Tiling, Not Stretching, a Bitmap/Pattern

[Ditto Bird]

Gave Up. I'm just going to use GIMP to tile large images, save the image then bring it into Affinity

 

Hi folks, I had thought I'd solved this by using Gradient Tool --> Bitmap and choosing a bitmap, say something marble-like.  But that approach just stretches the bitmap out. Affinity Help gives me https://affinity.help/photo2/en-US.lproj/index.html?page=pages/Clr/gradientEditor.html&title=Gradient and bitmap fills and I am following the instructions for:

To create a bitmap fill

1. Use the Move Tool to select an object

2. Select the Gradient Tool.

Here is a screen shot of an image with a selection that I have selected using the move tool (note the watery area has been done using Gradient Tool --> Bitmap and will be replaced with this method once I figure out what I'm missing).  Next the gradient tool is selected:

3. From your Explorer window, drag the file of choice and drop it onto either the Swatches panel, Color panel or the Foreground/Background color selector.

So when I do that, the Gradient Tool context toolbar goes directly to polygon which is the last thing I want because all that does is stretch the bitmap out and does not tile the bitmap pattern at all.

 

Surely there is a way to tile, not stretch, bitmaps?

Thanks for any help on this.
--
Tim

[R C-R]

From the help topic, you should be able to use the Extend option on the context toolbar to set tiling to any of 4 settings ... but for me on my Mac, this option is missing from the current V2.5.5 version. Also missing is the Quality option.

Both are there in the old 1.10.8 version so I assume this is a bug.

[PaulEC]

These options are also missing from the Windows version. (Which makes Bitmap fills more or less useless!) I only hope that this gets fixed quickly; the list of these sort of stupid mistakes is just getting longer and longer!

[Ron P.]

It's on the Context toolbar for me. Use the Gradient tool, then for the Type drop-down choose Bitmap. After selecting the bitmap, the Context toolbar shows the Extend options.

[R C-R]

3 minutes ago, Ron P. said:

It's on the Context toolbar for me.

Odd. As you can see from @Ditto Bird's second screenshot it is missing there on that Windows version of AP2 like @PaulEC said on his Windows version so I wonder why it is there for you & not them.

[NotMyFault]

It depends on layer type.

It will be shows for vector layers, but not for pixel layers.

[PaulEC]

This is really weird! I've just tried it again, with the same image I used yesterday, (a photo of some roses,) and there are all the options, as they should be! I have no idea what changed! (As an aside, when you hit a glitch like this, it can be easy to assume that it's just another bug – note to self: don't jump to conclusions too easily!) 😐

[Ditto Bird]

12 hours ago, R C-R said:

From the help topic, you should be able to use the Extend option on the context toolbar to set tiling to any of 4 settings ... but for me on my Mac, this option is missing from the current V2.5.5 version. Also missing is the Quality option.

Both are there in the old 1.10.8 version so I assume this is a bug.

Thanks (RCR is an infantry regiment up north of you guys, BTW, Royal Canadian Regiment 🙂 sorry, I'm an old soldier LOL).

I've found from the short period I've been adjusting to Affinity and based on recent - 2023 to 2024 - videos I find that some things seem to have been switched around in menus recently.

[Ditto Bird]

9 hours ago, Ron P. said:

It's on the Context toolbar for me. Use the Gradient tool, then for the Type drop-down choose Bitmap. After selecting the bitmap, the Context toolbar shows the Extend options.

Thank you, Ron. Unfortunately, it does not appear for me. I just tried it again. I think I'm going to have to make a large tiled image in GIMP and save it to bring it over.

 

6 hours ago, NotMyFault said:

It depends on layer type.

It will be shows for vector layers, but not for pixel layers.

 

Thanks. 🙂 Vector or pixel, though, should one not be able to tile bit maps? I know I often did this in Corel PhotoPaint.

 

 

 

 

 

[Ditto Bird]

Thanks to everyone who tried to help, I'm just going to do my tiled images in GIMP (which I dislike) and polygon the larger image to my selection in Affinity.

I'm trying out Affinity mainly because it was suggested to me as a relatively inexpensive option for some fantasy map brushes he created which don't work in GIMP. 🙁

[NotMyFault]

7 minutes ago, Ditto Bird said:

Thank you, Ron. Unfortunately, it does not appear for me. I just tried it again

The toolbar will only show up if the layer is a vector layer like a rectangle shape or fill layer. It will not show for a pixel layer. Your screenshot shows that you have a pixel layer active, so consequently  the toolbar is not visible. It is the same behaviour on both Windows and Mac, only iPad never shows the toolbar.

[R C-R]

7 hours ago, NotMyFault said:

It depends on layer type.

It will be shows for vector layers, but not for pixel layers.

It does, but for Pixel layers it would be useful if we could change the tiling type to repeating, mirror, etc. It seems like there is no good reason for this restriction.

[NotMyFault]

14 minutes ago, R C-R said:

It does, but for Pixel layers it would be useful if we could change the tiling type to repeating, mirror, etc. It seems like there is no good reason for this restriction.

Agree in principle, maybe Serif knows what led to the difference.

More important: iPad was forgotten again, lacks this for any layer type.

[thomaso]

3 hours ago, NotMyFault said:

The toolbar will only show up if the layer is a vector layer like a rectangle shape or fill layer. It will not show for a pixel layer.

4 hours ago, Ditto Bird said:

I'm just going to do my tiled images in GIMP (which I dislike) and polygon the larger image to my selection in Affinity.

Easy workaround: Use a vector Rectangle for the Bitmap Fill + use the Pixel layer as its Mask.

[NotMyFault]

If you have a polygon (curve layer), you can directly apply the bitmap fill to it.

[thomaso]

47 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

If you have a polygon (curve layer), you can directly apply the bitmap fill to it.

Didn't you point to this before? ("if the layer is a vector layer like a rectangle shape")

However, in @Ditto Bird's screenshots they are pixel layer. Then the mask works and keeps the fill editable.

[Ditto Bird]

5 hours ago, thomaso said:

Easy workaround: Use a vector Rectangle for the Bitmap Fill + use the Pixel layer as its Mask.

Thanks so much Thomaso, but I cannot find that tool anywhere:

Perhaps I'm not smart enough to work with this program, I find it incredibly difficult and the inability to very simply tile bitmaps/patterns has made me glad I'm just evaluating and did not buy it, as inexpensive as it is.

All the best.

[R C-R]

15 minutes ago, Ditto Bird said:

Thanks so much Thomaso, but I cannot find that tool anywhere:

If you mean the Rectangle Tool, it is the 4th from the bottom one on the Tools panel, just below the Pen Tool.

Note that it is in a tool group, denoted by the small triangle at the bottom right of its Tools panel icon. So if you click & hold on the icon, or on the triangle, a small menu wil pop up with the other shape tools in that group.

[thomaso]

41 minutes ago, Ditto Bird said:

Perhaps I'm not smart enough to work with this program, I find it incredibly difficult

To become familiar with the icons, names, and keyboard shortcuts of the tools, it's helpful to turn off the delay on tooltips so that they appear immediately, for example when you hover over the tools. You find this option in the app Preferences > User Interface. (screenshots from V1)

   –>    

52 minutes ago, Ditto Bird said:

the inability to very simply tile bitmaps/patterns has made me glad I'm just evaluating and did not buy it

Isn't it simple to apply a bitmap fill to a rectangle + move a pixel layer as a mask onto the rectangle's layer icon?

APhoto V2 also has a "Pattern Layer" which lets you create new seamless pattern.
Help article: https://affinity.help/photo2/English.lproj/index.html?page=pages/Layers/layerPattern.html
Video tutorial:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmEZAQxChic

 

If you want to use an existing bitmap image which is not yet seamless you can edit its edges for a better result as Bitmap Fill.

[Ditto Bird]

13 hours ago, R C-R said:

If you mean the Rectangle Tool, it is the 4th from the bottom one on the Tools panel, just below the Pen Tool.

Note that it is in a tool group, denoted by the small triangle at the bottom right of its Tools panel icon. So if you click & hold on the icon, or on the triangle, a small menu wil pop up with the other shape tools in that group.

Thank you RCR, but the tool he seems to have selected is circular? I do not have that anywhere on my Photo 2.

[Ditto Bird]

I"m going to have to walk away in frustration. GIMP had a simple pattern fill choice for its Bucket Fill tool and Corel PHotoPaint had something similar. I'm using Affinity because someone had sold me some beautiful brushes, but Affinity is not for me.
 

Thanks to all who tried to help.

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, Ditto Bird said:

Thank you RCR, but the tool he seems to have selected is circular? I do not have that anywhere on my Photo 2.

He is using AP V1. The icons are different in V2. In V2 the Gradient Tool icon has a square shape. It is 9th from the top in your screenshot, the one below the paint bucket icon.

Regardless, if you do as he says & set the tooltip delay to zero or very short, you will be able to see the tool names as you move the pointer over them.