Snap to lines doesn’t always work

[Rhyme Cops]

Hello. I am new to Affinity. I am still using the trial version but I will probably buy it. I just wish it had a couple of extra things. I have mainly been using Vectornator which is good but they often break stuff on updates so I have been looking for an alternative.

One thing I find annoying is snapping. I find the terms confusing. I want to snap to edges and points.  It’s great that you can snap to edges and I like the yellow highlight. However, this doesn’t always work. If it doesn’t work I select the line I want to snap to, re-select the line I am trying to snap and then it works. Please see the attached screen recording. Is this a bug? I just want this snapping enabled all the time and preferably I also want it to snap to points on the line.

Another thing that would improve workflow is being able to double tap to add or remove bezier handles on a point. If these changes could be made this app would be perfect for me. Thanks!!

[debraspicher]

That behavior is normal. It's based on your Candidate setting... it's usually most recently selected items. You can customize it in the Snapping menu in Desktop. I'm not familiar with iPad, but I imagine it works similarly, given the purple/reddish line that briefly shows up in your video after toggling that shape (the one you are connecting to)... that indicates that shape has entered your Candidate list... the size of the list is customizable if you'd like snapping but still want some object rejection, then you can set a larger number if you like some object rejection, but want to work quickly without having to keep selecting one piece over and over... You can change the setting however you want as indicated by the options.

Note: You can store presets of these settings for when you are drawing, etc, to whatever you like.

For your consideration:

https://affinity.help/designer2ipad/en-US.lproj/contents.xml#

[Paul Mudditt]

If you can make all curves that you want to connect belong to the same vector layer then they will snap.

 

 

Alternatively as mentioned above change the snapping options to consider All Layers.

[Rhyme Cops]

Thanks for the fast responses! 🙏 I had a fiddle around with it and changed candidates to ‘immediate layers and children’ which seems to give me what I want!?! Is there a way to double tap points and change their bezier handles too? Thanks.

[Paul Mudditt]

11 minutes ago, Rhyme Cops said:

Thanks for the fast responses! 🙏 I had a fiddle around with it and changed candidates to ‘immediate layers and children’ which seems to give me what I want!?! Is there a way to double tap points and change their bezier handles too? Thanks.

Not double tap but you can quickly modify nodes types by lassoing nodes and using the options on the context toolbar and you can split the bezier handles by using a single finger modifier as shown here. Not sure this is what you meant though?

[Rhyme Cops]

Hey, thanks. I am used to Vectornator so the double tap seems like a quick way of editing the points. However, I am sure I will eventually get the muscle memory to edit like this. I have 7 days left on my trial but I think there’s enough here to buy. Thanks for taking the time to respond. 🙏

[Rhyme Cops]

I draw with the pencil because my style is to have the wobbly line work. Usually the start and end of paths have Bézier curves which I don’t want so I need to select these points and turn them to linear. It is annoying to have to keep moving to another area of the screen to do this. If I try and do it with my other hand then a finger touch doesn’t always register. I think this is why a double tap is more efficient.

Also, something else which Vectornator has which I think is good is auto closing paths. If the release point is close enough to the start then the path gets closed automatically which I find more efficient than turning this function on and off all the time. I think these features would be a great addition. Is there anyway to request features? Thanks.

Edited March 5, 2023 by Rhyme Cops

[Paul Mudditt]

4 hours ago, Rhyme Cops said:

I draw with the pencil because my style is to have the wobbly line work. Usually the start and end of paths have Bézier curves which I don’t want so I need to select these points and turn them to linear. It is annoying to have to keep moving to another area of the screen to do this. If I try and do it with my other hand then a finger touch doesn’t always register. I think this is why a double tap is more efficient.

Also, something else which Vectornator has which I think is good is auto closing paths. If the release point is close enough to the start then the path gets closed automatically which I find more efficient than turning this function on and off all the time. I think these features would be a great addition. Is there anyway to request features? Thanks.

Feature requests can be posted here

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/122-feedback-for-the-affinity-v2-suite-of-products/