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Multiple Layers for each stroke using Affinity Designer's drawing tools


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Currently in Affinity Designer,when we draw using drawing tools such as Pen Tool,Pencil Tool and Vector Brush Tool,each stroke creates a new layer,which can be quite cumbersome,especially when you have a more elaborate drawing. This issue could be catered by creating a layer group and then create a stroke and then select the first layer in the layer group. Now every stroke will be drawn within the given group.

 

It would make an excellent productive feature if their is a preference provided for enabling or disabling this feature for drawing strokes on each separate layer. Like switching it on would allow allow all strokes to be created in a single layer and disabling it would allow the default behaviour of drawing each stroke on a separate layer. It could reside in the menu path:

 

Preferences > General

 

the name of the preference as a sample could be 'Draw strokes on a single Layer'.

 

 

Best Regards,

Fahad

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This seems a little specialist, just lock layers or turn off edit all layers in the layers panel.

 

(Moved from Windows beta to the request forum)

Patrick Connor
Serif Europe Ltd

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self."  W. L. Sheldon

 

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I'm not really understanding this. Whether I create a regular page or an artboard and create a layer, all strokes/brush/shapes of any kind go on this layer. Create a second layer and with it active, all strokes or drawn shapes are on layer 2. So on and so forth.

 

What am I missing?

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I was actually referring to creation of multiple layers when ever we use the drawing tools. When you draw lets say in 5 steps,affinity designer creates 5 layers. If we create a layer group(Using menu path = Layer > Group) while selecting one of layers,its now part of the group[The last drawn stroke is the currently selected layer]. Now when we draw subsequent strokes,it will draw the strokes in the layer group,provided we select at least a layer in the layer group.
 
But whether we create a layer group or not,there should be an option that we can enable or disable to draw all strokes in a single layer. For example if its enabled:
then it should draw all stokes using drawing tools in a single layer lets say you draw in 5 steps,all those 5 steps should be drawn in a single layer, and disabling that preference could allow us to get back to the default behavior of creating each stroke in its own layer.

 

This is a Layers Management Option suggestion,that could make you more productive by keeping layers organized and you'll have less clutter.

post-39275-0-47593700-1477078665_thumb.png

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This is also a good option,thanks for pointing this out.

 

Lets take this example in this screen shot. Layer 2 has 5 objects in total(3 of them are curves and 2 of them are ellipses),what if we could create all objects in a single layer,without separate parts or objects for each. What i can make out is that every object is created on its own for example if you create text,you will get a separate object for text,if you create shapes ,it will create a separate objects and so on.

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Hi Fahad Javed,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

In Designer each vector object has its own layer. You can't have several objects in a single layer acting independently.

The closest option you have is a compound. If you select 2 overlapping shapes for example, lets say a rectangle and a circle above inside it s area and perform a subtract boolean operation while holding ⌥ (option/alt), you will get a compound - a resulting shape composed by the rectangle and the circle which you can still access and manipulate individually (the compound updates to reflect changes made to its child objects).

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Dear Meb,

 

Thanks a lot for the clarification. This means that each object is treated separately in Affinity Designer and to organize them we can make use of 'Layers','Groups' and 'Compounds'(where we can perform operations such as Add,Intersect,Subtract,XOR) for multiple objects.

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Hi Fahad Javed,

Generically speaking, you can use Layers and Groups to organise/structure you document. Compounds are just a different kind of object. Their purpose it to provide a way to perform non-desctructive boolean operations (if you don't hold ⌥ (option/alt) they will be performed destructively), not so much to work as a structural/organisational entity (that's just a "side effect" of the way they work).

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For raster paint programs, having no separate objects on a layer makes sense.

 

Personal opinion ranting time (worth what you paid for it):

 

For vector illustration software, if it does not potentially show each object, it is hiding useful information from the illustrator. This is, in my opinion, almost as bad as not providing layers at all.

 

I can forgive the lack in a vector animation program like Moho (formerly Anime Studio, formerly Moho) where the base unit of concern is a user-defined "group of nodes" such as, for example, the nodes that make up the "chin part" of a "face shape", where I can define and name a chin group/object for later jaw animation, and/or give that separate group different colour properties to the rest of the "shape" (maybe a grey 5 o'clock shadow instead of skin colour).

 

However, in an illustration program where the object itself is the base unit of concern, I want to be able to easily select a specific object, particularly in complex overlapping groups of objects.

 

For example, let's take a simple example, an egg made up of 3 overlaid ellipses (all of identical size) with various gradient fills and blending options. By selecting each ellipse object, I can independently change the base colour of the egg, the colour and position of the lighting, the colour and position and opacity of the shadow (should it perhaps be a warmer colour for an incubating egg?) - and I haven't even added reflected light in the shadow areas yet (probably another ellipse object). If the program did not allow access to those ellipse objects, then this ease of manipulation would not be possible.

 

If you don't want to see the individual objects, just click the arrow to collapse the display of objects within the layer (e.g. Layer 1 above has a few different objects on it).

 

359wg9h.jpg

 

Only providing layers and not objects would be more appropriate for a vector "sketching" program than a full "illustration" program (a pedantic difference but a highly important one, in my opinion).

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Hi obtusity,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

I'm not sure i understand what you're trying to address. In Affinity you can use objects (each one has its own layer), layers (generic) and groups to organise/structure the document as you see fit.

Expanding/collapsing them (where adequate) lets you have access all items in the layer hierarchy.

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Hi MEB, thank you for the welcome!

 

Trying to address (probably clumsily and with inadequate understanding) Fahad's original request that objects should not be individually available in the layer list, only layers (initially, as I understood it, because just creating objects on the canvas was not organised by layer) by presenting an alternative viewpoint as to why access to the individual objects is important, rather than cumbersome, in a more complex illustration.

More an ongoing exploration of possibilities and examples.

 

However, I can see Fahad's request as a potentially useful option for a line art style of sketching, although I wouldn't want it as a default.

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  • 7 years later...
On 10/22/2016 at 8:43 AM, Butler To Cats said:

If you don't want to see the individual objects, just click the arrow to collapse the display of objects within the layer (e.g. Layer 1 above has a few different objects on it).

from what I can tell, every single time you make a stroke, it will just reopen the layer again. Im all for the idea of everything being accessible, but it clashes when I like to have specific things visible and all i see are 10 brush strokes i just made because of the way I draw. I wish there was options for at the very least hiding it behind the scenes until I need it specifically. (obviously not default, but it should totally be there)
I also wish it didnt highlight select my last stroke with the pencil tool every time I used it.

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Welcome to the forums @Ivvelis

1 hour ago, Ivvelis said:

every single time you make a stroke, it will just reopen the layer again.

Can you explain that a bit more please? Specifically, what you mean by “it” and what you mean by “reopen”.
 

1 hour ago, Ivvelis said:

I wish there was options for at the very least hiding it behind the scenes until I need it specifically.

Can you explain that a bit more please? Specifically, what you mean by “behind the scenes” and what you mean by “until I need it”.
 

1 hour ago, Ivvelis said:

I also wish it didnt highlight select my last stroke with the pencil tool every time I used it.

That has been addressed in V2 with the “Keep selected” Context Toolbar option.

Note: It is unlikely that the V1 applications - this is a very old V1 thread - will have any feature modifications except those which keep them running after OS changes.
 

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what I mean by it, is the program. say you make a layer, and draw in that layer like a previous comment suggested, you can click the arrow to minimize the group of strokes so you dont have to keep looking at them. however, every time you draw a new stroke, it reopens the layer so it is back in view.

 

and by behind the scenes i basically just mean if I am drawing I perfer to only see what I need to work on. I think my main issue is that vector drawing programs arent for me, im kinda coming from clip paint lol. only issue being that clip paint is notoriously not good for many things and has a shit dev team, so ive just been looking for alternatives.

 

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