Request: draw arbitrary straight line with Pixel Persona Brush

[Benfischer]

In Affinity Persona, on my Mac, I can hold Control while using the vector brush to force a straight line. In Pixel Persona (or in Photo), I can't do that. I can only hold the Shift key to force the line vertical or horizontal.  It'd be a quality of life improvement if there were a similar straight-line-only modifier for Pixel persona.  While I'm asking, it'd be nice to have that same option available in the Eraser Tool (as it is for the Shift modifier).

I see that a similar operation can be done by clicking, then shift-clicking on the 2nd point to connect the two points with a straight line, but I'm really asking for similar functionality as the vector brush where I can drag the final point around and see where the line (or eraser mark) will go so I can fine tune the location.

[NotMyFault]

I share the intention of this request.

Never the less, there are workarounds. If you think „I need something like a vector function“, then you can often simply use a vector function for that purpose.

e.g. deleting a straight line with adjustable end points: draw a vector line by pen, or vector brush, set blend mode to erase.

you cat deactivate anti-aliasing to get hard edges / staircase effect. You can adjust width and even pressure profile.

I know switching personas is an extra step, but I actually often use small vector shapes with snapping to achieve a pixel perfect workflow.

When finished, simply merge down or flatten to get a single bitmap layer.

[loukash]

5 hours ago, NotMyFault said:

When finished, simply merge down or flatten to get a single bitmap layer.

Not even that.
If you want straight lines, stay with vector. When exporting to pixel formats, they will be rasterized anyway.

In other words:
Use pixels only for stuff that cannot be done with vectors at all.

[NotMyFault]

1 hour ago, loukash said:

Use pixels only for stuff that cannot be done with vectors at all.

Slightly off-topic nerdy follow up question:

• can you imagine any edit which cannot be done using vector only?
   

You could create a plane of x*y rectangles serving as pixels. When exported, it will become bitmap. Anything I missed to recognize?

[loukash]

9 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

can you imagine any edit which cannot be done using vector only?

As long as there's no mash gradients, I do…  

11 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

You could create a plane of x*y rectangles serving as pixels

Now THAT'S nerdy!  

[Benfischer]

It's just a convenience. It's easier to sketch in Pixel persona and if I need a straight line as part of the sketch then it'd be nice to be able to draw one.  Or if I want to shave off part of a drawing to give a straight edge, it'd be nice to do that with the eraser using a straight line.  Or if I want to drag out a couple quick straight lines as perspective references, it'd be nice to be able to do that without jumping back into the vector persona and fussing about with the brushes.

Other pixel based apps like Procreate can do it, and it's handy. Maybe Photoshop too, I see a guy on Youtube do it but I can't see what app he's using.  You draw out a straight line and as soon as you like your pen it's just a normal pixel line: but straight.  for the 1st option, the click-and-shift-click function works OK, but for the 2nd two, I'll be hitting Undo a lot to get the line right if I can't see what I'm doing as I draw it out.

[2ddpainter]

@Benfischer

in the meantime there is also a way via
a little Tool Program

on PC there is a Tool called "LazyNezumi"
this allows different Rulers in every Program
you could capture
https://lazynezumi.com/rulers

on Mac there is a Tool called "Hejstylus"
https://hejstylus.com/features-in-detail
the Ruler Section description is below the middle

[loukash]

5 hours ago, Benfischer said:

 Or if I want to shave off part of a drawing to give a straight edge, it'd be nice to do that with the eraser using a straight line.

Fair enough, the click-shift-drag workflow is often a hit or miss as long as the shift-click also wants to make a straight line from the last position.

But if erasing a straight edge is the goal, there is also always the rectangular selection tool and the delete key.
As well as other options like vector crop et al.

[Art51]

Bumping an older request.

I use Affinity Photo for raster art and am regularly drawing/painting straight lines that aren't vertical or horizontal (perspective lines, lens flares etc.)

At the moment I use the Shift key to draw a straight line on a seperate layer and then rotate the layer and stroke to the desired angle and then scale to adjust length.

OR... I hold a ruler to my pen display and paint along it.

Ideally, I would like to see a similar implementation as is found in Procreate for iPad. In this app the user paints a line with the desired variable pressure and width then at the end of the stroke they simply hold the stylus still for a second or two which prompts the line to straighten. Once the line has snapped straight the user can then drag the end point to the desired location. Easy. This allows the user to still have control over the artistry of the stroke. This functionality is an option that can be toggled on or off.

I believe this would work well in both the iPad and desktop versions of Affinity Photo.

[Benfischer]

I have been playing around with Clip Studio and they actually have a nice solution for this, it's essentially "rubber-band mode" for the pixel brush, similar to how Rubber Band mode works for the Pen tool.  In the case of CSP, when holding Shift,  you get sort-of a preview of the resulting line, including width, when you tap the stylus or click the mouse, as in the attached video (shift key indicated at bottom, the rubber band mode is on as long as I hold the key down, even though the shift key indicator isn't visible on screen.  This would be somewhat consistent with the vector persona and would still work for my needs. Affinity could keep the shift key or add a rubber band mode icon in the toolbar.

Just to keep beating this dead horse, my request would be for this action to be present for pixel brush and eraser tools.

thanks