Subtracting from shapes

[JudithW]

I've drawn this fancy A and I want to subtract from it all the inner pieces. For some reason, this final piece won't subtract - when I select that and the outer A shape, it just disappears (or maybe Adds and that's why it disappears??). The other shapes subtract as expected. 

Does anyone have any ideas why the three other inner shapes below the problem one will subtract but not the one I've made a different colour for the purposes of this pic?

Thanks.

[GarryP]

The shape you have selected doesn’t seem to overlap the “A”, that I can see, so that’s maybe a reason why it can’t be subtracted from the “A”.

If that’s nothing to do with the problem then maybe some more explanation, and preferably the document itself, would be useful as I don’t know what you mean by “inner shapes” or “inner pieces” or which they would be.

Note: Full-screen screenshots (whole application UI) are often much more useful than small screen-grabs.

[JudithW]

It sits right on top of it - I'm talking about the small 4-sided shape that is selected, above the three that have already subtracted from the A. It was created exactly the same way as the other three (drawn on top of the A) but for some reason, it won't behave the same. 

[JudithW]

When I take the file as it is into Design Space, I can use that section to subtract from the main A shape, but it won't do that function in Affinity for some reason. Screen shot attached of the file in Design Space, where the subtract function works perfectly using the shapes in the file. Note you can see the grid through all shapes once subtracted.

[GarryP]

Ah, I think I understand a bit better – a full-screen screenshot might have given us more information about how your document is constructed.

You could try changing the Fill Mode (via the “Layer” menu) or Reversing the direction of the selected curve (via the Node Tool) before subtracting.

If neither of those work then if you can supply the document we should be able to come up with something.

[JudithW]

I can't seem to make either of those work. I've attached the doc. I can actually use it for the purpose I wanted it for, I just wondered if there was a maximum number of things you could subtract from a shape, or something, which was stopping me from taking out that fourth piece. Anyway, if you can find something I've done wrong, that would be really helpful. Thanks. 

Alisons Glass.afdesign

[GarryP]

Thanks for the document.

Try selecting both the “A” layer and the ‘cut-out’ layer and using menu “Layer → Geometry → Merge Curves”.

I don’t know off the top of my head why it works, but it does for me.

[JudithW]

Brillliant. I would never have thought of that, you'd think you'd get the opposite result. But that's perfect, thank you. I have the whole alphabet to do, so I needed to know. Thank you very much. 🙂

[GarryP]

You’re welcome.

I wouldn’t have expected that either but I thought I’d give it a go and see what happened.

I think it’s worth noting that, with both the “A” and ‘cut-out’ layers selected, the Shape Builder Tool seems to think that both curves constitute a single ‘area’, which seems a little odd at first glance but maybe I’m not looking at it correctly.

[Hangman]

Hi @JudithW,

If it helps, the issue is caused by the Node at the top of the cutout...

Making a simple adjustment to that Node's handle will enable the Subtract boolean to function as it should... That being said, you shouldn't need to make the adjustment in the first place so this should be logged as a bug by someone at Serif...

[GarryP]

6 minutes ago, Hangman said:

Making a simple adjustment to that Node's handle will enable the Subtract boolean to function as it should.

Nice catch.

And when I make the same change it allows the Shape Builder Tool to ‘do its thing’ properly too.

[JudithW]

55 minutes ago, Hangman said:

Hi @JudithW,

If it helps, the issue is caused by the Node at the top of the cutout...

Making a simple adjustment to that Node's handle will enable the Subtract boolean to function as it should... That being said, you shouldn't need to make the adjustment in the first place so this should be logged as a bug by someone at Serif...

 

Well, isn't that amazing? Another useful thing to check if that comes up in the future - again, I never would have thought to try that. Thank you so much. 
 

Boolean sounds like some horror from a Stephen King book.