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Closing Curves. Why so challenging?!


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9 hours ago, NicoPsyral said:

After hours of trying,

I don't get yet what you tried to do by closing or joining, what was your goal? To me both objects look fine and finished and don't need any change to their curves.

Maybe you want to merge several curve layers to 1 layer only? If yes, choose menu Layer > Geometry > Merge Curves. It will create a layer of type  "(Curves)".

33236051_mergecurves.jpg.ec34e999eb30620970d1c7c26f7e6b3e.jpg

9 hours ago, NicoPsyral said:

I can break, close and join, but i cannot open?

Break = Open. You can not open a curve which is not closed and already / still open.

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

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20 minutes ago, thomaso said:

Break = Open. You can not open a curve which is not closed and already / still open.

It could be explained better in the Help, where the current example is based on a curve which is already open. Breaking an open curve splits it into two, whereas breaking a closed curve turns it into an open curve.

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Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro
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1 hour ago, thomaso said:

If yes, choose menu Layer > Geometry > Merge Curves. It will create a layer of type  "(Curves)".

Thanks a lot, that was exactly my goal... I did read this somewhere else as well, but I ignorantly thought that this would not serve my purpose. 

And also thanks Alfred for this simple explanation as well! 

Edited by NicoPsyral
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17 minutes ago, NicoPsyral said:

I did read this somewhere else as well, but I ignorantly thought that this would not serve my purpose. 

So not to confuse, just for the record: Another option is a layer of type "(Compound)". Note, the two curves are not closed.
(That is why these Geometry options don't work well with open curves but appear to prefer closed curves.)

985935003_mergecurves-compound.jpg.4c15e67378e4a4a4e261bb8d62ad0ade.jpg

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

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Nice! Thanks to you I made a significant step towards a new way of experimenting with curves to gain a better understanding!  

So far I have known Compounds only from a Boolean Operation while holding Alt, the Nondestructive Boolean Operation I think it is called. Just did read the help article about compounds, thanks for this hint.

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Yes. Possible node actions & options are quite rich and often rather hidden than obvious. Tool tip: keep an eye on the context related tool tips at the bottom of your document window. It lists various actions and modifier keys. Of cause, "did read this somewhere else as well, but I ignorantly thought" may happen again and again, so trial & error + routine might be a better teacher than asking + reading. 😉

440839381_bottomlinetooltip.thumb.jpg.3483f29e2fdac0b979248680fc9e2df1.jpg

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

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@NicoPsyral,

I think what you are trying to do is join two open curves into one which cannot be done. Join curves will happen with the end node of one curve being joined to the start node of the second.

You are wanting the red and black to be one curve but keep the shape (two backwards "J"s) correct? We cannot join the red to the middle of the black.

373056393_ScreenShot2022-08-04at8_26_30AM.png.dc52765cddfdb6b73b42a70ec6a44d23.png

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

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4 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

@NicoPsyral,

I think what you are trying to do is join two open curves into one which cannot be done.

 

 

Yes, most likely, guess thats the reason why I was only able to reach my goal with layers -> geometry -> merge curves.

 

How can I identify open/broken (which is the same, right?) and closed curves? Is the color of the node an indicator? Like blue and red?

 

And can 1 curve with 2 nodepoints be open/closed on each side? 

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5 hours ago, thomaso said:

so trial & error + routine might be a better teacher than asking + reading. 😉

440839381_bottomlinetooltip.thumb.jpg.3483f29e2fdac0b979248680fc9e2df1.jpg

Very much so! Best is everything combined. Step by step im gettin the hang of it, tho I see that working with vectors and pen-tool does require some minimum amount of time you regularly invest in this, otherwise all those fine details and complex interactions of pen-modes are just too easily forgotten!

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2 hours ago, NicoPsyral said:

How can I identify open/broken (which is the same, right?) and closed curves? Is the color of the node an indicator? Like blue and red?

Red is the end node. Open versus closed can be hard to identify because the start and end can be coincidental, by which I mean they share thee same co-ordinates. I will grab the red nod with the node tool and drag it out to see if there are two nodes or just one. Immediately followed by a Command + Z (Control + Z on Windows) for undo.

At times I wish there was some indicator on the layers panel or some visual indicator like a dashed blue line for open and the current solid blue line for closed.

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

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2 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Open versus closed can be hard to identify because the start and end can be coincidental, by which I mean they share thee same co-ordinates.

The Node Tool shows in the Context Toolbar the open / close buttons for a selected object: The grayed-out button indicates the current state.
So the green square is not closed:

1790712342_openclosecurvebuttons.jpg.abdcdd5a36e623ef76ea271716f1d2b1.jpg

... while it works unambiguous only for single objects.

504631824_openclosecurvebuttons2.jpg.14c6fa3846fb39d37d9ecd9889a80c25.jpg

I agree, a visual hint without the need to select an object would be helpful.

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

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  • 4 months later...

Well, CLOSE curve means, you change an OPEN shape to a closed one (hence the name). JOINING curves means you MERGE multiple curves together.
If you BREAK a closed curve, it will be opened indispensable.
The terms are as logic as the could possibly be.

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