Brushes cannot convert to curves.

[snowite]

Okay, so I have spent countless hours going thru the Internet, forum (found one solution about trimming but couldn't get it to work), I am finally posting here.

 

I have AD 152.58

Windows version on win10

 

Brushes: I can use and edit brushes that are supplied by AD inside of AD.

               I can edit the curves of a brush in draw mode but only AD brushes.

               (imported brushes do not show up in draw mode and curves are not there. Period.)

 

Personas: If I switch to pixel mode, I can view all imported brushes and have the settings to make changes to the brushes.  However, I have to double click to get it to place on the art board, I then can only resize it smaller or larger via the handles.  I can use the clip feature on the brush and some of the other effects.

 

I cannot convert any IMPORTED brush of my own into curves. It does not allow me to edit the brush. So I switch back to drawing mode once the brush is placed, and still the convert to curves is not available.

I have tried several different brushes with the same results. BTW.. once I switch personas - I lose the ability to convert the AD provided brushes to curves also.

 

I cannot select lines in the brush to make any changes. I have to use them as is - or erase parts and hand draw what I want. I cannot move or adjust the lines.

 

In PShop, you have ability to change the entire brush to suit what you want, move it, erase it, raster ect. Just no vector, it is also the same with the fonts. (I have tried fonts yet in AD).

 

Is this a part of the program or do I need to completely draw and edit every brush before importing into AD?

[Lee D]

Hi snowite,

 

The brushes added will be listed in the Pixel persona as they are imported as Raster and when painted don't have a vector path.The brushes in the Draw persona do have a vector path and so can be edited. More improvements are planned for the brush tool as the app is continued to be developed and may be included in a future update.

[MEB]

Hi snowite,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

There's two brush engines in Affinity Designer: one vector based in Draw Persona (although this doesn't mean it can't use raster elements) and another raster based in Pixel Persona.

The Brushes in Pixel Persona are all raster based and painted directly on canvas without any vector path to support them. The ones in Draw Persona rely on a vector path to be drawn and as such can also be edited changing/adjusting the nodes of their path. The ones from the Basic category can be expanded to strokes since they are vector based. Others from other categories may also use a texture/bitmap to be stretched along the vector path (as the ones from the Textured category). These cannot be converted/expanded to vectors since the texture is based on a raster image.

 

As Lee D said there's more improvements planned for the brush engines.

[gdenby]

Having not used PS much for years, and then not much for brush work, I have to guess some about your problems.

 

AD vector brushes are very different from pixel brushes. The textured ones are made from pixel samples that a painted along the vector path. There are several members who have made their own, and I recall a few youtube tutes about the process. I've made a few not very good ones. So, you can have other vector brushes, not just those supplied w. the program.

 

I've downloaded PS pixel sample brushes, and they work fine in the Pixel Persona. Not sure it they are the same as in PS, but they can be resized, either from the brush tool context bar, or dynamically. They can be erased, and reshaped, rotated etc. As far as I know, that's pretty much the same for PS,

 

Pixel persona brushes are not by themselves attached to adjustable vectors. They can be placed within vector shapes, including those made w. the vector brush, and reshaped along w. the vector's boundary if so desired. Or the vector brush shape can be used as a mask within the pixel layer, and be reshaped  to reveal various portions of the pixels, and apply transparency to them.