Using NODE TOOLS as for DIRECT SELECTION TOOLS of ILLLY is buggy or what??

[ohmaild]

I am new to this forum and its my first post on this subject.  I have been on graphic design works in industries for a very long time, from printings and multimedia to design and digital. And most of the works are done with 2 major application that most of us heavy designer can complete the both worlds,

the big giant Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.  you can leave those other apps like indisign and lightroom and so on, if you know how to use this tools from Illy and Photoshop your good to go and completes everything.

 

Last 2 days ago i have tried Affinity Design and Photo for my clients and the products are ready for dispatch for offset printings.  You can check it on Share Your Work, and look for Affinity strength on industry world, fight back to back with Illustrator my post.  And for me I am really quite satisfied and amazed how I finished my work as good or maybe better than what I am expected.  And I am really really glad that atlast I will be out of this Adobe Jailed CC. lol. (pardon me adobe but susbscription for your CC what!!!!!) anyway long story short, I have love the workflow of affinity photo to affinity design but there is a lot thing AFFINITY DEV need to check. I am posting the video for you to check what I am trying to tell.

 

 

I have made exactly the same project with affinity and illustrator well of course pictures and images are just copy and paste but the elements from circle and such are created exactly the same as Illy.  then here is the painful and difficulty I have encounter.  The node tools, is it direct selection tools equivalent, if it is, why i cant select any direct object disregarding any group or mask, so directly selecting and right away you can edit or resize or move or reposition the element, or image you are directly selecting.  but in affinity wow how really hard it is. you have to doble click to go inside and inside and inside of multiple group withing the group withing the group and so on then this image is inside the masked. Anyway most designer will understand what i am telling.  check the vids, and you will notice my mouse pointer shakes when it didnt do what i am expecting to do. Better watch first the first video same project using Affinity Designer, then next video is using Illustrator.

 

 

 

if it doesnt show try this copy and paste

youtube.com/watch?v=yT5ILJt1RNE

youtube.com/watch?v=yIZqcs5CVgw

[Hokusai]

ohmaild,

 

The behavior you are experiencing isn't a problem with the direct selection tool. I believe it is a result of how Designer imports PDF files (or Illustrator files). Without looking at your file directly, I would guess that Designer is importing your file but it is combining or rastering some objects so that is why they appear the same as they were in your Illustrator file but you can't select them individually. If you are working with a lot of Illustrator files, it will take you some time to figure out how to get around some of the challenges of importing PDF files created in Illustrator or illustrator files themselves.

 

Hope that helps,
Hokusai

[ohmaild]

ohmaild,

 

The behavior you are experiencing isn't a problem with the direct selection tool. I believe it is a result of how Designer imports PDF files (or Illustrator files). Without looking at your file directly, I would guess that Designer is importing your file but it is combining or rastering some objects so that is why they appear the same as they were in your Illustrator file but you can't select them individually. If you are working with a lot of Illustrator files, it will take you some time to figure out how to get around some of the challenges of importing PDF files created in Illustrator or illustrator files themselves.

 

Hope that helps,

Hokusai

Hi thank you for response.

 

I didnt import the file from illustrator, I have made two separate file, i worked with illustrator and affinity designer, with identical design. So literally i was able and managed to group exactly the same hierarchy the same way I did on illustrator. The purpose of doing the same exactly instead of simply importing the file from illustrator to AD is I want to be really confidence enought that my strength on designing using the tools on Illy will be the same with AD. Try do it on your design with lots of group and group within the group and with those group there is this mask images on a certain shape layers, then try direct selection tools or the NODE TOOLS equivalent of illy then you will see what I am trying to explain.  I wondered why the link of youtube was not included on my post. any way here it is. youtube.com/watch?v=yT5ILJt1RNE and just follow the next video

[Hokusai]

ohmaild,

 

Sorry I thought you were importing your design into Designer from Illustrator. The "move tool" (the black cursor in Illustrator) and the Node tool (the white cursor in Illustrator) in Affinity Designer behave a little different than the corresponding tools do in Illustrator. They are very similar but there are some differences. Coming from Illustrator it does seem odd that you can't select objects individually with the Node tool once they have been grouped unless you use the Layers Panel and you select it there (and then you can manipulate it using the Node tool with no problems). Give it a try and see if that works for you. With the Node tool go to the Layers Panel and then find the object that you want to manipulate and then select it (not the group but the child or the actual item that you want to change) and you should be able to do it. 

 

I don't know if this has been requested but you might want to make a request for it in the Features Request thread. I hope that helps.

 

Hokusai

[ohmaild]

ohmaild,

 

Sorry I thought you were importing your design into Designer from Illustrator. The "move tool" (the black cursor in Illustrator) and the Node tool (the white cursor in Illustrator) in Affinity Designer behave a little different than the corresponding tools do in Illustrator. They are very similar but there are some differences. Coming from Illustrator it does seem odd that you can't select objects individually with the Node tool once they have been grouped unless you use the Layers Panel and you select it there (and then you can manipulate it using the Node tool with no problems). Give it a try and see if that works for you. With the Node tool go to the Layers Panel and then find the object that you want to manipulate and then select it (not the group but the child or the actual item that you want to change) and you should be able to do it. 

 

I don't know if this has been requested but you might want to make a request for it in the Features Request thread. I hope that helps.

 

Hokusai

Hi thanks for feedbacks.

 

Yep better I will request this features.

 

But there is always a work around, which is simply double click or keep on clicking until you are now inside of the group of the group and so on then you are now on the main image or element you are trying to reposition or selecting. Ofcourse if the Node Tools will simply do the not only just the anchor points (im using adobe term here) when you want to reposition or adjust, but also the image or the pixel image will almost complete the purpose of NODE Tools therefore will work not just NODE TOOLS but as DIRECT SELECTION TOOL.  Make things much easy.

 

I also found out that unlike in illustrator we used to used masking by using cliping mask by pressing CTRL+7/Cmmnd+7 to basically make the main image you want to be encapsulated inside the shape layer whatever it shape, in AD if you do that by using layer then select the upper layer then rightlick then select mask below, then whatever image that is below of that above layer that layer below will be inside of the shape layer. AD all you have to do is just drag the any layer (image or element) unto the layer in which you want to be inside of that layer. In this case it will be easy for you to resize or reposition whatever images/element that are inside of the main layer.

 

but it is still you need to double click the layer until you will be inside of that layer you want to reposition or resize or simply use the layer tools then directly select the layer you want to resize or reposition.  but again if nodetools cans simply do the direct selection will be awesome and makes things much faster.

[Chris_K]

Hi ohmaild

 

The problem here is more your expectation rather than the tool itself. Two different apps will take two different approaches. The node too is not a 1:1 version of the direct select tool and nor was it meant to be, it's fucntionality is what works most appropriately within the structure of our app. Whilst we may do many things similar we are not trying to copy other apps. Therefore this is not a bug with the tool.

 

Having said that, it doesn't mean that there is not room for improvement. I am moving this over to the feature requests section to have this considered

 

thanks

[ohmaild]

Hi ohmaild

 

The problem here is more your expectation rather than the tool itself. Two different apps will take two different approaches. The node too is not a 1:1 version of the direct select tool and nor was it meant to be, it's fucntionality is what works most appropriately within the structure of our app. Whilst we may do many things similar we are not trying to copy other apps. Therefore this is not a bug with the tool.

 

Having said that, it doesn't mean that there is not room for improvement. I am moving this over to the feature requests section to have this considered

 

thanks

Thanks for the reply.

 

I am totally agree and loving your approach actually, but as you said there is always room for improvement.  You dont have to copy and be like them, Affinity is unique on its own, we designer starting to love it and eventually MARK MY WORD it will be one or atleast become industry standard in graphic design related field of works.  But as I am trying to explore its tools, Node Tools is not totally a bug or something it is what is it, but it will help if it can do something more that it used to be. check my attachment to atleast see what I think will add to its strength.

 

Once again, keep up the good work.