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I know there's a way to measure a distance from an object, but is there any way to measure a distance between two points on the canvas?

 

I.e., say I have a closed irregular shape, and I want to measure a certain distance from one of its perimeter lines to a point within. I can't select the object and press Command to measure, since that only gives me the distance from its outermost component to a different object (if any) within.

 

But if the object is irregular and I want to measure from a part of it closer to its center to a point (not object) within--our outside it, for that matter--this method fails in two regards--the measurement doesn't start from that inner line, and there's no second object to measure to.

 

I was hoping for a tool that simply measured the distance between any points A and B.

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AFAIK, there's no dimensioning tool, aka "tape measure." You might want to look into a CAD program, like LibreCAD, or the free SketchUp for private use. 

 

The dev comments for AD mention that the app at this point is being developed for general use scenarios. Basic stability & features that are must haves for a majority of users. If you can describe how such a tool is used by you to what end, and the team decides its something that many people could use, put it in the feature requests.

 

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Well, I don't need any 3D drawing at all, and I absolutely loathe web-based applications. I already own Affinity Design so I was hoping it had this feature. And since it's relevant to something I'm doing now (rather than something I'll need in the future) and had been asked for by others in the past, that hope extended to it having been implemented. 

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11 hours ago, A_B_C said:

Well, you can always draw a straight line from point A to point B and use the side lengths of the line’s bounding box to calculate the distance between A and B. :)

While not elegant, you could do this in Affinity Designer:

1. Draw the A to B line

2. In the Transform panel in the x field, enter sqrt(w^2+h^2) then press Return or Tab

3. The new x value is the distance between A & B

4. Delete the A to B line

 

 

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If you like it quick and dirty, try this...

1. Draw a line from A to B

2. In the Transform panel rotate the line so it is perfectly horizontal
(Use CTRL + Arrow keys to rotate in 0.1 degree increments if needed)

3. With the line still selected hit the Reset Selection Box button in the context toolbar

The width now displayed in the Transform panel is the original  A to B distance

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  • 2 years later...

A measurer would be great.  Particularly for the isometric grids and things like that - the demo of isometric drawing had the instructor hand counting how many large/small divisions between objects - a little arrow that shows distance between elements on a given plane would be excellent.

For Max users there's XScope, which is great for lots of things, but for windows I haven't found anything similar.  Let me know if you know of one!

Thanks

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  • 5 weeks later...

I just got this program expecting it to be like PageStream, which gave me the dimensions of my lines. For some reason this feature is not here though from the comments I can see the math is available to do transforms and find the line dimensions in a roundabout fashion. I don't like the 'tape measure' tool, Pagestream had a window with the co-ordinates and dimensions of the drawn object. 

I'm afraid I'll have to find another program to do my drawings 

RockyRover

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I can't understand Design without measurement. The designs will be applied in the real world and so the dimensions come from there also. SoftLogic Pagestream, although a desktop publishing program, was able to supply drawings and designs that satisfied theatre set builders, surveyors, government offices and home buyers. AD offers far more Ilustration power but it's not much help for drawing plans without providing the built-in math in a readout 

That sqrt(w^2+h^2) is going to be a very British kludge! ( I love English Motorcycles therefor I can build one )

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  • 11 months later...
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On 4/24/2020 at 1:46 AM, RockyRover said:

I just got this program expecting it to be like PageStream, which gave me the dimensions of my lines... Pagestream had a window with the co-ordinates and dimensions of the drawn object. 

Designer and Publisher have almost the same measurement features as PageStream's "Edit Palette" did. Turn on View > Studio > Transform and you'll see X/Y, width/height, rotation, and slant. The other PageStream Edit Palette features for objects such as corner radii and flip can be found in Affinity's Context Bar. I don't think there's anything you used in PageStream that isn't available in Affinity.

On 6/18/2021 at 10:32 PM, Mountain_Villager said:

I have not even opened Affinity because it does not give me dimensions. 
Soft logic Pagestream had an inspector that draws all the dimensions of your drawing. 

Dimensions are there, just in a different location. PageStream had only one floating palette or panel because it was a first-gen UI approach to breaking free of menus and dialog boxes. Before that UI feature was introduced, you had to keep choosing menu commands and closing dialog boxes to accomplish anything. Screen resolutions were tiny back in the nineties so there was just one palette, there wasn't space for anything else.

The Affinity apps use a newer UI approach that combines a dynamic palette (Context Bar) with a right column of panels that you can organize however you like. Serif chose to put measurements into the Transform panel instead of in the Context Bar and perhaps you don't have Transform visible.

Download a free manual for Publisher 2.4 from this forum - expanded 300-page PDF

My system: Affinity 2.4.0 for macOS Sonoma 14.4, MacBook Pro 14" (M1 Pro)

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On 7/5/2021 at 5:07 AM, SamSteele said:

Out of curiosity, and if you can share it, I would be interested to see an image(s) of the shapes you are talking about.

Cheers!

Hi @SamSteele

I use Affinity for many different uses, from technical drawing, graphics, laser cutting through to pattern drafting for fashion garments...

Pattern drafting for fashion garments is the use that I particularly need a measurement tool for, as I need to measure the length of 1 curved line and match it to the length of another curved line (see image attached).

In illustrator there is a documents info window that shows you the length of any line no matter what its shape (see image).

I really wish Affinity would bring this option... it's a very simple tool but essential, plus I think affinity has the ability to bring this info in a more user friendly way that Ai's ugly, hidden window pane.

 

Screen Shot 2021-07-09 at 00.50.49.png

Screen Shot 2021-07-09 at 00.51.20.png

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So basically bring a bit of CAD into the apps, it's a shame the likes of Hot Doors CADtools (Illustrator Add-on) can't be made to work in Affinity Designer.

image.png.b7fcbd69ce63555dcc61c0f96c064039.png

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