Can I crop the objects permanently (destructively)?

[hyethyet]

Hi! I am using Affinity designer on mac. 

I see that designer's crop tool is non-destructive, but I want to crop the objects destructively for other program that I'm using sometimes.

If there any way to do this? Thanks!

[Callum]

Hi Hyethyet,

 

If you crop your object then right click it in the layers tab and click rasterise it will be destructively cropped :) 

 

Thanks

C

[toltec]

Ah yes "Rasterize" the official Affinity 'do everything' word 

[John Rostron]

But presumably this will convert what you have to a pixel image rather than a vector one. I would be interested in knowing how to crop a Designer image as vectors.

[MEB]

Hi hyethyet,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)
There's no way in Designer to crop vector objects destructively keeping them as vectors. That would mean/imply changing their geometry which can be achieved through boolean operations. Can you expand a little on your use case?

[Ben]

Sounds like you really need to use Compounds to create a boolean of your vector shapes.

 

Rasterising is not really the "Designer" way, because you'll lose edibility and precision.

 

[R C-R]

On 7/24/2017 at 8:47 AM, John Rostron said:

But presumably this will convert what you have to a pixel image rather than a vector one. I would be interested in knowing how to crop a Designer image as vectors.

Since vector objects are really just resolution independent geometric descriptions that can be rendered as images at different pixel resolutions, I am curious about what you mean here & what you want to accomplish by cropping them as if they were (pixel?) images.

 

If it is to save file space in an AD document by making the file smaller, it probably would do the opposite, since that usually means adding nodes to "crop" the vectors to some reduced canvas dimensions.

[John Rostron]

@R C-R, I use Designer for drawing maps. I compose the map of the general area and I then would like to crop to cover a specific area for printing.

[gdenby]

I'm not sure what kind of images you want to crop, but if it is a bit-map, this will work. Nest it in a vector shape. Use the export slice tool to frame the shape, and export .png.  Should also work w. a vector based map. The vector shape crops the image.

[Fixx]

I would say booleans are now the only way to crop vector elements and keep them vector.

[MEB]

Hi John Rostron,

Do the following:

- switch to Export Persona

- draw a slice over the area you want to export/print

- with the slice selected in the Slices panel, set the slice export options to PDF and adjust its settings as you see fit (on the Export Options panel on the top right of the interface)

- click the export icon in front on the slice in the Slices panel to export just that slice to PDF/printing

[John Rostron]

Thanks, I will try that tomorrow. I would export to pdf for posters, but would also wish to export to png for web or othrr purposes.

[MineralHillsWorkshop]

I also have a use case for this feature. If you try to import the .svg into Blender for 3D conversion the layers of the .svg will not be clipped. A work around is to use Boolean operations. But, this is not ideal.

For example, I am creating a logo with a landscape inside a circle. All the hills, sun rays, trees, etc. are clipped inside one circle (using sub-layers). In AD everything looks great. But, as an .SVG the shapes go outside the circle messing up the logo.

The only workaround I know of is to do the following (Note: I simplified this for new users in case they find this helpful):

1. Create a donut with an inner edge that matches the outer edge of your circle. Make sure the donut is thick enough to overlap the shapes you will be cutting. (TIP: use the guides to start creating the donut in the center of the existing circle, then hit Shift+Ctr when dragging the donut larger.)
2. Copy and paste that donut. Repeat until you create a copy for each shape that will need to be clipped.
3. Select both a donut and one of the shapes your are clipping. Hit the button for subtraction Boolean. A new vector shape will be created that is clipped. Repeat until all shapes are fixed.

If anyone has a better workaround, I would really appreciate hearing about it.

Thanks,

Eric

[Jowday]

On 7/27/2017 at 11:23 AM, MEB said:

Hi John Rostron,

Do the following:

- switch to Export Persona

- draw a slice over the area you want to export/print

- with the slice selected in the Slices panel, set the slice export options to PDF and adjust its settings as you see fit (on the Export Options panel on the top right of the interface)

- click the export icon in front on the slice in the Slices panel to export just that slice to PDF/printing

Why not re-use the code for a destructive vector crop - Bake crop - whatever it should be called.

I would never have guessed this work around - and its a clumsy work around.

[Jowday]

21 minutes ago, Jowday said:

Why not re-use the code for a destructive vector crop - Bake crop - whatever it should be called.

I would never have guessed this work around - and its a clumsy work around.

Never mind, export persona doesn't crop destructively either - this is the PDF output:

[Old Bruce]

The PDF (flatten) preset does trim/crop it.