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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

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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

Please tag me using @ in your reply so I can be sure to respond ASAP.

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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.

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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 ...

 

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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)

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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.

Please tag me using @ in your reply so I can be sure to respond ASAP.

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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.

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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.

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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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

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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.

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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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:

2060299185_mergecurvesresult.jpg.758534910f6df8590ebec30057afacb1.jpg

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.

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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:

image.thumb.png.2e56b2d637205775099b300e10f64312.png

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

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