Designer: How to Extend an Existing Curve & Close as a Shape

[Mark Oehlschlager]

I've read through the help files for Designer, but I can't find a way to use the Pen or Pencil tools to extend and existing curve, either to create a new open curve or to create a new closed shape. All that I'm able to accomplish is to draw a separate curve starting from the end point of the existing curve, and there's no way to create a closed shape.

Am I missing something?

Help appreciated.

[.: NICKY G. :.]

 

[Move Along People]

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[Mark Oehlschlager]

Just discovered answer to my question, and there is a difference between Designer 1.6 and Designer Beta 1.7.0.12.

In Designer 1.6, one clicks on the end node of an existing curve with the pen tool to extend the curve, and then clicks on the other end node to close the curve as a shape.

In Designer Beta 1.7.0.12, one selects the pen tool and then must toggle on the "Add New Curve to Selected Curves Object" button before drawing to extend the existing curve, or closing it as a new shape.

[gdenby]

2 minutes ago, Mark Oehlschlager said:

Just discovered answer to my question, and there is a difference between Designer 1.6 and Designer Beta 1.7.0.12.

In Designer 1.6, one clicks on the end node of an existing curve with the pen tool to extend the curve, and then clicks on the other end node to close the curve as a shape.

In Designer 1.7.0.12, one selects the pen tool and then must toggle on the "Add New Curve to Selected Curves Object" button before drawing to extend the existing curve, or closing it as a new shape.

Yes. Good work.

[.: NICKY G. :.]

1 hour ago, Mark Oehlschlager said:

Ho appena scoperto la risposta alla mia domanda e c'è una differenza tra Designer 1.6 e Designer Beta 1.7.0.12.

In Designer 1.6, si fa clic sul nodo finale di una curva esistente con lo strumento penna per estendere la curva, quindi si fa clic sull'altro nodo finale per chiudere la curva come forma.

In Designer Beta 1.7.0.12, si seleziona lo strumento penna e quindi si deve attivare il pulsante "Aggiungi nuova curva al oggetto selezionato di curve" prima di disegnare per estendere la curva esistente o chiuderla come una nuova forma.

you can make a video I don't understand how it works

[Mark Oehlschlager]

@.: NICKY G. :.

This video illustrates how to extend and close an existing curve in Designer 1.6.1:

 

[Mark Oehlschlager]

@.: NICKY G. :.

This video illustrates how to extend and close an existing curve in Designer Beta 1.7.0.12:

[R C-R]

12 hours ago, Mark Oehlschlager said:

In Designer Beta 1.7.0.12, one selects the pen tool and then must toggle on the "Add New Curve to Selected Curves Object" button before drawing to extend the existing curve, or closing it as a new shape.

There are several ways to extend & close open curves; however, in the beta the "Add New Curve to Selected Curves Object" button is in general not one of them. From the Mac beta Pen Tool help topic (emphasis added):

Quote

 Add new curve to selected curves object

Used in conjunction with any one of the other modes, it creates additional curves on the same layer as the initial curve.

So while it may seem like you are extending the curve, instead you will be adding another unconnected curve to the same layer. You can verify this by selecting the layer with the Node Tool & counting the red end node markers -- if there is more than one, the layer has as many unconnected curves as there are red ones. You can also check the Status Bar at the bottom of the workspace window: as in your second video at around the 0:10 point, it says "Click or Drag to create starting point of new curve." Yet another indication that they are unconnected curves is to note how they fill -- if it was just one curve it would fill along a straight line between its 2 open end nodes, not (as around the 0:18 mark in your video) along a straight line to the first node of the new curve.

So, to extend an open curve in the beta, first make sure either its start or end node is selected with the Node Tool, then switch to the Pen Tool to add a new node extending from that selected node. To make that easier to do, you can use the CMD key shortcut to temporarily toggle the Pen Tool to the Node Tool.

In either the retail or beta version, the Close Curve action button on the Context toolbar is available whenever a curve is selected with either the Pen or Node tool, or you can click on the start node to close it.

[Mark Oehlschlager]

 

@.: NICKY G. :.

Okay. Thanks, @R C-R . See the video illustration below. Is this the correct way to extend and close existing curves in Designer Beta 1.7.0.12?

[.: NICKY G. :.]

9 minutes ago, Mark Oehlschlager said:

 

@.: NICKY G. :.

Okay. Thanks, @R C-R . See the video illustration below. Is this the correct way to extend and close existing curves in Designer Beta 1.7.0.12?

Designer_Beta_1.7.0.12.mov

ok thanks

could you explain this new tool to me instead what is it used and how is it used ??

 

[Mark Oehlschlager]

@.: NICKY G. :.

I haven't got a clue what that button does, and I can't find any reference to it in the help files.

Perhaps another forum member can chime in with an answer.

[.: NICKY G. :.]

19 minutes ago, Mark Oehlschlager said:

@.: NICKY G. :.

I haven't got a clue what that button does, and I can't find any reference to it in the help files.

Perhaps another forum member can chime in with an answer.

in practice, if I draw something with the pen and close the path, when I start drawing a new shape, the previous form remains selected with the visible nodes

[R C-R]

3 hours ago, Mark Oehlschlager said:

Is this the correct way to extend and close existing curves in Designer Beta 1.7.0.12?

Yes, that is one way to ensure that you have just one curve on the layer.

3 hours ago, .: NICKY G. :. said:

could you explain this new tool to me instead what is it used and how is it used ??

Also from the Mac beta Pen Tool help topic:

 Preserve selection when creating new curves

Used in conjunction with any one of the other modes, it keeps the previously drawn curve(s) selected so that their nodes and geometry can be more easily snapped to as you draw.

[Mark Oehlschlager]

@R C-R

I've got Designer 1.7.0.12 running on Mac OS X High Sierra, but nowhere in the online help files do I find any mention of "Preserve Selection when Creating New Curves".

Moreover, the passage you quoted above does not go far enough to explain to the user how to use the feature. I get various and unpredictable results no matter which way the button is toggled.

Hopefully this will all be made clear in the final edition of the help files.

[R C-R]

5 hours ago, Mark Oehlschlager said:

I've got Designer 1.7.0.12 running on Mac OS X High Sierra, but nowhere in the online help files do I find any mention of "Preserve Selection when Creating New Curves".

I don't know what help files are available online for Designer 1.7.0.12, but you should be able to find the Pen Tool help topic in the built-in help if you search for it from the Help Menu > Affinity Designer Beta Help window, like this:

  

After clicking on Search for "Pen Tool" you should get a thin progress bar below the buttons & search box. After a short delay, the second screen above should appear, with the updated Pen Tool help topic as the first result.

[R C-R]

6 hours ago, Mark Oehlschlager said:

Moreover, the passage you quoted above does not go far enough to explain to the user how to use the feature. I get various and unpredictable results no matter which way the button is toggled.

Try this: Select one or more curves with the Move Tool or Node Tool, & then switch to the Pen Tool & draw a new curve. With the button enabled, the previously selected curves will remain selected afterwards; without it enabled, they will be deselected.