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Hi, when selecting multiple objects, what's the difference between "Group" and "Compound"? Since there seems to be a "group" in SVG, my guess is that a group actually creates a new node in the DOM and renders according to how groups are rendered, whereas compounds are just a short-cut to manipulate a bunch of objects together.

 

Thanks!

 

PS: Sorry for such a newbie question, but I have no experience with vector design applications whatsoever.

 

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Hi Coconut, I can't speak of the document construct but can tell you that compound is a non-destructive boolean operation, while a group is a hierarchy that stores its component objects and settings and can have its own global settings too. The devs can shed more light than me!

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Ok, so a compound is a single object that happens to be made up from Boolean operations of some other objects, whereas a group is a bunch if individual objects.

 

Not quite clear what that means in practice, i.e. when to use which, but at least the concepts are clear. Thanks again!

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Coconut42,

A group is just a bunch of individual objects without any particular relation between them other than being in the same container (i.e. the group). You can delete or move them individually inside the group without affecting the others.

 

A compound object is an object that results from a boolean operation between two or more objects. If you change (i.e. move or edit its nodes) one of them, it affects the resulting compound object.

The advantage of compound objects is that you can perform non destructive boolean operations. So if you subtract a circle from a rectangle for example, you are still able to edit those two shapes and the resulting object will automatically reflect the changes you made. Try to expand a compound object in the Layers panel, select one of it's components and move it. The compound object will update in real time. It's the equivalent of Illustrator's compound shapes. 

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Thanks, I just tried it with a "subtraction" as Boolean operation in the compound, and that makes the difference clearer - they both behave similar when the operation is "addition".

 

Another difference is that I can't change e.g. the color of the parts of a compound object, whereas this is (of course :-) ) possible for the members of a group.

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