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Is there a way to reset the cropping box in Designer (Desktop)?


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When I have rotated a shape - or whatever - I sometimes want to crop it in relation to the page but can't find a way of doing it. (Think of the scalpel blade going down or across the page rather than at the same angle as the object.) I can reset the selection box so I can manipulate the shape that way but it would be nice if I could reset the crop box in the same way.

Consider the attached image:
A. Draw a rectangle.
B. Rotate it - the selection handles "follow" the shape.
C. Press "Reset Selection Box" and the selection handles move to a box that surrounds the rectangle in the same orientation as the page rather than the rectangle.
D. Use the Crop tool but I can't find a similar way to reset the crop tool - to the dotted red line - so I could, for instance, cut off a corner of the rectangle.

Is there a function I don't know about or, if it's not currently possible, a way to reset the rotation of an object without actually rotating it back?

I know I can put the rotated object inside an 'invisible' shape but then I can't easily move the 'crop'.

I found a way of doing what I want by adding a small non-rotated object to the rotated object but this seems like a bit of a hack.

These posts are similar to my situation but not quite the same:
* https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/64166-feature-request-crop-by-bounding-box
* https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/61346-crop-tool-problem

This thread mentions up-coming improvements to the "vector crop tool" in the first post but doesn't give any details:
* https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/52300-sneak-peeks-for-17

crop reset.JPG

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I don't think you can  reset the cropping box but you can Reset the Selection Box Permanently - as shown in your 3rd image (C)

The crop tool will then work as you want it to on the "rotated" shape

To save time I am currently using an automated AI to reply to some posts on this forum. If any of "my" posts are wrong or appear to be total b*ll*cks they are the ones generated by the AI. If correct they were probably mine. I apologise for any mistakes made by my AI - I'm sure it will improve with time.

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@Fixx That was one of the things I said I knew I could do but even that has its problems.
For instance, if you want to change the 'cropping shape' - I.e. move the crop - you have to mess around with constraints, otherwise the inner shape will be resized.
@carl123 How can I reset the selection box permanently?
Whenever I use it, it reverts back to 'normal' after I deselect the object and come back to it.

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Create a rectangle larger than your object place it on top your object so it fully covers it.

Select both objects in the layers panel and hit the Intersect button

To save time I am currently using an automated AI to reply to some posts on this forum. If any of "my" posts are wrong or appear to be total b*ll*cks they are the ones generated by the AI. If correct they were probably mine. I apologise for any mistakes made by my AI - I'm sure it will improve with time.

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Ah, that's pretty much the same as what I said "by adding a small non-rotated object to the rotated object" (I should have said that I was using the geometry tools) but another way round.

I've a feeling I've just got to wait and see what 1.7 has in store when it comes out. Thanks anyway.

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37 minutes ago, GarryP said:

For instance, if you want to change the 'cropping shape' - I.e. move the crop - you have to mess around with constraints, otherwise the inner shape will be resized.

No, if you select only the mask layer all adjustments affect just the mask rectangle. Inner (masked) shape just stays doggo.

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28 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Hmm, that's not what happens for me (see attached GIF).
Maybe I've got a weird set-up, or I'm just doing it wrong.

It looks as though you have ‘Lock Children’ toggled off.

Alfred spacer.png
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen)

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What I showed in my GIF was the default behaviour I get in AD.
This means that, if I want to crop an object in this way, I will need to:
A. Open the Constraints panel and change some settings, and;
B. Change the settings again if I want to, for example, crop from a different side, and therefore;
C. Understand the Constraints panel properly.
All of which is a lot more of a bother than just using the cropping tool the way I would like to.

I totally understand that 'something I just happen to want to do in certain circumstances might not be something the software can do'. It can't do everything that every user might want to do, that's just impossible, so I'm not saying it should work the way I want it to.
All I'm saying is that doing this with constraints isn't the most intuitive way to do it. If I want to crop something I would instinctively go to the cropping tool; I wouldn't expect to have to go to another panel and change various settings just to crop something.
However, if it's all that we've got then that's just fine, I can live with that.
All said and done, I think I will stick with the 'do a geometric operation' work-around until something changes.

Thanks to all for your help.

P.S. It would still be nice to have some idea what the improvements for the vector crop tool in 1.7 will be.

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@GarryP, did you miss what @αℓƒяє∂ said about "Lock Children" being toggled off? With the parent shape (not the mask) layer selected with the Move Tool, look in the Context Toolbar for this:

97563948_lockthosechildren!.jpg.7d61cea07b9b45ca93b1dbc56482d6a4.jpg

If it is not ticked, try ticking it & see what you get.

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Ah, now that I know where I'm supposed to be looking that makes sense.
Since I was looking at constraints - which deal with child objects and have locking functions - I assumed I was already in the right place.
Apologies for the misunderstanding Alfred.
Thanks R C-R.

P.S. May I suggest that the "Show Rotation Centre", "Hide Selection while Dragging" and "Lock Children" items on the context bar are separated from the others which are specific to the selected item? Having general/specific stuff mixed in together is confusing for me. (Maybe give their section a different background colour to show that they're different?)

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16 minutes ago, GarryP said:

P.S. May I suggest that the "Show Rotation Centre", "Hide Selection while Dragging" and "Lock Children" items on the context bar are separated from the others which are specific to the selected item? Having general/specific stuff mixed in together is confusing for me. (Maybe give their section a different background colour to show that they're different?)

Maybe I have misunderstood what you mean but the options on the Context toolbar for the Move Tool are always specific to the selected item.

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"Show Rotation Centre" only applies to the currently selected object but it is an App-wide option, by which I mean that, if you switch it on/off, that setting applies to all objects as you select them. You cannot say 'show the rotation centre for just this object when it is selected'. It's a "show for all when selected" rather than a "show for just this one when selected".

The same goes for " Hide Selection wh ile Dragging " and "Lock Children", in their own way. For instance, when you say "Lock Children", that function applies to all objects that have children, not just the one you checked the box on.

All of the other context bar functions only apply to the currently selected object. They make changes only to the currently selected object and their settings change when you select different objects.

Edit: Or, to put it another way: The three options I specifically mentioned are "Move Tool Options", while the rest are "Object-Specific Options".

Am I explaining this reasonably well?

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OK, I see what you mean, although technically I think they are document-session specific options rather than app-wide ones. (IOW, if you have more than one document open, each of them can have different options independently of the others, & none are saved with the document.)

Also, for what little it is worth, you can toggle on & off the rotation center in the Transform Studio panel by clicking on an anchor point.

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