Subtract shape working AND not working correctly

[klsmn]

Hello!

I looked for similar issues but found none that described my experience, so I'm starting a new thread. I'm having an issue where the subtract operation works for two specific layers but doesn't work after a small change is made. (Yes, fill mode is set to alternate)

I want to subtract a text on a path from a simple shape, see here:

Upon hitting subtract I am left with the expected result (correctly subtracted):

 

However, when I try the same with the text in German (which is what I am intending to do), I end up with something different. 

Same setup, only the text has changed:

result: 

 

There's just nothing left. It was driving me a mad because I thought I had made a mistake and simply couldn't figure out what was going wrong. Having isolated the issue so clearly I believe it must be a bug, right?

It's the same when I convert the text to shapes first, by the way.

 

Any insight would be most welcome, thanks!

klsmn

[Alfred]

Instead of subtracting, set the blend mode of the text layer to ‘Erase’. Group the text layer with the background curve if you want to limit the effect so that lower layers are not also partially erased.

[CLC]

9 minutes ago, Alfred said:

Instead of subtracting, set the blend mode of the text layer to ‘Erase’. Group the text layer with the background curve if you want to limit the effect so that lower layers are not also partially erased.

Nice workaround, however, what if he needs to actually cut the shape with a cutting plotter?

 

@klsmn Could you please upload the .afdesign file set in German (with text converted to curves)?
It might be a bit easier to find out what's wrong.
TIA

[klsmn]

2 hours ago, Alfred said:

Instead of subtracting, set the blend mode of the text layer to ‘Erase’. Group the text layer with the background curve if you want to limit the effect so that lower layers are not also partially erased.

Thanks for the help! That's actually how I did it at first. Problem is that the shape got rasterized upon export. I need a vector shape because that pink layer with the text cut out is meant to become part of a UV spot layer, which doesn't work with a rasterized bitmap.

 

2 hours ago, CLC said:

Nice workaround, however, what if he needs to actually cut the shape with a cutting plotter?

 

@klsmn Could you please upload the .afdesign file set in German (with text converted to curves)?
It might be a bit easier to find out what's wrong.
TIA

I attached the file with both English and German text converted to shapes. Thanks for taking the time to look into it!

 

klsmn

subtract.afdesign

[CLC]

11 hours ago, klsmn said:

Thanks for the help! That's actually how I did it at first. Problem is that the shape got rasterized upon export. I need a vector shape because that pink layer with the text cut out is meant to become part of a UV spot layer, which doesn't work with a rasterized bitmap.

 

I attached the file with both English and German text converted to shapes. Thanks for taking the time to look into it! 

 

klsmn

subtract.afdesign

So I figured out it's probably an issue with low quality font file as you can see in attached .gif animation.

Some letters contain abandoned nodes, namely lowercase a, c, d, e. When I removed those, adding and substracting the curves was a breeze.
I'd personally rather avoid this font.

Have a nice day.

 

Edit: A little workaround is as follows: after converting text to curves, just export the whole document as pdf/x-1a, then load it back to Designer and adding/substraction will work without a hunt for abandoned nodes. Not a perfect solution, but a time saver for sure.

[klsmn]

2 hours ago, CLC said:

So I figured out it's probably an issue with low quality font file as you can see in attached .gif animation.

Some letters contain abandoned nodes, namely lowercase a, c, d, e. When I removed those, adding and substracting the curves was a breeze.
I'd personally rather avoid this font.

Have a nice day.

 

 

Edit: A little workaround is as follows: after converting text to curves, just export the whole document as pdf/x-1a, then load it back to Designer and adding/substraction will work without a hunt for abandoned nodes. Not a perfect solution, but a time saver for sure.

 

Wow, that’s quite the find, thank you for all the effort!