A Wish for 'Path from Selection' in the Affinity Suite

[jaxfh]

Hello fellow Affinity users and developers,

I hope everyone is doing well. Today, I'd like to share a feature wish that I believe will significantly boost the productivity and versatility of our beloved Affinity Suite: The ability to create a 'Path from Selection'.

For those who might not be familiar with this concept, the 'Path from Selection' tool allows a designer to convert a selection (either raster or vector) into a manipulatable path. It is a cornerstone in many graphic design and image editing software, but is currently missing from the Affinity Suite.

The ability to create a 'Path from Selection' would be a major boon for a variety of tasks:

1. Precision Editing: Converting selections into paths would allow us to fine-tune our selections with greater control and precision. It's an easier way to make intricate, delicate selections, especially for complex shapes or objects.

2. Vector Manipulation: This feature would make it simple to turn pixel-based selections into vector paths, which can be easily scaled, rotated, or transformed without any loss in image quality.

3. Workflow Efficiency: The 'Path from Selection' tool would streamline the process of creating complex shapes and paths, saving us valuable time and reducing the steps necessary to achieve the desired result.

4. Design Flexibility: It would offer more creative flexibility by allowing designers to easily reuse, adapt, and transform existing selections into new design elements.

Given these advantages, I am hoping to see the 'Path from Selection' feature in the next update of the Affinity Suite. I believe that this addition would greatly enhance the software's functionality and allow us to create even more amazing and intricate designs with less effort.

I urge both the users and the developers in our community to consider the potential benefits of this feature. I'm sure many of you would find it as useful as I would, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Keep creating amazing things, Affinity Community.

Best Regards,

[Your Name]
 

[vjmassny]

I'm printing with Versaworks on a Roland, and in order to have a Print and Kiss Cut, I need a CutContour Path of 0.2pt., and when working with raster images this is definitely needed.

My workflow has been to make all my raster images OVERLAY BLACK then rasterized and import it to Inkscape to do the TRACING, once done, bringing the Path back to Designer and place it on top of my raster image to save it to PDF.

Attached a screenshot of Versaworks (ROLAND) with my Raster images / vectors, with the red marching ants (showing that the CutContour path is present and working).

[Pšenda]

https://www.google.com/search?q=Path+from+Selection+site:forum.affinity.serif.com

[jaxfh]

Spoiler

 

On 7/8/2023 at 9:36 AM, Pšenda said:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Path+from+Selection+site:forum.affinity.serif.com

That's the use Case. 

 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by jaxfh
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[danlb46]

I've used 'path from selection' (or just 'make work path') in Photoshop for a long time. I've been a Photoshop user for over 25 years, and creating a path, which is vector-based, allows you to save it (and name it for future reference), then click on its name in the paths listing (which then activates it as a selection). You can then modify that selection, feather it, etc. Plus you can add other paths to it to create larger selections. It's an essential way to work for retouching and compositing. This would be a necessity in Affinity Photo for it to attain stature alongside Photoshop. I can't believe Affinity Photo does not yet have this capability.