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manipulate the form of a letter


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i would like to cut different parts from a letter, to put the letter in its different parts,

For example: cut away the bar from the letter A or cut the A into three peaces / - \

 

Unfortunately it seems not possible to cut the curves :-(

 

I try and try and  .....  can somebody give me advice? Thank you a lot.  BN

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Hi BNaegeli,

 

you could try the following three step method:

  • Create your glyph in a text frame, select this text frame, and choose Layer > Convert to Curves or type Cmd + Return. This will convert your glyph into a path you can edit with the Node Tool.
  • Select the Node Tool, click the node where you want to split the path, and click Break Curve from the context toolbar.
  • This will split the path at the desired node, and you can go on editing.

Hope that helps …  :)

Alex

post-1198-0-11270800-1473368221_thumb.png

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The letter must 1st be converted to curves. When entered as a font, there is no access to the nodes that define the shape.  Then, you will have lots of point editing to do. I've been working on an AD  vectorized of a Perpetua style font for a couple of weeks. Depending on the font, you should be able break an A into three parts in as little as a minute if you are handy w. node editing.

 

A_B_C made a post just before I made mine. Give me a couple of minutes to try and illustrate my method.

iMac 27" Retina, c. 2015: OS X 10.11.5: 3.3 GHz I c-5: 32 Gb,  AMD Radeon R9 M290 2048 Mb

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Took me a bit to get screen caps that would illustrate the method. And, I'm eating some pizza.

 

1st pic. An "A" in Arial, w. a copy converted to curves.

 

post-34886-0-62595700-1473371441_thumb.jpg

 

2nd pic. Cleared away some extra points, just make lines a little better

 

post-34886-0-66744200-1473371467_thumb.jpg

 

3rd pic. After clicking each node on the cross stroke, and using break curve on each, there are now 2 new straight lines. Note the level panel. Those can be put together by using join curves, then close curve.

 

post-34886-0-57672800-1473371484_thumb.jpg

 

4th pic. Break apart the the left slant leg. Joined and close those as in step 3.

 

post-34886-0-72970600-1473371507_thumb.jpg

 

5th pic. It seems the last 2 lines cannot be separated by break curves. After repeated attempts, the level panel shows just one curve. 

 

post-34886-0-87151900-1473371522_thumb.jpg

 

6th pic. Its is easy to delete the 2 nodes that define the floating curve. Then, using the pen tool with snapping on, it is easy to fill in the lines needed to close the curve.

 

post-34886-0-86223500-1473371547_thumb.jpg

 

7th pic. The 3 parts separated.

 

post-34886-0-63734900-1473371568_thumb.jpg

iMac 27" Retina, c. 2015: OS X 10.11.5: 3.3 GHz I c-5: 32 Gb,  AMD Radeon R9 M290 2048 Mb

iPad 12.9" Retina, iOS 10, 512 Gb, Apple pencil

Huion WH1409 tablet

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coming back to gedenby:

 

"5th pic. It seems the last 2 lines cannot be separated by break curves. After repeated attempts, the level panel shows just one curve."

 

​the same happened to me, but different. I have still two curves in the level panel and the curves close by themselves criss-cross to random nodes  :-( 

​Many many repeated attempts led me not to the final satisfaction. I´m still trying. What the f... is wrong with my attempts?

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Hi BNaegeli,

Thanks for the file. Rather than breaking all the nodes (since this is a complex A letter) i would create a duplicate of the A letter for each part you want to have separate and simply delete all the nodes you are not interested in. You may have to adjust/cut the curve/path a little where it was connecting to the rest of the letter but that should be relatively easy to do.

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... yes, verstanden. But ... I tried to "... simply delete all the nodes you are not interested in ..." but the question is: how can I, after this, put together the curves of the two levels into one? 

 

How can I get get this result?

 "After repeated attempts, the level panel shows just one curve. "

This would be easier than to rebuild everything  ;-)

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My experience is that when a vector shape has a hole in it, such as a letter A, there are 2 closed curves, one inside the other. AD will show 2 nodes in red when outline mode. Those indicate the end point of the 2 curves.

 

My guess is that as long as those 2 curves are in the same layer, as AD terms the object, they can not be broken apart. No rejoining 2 curves, and closing.

 

MEB's advice to make a copy allows wiping out all the nodes in 1 copy except for the last 2 or 3 that define the hole. In the other copy, all of the hole nodes, and others can be deleted. This leaves 2 separate curves on different layers that can be joined, and closed. 

 

My earlier example used a simple shape that and it was easier to add nodes to complete the last portion.

 

Another set of examples.

 

A fancier A shape, duplicated, and viewed as outine.

 

post-34886-0-50482800-1473720931_thumb.jpg

 

That copy, w all the outside curve removed.

 

post-34886-0-20766900-1473721015_thumb.jpg

 

Then, the last bit after break curve in 2 places, and just 1 arc left.

 

post-34886-0-45456900-1473721106_thumb.jpg

 

Now, going to work on the duplicate. The inner curve removed.

 

post-34886-0-66714600-1473721197_thumb.jpg

 

Cut away most of the outside curve points. The 2 remnant portions in different layers.

Ready to be joined and closed.

 

post-34886-0-29427000-1473721367_thumb.jpg

 

The completed split part. Slightly tweaked because the last close curve operation made a slightly too flat line. Shown is the part and the original ready for subtraction. Original portion, after subtraction, can more easily be divided because there is no hole in the shape.

 

post-34886-0-40537900-1473721677_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

iMac 27" Retina, c. 2015: OS X 10.11.5: 3.3 GHz I c-5: 32 Gb,  AMD Radeon R9 M290 2048 Mb

iPad 12.9" Retina, iOS 10, 512 Gb, Apple pencil

Huion WH1409 tablet

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My guess is that as long as those 2 curves are in the same layer, as AD terms the object, they can not be broken apart. No rejoining 2 curves, and closing.

 

In Affinity, multiple curves on the same layer can be identified by the "curves" label in the Layers panel (note the plural). To treat them as separate objects you can (usually) use the Divide operation to split them into separate layers.

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1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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In Affinity, multiple curves on the same layer can be identified by the "curves" label in the Layers panel (note the plural). To treat them as separate objects you can (usually) use the Divide operation to split them into separate layers.

 

If you Divide an object such as a capital 'A' with a crossbar, as used in the examples in this thread, the object that forms the 'hole' will end up on a separate layer. You can tweak copies of that object for subtraction from the main object, but things will become much easier once we have a Knife Tool for cutting through the letter at strategic points.

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Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
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Yes, a knife tool will make things considerably easier ... once we get it.

 

In the interim, I would settle for the Break Curve action (which of course only works on existing nodes) working on more than one selected node at a time. I don't know why it does not -- even the Close Curve action works on multiple selections, & the Smooth Curve action does too, since it would be almost useless if it did not.

 

As it is, way too often I have not noticed that I had more than one node selected when I used the Break Curve action & it took me more time than it should have to figure out why my curve was not broken. The History panel even records the action, as if it actually did something, so it is no help with that.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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post-30939-0-48597300-1473764234_thumb.p

 

...as picture shows, I managed already separations of two parts of my letter. But don't ask me how ;-)

I just tried and suddenly it worked ..

 

post-30939-0-74715700-1473764235_thumb.p
 
but then ...    the hassle began :-(
 
post-30939-0-78778900-1473764236_thumb.p
 
I removed successfully one part (the lower end go the curved horizontal line) and after that I had two levels in the Panel ...
 
post-30939-0-84757800-1473764237_thumb.p
 
and the question is: how to bring thees two levels together into one again.

post-30939-0-48597300-1473764234_thumb.png

post-30939-0-74715700-1473764235_thumb.png

post-30939-0-78778900-1473764236_thumb.png

post-30939-0-84757800-1473764237_thumb.png

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As it is, way too often I have not noticed that I had more than one node selected when I used the Break Curve action & it took me more time than it should have to figure out why my curve was not broken. The History panel even records the action, as if it actually did something, so it is no help with that.

 

The History panel records the Break Curve action because the curve is actually broken, but only at one node. If I draw a square with the Rectangle Tool, convert to curves and marquee-select all four nodes, using 'Break Curve' makes the end node switch to the bottom right-hand corner (as indicated by the red outline which was originally on the top right-hand node) and moving that node confirms that the curve is indeed broken at that point.

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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Hi BNaegeli,

The issues you are having connecting lines are due to some bugs in Affinity Designer code. I've passed your file to the development team to be looked at.

Meanwhile, if you still want to join these two parts i advise you to close each one separately but intersecting each other, then perform an add boolean operation to join the (now) two shapes/parts. I'm sending you a link with your file edited via PM so you can easily check what i mean.

 

Here's a screenshot:

post-59-0-83755300-1473769486_thumb.png

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and the question is: how to bring thees two levels together into one again.

 

You can simply group the two layers, or you can create a new layer and then drag those two layers into it.

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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The History panel records the Break Curve action because the curve is actually broken, but only at one node.

I guess you are right because I can no longer duplicate no node being broken, but I would swear that at one point, maybe a few Mac versions back, that's what would happen, at least some of the time.

 

I'm still trying to see if there are some circumstances where nothing happens. One thing I just discovered is if I have nodes from two closed, overlapping objects selected, the Break Curve action will (at least so far) break a node in each of them (two total nodes broken)!

 

I'm also trying to work out which node is broken when more than one is selected, but not having much luck with that. I have been using more complex shapes than rectilinear ones & selecting various nodes, but it seems to be almost random.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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BNaegeli,

 

I'm noticing that your working Affinity window (and therefore your screen grabs) are small. Even though tools are still accessible through dropdown menus, some of the important tools are not showing up in that particular window real estate. Is it safe to assume that you are aware of, and are using, the Boolean Geometry operations? (sorry, had to ask :) ).

 

And now on to the problem. It's only when we try to delete the interior and exterior points, things get messy. But we need the shapes defined by both right. When we try getting rid of those points, often times we are left with two "lines" (that aren't really lines, they're closed flat shapes), or messing with the close curve join curve options which can be confusing to say the least.

 

So I would do as MEB suggested and make a copy for each separated piece you want...... BUT.

On each piece, the first thing I would do is Boolean subtract out a notch to make each shape open (no closed off interior bits). Very simple to do.

This way, you can go to town and delete all the points you want without any of the hassles you've been encountering.

The only issue should be a node handle or two. Just alt click on the handle to delete.

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So I would do as MEB suggested and make a copy for each separated piece you want...... BUT.

On each piece, the first thing I would do is Boolean subtract out a notch to make each shape open (no closed off interior bits). Very simple to do.

This way, you can go to town and delete all the points you want without any of the hassles you've been encountering.

The only issue should be a node handle or two. Just alt click on the handle to delete.

 

@JimmyJack

There's no other way to do it without breaking the "closed" parts (the holes) when needed. I think that's implicit.

What do you thought i was suggesting?

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Hi MEB,

 

Oh, I thought you (and others) were suggesting using the Break Curve/Node tool (post #8).

Certainly a way to go, but not what I was suggesting. 

 

But then in post #12.....

 

...Rather than breaking all the nodes (since this is a complex A letter) i would create a duplicate of the A letter for each part you want to have separate and simply delete all the nodes you are not interested in...

 

 

Seems like there was no breaking in that one. So, I really wasn't sure how that would work in defining an interior shape/curve.

 

Anyway, just adding another method.  :)

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