Snapping to curved edges?

[Jeff Kratzer]

Hello all.

As seen in the image below we have a red circle that is snapped to the straight edge on the left.

Is there a way to make the red circle also snap the curved edge above at the first point of contact?

 

[Brian_J]

Yes, the circle can be snapped to the curve above it.

Here are the steps:

1. In the Snapping options, enable Snap to object geometry.
2. Convert the circle to a curve (Layer > Convert to Curves).
3. Select the circle in the Layers panel, and with the Node Tool, drag a selection around the entire circle so all nodes are selected (hollow nodes will become filled).
4. Shift-click the top node of the circle and drag up until it snaps to the curve.

The above steps assume the circle is already snapped to the left side of the object. If the circle isn't already aligned with the left edge, you would first click and drag the left node of the circle and snap it to the left edge of the object... then proceed with step 4 above.

[prophet]

11 minutes ago, Brian_J said:

Shift-click the top node of the circle and drag up until it snaps to the curve.

The top center node is not the "first point of contact" in this case.

[Brian_J]

14 minutes ago, prophet said:

The top center node is not the "first point of contact" in this case.

The node of the circle that's being dragged is what will snap to the curve... so when the circle snaps to the object, part of the circle will be above the object being snapped to.

I don't think I've overlooked anything, but let me know if my instructions don't work for you.

[prophet]

My take…

Follow @Brian_J 's 4 steps, but you will see the center node of the circle is not the actual "tangent" point.

The next steps are

• Add the "other" intersection point between the circle and the line
• Split the curve between those 2 points to find the midpoint of the arc
• Drag the whole circle down to where that midpoint intersects the line

That is the true tangent point.

 

[prophet]

6 minutes ago, Brian_J said:

part of the circle will be above the object being snapped to

I don't think that's what the OP wants as they said "snap the curved edge above at the first point of contact"

[prophet]

Granted, that's a lot of precision geometry work for what could be a simple snapping option were such an option to be added.

[Brian_J]

3 minutes ago, prophet said:

I don't think that's what the OP wants as they said "snap the curved edge above at the first point of contact"

Ah, I see what you're saying. I overlooked that part in the OP. Good catch.

[Jeff Kratzer]

25 minutes ago, prophet said:

My take…

Follow @Brian_J 's 4 steps, but you will see the center node of the circle is not the actual "tangent" point.

The next steps are

• Add the "other" intersection point between the circle and the line
• Split the curve between those 2 points to find the midpoint of the arc
• Drag the whole circle down to where that midpoint intersects the line

That is the true tangent point.

 

Screen Recording 2024-06-17 at 1.52.54 PM.mov

Ah this is what I'm after or at least will work!

Thank you

 

Side note for Affinity team.
If curve snapping (or whatever it would be called) could be added that would be awesome.

[prophet]

Happy to help.