Textured Vector Brush on text in Affinity Designer

[CaroleA]

I know how to add a textured vector brush stroke around a vector shape, but I can't get it around text (like making a decorative initial).

Is text behaving differently from vector shapes and paths?

Do I need an extra step to apply it?

For example, I cannot add this gold rope to the letter, while it works fine on the heart shape.

It might be a simple step but since I am very new to Affinity Designer, I might be missing something basic.

Thanks.

[StuartRc]

Is the brush setting set to Stretch or Repeat?

[CaroleA]

36 minutes ago, StuartRc said:

Is the brush setting set to Stretch or Repeat?

It is set to Repeat, on both shapes.

[StuartRc]

40 minutes ago, CaroleA said:

It is set to Repeat, on both shapes.

Oh! I thought that might fix it....
Try adjusting the offsets to see if there is any change to the position of the stroke around the letter. Could be that the brush nozzle is simply not long enough to wrap the shape... I tried it adjusting the head offset on some of my own brushes...It does change the position of the brush around the shape but a lot of them result in the same problem..only different
 

Even the align options in the stroke panel effect the visible appearance of vector strokes!

[CaroleA]

6 minutes ago, StuartRc said:

Oh! I thought that might fix it....
Try adjusting the offsets to see if there is any change to the position of the stroke around the letter. Could be that the brush nozzle is simply not long enough to wrap the shape

I am using the exact same brush with the exact same settings for both. That is what puzzles me. And the same behavior shows for different brushes, like this:

My guess is that the path for text behaves differently, but how do I overcome that?

[karenlepage]

Forgive me if you've already tried this, but have you tried converting the text to curves first? That way each letter would be more like a "shape" (your heart example)

[CaroleA]

11 minutes ago, karenlepage said:

Forgive me if you've already tried this, but have you tried converting the text to curves first? That way each letter would be more like a "shape" (your heart example)

That MIGHT be the explanation. I was looking for that command. Is it in Designer? If so, where? I could not find it.

[karenlepage]

I think that might be it? I just applied a random brush I have.

There are multiple ways to do this.

Selected text right-click brings up a context menu including "Convert to Curves"

Context menu bar above the working window includes "Convert to Curves"

Layer Menu (top bar) contains "Convert to Curves" about halfway down the drop-down menu. -- and it includes the keystroke shortcut Ctrl+Return (windows, assuming it's cmd+enter on Mac?)

 

Hope that helps!

 

 

 

 

[CaroleA]

1 minute ago, karenlepage said:

There are multiple ways to do this.

Selected text right-click brings up a context menu including "Convert to Curves"

Context menu bar above the working window includes "Convert to Curves"

Layer Menu (top bar) contains "Convert to Curves" about halfway down the drop-down menu. -- and it includes the keystroke shortcut Ctrl+Return (windows, assuming it's cmd+enter on Mac?)

Thank you. That is addressing it.

I knew it had to be a simple missing step.

[karenlepage]

6 minutes ago, CaroleA said:

Thank you. That is addressing it.

I knew it had to be a simple missing step.

YAY! Looks great!  I'm so glad my obsessive consumption of youtube tutorials was able to help you!