Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Recommended Posts

I am curious as to whether Affinity Designer will have the ability to "create outlines" (as AI does) from text and thus allow tweaking of individual bezier anchor points within any given character.  

 

On a different topic: I also want to echo another user's query regarding whether Affinity Designer will allow use of the pasteboard area for staging and working with items not in the active page area.  When using AI, I do that all the time.  It is very convenient for the way I work. 

 

I would like to take this moment to thank you for making this effort to develop a new vector drawing program to compete with AI.  Since Adobe's decision to strip users of choice and force them into paying forever is NOT something I wish to partake in, I am therefore actively searching for alternatives.  Your new vector program is one  I will be watching closely and I hope that you will have great success with it! 

 

- DavidPwrMc 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@MEB....thank you for your response.  I did see that option and tried to use it.  It did not appear to me that any individual anchor points were editable after choosing that option.  

 

After reading your post, I went back to try it again. I had been using the black cursor tool to try to manipulate the components but it did not seem to show any individual points to edit....thus the reason for the creation of this topic.   

 

This time, though, I noticed the white tool just below it (tooltip said "node tool") so I gave that a try.  Finally, I was able to see the individual anchor points and was able to edit them.  I am presuming that the node tool is supposed to be the functional equivalent to AI's direct select tool. 

 

So, that was my oversight....I should have experimented a bit further before posting.  Thanks for your reply. 

 

PS: And, on the other point, hopefully there will be a decision made to open up the pasteboard (i.e. the area around the active page area) for access and use!

 

-  DavidPwrMc  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

Yes, the Node Tool in Affinity Designer is equivalent to Direct Selection Tool in Illustrator, and allows you to edit the nodes / control handles of a shape/line.

Regarding the pasteboard, some users already have asked for it too, so you're not alone on this one. Just give the team some time. They are very helpful and responsive to requests/bugs.

 

[EDIT] See? AndyS beat me. There you have it! You guys rock :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@AndyS.....thanks very much for the update with regards to opening up the pasteboard area!  It's very much appreciated!  When it comes time to work on small items such as a business card, the pasteboard space becomes much more important with regards to additional workspace.  Having to confine all work and all graphical items to such a small active area makes things very inefficient.  So, pasteboard access will be a great help! Looking forward to it! 

 

@MEB....thanks for the confirmation regarding the use of the Node Tool!  I just wish I had done some more exploring before posting here.  On the other hand, if I ran into that sort of question, then it's quite likely that there will be others having the same question and wanting the same answer, so this little thread should help to clear things up for them quickly.  

 

I am glad I found the news item about Affinity Designer which lead me to this site!  I am hopeful that this application can become my alternative to Illustrator.  

 

This is the article I read:  http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/photo-editing/1400759/serif-explains-how-its-taking-on-adobe-creative-cloud

 

Take care!  

 

   - DavidPwrMc  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

May I gently inquire as to the current status of implementing pasteboard access in Affinity Designer?  

 

I realize that you are likely juggling approximately 4 billion different features and fixes that need to be dealt with, so I am endeavoring to be as patient as possible regarding the addition of the pasteboard to the Designer working environment.   ;)

 

Thanks for any update information you may be able to share on this question! 

 

 - David  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi davidpwrmc, I am looking forward to this as well but while I wait for a response on the pasteboard feature, I've been getting around it somewhat by just creating a document a little larger than I need and just keeping elements on the "sidelines" so to speak. It's a work-around but does the trick... ;)  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@retrograde.....thanks for that suggestion!  I had considered that workaround already and may end up having to do that if pasteboard access is not able to be made available any time soon.  

 

Hopefully we will indeed see that access soon and so such workarounds will not be necessary!   :D

 

  - David  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Create Text Outlines

 

Back in 1988, after successfully being able to send AI line drawings directly to Pen Plotters I quickly found out that I could not print the outlines of fonts. After a call to my friend (Jim Von Erh of Fontographer fame) he sent me the information I needed to reverse engineer the system type 3 founts created with Fontographer back into their original outlines and shortly thereafter I created a program called “FontLiner” which was the first of its kind to decode all the characters of any type 3 font back into their outlines in an Illustrator file format. This was the first time graphic designers had access to the outlines of fonts.

 

Several months later I got a call from Adobe Systems that the owner, John Warnock, wanted to talk to me. Since I lived in the area at the time I agreed to meet with him personally. He was deathly afraid that I had also cracked the encryption of Adobe’s Type 1 fonts which they considered a very big trade secret and was about to hand the whole world their outlines too. I told him I was not at liberty to say whether or not I had. They were very worried though. Their font sales had fallen off because designers would not buy new fonts they could not get the outlines to using “FontLiner” or Illustrator. The toothpaste was out of the tube once designers were able to get hold of outlines. On the plus side I could now plot out any font characters.

 

Needless to say the next version of Illustrator (Version 3.0) came out with the new “Create Outlines” option under the Font menu and the rest was history along with my program but it turned out best for all designers from that point on. Designers around the world would groan now without that option.

 

Meanwhile my plotting program turned into “SighPost” which became the first and most popular program for the Mac for Vinyl Sign Cutting companies at the time.

 

Just a little history on the beginnings of access to font outlines with the help of Jim Von Erh from back in 1988.

 

Max

OS X Ventura 13.0.1, Mac Studio M1 Max, 27" Apple Studio Display, 32 GB SSD. Affinity Universal License for 2.0.

Mac User & Programmer since 1985 to date. Author of “SignPost” for vinyl sign cutting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.