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Shape builder tool in Designer?


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I was watching a video of a designer making a logo with Adobe Illustrator and I was in my mind re-doing everything the designer did on AD and I was so happy that basically I could do everything this guy was doing until he start using the SHAPE BUILDER TOOL. 
 

Do we have a tool like that in Designer? Something similar? I went to my computer and try to replicate what he was doing by using the combining tools but even tho you can get closer to having the same end result, the shape builder is amazing! Snapping and unsnapping pieces and deleting shapes you don’t need without messing the final design is out of this world. I wonder if any of you can point me to a tool similar on Affinity Designer.  I’ll be reading ya’ll. 
 

Shape Building tool.

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Hi AlbertKinng,

There is no shape builder within Affinity at this point in time, the closest would be using Boolean operations to create a desired shape or using the Pen Tool to create a Closed Curve the same shape as your desired shape.

Please tag me using @ in your reply so I can be sure to respond ASAP.

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I know I’m asking for something out of the ordinary to the version 1 software. Affinity Designer is so impressive that in it’s initial state already surpassed the 90% of Adobe Illustrator. I use both and lately I’m using AI just to tweak and export. The way Affinity manage to ease productivity is by far top of the notch. I can’t imagine version 2. I bet Adobe is watching from the distance. 
 

I’m ready to put my money on all apps for the next version. I know they worth it!

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Interesting video talking about Adobe Illustrator and Affinity Designer regarding the shape builder in Adobe Illustrator.

 

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After watching this video I'd say that the shape building tool becomes less important (to me at least) in Designer.

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2 hours ago, AlainP said:

After watching this video I'd say that the shape building tool becomes less important (to me at least) in Designer.

That’s how I work out my logos, it’s the only way to work with shapes. I can record 10 videos like that and it won’t change the fact that with something similar or better than the shape builder tool in Designer will make your workflow faster and productive. I don’t want Adobe illustrator, or Designer to behave like Adobe Illustrator. I want a tool unique, similar or / and better than Shape Builder in Designer. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 4/1/2022 at 6:35 AM, albertkinng said:

I know I’m asking for something out of the ordinary to the version 1 software. Affinity Designer is so impressive that in it’s initial state already surpassed the 90% of Adobe Illustrator. I use both and lately I’m using AI just to tweak and export. The way Affinity manage to ease productivity is by far top of the notch. I can’t imagine version 2. I bet Adobe is watching from the distance. 
 

I’m ready to put my money on all apps for the next version. I know they worth it!

Here's a video that delves into shape-building with AD:

 

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The video in the last post is badly named, in my opinion.

Designer does not have a “Shape Builder” and so giving it the title of “Using Shape Builder & Shape Tools in Affinity Designer” may be giving some people the wrong idea that it does.

I realise that this is the problem of the video creator but it’s this sort of thing which has some people expecting the applications to have functionalities which they don’t have, and then complaining about it here when they realise they’ve been ‘duped’.

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14 minutes ago, GarryP said:

and then complaining about it here when they realise they’ve been ‘duped’.

Alternatively, they will accuse Serif of claiming that ....

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10 hours ago, GarryP said:

The video in the last post is badly named, in my opinion.

Designer does not have a “Shape Builder” and so giving it the title of “Using Shape Builder & Shape Tools in Affinity Designer” may be giving some people the wrong idea that it does.

I realise that this is the problem of the video creator but it’s this sort of thing which has some people expecting the applications to have functionalities which they don’t have, and then complaining about it here when they realise they’ve been ‘duped’.

I agree that the title is misleading - I watched it to find out what a 'Shape Builder' might be, not realizing at the time it was an AI feature.

I posted the link here because the techniques he illustrates may be of use to the OP; being rather inexperienced in AD, I learned a lot from it.

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  • 2 months later...

It's technically not a feature. It's another way (easier way) to work with paths like subtract and add but combined. A feature would be selecting a symbol and creating a virtual grid to be editable. So, Affinity could just make a way to edit a path more dynamic and it would be a Shape Builder tool. Like Vectornator, a free vector tool tha let you trace a raster image and vectorize it in layers within the same app. There are many different ways to manipulate a vector path because is not an image in reality. I am confident that Affinity Suite Version 2 would be a nightmare for Adobe in many ways and I mean in ways they will need to copy Affinity and follow their new way of handling graphics and photography.

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  • 1 month later...

I discovered this app today. It's called Vector Styler and basically includes all the features we want on Affinity Designer. Maybe a peak on this app can show affinity a way to achieve these shape builder and manipulation tweaks. I download the free trial and it is impressive. The AI import and export option is very well implemented. I don't see myself paying $100 for it because I already have all Affinity apps, but seeing what I can do with this Vector Styler app give me hope that Affinity can do it too!

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1 hour ago, albertkinng said:

I discovered this app today.

VectorStyler has a fan base here on the forums.

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

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On 10/4/2022 at 3:15 PM, albertkinng said:

I discovered this app today. It's called Vector Styler and basically includes all the features we want on Affinity Designer. Maybe a peak on this app can show affinity a way to achieve these shape builder and manipulation tweaks. I download the free trial and it is impressive. The AI import and export option is very well implemented. I don't see myself paying $100 for it because I already have all Affinity apps, but seeing what I can do with this Vector Styler app give me hope that Affinity can do it too!

That's awesome you discovered Vectorstyler! I was introduced to it by someone on the affinity forum when I needed features and tools still missing from designer. A vectorstyler "fan base" has started here in affinity because it allows them a solution to what affinity lacks without returning to adobe. I always felt like affinity alone was the best hope to shed adobe, but the glacial pace of development and lack of advanced features left me searching for a better solution. 

In my opinion, affinity will never catch up to what vectorstyler offers, in part because Vectorstyler is already so far ahead, but also because they are not built the same way. Affinity is like a screwdriver while Vectorstyler is like an impact driver. Designer is simple in layout and tools while Vectorstyler is filled with advanced features. The more you use vectorstyler, the more you realize how deep it really is.

I've found vectorstyler to be more suited for me as a power vector user, but can still appreciate the simplicity of designer, the way I can incorporate photo and publisher, etc. If you are a power  vector user, you might find it worth having vectorstyler around even as a side program to using affinity designer. It's taken nearly a decade for affinity to get common features (assuming the 2.0 version has a bunch of them). Using vectorstyler gives you all those missing common features on top of thousands more. As a professional vector designer, 100 dollars is cheap when considering the level of features gained. You also get to be a part of the maturation of the program in the Vectorstyler forum. 

 

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2 hours ago, Boldlinedesign said:

Affinity is like a screwdriver while Vectorstyler is like an impact driver.

I got to tell you. Your comment makes me going to buy it as soon the trial ends. Maybe I wait for Affinity 2.0 first. You see, I’ve been a designer since 1992. I started with Photoshop 5.5, Aldus Freehand 8 and PageMaker. Illustrator was really bad and QuarkXpress was complicated. Then Adobe bought Freehand and Pagemaker and I started to use only Adobe products until Adobe CC arrived. 
 

One day my paid copy of Adobe CS6 no longer was working and the solution was upgrading to CC. After hours of arguing with sales support they finally send me a temporary authorization code for CS6 and a year later is wasn’t working at all. That day I just decided quit all Adobe products and was struggling to keep up with my clients at that time (Hilton, Southwest Airlines, etc).
 

I was using Acorn to replace Photoshop and then Pixelmator, for a year my work was going well with Pixelmator, Graphics and Swift Publisher but they were too limited and my excuses were fading away. Until Affinity! What a great day man! I’ve been working with Photo, Designer and Publisher like my Adobe days. I mean, I bought them all including the iPad versions. My workflow has been amazing and the apps never failed me! These apps are my core tools and I can’t imagine myself without them. 
 

It scares me the future of Affinity. I received an email with a questionnaire and the word Subscription was mentioned a couple of times. If they go that way I will be pushed to Pixelmator Pro and Vector Styler in a second! Finding a good publisher will be hard though… maybe Swift Publisher is in better shape now. Idk. 
 

I really don’t want to stop using Affinity apps. Hope they don’t go the subscription business route. I’m ready to buy all five apps when 2.0 is on sale. I’m really ready for that. But if they say “Subscription” it will be another sad day for me. 

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16 minutes ago, albertkinng said:

I received an email with a questionnaire and the word Subscription was mentioned a couple of times.

I assume you are talking about the official email from Serif. Could you provide its wording here?

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As I wrote, I thought it was an "official email from Serif".

Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.4.0.2301
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Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155.
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1 hour ago, albertkinng said:

I received an email with a questionnaire and the word Subscription was mentioned a couple of times.

 

46 minutes ago, Pšenda said:

I assume you are talking about the official email from Serif. Could you provide its wording here?

The email was about participating in a Survey. The word 'subscription' was in one of the questions that asked how to pay/buy for versions 2 and up. Ask people about 'subscriptions' and tabulate the responses. 

If you read these forums you'll come away with the idea that 'subscription' is not the way to go. Survey your current customers and you may find that a majority are in favour of the idea. Basic market research stuff.

I try to not speculate but my gut says 'subscription' is off the table.

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

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@albertkinng if you're loving affinity, I'm not trying to make you stop. I own every affinity product on every available platform as well. I love affinity overall but there are too many missing features that impede my ability to work professionally with it. I hope affinity 2.0 adds most of those features. The thing is, even if affinity adds those common features in 2.0, the deeper and more powerful features won't be in there. There are also major issues with dirty geometry with Boolean operations.

For 100 bucks, I can purchase vectorstyler and use it alongside designer and to get anything done. Like affinity, you own the main version of Vectorstyler in perpetuity. 

I still have a copy of adobe cs6 that I use occasionally for rare things I cannot do in Vectorstyler or designer but I'm looking to fully retire it asap. 

For all my excitement about vectorstyler, I still love and root for affinity to succeed. There's a certain elegance and simplicity and alternative feel to affinity as compared to Photoshop and illustrator and Corel, etc. I love the ability to use the same file within all three programs naturally. Admittedly, using vectorstyler makes me love affinity more than I would otherwise because I can afford now to patiently wait for 2.0 to bring things like text warp, blends, print separation, etc. I primarily use vectorstyler for my vector work but it's nice to have options. 

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On 10/4/2022 at 9:15 PM, albertkinng said:

I discovered this app today. It's called Vector Styler and basically includes all the features we want on Affinity Designer.

It's feature & capabilties wise a good & rich equipped vector app (...and would be a good companion, as far as it would run on older Mac systems too), especially here since it can basically deal with all kind of vector distortions and recently also supports bitmap-to-vector tracing ... etc.!

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19 hours ago, Boldlinedesign said:

That's awesome you discovered Vectorstyler!

I say that if you've worked in the design / illustration / print industry with a reasonable focus on vector work, and you want to break away from adobe and subscription, Affinity is the way to go, but in order to crack-on and get stuff done in a similar fashion to working with Freehand / Illustrator, VectorStyler is an essential companion app.

19 hours ago, Boldlinedesign said:

Affinity is like a screwdriver while Vectorstyler is like an impact driver.

Nice analogy - I'd prob define the comparison as: Designer: nice, slick, snappy, Swiss Army knife "with all the tools you need to get the job done"(according to the Designer sales blurb)  ie a pen knife, screwdriver, a spoon, a little saw, corkscrew, bottle opener... etc. VectorStyler: fully featured trades-persons toolkit featuring a 50pc carbon steel and Chrome vanadium screwdriver and Allen key, power driver bit set, top quality power tools = various types of power saws, drills, hammers, clamps, spanners, wrenches, pliers... etc -- if owning both bits of kit, and say you need to drill a hole in a wall, you could opt for either the handy corkscrew in the swiss army knife, or choose the easy option, power drill with a carbon steel bit.

19 hours ago, albertkinng said:

I got to tell you. Your comment makes me going to buy it as soon the trial ends. Maybe I wait for Affinity 2.0 first. You see, I’ve been a designer since 1992. I started with Photoshop 5.5, Aldus Freehand 8 and PageMaker. Illustrator was really bad and QuarkXpress was complicated. Then Adobe bought Freehand and Pagemaker and I started to use only Adobe products until Adobe CC arrived. 

Freehand was great - Quark was solid yet minimal set of tools, then the Adobe Design Collection arrived -  I also thought Illustrator was horrible until v10 then I began to tolerate it. also remember that vector tracing was done in Adobe Streamline and 3D vector stuff was done in Adobe Dimensions before both where added as Illustrator features.

Lets just hope Affinity V2 brings a more complete vector toolset, but I agree with Boldlinedesign on the point of VectorStyler catchup, as VS is evolving and improving on a weekly basis - there's a decent sized learning curve, but once you get your head around it, you realise the power 

 

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4 hours ago, Dazmondo77 said:

VectorStyler: fully featured trades-persons toolkit featuring a 50pc carbon steel and Chrome vanadium screwdriver and Allen key, power driver bit set, top quality power tools = various types of power saws, drills, hammers, clamps, spanners, wrenches, pliers...

Whoa! You already switched to Vector Styler! 🤣 (joking) seriously now, I don’t know why VS doesn’t feel like a pro software to me… it reminds me a lot to the open source linux app: Inkscape. Playing around with it makes me feel like yes, I have all these tools but I will create my project in Affinity this time… don’t get me wrong, I see myself creating logos and complex designs on VS but I don’t see me working a product package design on it if you know what I mean. Maybe I still have hopes for Affinity Apps… I will try this weekend with VS pretending I don’t have Affinity to see how it goes. 

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