How do you join paths in Affinity Designer

[JudithW]

I'm trying to join paths to make a closed shape in Affinity Designer. I've come from Illustrator where there was very easy, but nothing I've tried seems to work. Please see pic attached of what I'm trying to do. Thanks. 

[Old Bruce]

You could start with a rectangle and convert it to curves then use the node tool on the sides. The Node tool will show a tiny line on the side of the object (the curve) and it will also have a little squiggle on the lower right.

You could make a rectangle and a shape the has the desired curve shape to it and use that plus a copy of it (flipped) to cut out the sides. 

You could make a rectangle and get the curved side the way you want it and then duplicate and rotate/flip the rectangle and use the boolean divide to have a bunch of extra shapes you could delete.

Using some of these methods and use the Shape Builder tool in Designer.

[lepr]

Node Tool: select the two curves, look in the context toolbar and click the Join button then click the Close button.

[R C-R]

I would do it like this: Select both curve layers with the Node Tool. In the context toolbar select Join Curves & then Close Curves.

Attached is a small Join.afdesign example with History enabled so you can see how I did it.

EDIT: rats! @lepr beat me to it. 😄

[JudithW]

Yes, I wondered about cutting out the shape from a rectangle. I guess it's just a case of thinking about things in a different (loooooooooooooooooooooooooooonger) way.

Thank you for your replies. 

I actually gave up and went back to my beloved Illustrator which I've still got until the end of the month. But your suggestions were great, thank you. 

[lepr]

3 minutes ago, JudithW said:

I actually gave up and went back to my beloved Illustrator which I've still got until the end of the month.

Seems like you missed the incredibly simple solution provided by both R C-R and myself.

[JudithW]

5 minutes ago, R C-R said:

I would do it like this: Select both curve layers with the Node Tool. In the context toolbar select Join Curves & then Close Curves.

Attached is a small Join.afdesign example with History enabled so you can see how I did it.

Unfortunately, this is what I end up with when I tried that. I got quite excited when Join worked, then Close Curves gave me the shape at the bottom. 

[lepr]

2 minutes ago, JudithW said:

Unfortunately, this is what I end up with when I tried that. I got quite excited when Join worked, then Close Curves gave me the shape at the bottom. 

 

alt/opt-click the Node Tool on the curved bottom segment to straighten it.

[JudithW]

Just now, lepr said:

 

alt/opt-click the Node Tool on the curved bottom segment to straighten it.

Bloody genius!!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[R C-R]

3 minutes ago, JudithW said:

... then Close Curves gave me the shape at the bottom. 

Odd. I can't duplicate that with any of the curve pairs I tried this on. If possible, can you upload an AD file that just has the 2 curves you want to combine so I can see if I can duplicate what you get?

[lepr]

Just now, JudithW said:

Bloody genius!!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank the software developers

One of the most valuable features in Affinity is the bar at the bottom of the app window. When a tool pointer is over a feature of an object, modifier keys are listed for the various functionalities.

[JudithW]

Just now, R C-R said:

Odd. I can't duplicate that with any of the curve pairs I tried this on. If possible, can you upload an AD file that just has the 2 curves you want to combine so I can see if I can duplicate what you get?

I will if I can...

[lepr]

3 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Odd. I can't duplicate that with any of the curve pairs I tried this on.

Draw the curves so they end with a smooth node: click to place the top node then click-drag to place the bottom node and pull out a handle to give curvature to the line.

[R C-R]

2 minutes ago, lepr said:

One of the most valuable features in Affinity is the bar at the bottom of the app window.

FWIW, this is called the Status bar ,but the only place I can find in the documentation where it is named is https://affinity.help/designer2/en-US.lproj/pages/Workspace/interface.html when the pointer is over it.

[lepr]

 

6 minutes ago, R C-R said:

FWIW, this is called the Status bar ,but the only place I can find in the documentation where it is named is https://affinity.help/designer2/en-US.lproj/pages/Workspace/interface.html when the pointer is over it.

Yes, I know its name but I think of it as a hints bar rather than status bar since it provides far more hints than statuses.

 

[JudithW]

Here are the curves I was working with. But the issue has been solved now with the Alt+click with the Node tool. Thank you both, you've been very helpful. And I'd never even noticed that bar across the bottom. Not that I understand what's there at the moment, but hopefully I will do one day.

curves.afdesign

[R C-R]

4 minutes ago, lepr said:

Yes, I know its name but I think of it as a hints bar rather than status bar since it provides far more hints than statuses.

That may be how we think of it but "Status Bar" has a long history as the industry standard name for it.

I just wish that the View menu listed it with a show/hide option since it is possible to hide it in error by fiddling with the View options. Toggling it on & off would also make it easier to know its name.

[R C-R]

7 minutes ago, JudithW said:

And I'd never even noticed that bar across the bottom. Not that I understand what's there at the moment, but hopefully I will do one day.

It is dynamic, meaning what it shows can change depending on what is selected and/or what the pointer is hovering over. If you play around a bit with the app you shoud begin to see how it works & how helpful it can be.

[Old Bruce]

1 hour ago, JudithW said:

Please see pic attached of what I'm trying to do.

my solution.afdesign

[lepr]

12 minutes ago, R C-R said:

That may be how we think of it but "Status Bar" has a long history as the industry standard name for it.

LOL. I knew there was a Wikipedia link coming.

[Alfred]

28 minutes ago, lepr said:

I think of it as a hints bar rather than status bar since it provides far more hints than statuses

For what it’s worth, the equivalent in Serif’s legacy ‘Plus’ range was always known as the HintLine.

[Alfred]

1 hour ago, Old Bruce said:

You could make a rectangle and a shape the has the desired curve shape to it and use that plus a copy of it (flipped) to cut out the sides.

It seems to me that a circle has the desired curve shape. I would make a rectangle and a circle, duplicate the circle and then overlap each of the circles over the ends of the rectangle, one on each side. Then cut the circles away, either with the Subtract command or by using the ShapeBuilder Tool.

[Serenity Neu]

23 hours ago, JudithW said:

Unfortunately, this is what I end up with when I tried that. I got quite excited when Join worked, then Close Curves gave me the shape at the bottom. 

And this is really why Serif/Affinity needs to follow conventions first established by Apple and then copied/expanded upon by Adobe. Why doesn't the pen tool act like the pen tool in Illustrator? Does Adobe have a patent on this kind of function? I think they don't. For the sake of productivity, we need to be able to switch to a set of common commands and tools which are 100% compatible with Adobe's commands and tools. I worked with Illustrator ever since version 3 (?) and all of those key commands and tools are burned into my mind forever. I'd like to be able to keep using that muscle memory.

[sfriedberg]

Is there a reason no one suggested simply drawing two straight lines between the existing curved sidewall endpoints then combining the curves?