Line (Stroke) Width Tool

[jaxfh]

23 minutes ago, anto said:

Line Width Tool does not work with Decorations in Publisher

With dashed (dotted) line neither 😢

[AffinityMakesMeWonder]

2 hours ago, anto said:

Line Width Tool does not work with Decorations in Publisher

Why should it?

At least me thinks that this may not be high on the Serif priority list…

[anto]

1 minute ago, AffinityMakesMeWonder said:

Why should it?

Why not?
Because the line in the Decoration settings has the same settings as a regular line, and even the Pressure scale.
Perhaps this is just an oversight.

[AffinityMakesMeWonder]

1 hour ago, anto said:

Why not?
Because the line in the Decoration settings has the same settings as a regular line, and even the Pressure scale.
Perhaps this is just an oversight.

With that as an goal for Serif, what’s next?

Line Width Tool in lines in tables?

I don’t think Serif would do the Adobe travel and get Affinity Suite too bloated…

[anto]

45 minutes ago, AffinityMakesMeWonder said:

With that as an goal for Serif, what’s next?

Line Width Tool in lines in tables?

That's right. What is the difference between lines in decorations and tables and a regular line?
And the name of the function says that it works with lines, doesn't it?

[Bit Disappointed]

4 hours ago, anto said:

Line Width Tool does not work with Decorations in Publisher

It could be pretty cool to be able to modify decorations away from the boring standards, so professional design can significantly stand out from what we might call the gray Canva mass of generic template designs, which millions of people without graphic expertise use indiscriminately (assembly line design look). However, I imagine that this is a significant task implementation-wise, and it will probably require more features and an expansion of architecture and styling logic.

Now we'll see which target audience Affinity ends up getting and focuses on in its new 'family'.

[walt.farrell]

31 minutes ago, anto said:

That's right. What is the difference between lines in decorations and tables and a regular line?
And the name of the function says that it works with lines, doesn't it?

Decorations are not lines that you've drawn. They do not, for example, exist in the Layers panel as objects. The Node Tool won't work on the decorations, either. Nor the Move Tool, nor the Transform Panel, etc. All these tools and functions work on objects, and Decorations aren't objects.

[Bit Disappointed]

I'm seeing some pretty bad algorithms at play—if Serif is lucky, it's just bugs, but I don't think so. As I said, I don't want to test this for Serif, but curiosity did drive me to check it out on a rainy Saturday.

For example, I notice a terrible lack of beautiful curves and almost sharp node-like edges, which when expanded through the stroke algorithm turn into miserable curves that curve in various ways. Horrible. All the beauty from the bezier universe, gone. One does not work with bezier curves to destroy and spoil their aesthetics. The entire curve becomes overall artificial and inorganic, significantly worse than competing line width tools, not least because of the microscopic interface.

However, a note for Serif, when they need to—and they must—refactor the chaos we see today, if I choose 'Fit to curve delete node' on selected nodes on the terrible result after expand stroke, then the curves are somewhat repaired towards what I would expect directly from the tool.

So, upgrade the algorithms and make their output consistent, and compare both output and interface with the competitors', please. Or as a first move along with Canva, recruit or book a true bezier specialist. There is no shame in acknowledging one's limitations. Only in not acknowledging them.

[earl_grey]

I'm  waited for this tool. Currently it is unacceptable. Changing the width of the line causes patch glitches. This is not a rendering error, after converting the stroke  to a shape is diffrent. But before and after expand stroke, the result is bad.

Before expand stroke (doesn't look good?😞

After expand stroke (?):

[CM0]

I am very excited for this tool, while also strongly agree it is not usable at all in its current form. There are serious long standing bugs with the profile curve that create terrible looking distortions. This potentially great new feature just can't be the feature it needs to be without addressing the other issues.

I hope that Affinity will take the time to get it right even if it requires a 2nd beta cycle. Please take a look at something like Inkscape's version of this feature called "power stroke". It has perfectly smooth curves no matter how extreme you expand the points, you can also change the smoothing algorithm and the scale factor for the curves.

[Bit Disappointed]

7 minutes ago, CM0 said:

This potentially great new feature just can't be the feature it needs to be without addressing the other issues.

If you all are really unlucky, then I am right that this curve profile is algorithmic heritage from Serif DrawPlus, i.e., Serif's ancient programs from before Affinity. They looked exactly like this in the interface and worked in exactly the same way. If Serif now tries to build a pen width tool on poor algorithms that precede Affinity, and if Serif neither can nor will deliver better algorithms in 2024, but tries to milk the old ones for the last drop, then the problem we see is incredibly large and fundamental.

The moment of reckoning has come for old decisions and business choices.

[anto]

If you reduce the width of a line using the Line width tool, the Stroke panel displays an incorrect value if the point thickness is smaller than the line width.

 

I think that displaying the line width by control-clicking on a point is unnecessary if the width is shown in the Stroke panel.

[Sean P]

On 4/28/2024 at 5:54 AM, anto said:

If you reduce the width of a line using the Line width tool, the Stroke panel displays an incorrect value if the point thickness is smaller than the line width.

 

 

I think that displaying the line width by control-clicking on a point is unnecessary if the width is shown in the Stroke panel.

This is the correct behaviour - the stroke panel will always show the stroke's width, and not the width at the current point. As the Line Width Tool functions by adjusting the pressure curve then decreasing the width, will decrease the pressure at that point. However as the pressure is 0-100% of the current stroke's width then increasing it past this point HAS to increase the stroke's width to accommodate the value you are pushing it too. 
If you look under the options on the context toolbar you will see a 'Lock Line Weight' button - this will prevent you from pushing the stroke past its currently set width.

[Yaoif]

Does the new line width tool support asymmetrical line width, meaning change the line width on each side separately?

[Old Bruce]

23 minutes ago, Yaoif said:

Does the new line width tool support asymmetrical line width, meaning change the line width on each side separately?

No.

[Frozen Death Knight]

Would be nice if it did support it eventually.

[Yaoif]

1 hour ago, Frozen Death Knight said:

Would be nice if it did support it eventually.

Yes, absolutely look forward to it!

[Yaoif]

1 hour ago, Old Bruce said:

No.

Hope it'll be there eventually

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "Line Width Tool handles don't respond to Tool Handle Size changes" (REF: AF-2903) has been fixed by the developers in internal build "2.5.0.2430".
This fix should soon be available as a customer beta and is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "Set Line Width At Point dialog should say Width instead of Weight" (REF: AF-2807) has been fixed by the developers in internal build "2.5.0.2430".
This fix should soon be available as a customer beta and is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "Line Width Tool rename to Stroke Width Tool?" (REF: AF-2726) has been fixed by the developers in internal build "2.5.0.2430".
This fix should soon be available as a customer beta and is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[Affinity Info Bot]

The issue "[iPad] Line Width tool missing name in tool flyout " (REF: AF-2700) has been fixed by the developers in internal build "2.5.0.2430".
This fix should soon be available as a customer beta and is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Affinity Info Bot to notify us.

[GRAFKOM]

In the latest version 2.5.0.2430 (Beta) Windows 11, clicking and then moving the Stroke Width Tool on a line immediately narrows the line to 0 at that point. In the earlier Beta version it worked correctly, i.e. I clicked on the line - I created a point and I could move it without changing the line thickness. Now, however, this is impossible. Please correct it.

 

[R.I.P. Affinity 26.03.2024]

On 5/4/2024 at 12:34 AM, GRAFKOM said:

clicking and then moving the Stroke Width Tool on a line immediately narrows the line to 0 at that point

It was this way since the very first day of the beta. At least for me, on both Windows 10 and IPad. I don't like it tho. I wish they can fix it, so if the line is 2 pt I wanna drag starting from 2 pt.

[anto]

Stroke shows the wrong width. And it doesn't change when you change the line width.