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Hello, dear developers.

First of all - I like your program, it is more comfortable than illustrator or Corel draw.

But thing is - Designer doesn't have the required functionality to normally offset and expand strokes, while illustrator and Corel draw do.

I wanted to design a logo with "luminescence" effect - like soft glow - by outlining, offsetting and expanding strokes.

With illustrator I could do it, while in Affinity Designer I can't.

I tried "outline" effects, but then I discovered that I just can't expand it. I probably could create something "resembling" to desirable effect, but that is not the solution.

I didn't`t notice this instruments in 1.7 either.

So please - add this functionality to 1.7 or 1.8 update - while it`s a small detail, but for some projects its crucial.

And I`m not the only one asking about this - there are some related topics on this forum asking about the same.

 

Aaaaaand - do something with your "expanding stroke" - it`s horrible! Although a bit better in 1.7 update, but still not appropriate! 

Many programs (illustrator, Inkscape, Corel Draw, even Sketch!) can do this much better!

 

I`m using Affinity Designer 1.6.5 on Mac OS Mojave (also used on Sierra).

 

Thanks for your work and cannot wait to see this functionality in update ;)

how it should be expanded.png

do something with expanding!.png

where is expand?.png

outline is present, but only non-destructive.png

desirable logo(made with other program).png

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey there Linosia,

not sure I fully understand your problem… if you are talking about the menu/path/offset path command in Ai then there exists such a command also in Ad and in all honesty, the operation in Ad is pretty slick. I hope this will help you.

All you need to do is give your object a stroke and then use the command menu/layer/expand stroke.

Choose what sort of offset path you need, the width of your offset path will be determined by the stroke weight you choose. Here it is 20 pt.

Grey box with red stroke as you can see below:

Align stroke to inside 

385616489_Screenshot2019-01-19at18_50_48.thumb.png.dbda61c3ca318b13b011a062f3a88a82.png

Align stroke to the center: 

672574748_Screenshot2019-01-19at18_49_29.thumb.png.0a5510990dec07d2c958fc79a593676d.png

Align stroke to outside:

547764542_Screenshot2019-01-19at18_52_34.thumb.png.ce61ab1474792dbdf5da2a07b26a924a.png

 

Expand stroke in the Layer menu:

56124977_Screenshot2019-01-19at18_04_17.thumb.png.44b40ce53263efd18e33d668725da2a5.png

This is the result of the three examples above, offset path separated from the grey box for demonstration purpose. Now the the red frames are no longer strokes but objects.

1862322444_Screenshot2019-01-19at18_39_42.thumb.png.b83d21897aa49dfe6bebdda85f6cf2d7.png

Here in split view:

1485700488_Screenshot2019-01-19at18_39_56.thumb.png.f67716d6a5c20ded6d8ea5274ca0c9c6.png

 

The really interesting part about this implementation is that you can combine all of the stroke styles available for creating offset paths.

As you can see,  the stroke in this example is a dashed line:

1626341143_Screenshot2019-01-19at18_36_34.thumb.png.c21889e7ca5fb49f0d195ab0d47d4215.png

Expand stroke…

56124977_Screenshot2019-01-19at18_04_17.thumb.png.44b40ce53263efd18e33d668725da2a5.png

Voila! Again, objects separated for demonstration purpose.

1500691512_Screenshot2019-01-19at18_38_40.thumb.png.c7f7dee50f3552a1c3cce72ccbc4a828.png

 

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Well, its kinda helpful, thanks!

But no, this is not what I want. I want to firstly "offset" and then add "thickness" to the stroke.

By your method - its just outlining like the "outline" in the "effects" panel.

Screen Shot 2019-01-19 at 22.15.28.png

Aaaaaand "Expand stroke" is still horrible on complex things!

Screen Shot 2019-01-19 at 22.15.39.png

What im looking for - is that from single text I could easily create "glowing" outlines without much "manual" work.

Screen Shot 2019-01-19 at 22.19.41.png

Screen Shot 2019-01-19 at 22.18.46.png

By the way - the options inside/outside stroke is not working on such complex curves! On rectangle - yes, it`s working.

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Hello linosia,

You can type the text, outline it, then alternately add as many "Outline" fx (white, blue in your example). After each addition of fx, right-click on the text and choose "Group" (before adding the next one). Adjust the thickness of each contour as they are added to obtain the desired effect. 
It takes a little work, but it may be a solution to your problem.

EDIT:

By selecting the layer at the bottom of the pile (marked luminescence in this case), the text can still be modified.

Contours multiples.jpg

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Quote

as many "Outline" fx 

I tried already this effect, but again - NO

I need editable outlines afterwards - mostly for possibility of working (or just exporting) with other programs (such as illustrator).

If it was only for affinity - yes, that would work, but again - it`s only a cheat, NOT the desirable solution.

 

Aaaand - I need to control precisely in pt how much thickness stroke has. No just to guess from radius of outline FX

 

But again - thanks for your help ;)

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  • 2 years later...

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