everything disappears when i use minus

[Anthony1]

i am trying to recreate the drawing on the left, i did exactly the same thing when i drew it but when i select the outside box and the small boxes to take away it all disappears and the last box is highlighted, why is it different from the first time i made it?

the only thing i did differently is that i copied the small boxes from the first drawing to the second one before i subtracted them from the first drawing.

did I do something wrong?

 

new project.afdesign

[thomaso]

I didn't open your V2 document but do you have the large rectangle layer below all small rectangles in the Layers Panel before applying "Subtract"?

[Alfred]

Despite being unable to open your version 2 file, Thomas has correctly identified the problem: the large rectangle needs to be at the bottom of the stack if (as here) you want to subtract the small rectangles from it.

By the way, your screenshot shows the right-hand one of two columns of ten small rectangles. You don’t need to begin with ten left/right pairs, you only need the five pairs that you’re going to subtract from the large rectangle.

[Anthony1]

that makes sense , i started with the large rectangle the first time then drew the smaller ones , but with the second one i started with the copied smaller rectangles,i didn't rearrange the order 

thank you i will give it a try

i start with the ten smaller rectangles so that i can get them all the same size and all spaced the same distance apart, unless theres an easier way to do this , it works for my tiny brain as i don't have to think about it too much😁

 

[Alfred]

2 minutes ago, Anthony1 said:

i start with the ten smaller rectangles so that i can get them all the same size and all spaced the same distance apart

That makes sense, as somebody famous once said. However, having established the correct spacing I would delete the extra boxes.

2 minutes ago, Anthony1 said:

unless theres an easier way to do this

I don’t know if it’s any easier for a scenario like this one, but you could draw the first one, duplicate it (via Cmd+J or Ctrl+J, depending on your OS) and move the duplicate by the desired amount. As long as you keep the latest duplicate selected, further duplicates will automagically be spaced the same way.

3 minutes ago, Anthony1 said:

it works for my tiny brain as i don't have to think about it too much😁

Been there, done that!

[h_d]

53 minutes ago, Anthony1 said:

unless theres an easier way to do this

Draw the first one, duplicate the next four in place with four whacks of cmd-j (macOS) or ctrl-j (Windows):

Select the top one in the Layers stack and drag it down on the document to where you want it to be in relation to the large rectangle:

Select all the small rectangles (but not the large one), then Layer>Alignment>Space Vertically:

Enabling Snap to Guides helps keep things lined up.

 

[thomaso]

33 minutes ago, Anthony1 said:

i start with the ten smaller rectangles so that i can get them all the same size and all spaced the same distance apart, unless theres an easier way to do this

With ten items the size of one is simply a tenths of the large object but what with other, odd or decimal numbers? You can let Affinity calculate the size and space. Below I first use cmd-drag to move+copy the first two items, then cmd-J.

[Anthony1]

so if i wanted the gaps to be the same as the blocks , firstly it would need to be an even number and then i would need to figure out how many i want so that it ends up with the same gap, i still think my way requires less brain matter, but i'm old, 😄

[carl123]

And one more way to do this

Hopefully, someone can work out the proper maths formula for the dot/dash pattern.

(I did it by eyesight alone)

 

 

[thomaso]

1 hour ago, Anthony1 said:

i still think my way requires less brain matter

You make me curious:  How do you get the size of the first small item (rectangle or space) if it's not simply 10% of the large object? Don't you have to calculate at least the total number of required objects + consider the wanted types at start & end (rect. or space)?

[Anthony1]

i make the first box, i know i need it to be 3.1mm wide the length isn't important, i use alt ,drag to make a second copy, then select the two boxes and use alt drag to make 4, and keep doing it till i get past the end of my box, then  i select all of the boxes and shrink them down to the end of the bottom of my large box and then minus the in between ones

[Anthony1]

I;m not too worried about the length of the tabs , its more that i like the gaps to be the same as the tabs, I'm using it to create book nooks to cut on my laser cutter,