jc4d Posted August 26, 2019 Share Posted August 26, 2019 Hi all, I often get PDF from clients which the vector layers are in many groups and sub groups, and what I need is to merge all the layers to only one curve layer, but I can't find a way to do it since when I select the top most group the Merge Curves option is greyed out. Is there a way to achieve this in a easy or smooth way? Cheers, Juan CLC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff Callum Posted August 26, 2019 Staff Share Posted August 26, 2019 Hi Jc4d if possible could you provide the file in question so I can try this at my end? If you would rather not send it publicly send me a private message Thanks C Quote Please tag me using @ in your reply so I can be sure to respond ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfred Posted August 26, 2019 Share Posted August 26, 2019 24 minutes ago, Callum said: If you would rather not send it publicly send me a private message We ordinary mortals can’t attach files to PMs, if that’s what you mean. Quote Alfred Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff Callum Posted August 26, 2019 Staff Share Posted August 26, 2019 Just now, Alfred said: We ordinary mortals can’t attach files to PMs, if that’s what you mean. Its not Quote Please tag me using @ in your reply so I can be sure to respond ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfred Posted August 26, 2019 Share Posted August 26, 2019 Just now, Callum said: Its not Oh, OK! Anyway, I also meant to say that I read Juan’s OP as a description of a general problem, rather than something related to a particular file. 2 hours ago, jc4d said: I often get PDF from clients which the vector layers are in many groups and sub groups ... Quote Alfred Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff Callum Posted August 26, 2019 Staff Share Posted August 26, 2019 Just now, Alfred said: Oh, OK! Anyway, I also meant to say that I read Juan’s OP as a description of a general problem, rather than something related to a particular file. Even so its important to see the layer composition of the file myself to see if there is any way to merge all of the curves without rasterising. Alfred and jc4d 2 Quote Please tag me using @ in your reply so I can be sure to respond ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc4d Posted August 26, 2019 Author Share Posted August 26, 2019 32 minutes ago, Callum said: Hi Jc4d if possible could you provide the file in question so I can try this at my end? If you would rather not send it publicly send me a private message Thanks C Hi Callum, Sadly all my files are under NDA and I can't share any of them. 2 minutes ago, Alfred said: Anyway, I also meant to say that I read Juan’s OP as a description of a general problem, rather than something related to a particular file. I think he wanted an specific file to see how the layers are nested and test it. Alfred 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc4d Posted August 26, 2019 Author Share Posted August 26, 2019 Let me try to replicate one of the files by myself keeping the hierarchy order for you. Callum and Alfred 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomaso Posted August 26, 2019 Share Posted August 26, 2019 2 hours ago, jc4d said: the Merge Curves option What/where is this? I only get in mind the according adjustments option. Or do you mean the Geometry button "Add"? Possibly a screenshot of your layers panel with such a group expanded could illustrate your goal a little more. Quote macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Move Along People Posted August 26, 2019 Share Posted August 26, 2019 - Quote Move Along people,nothing to see here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc4d Posted August 26, 2019 Author Share Posted August 26, 2019 3 minutes ago, haakoo said: My guess is,one needs to ungroup the group before one can use geometry or ctrl+shift+select on canvas or shift+select in the layers panel. Yep, but when dealing with more than 600 layers and in groups inside groups this workflow is almost prohibited. Cheers, Juan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomaso Posted August 26, 2019 Share Posted August 26, 2019 Thank you, haakoo, to open my eyes for a still unseen UI item. When I use it for two selected layers within a group it seems to apply an Xor, and the history also says 'Xor' (not 'Merge...'). Do you also know a help topic where this 'merge' / 'separate' are explained? Unfortunately my help search does not find it. Quote macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc4d Posted August 26, 2019 Author Share Posted August 26, 2019 @Callum Just sent you a small sample file. Cheers, Juan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Move Along People Posted August 26, 2019 Share Posted August 26, 2019 - thomaso 1 Quote Move Along people,nothing to see here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R C-R Posted August 26, 2019 Share Posted August 26, 2019 Do you mind if I go back to basics for a moment & ask why you want to merge curves, particularly ones deeply nested in groups? There are usually several drawbacks involved in doing this, like that the merged curve will inherit the stroke & fill properties of the lowest item in the group. Using the new Geometry > Merge Curves option also can produce undesired transparency effects: Short of using the History panel or snapshots, there is no way to completely undo this -- for example, the pressure profile on the red stroked curve is lost forever. Alfred 1 Quote All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7 Affinity Photo 1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jc4d Posted August 27, 2019 Author Share Posted August 27, 2019 In my case I get architectural drawings in PDF to put some colors, people, etc (to make it nice). Let's take a window for example, when I open the PDF, each line that makes the window is a curve layer in Affinity, now imagine if I have on one window 13 curve layers and multiply that by 10 or 15 windows, plus doors, plus walls, etc. Here is a little screenshot of how a raw PDF looks when I open it of couple of windows, one door and a fence: Now, when dealing with four or more facades of one building, navigating throughout the document, adding layers, zooming in and out it is almost impossible unless I merge all the curves. Additionally, having the curves allows me to change line width and/or color and still be able to scale the document without loosing the resolution since is a vector layer. Cheers, Juan CLC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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