How to cut arc from circle in Designer

[Ken Hjulstrom]

Hi,

I wanted to create an arc that appears above text, with the ends of the arc cut horizontally.  Initially, I was able to do this by overlaying a full ellipse with a rectangle containing white fill, which gives me exactly the appearance I'm looking for, if the background is completely white (see attached file).  However, I now need this same image with a transparent background, and I can't figure out how to accomplish the same thing without using a rectangle to "hide" the unwanted part of the ellipse.  I tried selecting the ellipse, followed by the rectangle and using Layers | Geometry | Subtract, but this resulted in the bottom ends of the arc being joined to each other, which isn't what I'm looking for.  Is there some way to restrict the stroke of an object from following the entire object?

Thanks,

Ken

 

AffinityDesignerArcTest.afdesign

[Ken Hjulstrom]

Hi,

I finally figured out how to do this.  Using the example document here, I did the following:

1. Make sure that snapping is enabled, and that "Snap to Guides" is enabled
2. Create a horizontal guide having the same Y value as the top of the text box
3. Select the ellipse object
4. Switch to the Vector Crop Tool
5. Using the Vector Crop Tool, select the bottom edge of the ellipse object and drag it up until it snaps to the just-set horizontal guide
6. Hide or remove the rectangle that originally was covering the unneeded portion of the ellipse

Done! 

[Gremriel]

There is a pie tool, with which you can make the half circle (180degrees). Then drag the center node towards the outside to create the outline.

[R C-R]

Another simple but destructive way to do this is to convert the ellipse to a curve, switch to the Node Tool, select the two nodes on the sides, break the curve there, & delete the lower curve that creates.

[PixelPest]

Selecting the bottom point, break curve, drag select the now 2 points and delete will do as well.

But why not using the Segment Tool instead?

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, PixelPest said:

Selecting the bottom point, break curve, drag select the now 2 points and delete will do as well.

However, the OP mentioned working with an ellipse. An ellipse doesn't have any nodes so it would have to be converted to a curve before it had a bottom one that could be selected.

[v_kyr]

21 hours ago, Ken Hjulstrom said:

I finally figured out how to do this.  Using the example document here, I did the following:

There are easier ways to get that, see for example ...

 

[Ken Hjulstrom]

5 hours ago, R C-R said:

Another simple but destructive way to do this is to convert the ellipse to a curve, switch to the Node Tool, select the two nodes on the sides, break the curve there, & delete the lower curve that creates.

Thanks, but I tried this, but encountered two problems:

1. For some reason, once I did this, I was able to move the upper part of the ellipse away from the lower part, but I wasn't able to move the lower part away from the upper part.  This may be user error on my part, but I followed two tutorials that described the "break the curve" method, and failed both times.
2. The deal-breaker for this method, at least for my particular instance, is that once the curve is separated, the ends of the arc can only be capped relative to the angular direction that the end is oriented.  In my case, the arc that I wanted to be retained was less than half of the ellipse, so the ends of the arc weren't aimed directly downward, but I wanted both ends of the arc cut horizontally with respect of the document, not the arc itself

Ken

 

[Ken Hjulstrom]

3 hours ago, PixelPest said:

Selecting the bottom point, break curve, drag select the now 2 points and delete will do as well.

But why not using the Segment Tool instead?

Thanks for the suggestion.  I wasn't aware that the Segment Tool existed.  I haven't tried it, but I took a look at this Help page:

https://affinity.help/designer/en-US.lproj/index.html?page=pages/Tools/tools_segment.html?title=Segment Tool

and the examples show the ellipse with portions removed, but with the results as a closed shape.  Is there any way to use the Segment Tool to generate just an arc with the two ends not connected to anything?

Ken

 

[R C-R]

4 minutes ago, Ken Hjulstrom said:

For some reason, once I did this, I was able to move the upper part of the ellipse away from the lower part, but I wasn't able to move the lower part away from the upper part.  This may be user error on my part, but I followed two tutorials that described the "break the curve" method, and failed both times.

If you selected both of the nodes on the edges & broke the ellipse at both of them, your Layer panel should have shown 2 separate "(Curve)" layers. If so, you should be able to select either of them & move or delete that one without affecting the other.

11 minutes ago, Ken Hjulstrom said:

The deal-breaker for this method, at least for my particular instance, is that once the curve is separated, the ends of the arc can only be capped relative to the angular direction that the end is oriented.  In my case, the arc that I wanted to be retained was less than half of the ellipse, so the ends of the arc weren't aimed directly downward, but I wanted both ends of the arc cut horizontally with respect of the document, not the arc itself

Yes, that is a limitation of this method.

8 minutes ago, Ken Hjulstrom said:

Is there any way to use the Segment Tool to generate just an arc with the two ends not connected to anything?

Not that I know of. Like with the Donut, Pie, & related shape tools, the shape is always closed.

If you want just an unfilled, open arc and to have the ends as you menioned above, I think using a vector crop on the ellipse is best (& possibly only?) way to do that.

[PixelPest]

39 minutes ago, Ken Hjulstrom said:

 Is there any way to use the Segment Tool to generate just an arc with the two ends not connected to anything?

The Pie Tool will do.

[v_kyr]

1 hour ago, Ken Hjulstrom said:

Is there any way to use the Segment Tool to generate just an arc with the two ends not connected to anything?

• For a segment you would have to convert it to curves, then with the Node tool add two nodes nearly beside the two bottom nodes and break those. Afterwards select and remove the break/cutted part.
• Easier might be to draw a straight line with the Pen tool, then switch over to the Node tool then click into the middle of the line & drag/bend that above ...  
  

[R C-R]

4 minutes ago, PixelPest said:

45 minutes ago, Ken Hjulstrom said:

 Is there any way to use the Segment Tool to generate just an arc with the two ends not connected to anything?

The Pie Tool will do.

The Pie Tool won't really do that because (like the Donut Tool) it still creates a closed shape, even when it is set to a 100% hole radius, not a simple open arc-shaped line. And even if you do that or try the other method @v_kyr mentioned, you can't get the flat line end shape the OP now says he wants.

I still think the only way to get that is using the vector crop to always get flat ends.