Is there a way to make my lines slightly 'wobbly' as if drawn by hand in XDPX?

Hello

Is there a clever way in Xara Designer Pro X (v19) to create lines that are slightly wobbly?

I need to create a series of lines that look hand-drawn... I need them to look randomly slightly 'wobbly' or 'wavy'.

Thanks

J


PS To get clear, I do not want any kind of "brush stroke" visible. i.e. I need my lines to keep having parallel sides. But I want the direction to wander very slightly in a seemingly random manner.

so you want asymmetric [random] undualations in the line path, not in the line width...

you can take the smoothing right down to zero on the freehand tool and loosly draw [a pen would be better than a mouse] - it will not be totally random unless you are blessed/cursed with a genuinely shakey hand, but then nothing 'hand drawn' ever is truely random

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Originally Posted by handrawn

so you want asymmetric [random] undualations in the line path, not in the line width...

you can take the smoothing right down to zero on the freehand tool and loosly draw [a pen would be better than a mouse] - it will not be totally random unless you are blessed/cursed with a genuinely shakey hand, but then nothing 'hand drawn' ever is truely random

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Hmmm... It appears that what the Freehand tool really does is stores a very large numbers of points, irrespective of whatever the Smoothing is set to, but it then renders your line in accordance to the Smoothing. But as you imply for this to be useful you need to draw a very good line in the first place!

What I am looking for is the ability to apply a Wobble to a number of straight lines that I have already drawn.

The purpose is that when one is illustrating some shapes, sometimes one intends to communicate "roughly this sort of thing".
Now if one draws it by hand using pen and paper, then the "roughly this" message is obvious. However, if you draw a series of exactly straight lines, the implication is that you mean "exactly this".

See what I mean?

J

You can draw and edit with the Shape Tool. I have always felt this is one of Xara's most powerful tools. Click two points to make a line. Then drag on the line with the Shape Tool.

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What I am looking for is the ability to apply a Wobble to a number of straight lines that I have already drawn

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ok.. then the way to go is as gary suggests.. you use the shape tool to displace the line; you add points as you go along to anchor the previous displacement and then do another segment; this will take time if you have a lot of line...

I don't see a 'quick' way to do this, other than actually re-draw it by hand, scan, and vectorise....

You could try making an art brush from a wobbly line, then apply it to your drawing lines.

Attachment 133407

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Originally Posted by shiphen

Hmmm... It appears that what the Freehand tool really does is stores a very large numbers of points, irrespective of whatever the Smoothing is set to, but it then renders your line in accordance to the Smoothing. But as you imply for this to be useful you need to draw a very good line in the first place!

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Just a quick reminder that it is possible to drastically reduce the number of nodes using the Smoothing tool (in the context bar) after you have selected the nodes with the Shape tool.

My approach creates a random line for each one.

Create an oval 12x6px.Select this and Create a Scatter brush.
Give it a name.
Draw a line and Edit Brush.
Change about eevry parameter there is:
Spacing (to overlap): ~50%; Randomis ~90-110%.
Offset: Alternating - Distance:~5% - Random: ~0-3%.
Scaling Random: ~75-132%.
Fill: All brush colours - Random Saturation: 0-~8% - Random Hue: 0-~10%.

Drawn lines, existing shapes with Line widths, straight or angled lines all dynamically change when adjusted for width and control points.
You can retweak a partcular line with a Re-edit without save.
You can Break Points with Line (not Shapes) and your can Reverse Paths.

I believe Scatter Brushes are the only Xara component that handles random.

Some examples:

Attachment 133410

The top Acorn is there to emphasise the positioning of the lozenges.

Acorn

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Acorn

My approach creates a random line for each one.

Create an oval 12x6px.Select this and Create a Scatter brush.
Give it a name.
Draw a line and Edit Brush.
Change about eevry parameter there is:
Spacing (to overlap): ~50%; Randomis ~90-110%.
Offset: Alternating - Distance:~5% - Random: ~0-3%.
Scaling Random: ~75-132%.
Fill: All brush colours - Random Saturation: 0-~8% - Random Hue: 0-~10%.

Drawn lines, existing shapes with Line widths, straight or angled lines all dynamically change when adjusted for width and control points.
You can retweak a partcular line with a Re-edit without save.
You can Break Points with Line (not Shapes) and your can Reverse Paths.

I believe Scatter Brushes are the only Xara component that handles random.

Some examples:

Attachment 133410

The top Acorn is there to emphasise the positioning of the lozenges.

Acorn

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Clever stuff... but to get clear I need the edges of the lines to stay parallel to each other.
i.e. The line needs to be of constant thickness.

J

the only way I know to do that in xara is to do it the way gary suggested

you might be able to do it in a program that allowed you to define your own stroke shapes but that program is not xara...

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Originally Posted by handrawn

the only way I know to do that in xara is to do it the way gary suggested

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Based on Gary's method: Set some guides and, using the Freehand and Brush Tool, try to draw a straight line. In the Select an Existing Brush dropdown window, chose a marker or chalk brush and adjust the line width to your liking. With the Freehand Smoothing slider try to approximate the line you have in mind. Further adjustments can be made with the Shape Tool.

Perhaps this 10-years old TG-thread gives you some other ideas: https://www.talkgraphics.com/showthr...ook-hand-drawn.

Or else buy some vector file: https://www.shutterstock.com/search/...-straight-line :)

hey, nice find on the ten year old thread boy, happy days :D

as that thread sorta demonstrates, a hand drawn line almost by definition does not have parallel sides unless you use something like an isograph on bristol, in which case i would not call it 'rough'; sketch maybe, rough no

if there really must be parallel sides I still don't see a better way of doing it than gary's; I'd avoid scatter brushes which are dabs, sooner or later the overlaps will be visible; similarly art brushes with stretch...

To keep a constant width for a Shape, I would use the Erase Tool, walking along the edge very steadily.
I would use a nib size of double the Line width.
Remember Erase can be additive with Shift+Drag.
When done you can use the Shape Tool, delete control points and also apply smoothing.

For a Line use the smallest Nib, Shift+Drag over the Line and then set this resultant Shape to have no Line width.

Attachment 133411

Acorn

To save time, if you have Affinity Designer there are plenty of brushes you could use to help give lines a hand drawn look. Using an informal font can also help give a draft appearance to your drawing.

Attachment 133413

Or use Acorns method but draw several wavy lines and create an art brush:

Yes Jono and Affinity Designers mesh tool is to die for:

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Originally Posted by Egg Bramhill

Yes Jono and Affinity Designers mesh tool is to die for:

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could not agree more - and it would do what shipen wants very quickly and easily keeping the sides of the lines parallel, but xara does not have one

but you have remined me of the xara tool shipen could use:

select the vector line go to shape painter tool [previously called shape builder] and from the info bar drop down on the right choose warp

that will enable you to warp the line by dragging over, keeping the sides equidistant ['parallel']

Attachment 133417

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Egg Bramhill

Yes Jono and Affinity Designers mesh tool is to die for:

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I have tried Affinity Designer several times in the past.
Maybe it's because I'm too used to Xara or maybe it's just my brain, but I find its learning curve to be brutal.

And after every time I have used it I regret the amount of time I have wasted try to master the basics!

Aside: It's such a shame that Xara seems to have lost its way and doesn't add things like this that other applications are clearly doing much better. Another example is finding a way to quickly and easily apply radiuses. Also the way the arrowheads in Xara finish BEYOND the end of the line in question. I could go on...

Although I love Xara, these issues stop me from using more often.

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Originally Posted by handrawn

could not agree more - and it would do what shipen wants very quickly and easily keeping the sides of the lines parallel, but xara does not have one

but you have remined me of the xara tool shipen could use:

select the vector line go to shape painter tool [previously called shape builder] and from the info bar drop down on the right choose warp

that will enable you to warp the line by dragging over, keeping the sides equidistant ['parallel']

Attachment 133417

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handrawn this wins my vote. If you use it in Paint mode, it have the ability to add/remove areas more easily.

Definitely one to remember.

Acorn

I should have thought of it straight away, it was only egg mentioning mesh [warp] that made me remember...

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Originally Posted by handrawn

I should have thought of it straight away, it was only egg mentioning mesh [warp] that made me remember...

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Yup! Shape Painter > Warp is megga.
Just tried a smaller drawing Zoom and 100px Nib so it is possible to totally warp a selected shape in one move.
Clearly the smaller Nib affords total control over any part.
The best bit is the Shape remains totally editable and in newer versions renders as SVG. Ideal for motion path animation.

Acorn

glad you are finding it useful - I used it when it first came out and i was still doing cartoon lineart in xara, but you forget things when you move on... ;)

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Originally Posted by Egg Bramhill

Yes Jono and Affinity Designers mesh tool is to die for:

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Here is my Xara Image Mesh Warp:

Attachment 133422

APPROACH

1. Select (1), an image on your design page.
2. Use it as an Art Brush.
3. Use the Shape too and add two horizontal points the width of the image.
4. Set the Line width to the height of the image.
5. Your Brush (2) has the attributes of Horizontal Squish & Squash as normal; Vertical is trickier as you now adjust the Line Width or have Scale line widths selected for the corner controls. I suggest this as Xara has magicked in a Bug if you adjust the brush with Scale line widths unselected.
6. I set my Brush to Round join and Butt Cap.
7. The finesse now to create (3) is to add only a few extra control points and keep the curve smooth.
8. With @handrawn's observation of using Shape Painter > Mesh, you can achieve finer control over adjusting your warp.
9. Remember, you are warping a Line (set View Quality > Outlines) to see what you are distorting.

Attachment 133423

Acorn

Nice effect Acorn but you'd be hard pressed to achieve all of Affinity's meshes easily.

Shape Painter > Warp, that sounds cool. I'm not at my PC right now but can't wait to try it out later.

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Off topic but just to throw something extra into the pot. VectorStyler has an excellent wobbly line maker in the form of a vector Wave Shape Effect. The 'wobble' can be adjusted both visually and by entering values. A word of warning though, it's an amazing app, but if you think Affinity Designer has a learning curve, well... (there's plenty of help though).

Attachment 133426

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jonopen

Shape Painter > Warp, that sounds cool. I'm not at my PC right now but can't wait to try it out later.

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Off topic but just to throw something extra into the pot. VectorStyler has an excellent wobbly line maker in the form of a vector Wave Shape Effect. The 'wobble' can be adjusted both visually and by entering values. A word of warning though, it's an amazing app, but if you think Affinity Designer has a learning curve, well... (there's plenty of help though).

Attachment 133426

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I've had a quick look at https://www.vectorstyler.com/detailed/ to compare with our beloved XDA. Quite similar with some good extras.
At $95, it's not so expensive but its bonus is it works on Apple/Windows so for some worth it.

There are so many contenders out there. I pay £8/y for Boxy SVG and copiously use the free web services people offer. See what https://fffuel.co/sssvg/ produces.

Acorn

if you are still here shiphen, did you get your lines roughed up ... ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by handrawn

could not agree more - and it would do what shipen wants very quickly and easily keeping the sides of the lines parallel, but xara does not have one

but you have remined me of the xara tool shipen could use:

select the vector line go to shape painter tool [previously called shape builder] and from the info bar drop down on the right choose warp

that will enable you to warp the line by dragging over, keeping the sides equidistant ['parallel']

Attachment 133417

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Well the Shape Painter is certainly an interesting approach. And it does more or less do the job!

However my slight problems are:
1. I only want to create a very subtle tweaks (that look "hand drawn" [!]) and quite lot of amount of skill and/or time is required to make it look hand drawn.
2. I want to do multiple lines at once and make them wobble randomly rather than systematically
3. Fwiw, I can't work out what effect if any "Smoothing" has.
4. Also is there any way to straighten the line (slightly afterwards) rather than trying to sort of brush them back into shape?

J

I'd have to check to be sure, but smoothing slider probably only has effect when you are drawing a line with this tool [paint mode]

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and quite lot of amount of skill and/or time is required to make it look hand drawn

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in my case about 5 years before I could draw a line freehand and make it look 'easy' - skill and time is what it takes... although AI is going to help with the routine stuff more and more ;)

I don't think you can batch it randomly, xara does not do randomisation afaik; maybe a plugin someone knows about....

if you still have a magix version you could look at the live effect > deformation filter > liquid color and use the draw setting tool to tweak your original line - with care it will look more hand drawn, but you will loose the strict equidistance between the sides which of course you do not have in a true hand drawn line outside of tech drawing where the lines do not wobble

smoothing it out is another task altogether

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shiphen

3. Fwiw, I can't work out what effect if any "Smoothing" has.

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Select the shape, open the Shape tool and Click+Drag across those controls you want to smooth.

Acorn

Quote:

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Originally Posted by shiphen

4. Also is there any way to straighten the line (slightly afterwards) rather than trying to sort of brush them back into shape?

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The power lies is the random controls of Edit Brush for a scatter brush but you didn't want any lumpiness in the line.

I have found the best effect is to shape the Warp to be 100px, 45deg and 150 roundness.
If you have the Nib inside the shape you can move to the edge NSEW and achieve a gentle pucker.
Holding the Shift key also can add to the distortion.
Finally switch to the Shape tool, select all controls and smooth., deleting or moving unwanted controls.

Acorn

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Acorn

My approach creates a random line for each one.

Create an oval 12x6px.Select this and Create a Scatter brush.
Give it a name.
Draw a line and Edit Brush.
Change about eevry parameter there is:
Spacing (to overlap): ~50%; Randomis ~90-110%.
Offset: Alternating - Distance:~5% - Random: ~0-3%.
Scaling Random: ~75-132%.
Fill: All brush colours - Random Saturation: 0-~8% - Random Hue: 0-~10%.

Drawn lines, existing shapes with Line widths, straight or angled lines all dynamically change when adjusted for width and control points.
You can retweak a partcular line with a Re-edit without save.
You can Break Points with Line (not Shapes) and your can Reverse Paths.

I believe Scatter Brushes are the only Xara component that handles random.

Some examples:

Attachment 133410

The top Acorn is there to emphasise the positioning of the lozenges.

Acorn

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That's a great trick, thanks !

Marc

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Originally Posted by MarcT

That's a great trick, thanks ! Marc

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Marc, thank you. I have found this Thread most productive.

@shipen originally asked that the wobble should leave the Line width constant and the Line should not be too wobbly. He could not get the Warp to work well enough.

I think i have refined this.
I set the Shape Painter tool to 100px with 10 Roundness and -45deg Angle.
I size the shape so that the tool will be mostly inside the shape as you track around. This distorts things far less than the tool centre.

Attachment 133514

I have found the result to be quite pleasing.

Acorn