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I'm new and stuck on merging two shapes into one.


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image.thumb.png.6e19d618d7def175aebb44afccb3c995.png

So, I am brand new to Affinity and I want to have the pointed outlines sunrays merge with the curved sunrays as if the curved rays are behind the others. I can't figure out how to merge them. The tools add, subtract, intersect, divide, etc. don't work. The circle shape within is actually covering the sunrays and can be moved if I can find a way to merge the other rays. Any help would be great. Thank you.

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Hi LisaG,

Welcome to the forums :)

Could you please upload a copy of your file so I can use it for reference in offering a solution? Many thanks in advance!

Please Note: I am now out of the office until Tuesday 2nd April on annual leave.

If you require urgent assistance, please create a new thread and a member of our team will be sure to assist asap.

Many thanks :)

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is this the result you wanted?

lovethesunyourein.thumb.png.e45cf715667349f2953f101ba20b4669.png

 

i removed the mask from  the lower shapes.

selected all the larger shapes an did a boolean add, than selected all the smaler shapes and added them.

 

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Thank you! I don't know what you mean by removing the masks as you did.

I selected the shapes and clicked the add you see highlighted at the top. Then I tried to add the curved shapes and the first set disappeared. Is this what you meant? So sorry. I appreciate your help.

image.thumb.png.8c33cdc3cbaf49dbc48d5d28f1e84150.png

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Hi, LisaG,

Let me offer a few observations that may help you figure out how to structure the vectors.

Here is a poor analogy. Think of the vector shapes as cut out pieces of transparent plastic. Once they are made, they can have a color called a fill added, and the edges can be tinted a different color called a stroke.

In your file, you have many flame shapes that have a stroke, but no fill. Those are stacked one on another, and it is impossible to see which shape is on top of another, because there is no fill. If you went thru each of those, and added a fill, you would see the shapes on upper layers hide those below. This would create the overlap you want, assuming the layers were stacked correctly.

The add command tells the pieces, which are just areas, to form a perimeter. But there is a rule. The bottom most layer's fill and stroke attributes a given to all the added parts. 

So what needs to be done is to add together only those elements that will take a layer position that overlaps others. In the file, it makes sense to add the center circle and the pointier flame shapes. Then the more curvy ones can be added, and placed underneath. 

The outer ring, which is a group of pixels (why pixels), don't happen to intersect the other shapes, so at the moment, they can be wherever in the layer hierarchy. Ideally they would be at the bottom, so if their shape/size was changed, the upper layers would still appear on top.

Also, why do some of the vector shapes have masks? As far as I can tell, sometimes when the flame petals are added together, the mask ends up hiding the new outlines. 

Note, if the outer pixel group was made of vectors, the fx you have applied to the pixels could also be applied to the vectors. Also, the fill color could be changed easier. In my experience, it is often easier to change vector shapes that to change pixels. The vectors only need the nodes to be moved or adjusted, while pixels require painting and erasing.

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@LisaG 

2 hours ago, LisaG said:

I don't know what you mean by removing the masks as you did.

see image below
Screen-Shot-2019-03-17-at-18-06-47.png

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Gdenby,

Thank you. I think I get what you are trying to say. First, I have no idea why the outer shapes are pixels. I started with curves I believe and finally got the shape I wanted as you see in the hand drawn picture below left. I get that the circle has to be added to the pointed shapes and then the others added as a lower layer so as to appear behind. I will keep trying to make it work by adding color.

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