Affinity series: what is the best way to draw a straight line

[Pyanepsion]

Hello everyone.

There are different ways to draw a straight line.

—What is the best one?

—Are there preferences for Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, and Affinity Publisher?

—And maybe depending on the type of line you want to draw?

So:

1. Drawing a rectangle
2. Drawing an arrow without a tip
3. Drawing a pen tool

Thank you for your well-reasoned explanations.

[firstdefence]

For straight lines I'd go with the Pen Tool, use Click, Shift Click for accurate horizontal, vertical and 45º lines, this can be used in all the Affinity apps.

[Pšenda]

40 minutes ago, firstdefence said:

For straight lines I'd go with the Pen Tool, use Click, Shift Click for accurate horizontal

... Pen Tool, Line Mode in Context Toolbar, Click, Shift Click. Next line/s Click, Shift Click, ..... or Power Duplicate. 

[Pyanepsion]

Thank you all.

Each row measures 7 mm and contains 5 horizontal lines consisting of 3 small blue lines of 0.125 mm and 2 large purple lines of 0.25 mm. The red 0.25 mm line is 25 mm from the left edge. All lines are 4 mm from the edge.

The question was about the best method of creating the lines.

The criteria

Two criteria seem to me to be important in the context of a performance:

1. Carry out the request as quickly as possible.
2. Use as little space as possible in the product file.

Details of the service

To perform the tests, I created successively an arrow version, a pen version, and a rectangle version in AFDESIGNER with other objects then I linked the pen file in an AFPUB file. I exported the results in PNG, JPG and PDF.

I then replaced the line-linked AFDESIGNER with its arrow version, did the same exports, and then with its rectangle version.

To make each row, the easiest way is to create the first purple line, 0.25mm in purple, then duplicate it to create the first blue line, 0.125mm. Duplicate the blue line twice, and place each line 1.75mm from the other.

Then select the 4 lines, copy them, place them correctly at 7mm and use the Super Copy function (Control J or Command J) as many times as necessary.

Performance Time

1. Pen. The pen version is the fastest. You draw the line horizontally, set the line fill to blank, and indicate a line of 0.25 or 0.125 mm with the correct colour.
2. Rectangle. The rectangle version is a little longer. Draw the rectangle horizontally, set the line content to empty and 0, and indicate a fill of 0.25 or 0.125 mm with the right colour.
3. Arrow. The arrow version is a little longer. Draw an arrow horizontally, set the content of the line, set the end caps, and indicate a fill of 0.25 or 0.125 mm with the correct colour. The exact thickness of the line is a bit complicated to obtain.

Size of the product file

AFDESIGN

1. Arrow= 22,282 bytes
2. Pen= 23,745 bytes
3. Rectangle=24,335 bytes

AFPUB

1. Arrow= 814,459 bytes
2. Pen= 821,917 bytes
3. Rectangle= 822,007 bytes

PNG

1. Arrow= 6,064,063 bytes
2. Pen= 6,098,867 bytes
3. Rectangle= 6,105,592 bytes

JPG

1. Arrow= 15,964,597 bytes
2. Pen= 16,206,285 bytes
3. Rectangle= 16,298,334 bytes

PDF

1. Arrow= 3,467,124 byte
2. Rectangle= 3,467,156 bytes
3. Pen= 3,467,512 bytes

Conclusion

The differences in file size are not very significant between the different processes. The production time seems to favour the one that seemed most obvious: the pen tool.

 

[Pšenda]

As for the regularly recurring group of lines, I would try to use Symbol and duplicate it using Power Duplicate.
I would also be interested in the effect on the file size - the source data of the Symbol would not have to be saved repeatedly.

Interesting is the difference in JPEG size - this indicates the fact that the result is different (different procedures lead to different results).

[Pyanepsion]

On 6/28/2022 at 11:11 AM, Pšenda said:

I would try to use Symbol and duplicate it using Power Duplicate.

Thank you, @Pšenda. If this does what I think it should do, it would be a great asset. How do you use a symbol?

[Pšenda]

1 hour ago, Pyanepsion said:

How do you use a symbol?

I will make the first group of lines

from which I will create a Symbol.

Duplicate (Ctrl+J) Line group (Symbol), move to position.

Ctrl+J, Ctrl+J, Ctrl+J, ....

 

Edit: The advantage of the Symbol is that if I edit something in it (change the thickness of the line or its color, add a line or adjust their spacing), it will automatically be added to all other Symbols.

It could also be interesting in terms of file size, as it could be just a copy of a symbol instance, not all of the lines and objects defined in it.

Edited June 29, 2022 by Pšenda

[Catshill]

I’ve used APu for years and never used symbols. I need to expand my horizons and start thinking how they might be useful to me beyond styles and assets. 

[Pšenda]

3 hours ago, Catshill said:

never used symbols

Unfortunately, symbols still have a lot of unfinished work and bugs, see for example the impossibility of hiding one instance of a symbol (the Symbol must be encapsulated in another group) and the impossibility of organizing them in the Symbol panel, but it is still a very powerful and useful tool.