In Affinity, position your two shapes with one of top of the other and click the Divide button ( see image to right). The ‘Divide’ tool works in a similar way to the intersect tool, but instead of removing the parts of the shape that are not intersecting, it simply separates them into new shapes. In Affinity designer you must first ensure the pattern is combined into one shape using the ‘ Add‘ tool we mentioned earlier. This tool has many different uses, one of my favourites is masking patterns into other shapes (as seen in the below GIF). The clipping mask in Affinity Designer doesn’t work with vector shapes, so this function is a lot more crucial. In Illustrator you may find it easier to create a clipping mask, using the top shape to cutout the bottom as with intersect tool. The illustrator version has the same name and works in exactly the same way, the buttons appearance is the only thing that differs. Leaving only the parts that are “intersecting”. It works in the same way as a clipping mask in most other programs, as you are using it cut away anything that isn’t inside the top shape. This tool means you can use one shape as a kind of “cookie cutter” to cut out a new one. Next up we have one of my favourite functions, the ‘ Intersect‘ tool. See the image to the left, the top button is Minus Front and the bottom is Minus Back.
![affinity publisher convert raster to vector affinity publisher convert raster to vector](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/fd/14/75/fd14752ae45cabe8bcd672699805ffd3.jpg)
The shape being subtracted from keeps it’s original colour. As the names ‘ Minus Front‘ and ‘ Minus Back‘ suggest. In Illustrator however, there’s two different tools for this, one which takes the top shape away from the bottom and vice versa.
![affinity publisher convert raster to vector affinity publisher convert raster to vector](https://software.thaiware.com/upload_misc/software/2021_02/images/11977_2102171657330k_106.jpg)
You’ll notice that the shape you’re cutting out with vanishes, so I tend to make a copy and hide the layer in the layers panel, in case I wish to use this shape later. When you click the subtract button (to the right) this will essentially cut the top shape out of the bottom one. In Affinity, position the shape you wish to subtract on top of the shape you wish it to be subtracted from. The tool works slightly differently in the two programs but the premise is the same. Next up we have the equally commonly used Subtract tool, which is known as Minus Front or Minus Back in Illustrator. The combined shape however takes it’s colour from the shape that was on top.
![affinity publisher convert raster to vector affinity publisher convert raster to vector](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/513o9caa%2BeL._SX383_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg)
The ‘ Unite‘ tool in illustrator works the same, and can be found in the ‘ Pathfinder‘ toolbar in the form of the button to the left. This will combine everything selected into one single vector shape, which takes it’s colour from the shape that was on the bottom. Simply position the shapes you wish to combine, which can be intersecting or separate and click the Add button (image to the right). Addįirst of all I wanted to show the simplest and most commonly used function, the ‘Add’ tool as it is known in Affinity Designer (the ‘ Unite‘ tool in Adobe Illustrator). In Illustrator, the equivalent tools can be found in the “ Pathfinder” toolbar, which can be found in the ‘Window’ dropdown menu. I will also show the corresponding Adobe Illustrator buttons through the course of the post. These functions are Add, Subtract, Intersect, Divide and Combine and they can be found in the top toolbar in Affinity in form of these five buttons. In this blog post we will be showing you the 5 different tools found in Affinity Designer, which can also be applied to Adobe Illustrator – the tool names are different but the outcome is pretty much the same. It’s essentially the process of using multiple vector shapes to Add, Subtract or work in conjunction with one another to produce new, non-standard shapes.
Affinity publisher convert raster to vector full#
Shape building is a highly effective and speedy way to create a range of custom shapes for anything from simple icons to full blown digital illustrations.