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How do I convert a selection into a vector shape?


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2 hours ago, GFS said:

 

Actually ... it is entirely vector based.  There are absolutely no pixels involved apart from screen-drawing/representation.

 

 

I can't see any video, there is a link to LP-Mask-Stencil.mp4 but that link does not work for me.

 

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Unfortunately I stopped using Affinity. I still download the updates and check to see but, no. Every time a new update is posted or a video I'm always heartbroken. It's normally some text upgrade or thumbnail thing. I would think that editing the image would have the highest precedent. Channel operations also seemed lacking if I remember.   

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22 minutes ago, Dangerous said:

I can't see any video, there is a link to ... but that link does not work for me.

That's pretty weird..  What OS are you on?  For me it just goes on loop in the forum software. (Quite annoying actually).

Try this: Mask-Stencil

Grumpy, but faithful (watch out all you cats)

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14 minutes ago, GFS said:

 

Seems Windows 10 has issues with mp4.  ( https://videoconvert.minitool.com/video-converter/windows-10-cant-play-mp4.html )

I've uploaded a .mov vs, which is 10x larger... but maybe it'll work.

Mask-Stencil-mov

Otherwise maybe you could try a different browser.

That worked but I never have problems with mp4. I create & play them no problem.

 

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1 minute ago, Dangerous said:

That worked but I never have problems with mp4. I create & play them no problem.

 

Perhaps your browser has some setting preventing this, perhaps your internet is set up to not play mp4s in webpages.

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

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

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11 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Perhaps your browser has some setting preventing this, perhaps your internet is set up to not play mp4s in webpages.

My browser happily plays .mp4 files, but won't play those videos in the earlier posts.

On the other hand, I think that MP4 is a container format, that can have different codecs used, and possibly they use a codec I don't have.

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2 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

My browser happily plays .mp4 files, but won't play those videos in the earlier posts.

Same for me.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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19 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Perhaps your browser has some setting preventing this, perhaps your internet is set up to not play mp4s in webpages.

I upload mp4 to you tube & play them from there. As I say never had an issue with mp4 before and I believe I have all the codecs I need installed.

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12 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

My browser happily plays .mp4 files, but won't play those videos in the earlier posts.

 

9 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Same for me.

They play OK for me in Safari on iPad.

 

12 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

On the other hand, I think that MP4 is a container format, that can have different codecs used, and possibly they use a codec I don't have.

MP4 is indeed a container format, so the codecs required will depend on the characteristics of the video stream.

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On 4/20/2022 at 6:53 AM, GFS said:

I'm showing what I could do in an app, almost 30 years ago.

Yes, as you can see, paint already has a mask, made as you paint, which can instantly be toggled between a stencil and a mask and also drag-copied to any other layer, as a stencil and a mask.  It's instant. It's easy. It's automatic.  It's a good method.

The point of this thread, is that this cannot be done in AF apps.

Sure it can.

5 hours ago, GFS said:


Actually ... it is entirely vector based.  There are absolutely no pixels involved apart from screen-drawing/representation.
 

Are you sure about that? Seems to me that the vector circle is being converted to a raster mask.
(we can use the vector shape itself as a mask... or convert to raster. The inverting of the vector mask is a bit of a hassle (really needs to be automated), but can be done. And the flipping of the raster is easy.)
And clearly the brush stroke in the vid is raster.

The point of this thread is different...... the ability turn a marching ants selection into a vector path (a la PShop)
Maybe that old app could indeed do that, but that's not whats shown. We can do what's shown 🙂.

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26 minutes ago, JimmyJack said:

The point of this thread is different...... the ability turn a marching ants selection into a vector path (a la PShop)

My memory of using the selection to a vector path in PhotoShop is that the resulting vector path was a (very) crude approximation of the actual pixel selection.

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

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

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31 minutes ago, JimmyJack said:

 

The point of this thread is different...... the ability turn a marching ants selection into a vector path (a la PShop).

Yes that is the point. Surely the marching ants are a form of vector curve and if so it should not take much to implement this feature. It can be converted to a mask after all. Where I have a more complicated shape to trace my workround is to brush select & refine it till I'm happy with the selection, output it to a selection, copy & paste to new layer which keeps the marching ants, shrink the selection by 5 px and hit delete to remove the centre leaving an outline, zoom in and trace with pen tool 5 px stroke. When complete delete the outline layer and edit the traced curve layer as req'd. So much easier & quicker for me but with this feature all that would not be necessary.

What would be nice is for serif to reply even if it was to say 'sod off, we are not going to give you this feature'. They have only replied 2 in 8 years, how hard would it be to reply a third time?

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5 minutes ago, Dangerous said:

Surely the marching ants are a form of vector curve

No the marching ants are a Pixel selection.

And don't call me Shirley.

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

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

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Just now, Dangerous said:

Surely the marching ants are a form of vector curve and if so it should not take much to implement this feature.

As implemented, they just define a pixel-based area in the document. They are not vector shapes, nor do they belong to any specific layer of the document.

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1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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1 minute ago, Old Bruce said:

No the marching ants are a Pixel selection.

And don't call me Shirley.

Are they actually a pixel selection or a form of curve selecting a pixel area?

And what's wrong with being called Shirley? Big Daddy was and he was no pushover!

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50 minutes ago, JimmyJack said:

Are you sure about that?

Indeed I am.

As I mentioned... it is all vectors except for screen-draw.

The clip doesn't show working from a selection, but it's exactly the same.  I could just make a selection and it would automatically be: mask / stencil / vectorial.

Quote

We can do what's shown

Can AFP make paint into a vectorial mask/stencil, by dragging the mask icon?

Grumpy, but faithful (watch out all you cats)

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5 minutes ago, R C-R said:

As implemented, they just define a pixel-based area in the document. They are not vector shapes, nor do they belong to any specific layer of the document.

I know they are not assigned to a layer but they can define any pixel based area and can at times be moved so they much be plotted in memory, they can't 'just be'. We can't access how AP stores them but AP can so the size, shape, position or whatever must exist somewhere and be accessible to to the program.

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Just now, Dangerous said:

Are they actually a pixel selection or a form of curve selecting a pixel area?

They are just pixel-based selections of some area of the document. They are not vector curve objects.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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3 minutes ago, R C-R said:

They are just pixel-based selections of some area of the document. They are not vector curve objects.

The marching ants remain even after save, close & reopen or when you change layers etc. so they must be recorded somewhere and if so then the serif programmers know where. We as users don't know what goes on within the code so are you one of the serif programmes? 

They select a pixel based area but that does not mean that they are pixel based.

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25 minutes ago, GFS said:

Indeed I am.

As I mentioned... it is all vectors except for screen-draw.

Wish the clip would show that. Once the circle goes to mask there is no vector showing. No control points.
Seems like a pixel mask to me. But that's beside to point AP and AD can go to pixel or stay vector.

25 minutes ago, GFS said:

Can AFP make paint into a vectorial mask/stencil,....

This is more the point.
Maybe I don't understand the sentence.
Are you saying that once the brush (raster) squiggle becomes a mask it is transformed into a vector?
Wish we could see that too. There is nothing there to indicate that.
If you could show that, that would be great!

25 minutes ago, GFS said:

..... by dragging the mask icon?

But to answer the second part (vector issue notwithstanding) yes a painted layer can be made into a mask by dragging. To be a a mask OR stencil it needs to be rasterized to mask.

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6 minutes ago, Dangerous said:

They select a pixel based area but that does not mean that they are pixel based.

Does mean that exactly.

If you are using Photo you can make a spare channel that is based on the Pixel selection. Which is what a Marching Ants selection is.

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

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

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