Add geometry over the letter "O"

[RTM]

Hello,   new here and hopefully have a simple question.

I need to add a rectangle over the letter "O" to make it connected for a cut file.  It worked perfectly over the letter "A" and a couple others as a test.  The letter O seems to be a problem.  I subtract the text from the original geometry and then I add a rectangle (curve) over the top and "add".    You can see the "A" is one solid piece, but the "O" still has the rectangle over it.   When I select both pieces and click "add", it does nothing.  Am I missing something?  Thank you for any help!

Edited January 15, 2023 by RTM

[firstdefence]

 

Welcome to the forum @RTM

You need to subtract it, not add it.

Sorry misread the post, I get the add now, so you have punched the text through the black and the centre part of the 'O' is not part of the main body of the black.

Can you show your layers panel with the layers expanded please, also which app are you using and the version?

Also the font you are using would also be a help?

[RTM]

Thank you!

Here are the layers, I added colors so they stand out a bit more.   The font is "BEER"...   I also tried it with Arial as it is a standard font, same result.   The additional curves in the top of the layer pane are part of a test block with other letters, not related to the green shape with red rectangle.

 

*Edit    I am using V2 for Windows

Edited January 15, 2023 by RTM

[v_kyr]

2 hours ago, RTM said:

When I select both pieces and click "add", it does nothing.  Am I missing something?

You seem to use a V2 app for that, when I try the same in ADe V1 on MacOS with Arial Rounded as font it works ...

 

 

 

[RTM]

Oops, left that out of my previous post, edited and added.   You are correct @v_kyr, using V2.

Your video is exactly what I want to happen.   That is how it worked on the "A" but not the  "O"...

Edited January 15, 2023 by RTM

[v_kyr]

9 minutes ago, RTM said:

That is how it worked on the "A" but not the  "O"...

Can only guess here, but the "O" is different from the "A" in terms that it's inner part here is not directly connected to the other black parts (in your last screenshot the green parts, where the inner one from the "O" is not connected to the rest of green). Or the other way around said, the "O" initially is composed of two paths (inner and outer uncombined circles paths).

[RTM]

6 minutes ago, v_kyr said:

Or the other way around said, the "O" initially is composed of two paths (inner and outer uncombined circles paths).

I thought that may have something to do with it, but I did not see a way to account for that.   I am also new to Affinity, so I may just not be aware of my options.  I just tried it with a "Q", same result with the two paths.

[v_kyr]

2 minutes ago, RTM said:

I just tried it with a "Q", same result with the two paths.

It's probably a geom. add algorithm bug here in V2, since AFAI recall the algorithm working has been slightly changed in V2 apps.

[RTM]

Is that something I can report as a bug?

in the meantime I can at least do my layout in Affinity and then take it to Inkscape for the last step of adding connections to the letters.

[firstdefence]

Create the object in a different way...

• Edit the text and position over the green rectangle
• Convert the text to curves
• Ungroup the text
• Select the curves letters and Geometry: Add the curve letters together (so now you have a curves layer)
• Create the little knockout rectangles and position them where you want them to subtract from the Curve letters
• Select all of the little knockout rectangles and add them together to make a single curves layer (Make sure it is above the curve letters layer)
• Select both the curve letters and the little knockout rectangles layer and use Geometry: Subtract 
• Select the resultant curves letter layer and the green rectangle and again use Geometry: Subtract

I duplicated the little knock rectangle by selecting with the move tool and holding the option key down and dragging another instance of it, don't know what that is on windows, maybe ctrl?

 

[Dan C]

Welcome to the Forums @RTM & sorry to see you're having trouble!

14 hours ago, RTM said:

Is that something I can report as a bug?

I can confirm that our dev team are aware of issues with the Boolean operations on text objects which have been converted to curves and we're working to resolve this ASAP. I will be sure to 'bump' this report with your thread now.

I hope this clears things up & our apologies for any inconveniences caused due to this in the meantime.

[RTM]

17 hours ago, firstdefence said:

Create the object in a different way...

• Edit the text and position over the green rectangle
• Convert the text to curves
• Ungroup the text
• Select the curves letters and Geometry: Add the curve letters together (so now you have a curves layer)
• Create the little knockout rectangles and position them where you want them to subtract from the Curve letters
• Select all of the little knockout rectangles and add them together to make a single curves layer (Make sure it is above the curve letters layer)
• Select both the curve letters and the little knockout rectangles layer and use Geometry: Subtract 
• Select the resultant curves letter layer and the green rectangle and again use Geometry: Subtract

duplicated the little knock rectangle by selecting with the move tool and holding the option key down and dragging another instance of it, don't know what that is on windows, maybe ctrl?

 

Yep, ctrl for key for Windows.    I followed the steps above and it fails at this step: Select both the curve letters and the little knockout rectangles layer and use Geometry: Subtract 

Once I have both selected, the subtract button doesn't do anything.  I was able to separate the rectangles and subtract it from the A, but still no luck on O.

7 hours ago, Dan C said:

Welcome to the Forums @RTM & sorry to see you're having trouble!

I can confirm that our dev team are aware of issues with the Boolean operations on text objects which have been converted to curves and we're working to resolve this ASAP. I will be sure to 'bump' this report with your thread now.

I hope this clears things up & our apologies for any inconveniences caused due to this in the meantime.

Thank you!   Just happy to know I wasn't losing my mind!

[firstdefence]

Can you upload the file you have made so we can take a look?

[RTM]

4 hours ago, firstdefence said:

Can you upload the file you have made so we can take a look?

Sure, see attached.     I did add another rectangle in the file to try with frame text, as I was originally using artistic text.  Result was the same though.

Tomatoes.afdesign

[firstdefence]

Hi @RTM

Your document did the same thing as you have been experiencing so while still in your document I geometry undid everything so all I had left was the label shape and the small knockout rectangle.

Next I retyped the TOMATOES text, created two more small rectangles, positioned them and added them together, I then subtracted them from the text and then subtracted the text from the label shape and it all worked. I've set the remade document up for you to try your end again to see if it works.

Suggestion: Try downloading the BEER font from a different location and remove the old one and install the freshly downloaded one.

Tomatoes re-made.afdesign 

[RTM]

I opened the file and selected the TOMATOES curves layer and the rectangles layer, clicked subtract, nothing happened.

I created another test next to it using the standard Windows Arial font in bold.   Using the same steps, the rectangle over the A successfully subtracted, but the rectangle over the O disappeared.

Tomatoes re-made 2.afdesign

[lepr]

8 hours ago, RTM said:

Sure, see attached.     I did add another rectangle in the file to try with frame text, as I was originally using artistic text.  Result was the same though.

Tomatoes.afdesign 26.31 kB · 3 downloads

 

Workaround: use Document Setup to scale that document to 2 pixels wide, do the subtraction, and then scale the document back to 33 inches wide.

(Different documents require scaling to different temporary sizes.)

[firstdefence]

Odd that I can get both files to work on Mac but they not on Windows.

[RTM]

4 hours ago, ,,, said:

 

Workaround: use Document Setup to scale that document to 2 pixels wide, do the subtraction, and then scale the document back to 33 inches wide.

(Different documents require scaling to different temporary sizes.)

Tried it, and it worked.   It also worked using my original method of adding the rectangle to the shape with text already subtracted.   Seems odd that it works when scaled down so small, is that a common workaround?

2 hours ago, firstdefence said:

Odd that I can get both files to work on Mac but they not on Windows.

Agreed!   I do appreciate the help though!

Edited January 17, 2023 by RTM

[v_kyr]

31 minutes ago, RTM said:

Seems odd that it works when scaled down so small, is that a common workaround?

It's a workaround for microbiologists, who are used to inspect the microcosmos during daily work. 😉

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "Boolean Operation fails on text converted to curves" (REF: AFD-6172 & AFD-5816 ) have been fixed/improved by the developers in internal build 2.1.0.1709
This fix should soon be available as a customer beta and is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Serif Info Bot to notify us.