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NEW FEATURE REQUEST: Step and Repeat Advanced


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I see in different topics here the demand for the Step and Repeat tool found in InDesign. Glad to see there are others than me that misses this terrific tool. 

Replies refer to the duplicate tool and the alignment tool but even though they sort of can do what the step and repeat tools does, I just cant see them as handy. They need several steps, copying layers, clicking ctrl-x for each copy needed an so fourth. And maybe the biggest disadvantage: What if you want to adjust the spacing between your items. Then you have to undo all steps and start from the beginning. With the Step and repeat tool, you just change the spacing value and everything re-renders. You can easily experiment with different values until you are satisfied.

Current Step and Repeat tool

That brings me to my Feature request. To add the Step and repeat tool into Affinity Software would be nice but why not expand the tool while your at it. 

The Step and repeat tool in InDesign offers a way to repeat an item as many times you want horizontally or vertically or both.  You set the step value for the x- and y-axis and it renders out your items. Nice and easy. If you change the step values, it renders your items again. A perfect way to experiment with different values.

New feature Request: Step and repeat along path

What if it also was possible to align your items along a circle. You add number of copies and chose circle and set the radius value of the circle. An option here could also be "distrubute evenly along path" so that it automatically set the right spacing between items for a full circle. An other option could be to set the rotation value 0-360 if you dont want a full circle. With this tool it would be easy to for instance make an analog clocks minute och 5-minute marks. If you add an option to make your items rotate along path it would be perfect for the clocks minute lines so the lines also correctly angles along the path as expected.

While where at it, why don't we make it poosible to align items along any path. Square, triangle of freeform or whatever. You can do it with text today, why not make it possible to do with other objects as well. 

More options
There are many more transform options that could be added here. I thought of a few. One is a scale curve where the items scales accordingly to the scale curve as they are added. Another transform option would be color change after preset colors or a color gradient. 

Finally i have added a few sketches to illustrate examples of how this tool could be used.

If you like my idea, please comment. :)

circle-example.png

freeform-example.png

step-and-repeat-tool-indesign.png

Edited by oeborn
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