Help me understand why subtraction isn't working for me (Affinity Designer)

[Cobalt7 Imaging]

Howdy folks - I'm having a hard time figuring out why this scenario happens to me. 

Two curves, and I want to subtract the red circle from the black shape. The first image shows the two curves and me selecting 'Subtract. The second image shows what happens (rather than "punching" a hole out, it just turns black). The third image is a simulation of what I expect. I'm about 99% sure it's something silly, but for the life of me, I can't remember why it does this. 

Where am I going wrong? I added the sample file as well. 

Frank

 

curve_subtraction.afdesign

[Old Bruce]

2 minutes ago, Cobalt7 Imaging said:

The second image shows what happens (rather than "punching" a hole out, it just turns black). 

Go to the Layer > Fill Mode > and change from one to the other. For what it is worth this works as you expect in Version 2.0.3

Also try reversing one of the curves's direction. Use the Context toolbar and the Node tool to see it.

[v_kyr]

9 minutes ago, Cobalt7 Imaging said:

Two curves, and I want to subtract the red circle from the black shape. The first image shows the two curves and me selecting 'Subtract. The second image shows what happens (rather than "punching" a hole out, it just turns black).

Nothing wrong with your method and setup, just change the winding rule to "Layer -> Fill Mode -> Alternate" for your second shown image, aka the result of the geom subtraction!

[Cobalt7 Imaging]

Interesting, thanks to @v_kyr and @Old Bruce - both posts were very helpful. I'm not an Affinity guru, but I am pretty comfortable with it after using it a couple of years now. I would've never thought to look at Fill Mode, especially considering I don't know what it even is. 🤔

 

I plan on upgrading next month, so hopefully I won't have that issue anymore, but nice to know what to do if it comes up again. Thanks!