Graphic voids

[jackperdue]

Greetings... I'm an Affinity Designer novice and at this point have more ideas than skills. 

I'm certain this is an easy action but I cannot find the right methodology.

 

I want to create a shape (e.g. red circle) and place a graphic file (e.g. Black bird) over it, then punch a hole in the shape to create negative space in the shape. The result is a bird shaped hole in the red circle.

 

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you
 ~ Jack

  

[MEB]

Hi Jack,

Welcome to Affinity Forums

Assuming all elements are vectors you first need to create a single shape from all bird elements (i'm assuming they are separate parts). To do this you have to use boolean operations to add or subtract shapes as needed to create the whole bird shape - so for example its eye seems to be a circle that you have to subtract from the body to punch a hole there. Similarly the bird's beak shape must be added to the body. To perform boolean operations between shapes select them first (two or more) and click the corresponding operation icon in the main toolbar.

 

After finishing working on the bird and turning it into a single shape subtract it from the red circle using the subtract boolean operation again as you already have been doing for the bird. Here's a sample clip (no sound) showing how to create a single shape from multiple shapes - first subtracting a circle (the subtracted element/object must be above the main element/object in the layers hierarchy), then adding the triangle to the resulting shape.

 

[jackperdue]

Excellent, thanks! But what if the bird is a transparent .png? Extra steps are required? I can subtract the bird, but the entire file shape (rectangle) is subtracted and not just the bird shape.

~jp 

[MEB]

If the bird is an image it will not work as you discovered. In that case you have to trace it (draw/recreate it from scratch) with the Pen and Shape Tools, then perform the described boolean operations to turn the parts into a single object. Alternatively you can use use a third party tracing software (like Super Vectorizer, Image Vectorizer, Vector Magic etc) or web service (like https://vectormagic.com) to convert the image into vectors, adjust/clean the resulting shape(s) if needed, turn them into a shape if necessary (this depends on how the tracing software outputs the traced image - a single object or multiple separated objects) then subtract the bird from the circle.

[jackperdue]

Thanks for the quick reply. I will test some of these apps and techniques. But most importantly, now I know what can be done and what cannot. Thank you
 ~ Jack

[smadell]

OK, maybe I'm making this up and have no business doing so. After all, I work only in Photo and not in Designer. However, I know that Designer has blend modes just as Photo does. If the bird is an Image layer, and the circle is a Vector layer, couldn't the OP simply set the Blend Mode for the bird layer to "Erase" and knock out the bird from the underlying circle?

[MEB]

Yes, setting the Blend Mode of the bird image from Normal to Erase (in the Layers panel) also does it because the PNG is transparent otherwise it wouldn't. Forgot to mention it. Thanks for heads up smadell.

[smadell]

Glad to know I wasn't just blowing smoke out of, well, you know...

[MEB]

No, no. I simply missed it, my bad. Setting the Blend Mode Is certainly easier/quicker than converting the bird to a shape. Thank you for your input.

[Aaron Martin]

Hi. Im trying to find this blend mode in Affinity Photo iPad,but it doesnt seem to be there. How can i use erase blend mode on ipad. 

[MEB]

Hi BigBoss,

Welcome to Affinity Forums

The Erase blend modeI is currently missing in the iPad version We are aware of this. It should be fixed for the next update.