Affinity Designer Shape Builder Tool

[RKissane]

I have tried Affinity Designer before but did not like it. I found that for me, it was still much easier using Xara to do graphics work.

With the new release of Ver 2 to the Affinity suite, I have been looking at some videos on Ver 2 of the Affinity suite. In Designer there is a new Shape Builder tool.

Here is a video demonstrating it uses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1QtVdcklVY

I think this has some real advantages for logo's and such.

Just wanting to get some opinions on what people think of this tool and would this be something useful for Xara to develop? Also I know several people on here have been using Affinity have you tried Ver 2 and what are your impressions.

I am thinking Xara desk top is slowly being phased out because Magix has not released a new update since last May, where they use to release one around September/October time frame every year. The Pro+ is being updated constantly so there is plenty that Magix could update. I will not do a subscription plan so I am really considering the Affinity suite again.

Thanks
Ray

[Acorn]

Ray, the tool looks fun but you are almost already there with Xara's current tools.
The big omission in the video was the preparation of the grids.

I would create my grid as 0px lines, use Smart Duplicate, Group, Clone and Rotate and finally Group.
Place over a smaller solid Shape and Subtract Shapes.
Drag the grid elsewhere; it has not been affected.
Finally, Break Shapes.

The only difference is you now delete or colour the cooker-cuttered sub-shapes.

Probably slower to apply but far more versatile.

Acorn

[handrawn]

there again... it depends on what you are doing...

you can look on the affinity 2 shape builder tool as being a fill tool - something I and others were asking xara for 10 years + ago, when even inkscape had one..

as such you don't need to faff witn break shapes, which [nearly] always gives more shapes than you need so has to be tidied up, and can be quirky in it's stacking order - you just fill a gap with a shape and away you go

[Acorn]

there again... it depends on what you are doing...
you can look on the affinity 2 shape builder tool as being a fill tool - something I and others were asking xara for 10 years + ago, when even inkscape had one..
as such you don't need to faff witn break shapes, which [nearly] always gives more shapes than you need so has to be tidied up, and can be quirky in it's stacking order - you just fill a gap with a shape and away you go

handrawn, yes it is the inverse of the Affinity approach and you have lots of shapes to delete/deselect but there are always strategies.

Stacking order is usually unimportant after a grouping.

I do accept the joy of being able to hover inside a bounded region and voilà a shape.

Acorn

[Boy]

But Xara has the blend tool!

[ss-kalm]

I still can't come to terms with Affinity's - manipulating layers vs Xara's - manipulating shapes. It's much more intuitive to work at shapes level, which makes Xara always win for me.

With Affinity - Unless I'm doing something wrong - you don't seem to be able to move an item on a layer without moving everything on that layer. Which effectively means every single object HAS to be isolated on it's own layer. Just seems so wrong.

[handrawn]

keith - try thinking of affinity 'layer gallery' as an 'object and group' gallery - ie there are no 'layers' in affinity, just base objects and groups, listed there - same as xara really once you get you head around it, without xara's top-level 'layers' [everything on the same 'layer']

[handrawn]

handrawn, yes it is the inverse of the Affinity approach and you have lots of shapes to delete/deselect but there are always strategies.

Stacking order is usually unimportant after a grouping.

I do accept the joy of being able to hover inside a bounded region and voilà a shape.

Acorn

I have cursed [silently] break shapes in xara for the last 15 years or more because it is so time consuming when all I want to do is colour a b&W lineart cartoon - just drop in the colour is all I asked

and in this case stacking order is important...

[Gare]

In my (unasked for) opinion, there isn't a shape shown in the tutorial that can't be done more quickly in AD 2. Reflexively, I upgraded, because I have money to burn (:)), seriously, because i like to keep up to date with new graphics technology. the best ad most fair thing I can offer is that if you get in on the ground floor with AD, with no knowledge of other vector programs, you'll soon become proficient as a designer, just learning in a unique way along a unique course specific to the program's features.



I STILL maintain that a major new feature for XD would be an editable polygon tool along the lines of what CorelDRAW has had for around a decade.


Create a polygon with n number of sides. Then modify any of its vertices to extend a path away or toward then center of the shape. Then if you want more "spokes", the transformations are non-destructive, and you can change, for example, 5 sides to twenty, or three.



If it weren't for an unjustifiably high price tag, the deal-breaking subscription model, and the fact that Corel Corp. has had a venture capitol firm at its head for ages, and they screw over the end user like we don't matter, their tech would be prevailing today, rather than Illustrator, I venture.

[Jonopen]

I also upgraded to Affinity Designer v2 but beyond a quick fiddle, I haven’t had much time to use the shape builder tool yet. It looks interesting and potentially useful though. For me the best new feature is the warp tool.

I use the Affinity apps nowadays because I swapped over to the Mac platform - maybe not the best move I’ve ever done. Personally I would not worry too much about the future and just try and get the most out of whatever software you have right now to get the job done. The investment that probably has had the most impact and enhanced my potential is getting a graphics tablet.

(Meanwhile the Affinity apps are still on special offer until 25 Jan)