complete novice: draw a square and edit it

[colinml]

I'm not sure this software is appropriate for what I want to do (make patterns for sewing handbags), or maybe the way my brain works is just not compatible.  I have already spent hours figuring out how to set up to print across multiple pages so I can tape together the patterns and have everything aligned.  Now I'm simply trying to draw and edit some simple shapes, and I'm lost.  I used a CAD program many years ago, and the way I think of starting is to draw a box with the overall dimensions and then alter the box to add things like an arc at the top or narrowing the bottom.  I watched a video of someone doing this with Adobe Illustrator, and it made sense (Sewing with Steve.  He makes a backpack).  I don't really want to subscribe to Illustrator, but I also don't want to spend many hours learning that Affinity isn't quite the right software for my purposes.

Can someone do this:  Draw a 12x12 square "hand bag".  Change the top of the square to an arc with a 1 inch rise.  So now the square is still 12 inches high, to the top of the arc.   Then narrow the bottom of the square by 2 inches so that the "bag" tapers.  Now the bag should be 10 inches wide at the bottom, 12 inches wide at the top, 12 inches tall along the center line, 11 inches tall to the end points of the arc.

Can you list the steps you used to do this?

Forever grateful.

[Greg E]

You do not mention which program you are using (Photo, Designer or Publisher). The steps are similar, but not quite identical, and all three of them can do this easily. Here are the steps I would use:

1. Create a new document, with dimensions 14" x 14", and 1" margins all around.
2. Make sure snapping is on.
3. Draw an arbitrary rectangle using the rectangle tool.
4. Using the Transform panel, set the width of the rectangle to 10", and the height to 11".
5. Using the Move Tool, move the rectangle so the bottom of it snaps to the bottom margin, and the center of it snaps to the center of the page.
6. Right-click on the rectangle, and choose "Convert to Curves".
7. The node tool will be automatically selected. Holding down the shift key, drag one of the top corners to the margin until it snaps.
8. Do the same with the other top corner.
9. Drag the node tool along the top margin until you reach the center. A green vertical line will show you when you are at the center.
10. Drag from here to the top margin, and you are done.

If you are familiar with the tools, the whole process is about 3 minutes. I hope this helps!

[Aammppaa]

There are a few different methods. Here is one...

1. Draw a square 12" by 11".
2. Draw a crescent, rotate, then rotate and resize (to get a perfect arc).
3. Use the shape builder to merge the two shapes.
4. Scale the bottom edge to 10"

I hope that I understood your instructions!

 

 

 

[colinml]

Greg, yes, very helpful.  Thank you.  Apologies for not mentioning this is Designer.  Unless I misunderstood, your instructions actually led to a 14x14 bag (instead of 12x12), but I was able to figure out that I could return to the move tool and change the overall dimensions while preserving the taper and the arc.  However, I did notice that, when making the arc, it did not snap to the margin as did the other nodes when I was moving them.  Is there an additional step to get an arc to snap?

I think my confusion was that I was used to entering numbers, rather than dragging and looking at the ruler.  So, for example, if I wanted to move a node one inch, I would enter either positive or negative 1 inch, depending which way I wanted to move, and on which axis.  And, typically, a box popped up with space to enter dimensions.  Moreover, I don't see a way to measure lines, other than comparing them to the ruler, or watching the tiny measurements change as you move the node.

[colinml]

Aammppaa, thank you.  I will have to go back and review the steps to using the shape builder tool, so I can delete the parts I mean to delete, but, yes, I see how this works.  I do have a related question, though.  Strokes seem to default to width "none."  And shapes are always filled.  Is there a way to change the default and/or is there some reason I would not want to change the default?  I don't understand why I would want my shapes to disappear if unfilled, nor why I would want to have to define a stroke width every time I made one.

[colinml]

As a general response to both of you, thank you.  That gives me the information I needed to decide whether to press forward in learning how to use Affinity Designer and not have to use Illustrator.  Now that I've seen a glimpse of how to do these simple tasks, I see that it's actually easier than my (scant) 1990s CAD experience.

[Aammppaa]

@colinml You can change the defaults, and may indeed do so a number of times during the process of creating a single document as you work on different sections.

I find the Affinity help to be pretty good over all, though I appreciate that it is tricky to know what to look for when you are starting out.

Have a read of the page on Object Defaults.

To answer your other question about dragging a line into a curve... no this will not snap as snapping only relates to nodes and handles, and you are dragging neither! If you wanted to take this approach, I would drag (holding Shift to constrain to vertical movement) and get the curve very close to where I wanted it (zooming in if necessary). Then I'd release the mouse, followed by a click to insert a new node, which can subsequently be snapped at the expense of (very) slightly distorting the curve.

For a sewing pattern this tiny level of distortion will be insignificant, but if you want precision then the approach using the Crescent tool will yield a perfect result.

[colinml]

4 minutes ago, Aammppaa said:

@colinml

...I find the Affinity help to be pretty good over all, though I appreciate that it is tricky to know what to look for when you are starting out....

Yes, exactly.  I don't know what I don't know, so difficult to construct search terms for that.🙂