is attached to the shape.

 

Thank you so much for your help. 

 

1.png

2.png

3.png

4.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the fourms @DigitalMasquerade,

Are you wanting to still be able to select the M & A ? If not then simply using Subtract after all have been converted to curves seems to work for me.

If you're wanting to be able to select them and yet punch holes, then try using Compound. To do this just hold down the ALT (pc) OPT (mac), when you press the Subtract. The compound allows for the Boolean operation, (add, subtract, intersect, divide) but places them in a sort of group.

Affinity Photo 2.4..; Affinity Designer 2.4..; Affinity Publisher 2.4..; Affinity2 Beta versions. Affinity Photo,Designer 1.10.6.1605 Win10 Home Version:21H2, Build: 19044.1766: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5820K CPU @ 3.30GHz, 3301 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s);32GB Ram, Nvidia GTX 3070, 3-Internal HDD (1 Crucial MX5000 1TB, 1-Crucial MX5000 500GB, 1-WD 1 TB), 4 External HDD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Ron P. said:

using Subtract after all have been converted to curves seems to work for me

 

42 minutes ago, G13RL said:

works whether the M is converted to curves or remains as text


It works for me, too, without first converting the text to curves.

Before:                                                After:

M-in-a-circle.png.633ee26c44daf2314b0c2161a3ec51be.png  M-subtracted.png.26821ca9068427ec8d1ee5cbfc174197.png

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

More information, incase this can help someone in the future. 

I do not want to be able to still select the "M". I just want it to be one unit with it having a transparent "M" shape in the center of the black. For some reason on the shape I was working on it was not working.

I tried the same "M" on just and ellipse and it would subtract it like it was supposed to. I also made and ellipse then had other ellipses cut out of the main one to kind of simulate my original images. I then took the "M" and subtracted it from that, and it worked. I then tried the pen tool and made a closed shape and was able to subtract the "M" from that one as well.  

The black shape I was working on, originally was imported from and ESP file, it was altered by removing a few nodes and then an ellipse was "add" to it. For some reason this shape was causing the subtract to not work properly. 

I tried setting the blend to erase, it also did not work on this shape.

 

What I did to make it work. I selected the black shape and went to Layer>Fill Mode, it was on "Winding (Non-Zero)" I changed it to "Alternate"(Even-Odd). I then selected the black shape and the red "M" and clicked subtract and it worked.

 

Thank you every one for your help!

 

7 hours ago, Ron P. said:

Welcome to the fourms @DigitalMasquerade,

Are you wanting to still be able to select the M & A ? If not then simply using Subtract after all have been converted to curves seems to work for me.

If you're wanting to be able to select them and yet punch holes, then try using Compound. To do this just hold down the ALT (pc) OPT (mac), when you press the Subtract. The compound allows for the Boolean operation, (add, subtract, intersect, divide) but places them in a sort of group.

 

4 hours ago, G13RL said:

Hello @DigitalMasquerade,

For me, "Substract" works whether the M is converted to curves or remains as text.
You can also set the blend of the M to "Erase" to punch the hole. If you want to keep the background under the circle, group the M and the circle before setting the M blend to "Erase".

2021-12-14_111631.jpg

 

 

1 hour ago, dutchshader said:

Change fillmode  layer>fillmode

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

I'm having some struggles with these concepts as well, trying to cut things out. The goal I have is that this is going on a shirt and all the white areas I want to be transparent so the shirt color will show through. I've tried several solutions in different posts here, but I'm obviously not understanding the different concepts of the geometry, masking, clipping, etc. I've gotten as far as getting the Cars that Care text cut out of the rectangle background, but when I try to cut it out of the pieces of the car showing though the text, I get all manner of odd results. 

For the text, I added all the white text, then added all the black text, then subtracted that from the rectangle and was able to get the text cut out from the rectangle as expected. Then I tried doing the same with the white car accents, to subtract them from the black car body, and just get blobs of one color or the other as a result. 

Any help is greatly appreciated!

CArShowLogo-TShirt2.afdesign

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, @Troy S.

Normally, when printing on textile transfer foil, the white areas are left out so that the colour of the textile shines through.

EDIT:

I think you expect it that way.

CArShowLogo-TShirt2_reworked.png.93949e0a5c4a1aba556971f83d996469.png

CArShowLogo-TShirt2_reworked.afdesign

 

Edited by Komatös
Additions

AMD Ryzen 7 5700X | INTEL Arc A770 LE 16 GB  | 32 GB DDR4 3200MHz | Windows 11 Pro 23H2 (22631.3296)
AMD A10-9600P | dGPU R7 M340 (2 GB)  | 8 GB DDR4 2133 MHz | Windows 10 Home 22H2 (1945.3803) 

Affinity Suite V 2.4 & Beta 2.(latest)
Better translations with: https://www.deepl.com/translator  
Interested in a robust (selfhosted) PDF Solution? Have a look at Stirling PDF

Life is too short to have meaningless discussions!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.