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Precise and accurate selections cannot be made with Apple Pencil in crowded area


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Currently when some selectable points or curve segments (things) are close together but not overlapping, a precise and accurate tap and drag of a desirable thing with the Apple Pencil would often result in the tapping and dragging of another thing close to the desirable one instead.

For example, when using the node tool on a curve made with the pen tool, and I want to tap and drag a node or curve segment, I often end up selecting a bezier handle instead, so I find myself very often having to undo and zoom in a lot to select and drag the thing I want and zoom back out afterwards. This really limits the productivity when using this software.

If this aspect could be improved, it would be much appreciated as I can then achieve more in less time and with less frustration.

I am using Affinity Designer version 1.6.4.45 on a 3rd generation 12.9 inch iPad Pro running iOS 12.1.4 with an Apple Pencil 2.

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Hi @GabrielM,

Any file with nodes, bezier handles and curve segments somewhat close together is affected by this issue.

Zooming in and out is currently the only workaround for this issue, and it will cause repetitive strain injury if performed too often not to mention the reduced productivity associated with the issue. With a fine pointed tool like the Apple Pencil, I am expecting precise and accurate selection would be possible.

Please increase the "resolution" or precision and accuracy of selections made with Apple Pencil if possible.

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Put on your foil hats, i have a theory!!!!

I have a similar issue with the Apple Pencil when using the pen tool when tapping out really tight points. I made a thread about it, linked below. It appears to be a quirk with the way the app recognizes inputs from the apple pencil. 

My theory is the apple pencil isn't set precisely enough and taps from the pencil are acting like a fat finger input with a radius around the point where the apple pencil input is recorded, Affinity then treats the apple pencil tap like a finger input and estimates what it should do based on where it thinks a finger should have tapped based on that radius instead of the exact point where the pencil actually tapped.  This appears to be why I'm having a pen issue, and could also be causing the selection tool issue too.

Per my link below, it's possible to see the weirdness im talking about. Drawing tight points with the pen tool, you can't put nodes close together, instead the selection radius grabs the adjacent node within a set boundry around my pencil tap instead of plotting a new point. Same thing is probably happening with the selector tool, the selection might be estimated instead of precise, even though the apple pencil is accurate enough to not need need that selection radius... 

It's just a throught, it only appears to affect tap input from the pencil (selecting, tapping out a point, selecting a single node, etc) and not actual pencil drawing input, which is very accurate. It may just be the pencil settings are emulating a finger tap. 

OK, crazy time is over now. Time to get back to antivaxxing, fake moon landings and chemtrails! hahahhahahha!

 

 

Art director by day, illustrator by night: Check Out My Shutterstock Gallery

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14 hours ago, TonyO said:

Put on your foil hats, i have a theory!!!!

I have a similar issue with the Apple Pencil when using the pen tool when tapping out really tight points. I made a thread about it, linked below. It appears to be a quirk with the way the app recognizes inputs from the apple pencil. 

My theory is the apple pencil isn't set precisely enough and taps from the pencil are acting like a fat finger input with a radius around the point where the apple pencil input is recorded, Affinity then treats the apple pencil tap like a finger input and estimates what it should do based on where it thinks a finger should have tapped based on that radius instead of the exact point where the pencil actually tapped.  This appears to be why I'm having a pen issue, and could also be causing the selection tool issue too.

Per my link below, it's possible to see the weirdness im talking about. Drawing tight points with the pen tool, you can't put nodes close together, instead the selection radius grabs the adjacent node within a set boundry around my pencil tap instead of plotting a new point. Same thing is probably happening with the selector tool, the selection might be estimated instead of precise, even though the apple pencil is accurate enough to not need need that selection radius... 

It's just a throught, it only appears to affect tap input from the pencil (selecting, tapping out a point, selecting a single node, etc) and not actual pencil drawing input, which is very accurate. It may just be the pencil settings are emulating a finger tap. 

OK, crazy time is over now. Time to get back to antivaxxing, fake moon landings and chemtrails! hahahhahahha!

 

 

Kept getting frustrated when doing some pixel drawings with my Apple pencil on my iPad pro (same as the one up top) in Designer. Really often the pixel above where I was touching the screen is where the colour went and I was constantly undoing and colouring in anew. I'm zoomed in real tight on the screen, perhaps that's a thing?

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  • 2 months later...

The precision overall is tighter, really nice for the pen tool, but I’m noticing the node tool is now too precise, I’ve been drawing for an hour now and I’ve never missed grabbing so many nodes and handles in a single session. Anyone else notice this?

 

Art director by day, illustrator by night: Check Out My Shutterstock Gallery

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  • 8 months later...
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