Open curves

[Petar Petrenko]

Hi,

when clicking on any color while an open curve is selected, it is filled with that color as it is closed one. Is there an option not to fill open curves? Maybe this feature should be added on "Pen" and "Pencil" context toolbars?

[toltec]

3 minutes ago, Petar Petrenko said:

Hi,

when clicking on any color while an open curve is selected, it is filled with that color as it is closed one. Is there an option not to fill open curves? Maybe this feature should be added on "Pen" and "Pencil" context toolbars?

You mean like Use Fill on the Context Toolbar  ?

[Petar Petrenko]

3 minutes ago, toltec said:

You mean like Use Fill on the Context Toolbar  ?

This is a toggle between fill and no fill. I am asking for a feature like some other apps have in preferences -> "do not fill open curves".

[toltec]

4 minutes ago, Petar Petrenko said:

This is a toggle between fill and no fill. I am asking for a feature like some other apps have in preferences -> "do not fill open curves".

It is a 'sticky' setting, so if you set it off, it will stay off.

Is that not good enough ?

[Petar Petrenko]

1 minute ago, toltec said:

It is a 'sticky' setting, so if you set it off, it will stay off.

Is that not good enough ?

And then if you can color it again...

[Gear maker]

toltec, the No fill will stop shapes from being automatically filled, open or closed.  I believe the idea is if it's closed fill it and if it's not closed don't fill it.  This would be handy so that we can tell if the shape is closed or not from the way it acts.

[Petar Petrenko]

There should be "do not fill open curves" in preferences.

[toltec]

5 minutes ago, Gear maker said:

toltec, the No fill will stop shapes from being automatically filled, open or closed.  I believe the idea is if it's closed fill it and if it's not closed don't fill it.  This would be handy so that we can tell if the shape is closed or not from the way it acts.

Ah yes, now I get it. Actually, that would be useful.

Maybe there should be a "do not fill open curves" option in preferences. 

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, toltec said:

Maybe there should be a "do not fill open curves" option in preferences. 

That is what the "Use Fill" checkbox in the context menubar is for -- uncheck it if you don't want open curves to use the current fill color. It is "sticky," so you don't have to keep resetting it each time you create a new open shape. If you want to 'unfill' any already created shapes, open or closed, select them & set their fill property to "None." 

The behavior of applying a fill color to open shapes by filling in along a straight line between the two open end nodes is consistent with SVG standards -- fills are always applied to the area defined by the area the path of the curve encloses, whether it is opened or closed. When the curve is complex, the fill rule ("Fill Mode" in Affinity-speak) determines what is inside the path & what is not.

[toltec]

3 hours ago, R C-R said:

That is what the "Use Fill" checkbox in the context menubar is for -- uncheck it if you don't want open curves to use the current fill color. It is "sticky," so you don't have to keep resetting it each time you create a new open shape. If you want to 'unfill' any already created shapes, open or closed, select them & set their fill property to "None." 

Not sure what you are saying here R C-R ?

You seem to be repeating exactly what I said in the 2nd and 4th posts 

What we have since established is that it would be useful to have an option to not fill open paths but only fill closed paths. That could be used to detect whether the path is actually fully closed or not. As Petar first suggested and as Gear maker clarified.

 

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, toltec said:

What we have since established is that it would be useful to have an option to not fill open paths but only fill closed paths.

So how would this option work? Would it be something that could be applied simultaneously to all layers, including existing ones that were open paths created with a fill? If not, how would it differ from the functionality already available in the "Use Fill" checkbox?

3 hours ago, toltec said:

That could be used to detect whether the path is actually fully closed or not.

How so? A document could & often does have closed paths that have no fill. If this option can be applied to all layers, how would it help show which of the paths with no fill are open ones & which are closed ones?

I have previously suggested there should be some way to tell open paths from close ones, like with a special icon or indicator of some sort in the Layers panel for open paths, or with a different node shape or color for the node that closes a path. This seems like a much simpler, 'always on' & non-destructive way to tell if paths are open or closed, & it avoids any complications with SVG standards.

[Petar Petrenko]

1 minute ago, R C-R said:

So how would this option work? Would it be something that could be applied simultaneously to all layers, including existing ones that were open paths created with a fill? If not, how would it differ from the functionality already available in the "Use Fill" checkbox?

How so? A document could & often does have closed paths that have no fill. If this option can be applied to all layers, how would it help show which of the paths with no fill are open ones & which are closed ones?

I have previously suggested there should be some way to tell open paths from close ones, like with a special icon or indicator of some sort in the Layers panel for open paths, or with a different node shape or color for the node that closes a path. This seems like a much simpler, 'always on' & non-destructive way to tell if paths are open or closed, & it avoids any complications with SVG standards.

As an option in Preferences -> "do not fill open paths".

[Move Along People]

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[R C-R]

10 minutes ago, Petar Petrenko said:

As an option in Preferences -> "do not fill open paths".

Since it is often very useful to fill some open paths, it seems to me it would be an annoying, time consuming extra step to have to open preferences to change that setting, vs. just toggling the "Use Fill" checkbox:

filled open paths example.afdesign

[Move Along People]

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[Petar Petrenko]

14 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Since it is often very useful to fill some open paths, it seems to me it would be an annoying, time consuming extra step to have to open preferences to change that setting, vs. just toggling the "Use Fill" checkbox:

filled open paths example.afdesign

R C-R, please read the @haakoo comment just above yours.

[toltec]

37 minutes ago, R C-R said:

How so? A document could & often does have closed paths that have no fill. If this option can be applied to all layers, how would it help show which of the paths with no fill are open ones & which are closed ones?

Take the example of the two paths below, one is closed one isn't. How can you tell ?

If Use Fill is on, both paths are filled so Use Fill does not help identify which path is closed or open? You still can't tell.

If Petar's suggestion was implemented and it only filled closed paths, you would get this

Now you can tell.

Note. I do agree that an Open/Closed path icon or indicator would be better. Or certainly easier.

[firstdefence]

I have to say I'm just not getting the usefulness of a preference setting for what is probably a per document setting, having a job lot option would seem illogical and certainly inflexible. If the purpose is to highlight open curves why not just have a toggle switch that does just that in the layer panel. Another option would be fill all open curves and fill selected open curves.

[firstdefence]

Yet another option would be to have right click context menu's that have features for open curves and closed curves, maybe a lock fill in the layers panel would be a good option so you don't accidentally fill a curve you don't want too.

[Move Along People]

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[R C-R]

3 minutes ago, haakoo said:

You can do this simply by duplicating the open curves and add them to each other to create one shape.

Unless I have misunderstood what you mean, not only is that extra work, it needlessly complicates an otherwise easy to achieve & edit effect.

For example, in the file I attached to my previous post, duplicating the shirt sleeves & adding them creates a "(Curves)" object consisting of 2 closed curves. To avoid the unwanted stroke segments at the top from showing, I have to set that "(Curves)" object to use no stroke & place it below the pair of open curves, set to have a stroke but no fill. If I later want to change the sleeve shape or rotate it a bit along the shoulder or whatever, I have to do that separately for the open curve & part of the "(Curves)" object, which for the rotation means I have to divide it back into two independent curves.

[Move Along People]

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[Petar Petrenko]

12 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Unless I have misunderstood what you mean, not only is that extra work, it needlessly complicates an otherwise easy to achieve & edit effect.

For example, in the file I attached to my previous post, duplicating the shirt sleeves & adding them creates a "(Curves)" object consisting of 2 closed curves. To avoid the unwanted stroke segments at the top from showing, I have to set that "(Curves)" object to use no stroke & place it below the pair of open curves, set to have a stroke but no fill. If I later want to change the sleeve shape or rotate it a bit along the shoulder or whatever, I have to do that separately for the open curve & part of the "(Curves)" object, which for the rotation means I have to divide it back into two independent curves.

If you want that option that you could uncheck "do not fill open paths" in "Preferences" if A-Team includes this feature.

[R C-R]

22 minutes ago, toltec said:

If Petar's suggestion was implemented and it only filled closed paths, you would get this

What if the shape on the right is a closed path with no fill?

 

24 minutes ago, firstdefence said:

If the purpose is to highlight open curves why not just have a toggle switch that does just that in the layer panel.

The often requested Find feature, if one of its options was to find & select either open or closed paths, would serve a similar function, & as a bonus would allow document-wide changes to the items that met the find criteria.

Separate from that, I would like for the nodes of a path to be color coded, with different colors for starting, ending, & closing nodes; or at least for the red end node to change to a regular blue one if it closes the path.

[R C-R]

16 minutes ago, haakoo said:

Not anymore,the transform option in the nodetool can select multiple objects 
See the history in your edited file

filled open paths example.afdesign

Unless I am missing something, there is no history in the file you attached (or in mine). I also am not quite sure what you mean by "not anymore." Are you maybe referring to something in the beta?

Regardless, I still find it much, much simpler just to use filled open curves for things like the sleeves of the shirt or the nose or ear of the face instead of some multi-layer workaround that also complicates what is otherwise a simple editing process.

I also most certainly do not want to have to open preferences to do what the "Use Fill" checkbox already does or concern myself with remembering if that app preference is set when I start a new document, or anything like that. To me, the only thing that makes sense is to treat the fill attribute of any path as independent of whether it is opened or closed because like it or not, it actually is, just like the stroke attribute.