How to snap to specific areas?

[vierdo]

Hello forum!

I have a weird question that has eluded me for years, so I figured I would ask here. In Ill*strat*r 😉 you can snap any shape to pretty much any line by just holding the ctrl key. I have watched the snapping videos from affinity, and looked around on here, but am unable to replicate this in Designer. Hopefully I'm just missing something simple here.

I am trying to snap the left-most edge of the selected box (See screenshot) to the edge highlighted in red. It doesn't snap for me. I've also included my current snapping settings.

[KarinC]

I would like to know also. I've found snapping one object to another to be hit or miss. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't.

[Pšenda]

44 minutes ago, KarinC said:

Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't.

Snapping object is purple, unsnapping object no? - see Snapping candidates.

[Pšenda]

1 hour ago, vierdo said:

I am trying to snap the left-most edge of the selected box (See screenshot)

It is grouping object, or not?

[vierdo]

@Pšenda They were in a group and I also tried when not in a group. No luck either way.

[R C-R]

@vierdo, it might help if you could attach a simple *.afdesign file with the 2 objects shown in your first post, or failing that, at least show the Layers panel with those 2 & any other objects in the file visible.

[vierdo]

@R C-R Thanks for the reply! Here's a picture showing the area zoomed out as well, as the layers panel. I am trying to stencil some letters for laser-cutting and snapping wont work for inner vertices. It just snaps for obvious geometry like outer edges.

[MEB]

Hi @vierdo,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
There's o direct way to do it with the Move Tool but you can do it using the Node Tool. See the video below:

 

[lepr]

1 hour ago, MEB said:

There's [n]o direct way to do it with the Move Tool

There is a way with the Move Tool. An object's Transform Origin can be used as a handle. Snap it to the object's path and then use it as a handle for dragging the object until it snaps to another object's path.

 

 

[Pšenda]

1 hour ago, lepr said:

There is a way with the Move Tool.

... or Point Transform Tool:

 

 

[lepr]

33 minutes ago, Pšenda said:

.. or Point Transform Tool:

Yes, I should have added that. PTT is actually one of my favourite tools in Affinity.

[vierdo]

Awesome! That is super helpful @Pšenda! This has eluded me since Affinity launched. Can you send me a screenshot of your snapping options? I hear that having too many on can disrupt expected behaviors.

[Pšenda]

1 hour ago, vierdo said:

Can you send me a screenshot of your snapping options?

In this case, just snap to object geometry, or snap to geometry of selected curves.

1 hour ago, vierdo said:

I hear that having too many on can disrupt expected behaviors

Yes, with many objects and many snap conditions set, it can be a bit of a problem to snap correctly. In these situations it is very useful to use Snapping candidates.

[lepr]

9 hours ago, vierdo said:

Awesome! That is super helpful @Pšenda!

Note that my somehow unhelpful video showed exactly the same technique but done with Move Tool which is available in all Affinity apps.

[Pšenda]

30 minutes ago, lepr said:

showed exactly the same technique

From the sentence "This has eluded me since Affinity launched.", I conclude that the OP especially appreciates the information about the use of the Point Transform tool and its existence in ADesigner (the tool is not immediately visible in the Tool panel - it is shared with the Node Tool, so it can be easily overlooked).

[lepr]

24 minutes ago, Pšenda said:

From the sentence "This has eluded me since Affinity launched.", I conclude that the OP especially appreciates the information about the use of the Point Transform tool and its existence in ADesigner (the tool is not immediately visible in the Tool panel - it is shared with the Node Tool, so it can be easily overlooked).

To me, the sentence seemed to refer to the elusive ability to snap an edge of one object to any edge of another object rather than an object's bounding box.

[lepr]

@Return why did my video make you sad?

[vierdo]

@lepr oops I missed your video, thanks for the reply. @Pšenda's was posted later. I also just now saw that @MEB posted one. Thanks for the deluge of help everyone!

[R C-R]

On 4/19/2024 at 11:19 AM, lepr said:

There is a way with the Move Tool. An object's Transform Origin can be used as a handle. Snap it to the object's path and then use it as a handle for dragging the object until it snaps to another object's path.

I can't get that to work -- any time I select the Transform Origin all I can do is move it to a different location so I can't use it as a handle for dragging the object like your video shows.

I don't know if it is related but I noticed that you are running an AD beta version, not the current retail 2.4.2 one, but I also tried doing what you suggested in the new 2.5.0 one & it is the same -- the Transform Origin can be moved & snapped but not used as a handle.

Attached are the two files I was testing with, one made in the retail & one in the beta. So can someone tell me what am I missing?

Snap Origin fail v2.4.2.afdesign

Snap Origin fail v2.5.0 beta.afdesign

[lepr]

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

So can someone tell me what am I missing?

You seem to be missing the modifier key hints at the bottom of the window.

On a Mac, ctrl-drag the Transform Origin to use it as a handle. That functionality has been in the apps for about 5 years.