how to create a stroke with SOS morse code in affinity designer

[duke22]

How can I create a stroke that has an SOS morse code as like, ie ...---... which I can still curve etc?

[Alfred]

You can put Artistic Text on a path, and then tweak the path and/or the text to your heart's content.

 

[duke22]

ok good idea I thought I could do it maybe by manipulating stroke

[Ldina]

Attached is an SOS Intensity Brush that will follow any stroke and you can increase or decrease the stroke thickness as desired. If you want you can adjust it (somewhat) by doubled clicking on the brush in the brushes panel  and making some adjustments (after installing it, or course). Hope that does what you are looking for. (Don't go down with the ship! 🥴)

SOS Brush.afbrushes

[kenmcd]

And there are free Morse code fonts... which could follow a curve. If you want to actually write something.

[duke22]

47 minutes ago, Ldina said:

Attached is an SOS Intensity Brush that will follow any stroke and you can increase or decrease the stroke thickness as desired. If you want you can adjust it (somewhat) by doubled clicking on the brush in the brushes panel  and making some adjustments (after installing it, or course). Hope that does what you are looking for. (Don't go down with the ship! 🥴)

SOS Brush.afbrushes 4.59 kB · 0 downloads

thank you that is excellent how do I select that brush after import?

[Ldina]

@duke22 a few ways.

Draw any stroke e.g. with pen or pencil tool. Then in the stroke panel, choose the brush icon instead of the solid line icon, navigate to the brushes panel and pick the brush of your choice, in this case, SOS brush. This will apply the stoke to any object you have selected.

or select the vector brush tool, pick the brush you want and paint away.

you can also apply this brush to any shape…rectangle, elipse, etc.

id read up in affinity Help on how vector crushes work, and watch a few tutorials on affinity designer brushes.

[Alfred]

10 hours ago, Ldina said:

id read up in affinity Help on how vector crushes work

A lovely example of a scenario where your spill chucker won't save you!

 

[Ldina]

@duke22 Here are a few links on vector brushes that you might find helpful...also, check out tuutorials on how to use and modify strokes (you can apply brushes to strokes and shapes).

 

 

 

 

[NotMyFault]

Why not use the intended feature appearence panel and make it fully vector?

Exports cleanly to SVG.

 

Spoiler

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<svg width="100%" height="100%" viewBox="0 0 866 824" version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xml:space="preserve" xmlns:serif="http://www.serif.com/" style="fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;stroke-linecap:round;stroke-linejoin:round;stroke-miterlimit:1.5;">
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        <g transform="matrix(1,0,0,1,836.331,781.183)">
            <path d="M438.406,0C438.406,-242.125 242.125,-438.406 -0,-438.406C-230.595,-438.406 -417.53,-251.472 -417.53,-20.876C-417.53,197.582 -240.434,374.678 -21.975,374.678C184.347,374.678 351.604,207.421 351.604,1.099C351.604,-193.087 194.185,-350.505 -0,-350.505C-182.049,-350.505 -329.629,-202.925 -329.629,-20.876C-329.629,149.036 -191.887,286.777 -21.975,286.777C135.801,286.777 263.703,158.874 263.703,1.099C263.703,-144.54 145.639,-262.604 -0,-262.604C-133.503,-262.604 -241.728,-154.379 -241.728,-20.876C-241.728,100.49 -143.341,198.876 -21.975,198.876C87.254,198.876 175.802,110.328 175.802,1.099C175.802,-95.994 97.093,-174.703 -0,-174.703C-84.956,-174.703 -153.827,-105.833 -153.827,-20.876C-153.827,51.943 -94.795,110.975 -21.975,110.975C38.708,110.975 87.901,61.782 87.901,1.099C87.901,-47.448 48.546,-86.802 -0,-86.802C-36.41,-86.802 -65.926,-57.286 -65.926,-20.876C-65.926,3.397 -46.248,23.074 -21.975,23.074C-9.839,23.074 0,13.235 -0,1.099" style="fill:none;stroke:black;stroke-width:10px;stroke-dasharray:0,230,0,0,0,0;"/>
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            <path d="M438.406,0C438.406,-242.125 242.125,-438.406 -0,-438.406C-230.595,-438.406 -417.53,-251.472 -417.53,-20.876C-417.53,197.582 -240.434,374.678 -21.975,374.678C184.347,374.678 351.604,207.421 351.604,1.099C351.604,-193.087 194.185,-350.505 -0,-350.505C-182.049,-350.505 -329.629,-202.925 -329.629,-20.876C-329.629,149.036 -191.887,286.777 -21.975,286.777C135.801,286.777 263.703,158.874 263.703,1.099C263.703,-144.54 145.639,-262.604 -0,-262.604C-133.503,-262.604 -241.728,-154.379 -241.728,-20.876C-241.728,100.49 -143.341,198.876 -21.975,198.876C87.254,198.876 175.802,110.328 175.802,1.099C175.802,-95.994 97.093,-174.703 -0,-174.703C-84.956,-174.703 -153.827,-105.833 -153.827,-20.876C-153.827,51.943 -94.795,110.975 -21.975,110.975C38.708,110.975 87.901,61.782 87.901,1.099C87.901,-47.448 48.546,-86.802 -0,-86.802C-36.41,-86.802 -65.926,-57.286 -65.926,-20.876C-65.926,3.397 -46.248,23.074 -21.975,23.074C-9.839,23.074 0,13.235 -0,1.099" style="fill:none;stroke:black;stroke-width:10px;stroke-dasharray:0,230,0,0,0,0;stroke-dashoffset:-40;"/>

 

 

SOS stroke cor.afdesign

Edited March 24, 2024 by NotMyFault
Updated files with correct gaps according to Wikipedia

[GarryP]

It’s a nice idea but, to my untrained-in-Morse-code eye, that spells SOSOSOSOSOS..., or maybe S O S O S O S O S..., rather than SOS SOS SOS...

I believe SOS is supposed to be keyed without gaps between the letters so it needs to be SOS<gap>SOS<gap>SOS...

Might be a bit tricky to pull that off with multiple Strokes, but nice if someone can do it (and maybe share it in the Resources section).

[Ldina]

@GarryP Haha...you're right! It does spell SOSOSOS! The brush I created and uploaded can easily be made to do a REAL SOS, with gaps in between by adjusting the head and tail of the brush. 

@NotMyFault I like keeping it a true vector as you showed.

[NotMyFault]

come on. It was i first draft in 15 minutes, not perfect but it will be perfect when spending mor etime on the details.

Getting the gaps and phases correct is very tedious work.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code#Representation,_timing,_and_speeds

 

[GarryP]

11 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

Getting the gaps and phases correct is very tedious work.

I know, I tried it myself and got so mixed up in the various dash parameters that I gave up after a while.

In case it’s any use to anyone, the Dash parameters I was using (also getting an SOSOSOSOS) were:
0, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 (Round cap)
2, 22, 0, 0, 0, 0, -3 (Square Cap)
2, 22, 0, 0, 0, 0, -7 (Square Cap)
2, 22, 0, 0, 0, 0, -11 (Square Cap)

Also, I had Balanced switched OFF for each Stroke.

[Oufti]

12 minutes ago, GarryP said:

I believe SOS is supposed to be keyed without gaps between the letters so it needs to be SOS<gap>SOS<gap>SOS...

There are indeed "gaps" (or spaces/silences) between letters (equal to 3 dits) and between words (equal to 7 dits). 
Like this: ·.·.·...—.—.—...·.·.·.......·.·.·...—.—.—...·.·.·....... (silences in orange on the bottom line)

Wikipedia: 

Quote

Each Morse code symbol is formed by a sequence of dits and dahs. The dit duration can vary for signal clarity and operator skill, but for any one message, once established it is the basic unit of time measurement in Morse code. The duration of a dah is three times the duration of a dit (although some telegraphers deliberately exaggerate the length of a dah for clearer signalling). Each dit or dah within an encoded character is followed by a period of signal absence, called a space, equal to the dit duration. The letters of a word are  separated by a space of duration equal to three dits, and words are separated by a space equal to seven dits.

 

[NotMyFault]

I've updated my older post with a corrected version showing the correct size and gaps according to wikipedia.

 

[MikeTO]

I was fluent in morse code at one time but I purged it from my brain to make room for things I could use. 🙂 

[Alfred]

1 hour ago, MikeTO said:

I was fluent in morse code at one time but I purged it from my brain to make room for things I could use. 🙂 

....  .-  ....  .- !