When is Affinity Designer going to add a SCISSORS tool?

[deborah]

Those of us who do a lot of line drawings would REALLY appreciate a scissors tool that is able to cut a line/path at any location on the line, not just at nodes -- a tool we can simply select, then select the line and cut.

[Oval]

Well, this is not really needed. Click on your line (with the node tool) where you want to cut it and break it.

 

(The knife tool is already/still on the feature roadmap.)

[Alfred]

It's "not really needed" only in the sense that there are other ways to achieve the same result! If we had a Knife Tool, the attached could have been done simply by typing the text, cutting through it with the Knife Tool (perhaps with the aid of a modifier key or two) and then moving the piece which was cut away. As things stand, it takes several more steps in the latest 1.5 beta version of Affinity Designer.

[Oval]

This is not really needed because it is already on the feature roadmap. Most of us would like to have this basic feature but we don’t believe that this request will accelerate the implementation. People who want to cut through paths work with other tools (there are workarounds) or apps.

[Bri-Toon]

I agree with Oval, and it looks like Alfred does too for obvious reasons. The scissors tools seems pretty pointless too me in Illustrator for the reason Oval mentioned. Just break the path with the node tool. If there was such thing called a strokefinder, now that would come handy.

 

I do look forward to the knife tool, and I like how it functions in DrawPlus more than Illustrator.

[Alfred]

The scissors tools seems pretty pointless too me in Illustrator

 

Thanks for that, Brian. Never having used Adobe Illustrator, I thought that 'scissors' was just their word for 'knife'. If all the AI scissors tool does is to break a line or a curve at an arbitrary point, then I agree with you and Oval that we don't need it. (And yes, I saw what you did with Oval's name in your post!)

[Bri-Toon]

Aint I clever? Haha.

Yeah the scissors and knife are two separate tools. The reason I don't like the knife in Illustrator is because the drawn cutouts will curve depending on how the cursor drags, whereas DrawPlus' knife tool will cut only what is performed on the drag, and the cut will not curve. I think it's important to be more precise in an operation like that, especially if there's a specific shape I want to tackle. Thank God this isn't surgery.

[Bri-Toon]

Actually, taking another look at it, it actually is pretty accurate. I always avoided it since tight areas can be a problem, but overall I'm finally finding that it is precise.

 

https://sendvid.com/qngndtc5#

[deborah]

Hi Oval and all, I'm fairly new to AD and so am definitely lacking in my knowledge of the application but in Freehand and in Illustrator, it was/is easy to toggle between the selection and scissors tools, so when there are several cuts to make, one after another, it is painless. In AD, so far I've found no shortcut, so that I'm constantly having to "travel" up to the break curve icon in order to make a cut.

 

I'm a pattern maker and after drawing all the lines for the objects in the pattern to create pattern pieces, I modify that drawing to create the placement diagram. At that time I cut and delete portions of lines where objects lie behind other objects. In other words, I do a lot of cutting/line breaks! The process in AD is much more time consuming than in Illustrator.

 

Is there a time saver I'm missing? 

[Bri-Toon]

Hi Deborah, and welcome to the forums.

 

 

AD, so far I've found no shortcut, so that I'm constantly having to "travel" up to the break curve icon in order to make a cut.

 

While I don't believe there is an alternative way to break the paths the way already mentioned, Designer does have plenty of shortcuts. You can learn about them here. I understand you find the scissors useful, but you can also break multiple segments at once instead of individually. Hold Shift, and make all the points at once, then break the path.

[uncle808us]

Designer does have plenty of shortcuts. You can learn about them here.

 

Is this the same in Photo?

[Bri-Toon]

Is this the same in Photo?

 

Of course. I got that document from one of the pinned threads in the Tutorials section here. Just click on the link for the Affinity Photo Cheat Sheets here. https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/15683-affinity-keyboard-shortcuts-gestures-and-expressions/

[retrograde]

I'm going to chime in here and say that I do miss a 1 click scissor type solution. (I don't use the knife tool in Ai but I do use the vector eraser a lot, but that's a different thread) :-)

 

Any time I have to go up to a menu when creating vector paths is extra work period, over the course of a complex illustration it adds up. (I do have join and break on a keyshort - didn't see a close curve keyshort option)

 

Why not add just add the ability to setup a modifier key like option or control with the node tool active to break a path? Bam, done. 

 

Would like to see a bit of a re-visit on the join curve/close curve workflow...  not to mention that I still find the break, join and close curve tool shelf icons to be too similar. I still find myself hovering to confirm the right icon... personally I'd be fine with a join nodes tool, if I need to close a curve I'd either click the join nodes tool (or keyshort) on an open path or select each node and enact the join nodes tool... do we need both close and  join curves?

 

I guess taken in isolation yes sure these things do work as they are currently and I am able to get along alright, but multiply all of these extra clicks and mouse travel over a large project under a deadline and it becomes a thing ....rant over. :-)

[deborah]

Hi Bleduc, Thanks for the tip!

 

and retrograde, Thanks for the backup!

[Ross Carroll]

One of the - ah heck, the only thing that stops me from using Designer (as a long time Illustrator refugee) is the lack of a tool that I can cut a line with, quickly and where I want it to be cut. I'm still not fully across how I'm mean't to cut a line - at the anchor point? Truly? I'm a former professional illustrator but don't use it like I used to now due to changes in my life but every now and then I do some something - like today, trying to design a bird feeder - I can't even cut a curve successfully as I can in illustrator. Very very frustrating. I totally reject that it's not needed - it absolutely is and is a major drawback with he app. (I reckon anyways).
There, I've had my rant and feel much better now doctor.

[SergioRus]

Hello, Ross Carroll,

I suggest you, as workaround way, to use boolean instruments to have SCISSORS-like effect.

I have attached here video to show how it can be done.

Hope it will helps.

Sorry for bad English 🙂

 

[Chaos Doverspike]

I'm currently transitioning from Illustrator to Designer...and the node tool is also a major sticking point.

I use the scissors tool extensively to break & merge shapes, and tend to make a lot of precise corrections. However, I think there's a broader disparity of how paths/'curves' are handled between programs. 

If you select part of a 'curve' in Illustrator, it selects -only- that portion between two nodes. If you press 'Delete', it simultaneously isolates & removes that portion from the whole. Same with an anchor point. Deleting will cleanly break it off, the overall shape does not change or interpolate. In Affinity, you select a shape, create a node, break the curve, and both portions remain selected. Even if you de/reselect the portion to remove & press 'Delete', Affinity will automatically reselect the larger portion that it was taken from. 

I've noticed this difference between Illustrator and Corel, and more recently, FSL's 'Retina' program. I (and likely others) have become accustomed to swifty breaking pieces away, and there's a sense of confusion when you attempt to delete a curve and see the whole shape contort to remain as a full, unbroken path. That said, I don't know how feasible it is to implement a scissors tool, since it's only a modifier to a larger matter of workflow.

 

 

On 5/17/2020 at 9:33 PM, Ross Carroll said:

One of the - ah heck, the only thing that stops me from using Designer (as a long time Illustrator refugee) is the lack of a tool that I can cut a line with, quickly and where I want it to be cut. I'm still not fully across how I'm mean't to cut a line - at the anchor point? Truly? I'm a former professional illustrator but don't use it like I used to now due to changes in my life but every now and then I do some something - like today, trying to design a bird feeder - I can't even cut a curve successfully as I can in illustrator. Very very frustrating. I totally reject that it's not needed - it absolutely is and is a major drawback with he app. (I reckon anyways).
There, I've had my rant and feel much better now doctor.