Designer: combine curves to create separate shapes to fill?

[Slashee the Cow]

Umm. Sorry if that title isn't great. I couldn't think of a better way to word it. Anyway the problem is I created a picture (in this case, a teddy bear) out of curves:

I'd like to be able to colour in individual sections like this (without rasterising it and using the paint bucket like I did for this example):

But the whole thing is sort of a mess of curves, e.g. for that part of the face, it uses all of these:

Is there an easy (or hard, as long as it works) way I can get just the perimeter for each enclosed area as its own shape, so I can just set the fill for each area? I can't just rasterise a high res version and fill each area, because I need curves, preferably individual ones for each area, I'm intending to use this for 3D printing (which means I'll probably have to export it as an SVG, but that would just be a bunch of closed curves anyway.... I hope).

Thanks in advance for the help!

[NotMyFault]

One possible way is to copy all curves (multiple times).

then select those required curves for one shape, and combine them to a. Losed curve with the node tool. As the curves are partially shorter (having a gap, do not overlap) you would need to manually adjust the curves so they overlap.

Normally you could simplify this process by taking advantage of z-axis / layer stack sequence. Small parts like the circles of the eyes will cover lower parts. If you are able to plan ahead, you can start with the outer edge, not taking care of the inner parts. Then use geometry>divide to create pieces for the inner shapes. Again make copies as you need every piece multiple times.
 

This works only for closed curves, so combining the lines to curves is the most important step (keep a copy of the originals).

[iuli]

Hi @Slashee the Cow

I think an easy and quick way would be, with all the shapes selected, to use Expand Stroke, then use Boolean Add, then use Boolean Divide. You still have to select each shape to apply color afterwards. Video below:

 

[Slashee the Cow]

@iuli I'm sure your video is great, but when I try to watch I just get redirected to a page that says "We could not locate the item you are trying to view.". Don't know much about the Affinity forums myself, so if you (or someone else) could tell me what's up with that, I'd be thankful.

[GarryP]

Slashee the Cow: I get the same message so you are probably not doing anything wrong.
This can happen if the video was not properly uploaded (I often see this with MOV videos) or there was a problem with the video before it was uploaded.

While you are waiting for an updated upload you might like to try these:
https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/tutorials/designer/desktop/
https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/tutorials/designer/desktop/video/393643502/
https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/tutorials/designer/desktop/video/394926096/

[iuli]

@Slashee the Cow @GarryP It’s probably because it’s uploaded from iPad; it works fine here; I re-uploaded the video, which probably will not make any difference, but I don’t have access to desktop at all these days, I’m sorry 🙁.  

[iuli]

@Slashee the Cow I hope this helps a bit:

 

 

[GarryP]

I’ve just tried to download a MOV file which was recorded on a Mac (ages ago) and that seems okay:
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/10812-how-to-crop-image-to-a-hexagon-on-transparent-layer/&tab=comments#comment-46233
Maybe iPad MOV files don’t work (maybe just in the forums) the same way as Mac MOV files, for some reason.
That doesn’t sound likely to me so maybe a Mac/iPad expert can help with this.

[R C-R]

6 hours ago, iuli said:

@Slashee the Cow @GarryP It’s probably because it’s uploaded from iPad; it works fine here; I re-uploaded the video, which probably will not make any difference, but I don’t have access to desktop at all these days, I’m sorry 🙁.  

FWIW, the video plays fine on my iMac so I suspect this is somehow related to using Windows on this site.

[Dan C]

23 hours ago, GarryP said:

Maybe iPad MOV files don’t work (maybe just in the forums) the same way as Mac MOV files, for some reason.

17 hours ago, R C-R said:

FWIW, the video plays fine on my iMac so I suspect this is somehow related to using Windows on this site.

There was a known bug with the Invision Forums (that we use here) when trying to preview/download .MOV files in Chromium based browsers - yesterday we updated the forums to resolve this issue for new uploads, so hopefully this shouldn't happen again, and I have also fixed the above post

[Slashee the Cow]

2 hours ago, Dan C said:

There was a known bug with the Invision Forums (that we use here) when trying to preview/download .MOV files in Chromium based browsers - yesterday we updated the forums to resolve this issue for new uploads, so hopefully this shouldn't happen again, and I have also fixed the above post

Yep, it fixed it. Thanks everyone for all the help. And double thanks to iuli for the video and illustration.