The AD migraine.

[smokie1019]

I genuinely wanted to love this program, and I'd been working at it vigorously to try to get it to bend to what I needed.

I give up. 

It's impossible to select the stroke I want to alter, it selects every line but THAT one, when I export to pdf, I have to open the pdf and fuss and cajole and pamper each line to get as near as my intention as possible. An hour drawing takes a finicky three hours to correct.

I end up with ground teeth and a vicious migraine every time I try again with this app.

 

It's just not good for what I need. 

It's a shame, because it had all I wanted. 

 

 

[00Ghz]

Could you make a video showing the issue? 

 

Devs will appreciate it. :)

[retrograde]

It certainly sounds like a frustrating scenario but without a screenshot or short video or file it's hard to imagine what that scenario is... any chance of a visual?

 

... you're trying to select a stroke to alter but can't then you export and open up as a pdf to make adjustments...?

[MattP]

Hi smokie1019,

 

We obviously, desperately want to get things right - so if you can show is what doesn't work then it's nearly always fixable - and often very easily! Anything you can do to show us a specific problem will get read by the person who knows how to fix it, so it's certainly worth a stab, isn't it? :)

 

Thanks,

Matt

[smokie1019]

In a previous thread, my only other topic, I demonstrated that the pdf export doesn't contain the tapered strokes of brushes, and a think line in some places.

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/6811-ive-failed-the-pdf-export/&p=29267

 

 

To correct this, I would select the whole graphic, then select the 'brush defaults"of the controller, and export as a pdf. Due to this action, I lost a lot of varied strokes that lend themselves to making the art more interesting.

 

In trying to keep the varied strokes, I redrew the figures again. Another beta had come out since the last time, and I was hopeful to be able to keep my original artistic intention. 

No.

I had to select "Brush Defaults" again, and thought, well, I guess I can open the pdf in an editable format and rid the drawings of some artifacts that show up on the artwork. The artifacts are brush strokes that suddenly flare out, or blob, resembling an ink blot on the drawing.

 

for me to select and correct the ink blots, I have to select- no- wrong line, send it to the back, select, send to back, again and again in hopes of finally selecting the artifact I need to correct.

 

I just spend three hours correcting a drawing, I really don't feel like messing the drawing up again and making a video of my throwing a wacom across the room in frustration of having to do the whole thing allover again.

 

 

It's just not fiscally possible for me to use this for the work I had intended.

[MattP]

Your lines should be exporting to PDF correctly in the current beta. If they aren't then there is a bug. If you are able to provide us with a file showing the bug to support@seriflabs.com then we can fix it. I thought it was working now though? :)

[smokie1019]

Okie doke. I'll send the previous file that I redrew to change the line thickness.

I thought it was working, too, but with altering the lines to "brush default", it exports lines of a uniform thickness.

 

The format and size I wish to export is an 8x6" 300dpi pdf. When the lines are uniform at that size, it loses some of the dynamic of motion that the thicker imply.

 

I was careful to ise "brush default" when I redrew it, but there was still the previous glitch when I exported. The export only sems to work when I select all the lines when the drawing is completed and the select "brush default".

[evtonic3]

I believe I can relate to smokie1019. I struggle with wanting to rally make this app my go-to but there is always going to something that will disappoint. My issues are not a specific task, for me its the trying to "get" the way this app works. Although I do believe its getting better and in the end it will be, but there are definitely little quirks that make me want to scream, or make want to say, really? You added this cool stuff but missed the finest simplest little things we all need. I am not giving up yet.

[smokie1019]

I'm trying another work along the same comic book lines (I'm so totally burnt out on redrawing the first page three times, I want to give up comics altogether),

I'm going to put the memory usage way up, and see if that's the problem. I might have to buy more RAM to get it to work.

[A_B_C]

I'm so totally burnt out on redrawing the first page three times, I want to give up comics altogether …

 

Oh no, smokie1019, you should not even think about this … the drawings you were so kind to show us in your other thread are really really wonderful … not that this does help with your current issues …  :)

[smokie1019]

Thank you for the compliment- It's an old comic that I'm redrawing into vector. what I had was okay for paper print, but the digital comic shop makes it easier for customers; and more difficult for artists. When you can zoom in on each panel, you want the line to be as smooth as possible.

 

The solution that MattP mailed me fixed the problem, I set the document size to 1200 dpi instead of 300 dpi.

(I suspect my drawing style forced the app the shove ten pounds of information into a five pound sack.)

I can then resize the pdf in Preview to make the required 300dpi size.

I am definitely going to have to invest in more RAM, but I know I've needed to do that for quite a while.

 

I just exported to a PDF using many different aspects of pen, brush, pencil, gradient, shadow. and got the pdf looking like the original.

Thank you so much, Matt. This will make it easier for me to actually get into the swing of inking like I did with real life pen and ink.

[smokie1019]

As I was still having trouble with the beta, I drew the work in the store bought AD, then exported, but had the odd lines again.

 

I took the advice of Matt, drew it at 1200dpi. the AD crashed on export, tried the beta, it was the same.

 

I then made a copy, scaled it down to 300 dpi, and here we are.

 

This is why I bought AD, to get my buildings done quickly and easily.

 

 

I ran a RAM meter during the process, and I believe the major lack of RAM on my part is most of the problem.

Also, all those little lines add up, memory wise.

 

 

I'm very happy with the export result.

sh1-03icopy.pdf

[MattP]

Oh wow! That looks fantastic! :D  I'm sorry you're still having so many issues though... :(

[A_B_C]

Oh my dear, that looks great … incredible …  :o

[smokie1019]

Thank you.

 

Matt, a lot of it's on me, I can see the blips in RAM use as it's exporting. I honestly think the trouble in the PDF export is because of my computer is banging it's head against the wall for lack of short term memory.

The beta is for testing, that's why we all downloaded it.

I switched to the App Store AD because I was having troubles (and I strongly suspect that it's because I'm recreating old school inking.).. I've got other work, decor work for my home, I'm using the beta for.

 

The comic was set in an alternate universe pre-Katrina New Orleans. This is how old the original comic is.

For me, it's grand to be able to knock out a French Quarter building so quickly. You can imagine the bear it was to hand ink all that wrought iron railing in 1997.