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On 5/7/2019 at 2:55 PM, pixelinkmedia said:

Or, make it so we can have multiple outline effects

Try multiple Groups with fx Outline effect.

The advantage of this procedure is that the text remains editable.

Edited by Pšenda

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…actually Ad has a much easier contour function than Ai does. No work around needed.

Here it goes, I hope this helps…

Step 1, take any object and apply a stroke to it. In this case the stroke is red, weight is 7,5 pt. You can use all attributes you would usually do when it comes to strokes, in this case round corners and stroke aligned to the outside of the object. Color panel shows a blue fill and a red stroke color.

350049711_ScreenShot2019-05-08at23_39_08.thumb.png.eb0250bfe89d2a4dd27d119f3a51a997.png

Here in split view you can see that the stroke is indeed a stroke and not an object (yet).

798813663_ScreenShot2019-05-08at23_40_45.thumb.png.a1e43159ccf24b9a557b4f55e4364374.png

Step 2, convert object to curves in Layers menu.

1203345491_ScreenShot2019-05-08at23_40_52.thumb.png.279448cad3dc3253c889d31bfb889bc8.png

Step 3, without deselecting the object, choose Expand Stroke again from the Layers menu.

1162422667_ScreenShot2019-05-08at23_41_15.thumb.png.1be9d12a99bed47a3ea3bec026f8d3bd.png

Now the stroke has become an object as is clearly visible in split view. Also, the color panel no longer displays a stroke color.

2035971918_ScreenShot2019-05-08at23_41_24.thumb.png.50d997c01e7d81d9645a4da8682a4ee4.png

Step 4, now I can apply another stroke to the new (red) object, this time an orange color, weight is 8 pt.

51617131_ScreenShot2019-05-08at23_42_43.thumb.png.b4726a9fcc0d4f09dcc497662c6b475c.png

…and Expand Stroke again.

1650933333_ScreenShot2019-05-08at23_42_53.thumb.png.fa1ec489ec5ee521aecbed10e873ccde.png

Here you can see that the orange stroke has become an object, too. Again, the color panel does not indicate a stroke color anymore.

477556636_ScreenShot2019-05-08at23_43_02.thumb.png.3c5555537c2e723f1917dbe047203766.png

This is the result.

1720429657_ScreenShot2019-05-08at23_43_56.thumb.png.38476373687be791b630ae4a678c82e6.png

And these are the single parts dissected.

932185469_ScreenShot2019-05-08at23_44_39.thumb.png.9f3c20bec5fb1852b2f21068ad60a6ec.png

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  • 1 month later...

Affinity needs way too many steps for this function. I like the CorelDraw version. You can tell the function how many steps, how far apart and either inwards or outwards, all in one step. Okay you can't get the funky dotted line this way but if you need it you can follow basically the same steps as AD. And text remains editable and contours update as you edit text.

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3 hours ago, AndreZA said:

And text remains editable and contours update as you edit text.

No problem:

 

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Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.4317.
Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.4317.
Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.

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  • 11 months later...

Wanting to bring this feature back to light.  Contour function is crucial to my daily workflow, and the workflow of most sign & graphics shops I would imagine.  tschotsch's work around is good on a visual level but when it comes to actually cutting / layering physical vinyl, it doesn't work.  The work around also only seems to allow to the outside, as far as I can see, while the contour/offset can go both inside and outside and then be broken apart giving you separate filled objects while leaving the text editable.

A quick video attached demonstrating desired contour tool.

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57 minutes ago, MEB said:

Hi specialtydd,
Welcome to Affinity Forums :)
This is already being worked. Check this post/thread for more info. It will support both inside/outside contours.

Thanks and thanks!  No eta though, eh?  Could be a month, could be 2 years type of thing?

I'm looking forward to making the switch over to Affinity Designer as there are some definite benefits but the contour tool is a staple of my daily usage so I'll have to wait it out.   Thanks for your quick response!

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8 hours ago, specialtydd said:

Could be a month

Given that it is not included in the existing beta versions of 1.8.x, I would definitely not expect an earlier introduction of this function than in version 1.9.

Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.5.5.2636 (Retail)
Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.4317.
Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 23H2, Build 22631.4317.
Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.

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22 hours ago, specialtydd said:

Thanks and thanks!  No eta though, eh?  Could be a month, could be 2 years type of thing?

I'm looking forward to making the switch over to Affinity Designer as there are some definite benefits but the contour tool is a staple of my daily usage so I'll have to wait it out.   Thanks for your quick response!

You might be lucky, @specialtydd for two reasons!

  1. I saw a short preview of a developer playing with outline functionality on Twitter. No one knows if it was proof of concept code or a late alpha, but maybe Serif will put it in Designer 1.9 due to be released in late 2020. Maybe.
  2.  When Designer hits the customer beta stage (you need to own Designer to install it) you can play around with the beta and I suggest you do. Then you can provide Serif with feedback before they release it - if they missed something or something works counter-intuitive. 
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10 hours ago, Jowday said:

You might be lucky, @specialtydd for two reasons!

  1. I saw a short preview of a developer playing with outline functionality on Twitter. No one knows if it was proof of concept code or a late alpha, but maybe Serif will put it in Designer 1.9 due to be released in late 2020. Maybe.
  2.  When Designer hits the customer beta stage (you need to own Designer to install it) you can play around with the beta and I suggest you do. Then you can provide Serif with feedback before they release it - if they missed something or something works counter-intuitive. 

That's exciting, I do own designer and have been messing around with it most mornings before I head into my shop.  There are a lot of excellent features but I've also run into a couple of quirky issues.  I'm definitely going to keep my eye on it though.  Once it has all of the tools that I use on a daily basis and the stability is there, I could see me switching to this as my main graphic software for sure.

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18 hours ago, specialtydd said:

That's exciting, I do own designer and have been messing around with it most mornings before I head into my shop.  There are a lot of excellent features but I've also run into a couple of quirky issues.  I'm definitely going to keep my eye on it though.  Once it has all of the tools that I use on a daily basis and the stability is there, I could see me switching to this as my main graphic software for sure.

 

The marketing says that it has all the tools you need and will always get your job done. I saw it on the Web - it must be true!

 

image.png.aaa2a99e289f3735332d6d816ed82f71.png

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On 6/4/2020 at 1:41 PM, specialtydd said:

Wanting to bring this feature back to light.  Contour function is crucial to my daily workflow, and the workflow of most sign & graphics shops I would imagine.  tschotsch's work around is good on a visual level but when it comes to actually cutting / layering physical vinyl, it doesn't work.  The work around also only seems to allow to the outside, as far as I can see, while the contour/offset can go both inside and outside and then be broken apart giving you separate filled objects while leaving the text editable.

A quick video attached demonstrating desired contour tool.

Actually AD has much more contour/stroke functions when you use the appearance panel. CD does a slick job and has its advantages but so does AD. I would suggest you search for "Multiple Strokes" in the Help menu located in the menu bar (Mac), not sure where to find it on windows. See the screen shot below. Cheers!

image.thumb.png.b89ace19a417f54daaa965593486c0eb.png

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3 minutes ago, tschotsch said:

Actually AD has much more contour/stroke functions when you use the appearance panel. CD does a slick job and has its advantages but so does AD. I would suggest you search for "Multiple Strokes" in the Help menu located in the menu bar (Mac), not sure where to find it on windows. See the screen shot below. Cheers!

image.thumb.png.b89ace19a417f54daaa965593486c0eb.png

Yeah, and as mentioned, that's great as a purely visual workaround but as soon as you bring those into vinyl cutting software it turns into a giant mess.  The contour tool creates separate objects, not strokes.  I appreciate the "how to" though, I'll use it for now for anything I don't have to run through my cutter.

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  • 2 weeks later...

For anyone needing the contour function for similar purposes to mine (vinyl cutting).  There is a workaround to get similar results, It's quite a few steps so I made a video.  I accidentally expanded stroke twice on the blue stroke, the second time was not necessary and didn't actually do anything, just a whoops!

 

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