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Alignment of anchor points - Vote for this feature


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It has been years since this feature has been requested and I want to resurrect the request because it is extremely important.

The feature request is this: Select anchor point, hit align and have the anchor points align to themselves.
Example: You hit align to top, they will all align to the top most anchor point.

[Other vector software with this feature: AI, Inkscape, Gravit Designer.]

 

 

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I know it's not the same, but for the time being, you can see what's the X/Y Position and copy that value to the Node you are interested to align. The bad thing is that it's one by one.

Best reagrds!

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Thanks Mithferion! This is a wonderful tip! While a bit tedious it really solves my problem! For other people reading this post, that may be less experienced with the program, you can modify the x/y position of each point in the transform window (See attached image).

 

Other considerations for developers:

  • Allow x/y transform to work on multiple points at once. Mithferion is right. It would be good if you could select multiple points and transform them all using one inputted value.
  • Make transform work for node handles too. :) Add the angles and lengths of the node handles to the transform window. I love the precision of using numbers and this would open up a whole world or precision drawing!

Thanks to the designers for making this amazing program,

Eric

(As always I take zero credit or claim to any ideas I post to these forums. I would like to see Affinity Designer be the best it can be.)

Screen Shot 03-12-18 at 08.40 PM.PNG

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Glad to know it helped with your problem.

Also, check Ben's Topic about new things to come about handles' snapping. Consider reading the whole topic.

Best regards!

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  • 2 weeks later...

+1 , totally.

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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+1. Also, if you think about it, the devs "only" need to make algorithm that can detect the xy position of one reference anchor points and then copying it to another anchor points in the background. And an algorithm that can do basic maths. I don't know how difficult that is though since I can't code. 

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Quote

+1 ... remember this feature from FreeHand -- highly useful.

And for those who had no experience with FreeHand: This ability is just one of many things which FreeHand had years before Adobe Illustrator. And even when it finally appeared in Illustrator, FreeHand's treatment was still more powerful.

It's one of my favorite examples of how ill-conceived fundamental elements of Illustrator's general interface (in this case, the simple principle of "selection") cascades upward through all of its features. Without going into detail, it boils down to the fact that Illustrator's interface doesn't "know" the difference between a path's being selected as an object, as opposed to having all its nodes selected. This stems, in part, from the infernal insistence on two separate selection tools.

In this case, the result is that FreeHand could perform all the same alignments and distributions on nodes as on whole objects. For example, in FreeHand, you can select all the nodes of a given path—or of multiple paths—and align them. Try that in Illustrator, and you'll find that you must deselect at least one node.

Thus, my automatic refrain: When building a better drawing program, Illustrator is not the program to emulate.

(By the way, FreeHand could also perform alignment or distribution of multiple pages (yet another major feature which Illustrator was decades late in providing) in the same straightforward fashion. The tedium of doing that in Illustrator, at least through version CS6, is laughable by comparison.)

JET

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Yes, I remember all that. Freehand was such a joy, very practical for design. A shout in favor of Illustrator would be in terms of... illustration. For inking (line art, comics), it is absolutely useful and convenient ) like the capability of "re purpose" a line you just inked, by tracing since its start (if you have all configured in certain way!). This speeds up the workflow crazily, and is not found in other apps.  Although for inking these days I prefer raster tools (some highly specialized ones at that), just personal take.  I would have preferred if both packages would have been maintained, but focusing illustrator much more in... er... illustration, Freehand, in its line for graphic design, was perfect. Even Corel Draw had since then cleverer solutions than Illustrator, once Freehand was ditched....

AD, AP and APub. V1.10.6 and V2.4 Windows 10 and Windows 11. 
Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM,  RTX 3060 12GB, Wacom Intuos XL, Wacom L. Eizo ColorEdge CS 2420 monitor. Windows 10 Pro.
(Laptop) HP Omen 16-b1010ns 12700H, 32GB DDR5, nVidia RTX 3060 6GB + Huion Kamvas 22 pen display, Windows 11 Pro.

 

 

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