Cutting vector document into quarters with jigsaw puzzle edges

[oat]

I have a document made of vector curves. I need to cut the document into 4ths. One vertical line down the middle. And one horizontal across the middle. Is there a tool that can do this? Or perhaps via a save, export, or printing option? The end product will be a big stencil. Connected with jigsaw puzzle edges, so any guidance on that process would also be helpful.

[GarryP]

Without knowing more details about what you have, and what you want to do with it, you might be able to use the resource in this thread and then use the Geometry functionalities (e.g. Divide, Subtract, etc.), or the Shape Builder Tool in Designer only, to get what you want:

 Note: It's better to tell us which applications you have so we can tailor our answers to the functionalities available to you.

[oat]

Hello. I posted a more detailed version but I guess it failed. It is for a stencil. A large stencil cut into quarters via 1 horizontal center line and one vertical center line. The vector image is complex so I'm looking for a simple to split it into 4ths. Thanks for the understanding 

[GarryP]

Your definition of what a stencil is and your idea of what you want to do with it may differ from those of other people, so telling us that it is for a stencil doesn’t really tell us much.

I can understand that you want to ‘cut’ 'something' into equal quarters somehow, but I don’t know what it looks like, or how it is constructed (what types of layers and how they are organised), or what you want to do with it once it has been ‘cut’.

If you can give us a visual example of what you are trying to do, preferably one that shows what you are working with, then we should be able to help you further. If you can share the actual document with us then that's often very useful, as a starting point at least.

[oat]

I am making an acrylic stencil. It is of one image made up of entirely of vectors. The stencil is for painting. I am just looking for the simplest way to split a group of nodes. Not sure if there is a line tool that will divide curves in this nature. The laser is not big enough so id like to divide the image into fourths so i can connect them and paint a large image reliably. I will be using a glowforge laser. If the pieces connected by puzzle notches that would be a plus. I'm just looking for a way to split up a complicated vector image in a simple manner. The application is less important. My question is very simple. How do I slice/split up a vector image in affinity in the simplest way. Adding the puzzle notches should not be hard to figure out once I am able to split the image into fourths. I attached an image to try and represent this as best as i can. Can't attach actual image as it is exploitable art work. Thanks for your time, energy, and understanding.

[oat]

I am looking to avoid trimming every line path individually with the node tool as to keep things clean and exact.

[GarryP]

Thanks for the extra information.

Assuming that you are using Designer (you still haven’t said, that I can see), and assuming that the black lines in your example image are expanded curves, rather than thick strokes, I think you might be able to use the Shape Builder Tool, see attached video. (If they are thick strokes then you will need to use Expand Stroke on them beforehand.)

Any parts which have become ‘detached’ during the shape building process can be ‘reattached’ via “Layer → Geometry → Merge Curves”.

How you draw the initial ‘cutting rectangles’ is up to you.

There might be a quicker/better way but this is easy to try.