Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Recommended Posts

In Illustrator you can create multiple lines in 1 layer and in Affinity for every line I create also creates a new Layer, this is really bothering to no end me and I want it to stop. I seemed to be able to change the settings once that allowed me to create multiple lines, curves etc in ONE layer but I can not seem to do this again. Why do you have this as a feature and how do I Make it stop? I tried creating a layer to begin with but it didn't help. I love this program accept for this feature and the fact I cant seem to save the settings I have changed which also bothers me to no end, always having to reset up my settings not a good feature guys. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, Galvertron said:

In Illustrator you can create multiple lines in 1 layer and in Affinity for every line I create also creates a new Layer, this is really bothering to no end me and I want it to stop. I seemed to be able to change the settings once that allowed me to create multiple lines, curves etc in ONE layer but I can not seem to do this again. Why do you have this as a feature and how do I Make it stop? I tried creating a layer to begin with but it didn't help. I love this program accept for this feature and the fact I cant seem to save the settings I have changed which also bothers me to no end, always having to reset up my settings not a good feature guys. 

Every item has to be on a separate layer or how would you edit just one item. Like maybe making one line thicker or a different colour. Some items can be made into compound shapes or merged (boolean) but not lines.

You could place all the individual lines in a group layer, then you get the best of both worlds. It looks like one layer in the Layers panel and you can move it or change the components inside as one, but you could still open up the group to edit one item.

grp.jpg.b605105b479424e52db77c9741a82554.jpg

If you go Edit > Defaults > Save, you can save your last settings to use again.

Windows PCs. Photo and Designer, latest non-beta versions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, toltec said:

Every item has to be on a separate layer ...

The one exception to this is the "(Curves)" layer type -- note the plural -- that results from some but not all boolean geometry operations. For more about this, refer to the Creating compounds help topic in the Object Control section of the built-in help. (Link is to the online US English version of the topic.)

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, toltec said:

Every item has to be on a separate layer

De facto she is not layer - it's an object. "Layer" is specific item (color-coded) on layer stack.

6 hours ago, toltec said:

Some items can be made into compound shapes or merged (boolean) but not lines.

What is the reason why they can not merged?

Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.4.0.2301
Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155.
Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.3155.
Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Pšenda said:

What is the reason why they can not merged?

I wondered that too. Maybe the nodes have to be joined, as in one single object ?

I don't really know though.

Windows PCs. Photo and Designer, latest non-beta versions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Pšenda said:

De facto she is not layer - it's an object.

In this context, there is not much difference between a layer & an object.

2 minutes ago, Pšenda said:

What is the reason why they can not merged?

They can be merged using the boolean geometry features, but the results are often not what users want or expect. This is because in Affinity, the booleans are applied to the areas filled by paths & a straight line does not fill any area (stroke thickness is ignored).

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, toltec said:

I wondered that too. Maybe the nodes have to be joined, as in one single object ?

Lines do not have to be joined (closed) to be used with boolean operations. For example, in this simple boolean geometry example.afdesign file there is only a rectangle & a curved line with two nodes:

geometry.png.4b8b21e20b1f1f87ae2ac988d4bbf54e.png

If you select both you will get the expected result for each of the booleans because the curved line fills a path.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, MEB said:

Technically that's what happens on your (basic) example. In practise, on daily work this has no use. Draw a straight line over the rectangle instead and you will see that.

I can only speak for myself but in my daily work I often draw a curved line like in my example specifically to use it to carve away part of another object like a rectangle or other shape.

Besides, you don't have to search the forum very hard to find users saying they would like to use straight lines with booleans, for example to cut one shape into two parts along that line's path.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff
25 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Besides, you don't have to search the forum very hard to find users saying they would like to use straight lines with booleans, for example to cut one shape into two parts along that line's path.

That's another issue entirely. I never said it wasn't useful. Other programs do allow that and I would be certainly happy if it was possible. Let's keep things in context please. I said in you particular (basic) example it works, with a straight line it won't (exactly what quite a few users are requesting as you mentioned). With more complex projects with several shapes/lines on screen using lines for boolean operations can easily lead to errors/mistakes since the operation will only take in account the filled area between the start and end point of the line connected through a straight (invisible) line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, Galvertron,

Its been years since I used Illustrator, but I recall that a layer in it was a separate workspace comprising the whole document. Designers layers don't work like that. One may however make  shapes that encompass the canvas with an empty fill that can be used in much the same way.

If you draw something, say a rectangle, and click on the insert inside widget at the top right, subsequent objects will be nested inside the rectangles geometry, and clipped by its periphery. And then each object within can also be selected, insert inside chosen again, and other layers of nested objects will go into those.

As already mentioned, one can create a group, and subsequent objects will be gathered into it no matter where on the canvas they are.

iMac 27" Retina, c. 2015: OS X 10.11.5: 3.3 GHz I c-5: 32 Gb,  AMD Radeon R9 M290 2048 Mb

iPad 12.9" Retina, iOS 10, 512 Gb, Apple pencil

Huion WH1409 tablet

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, MEB said:

That's another issue entirely. I never said it wasn't useful. Other programs do allow that and I would be certainly happy if it was possible. Let's keep things in context please. I said in you particular (basic) example it works, with a straight line it won't (exactly what quiete a few users are requesting as you mentioned). With more complex projects with several shapes/lines on screen using lines for boolean operations can easily lead to errors/mistakes since the operation will only take in account the filled area between the start and end point of the line connected through a straight (invisible) line.

Sorry if I misunderstood anything. I was just reacting to your "on daily work this has no use" comment.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Galvertron said:

In Illustrator you can create multiple lines in 1 layer and in Affinity for every line I create also creates a new Layer, this is really bothering to no end me and I want it to stop. I seemed to be able to change the settings once that allowed me to create multiple lines, curves etc in ONE layer but I can not seem to do this again. Why do you have this as a feature and how do I Make it stop? I tried creating a layer to begin with but it didn't help. I love this program accept for this feature and the fact I cant seem to save the settings I have changed which also bothers me to no end, always having to reset up my settings not a good feature guys. 

In Illustrator you probably have the Layer panel option "show layers only" ticked. If it's not ticked Illustrator is much the same as in AD... you will have all of your shapes/curves/groups/sub-layers/etc available to see individually (paths/etc etc in Illustrator).

There is no show layers only option in AD (afaiaa). So to avoid seeing everything just don't click the expand arrow to the left of the layer thumbnail. If you create a new element and it's automatically showing up in the midst of a long stack of stuff within a layer you need to UN-tick "Auto-scroll" under the hamburger dropdown in the Layers panel (also in preferences, but the panel is quick easy access if you need to go back and forth). With Auto-scroll un-ticked anything you draw will be added to the selected Layer. It'll just stay collapsed visually.

42881452_ScreenShot2018-06-18at2_19_42PM.thumb.png.cad11c9e4dfce48a00e8b5116313d52b.png

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.