Knife tool - confusion
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I have used knifes more in real life than in software but I expect them to work more or less the same way - with a software knife having the edge (haha) when it comes to additional features only possible on a computer.
For example if I cut something completely in two, I expect it to become two completely separate objects. There is no way back after cutting a branch of a real tree or an arm of a sweater. And it makes perfect sense in real life and on a computer. It is what people would expect from knowledge in the world and knowledge in the head.
I remember I had to break apart an object cut in parts with the knife tool in VS - something you would never expect was necessary coming from the real world. Perhaps that was solved? But know I don't know what is keeping objects together:
- When I cut a simple shape in two, selecting one selects them both (the original shape/object)
- I can select one part and move it
- But selecting one of the parts after working elsewhere selects them both
- There is no visible relation between the two objects in the layers panel
- Copying the object and pasting it adds to the family: selecting one of the now four objects selects them all
- Break apart and other options I thought could have any effect are not selectable (greyed out)
Well, to sum it up, bug or feature, I expect a knife to cut something completely in two in my kitchen and in my software.
🍏 macOS Sequoia Apple Silicon
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... and then when I want to record a movie of it... it works as expected?
So perhaps never mind...
??🍏 macOS Sequoia Apple Silicon
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Were you testing these things before the new release today?
I'm not on top of every fix made, but it seems with the knife tool and the eraser, the results are now treated as individual pieces whereas before you needed to disconnect them afterward with break apart or separate path.
From the list of improvements today:
"Options to separate paths after using knife or eraser tools."
it's a welcome improvement in my book -
After the update. All the talk about the knife tool made me check it out again after updating. But seems to work now. I guess the new code and new settings kicked in.
Speaking of. Who would enable keeping them together requiring a break apart? What is the use case?
🍏 macOS Sequoia Apple Silicon
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@Ingolf Try again with the exact same object type and maybe you can replicate the issue.
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@b77 I did. It was a simple circle shape all along. I then chose isolate selected and VS went into a state where I could select absolutely nothing after exiting that mode.
Closed the document and created a new one, and now it works in all documents. Also after a restart after VS.
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@Ingolf OK… well, it's working here as it should — breaking apart is done by the app automatically.
@vectoradmin The only issue is that Undo doesn't go from cutting to initial shape — it has an additional stage where the two shapes are part of the same object.
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@Ingolf said in Knife tool - confusion:
Speaking of. Who would enable keeping them together requiring a break apart? What is the use case?
I remember having a conversation with @vectoradmin about it a long time ago (more than a year) and if I remember correctly, it was set up that way to allow for the most options as a user - so if you wanted to slice it or erase something into multiple parts, it could still be moved around as a grouped unit of smaller pieces and then you could permanently separate them from each other with the secondary step.
I had been advocating at the time for the immediate separating option because that was what I was used to in Illustrator and because I usually want things to be disconnected automatically at that point in the process, but understood where he was coming from and I've tried to be open to a different way. Knowing there was a solution at the time for getting what I want, albeit a second step, worked for me at the time.
There have been many times I wanted things a certain way simply because it was how things were done in Illustrator and I knew it to be that way, but have been pleasantly impressed with new ideas @vectoradmin has introduced to replace them - so I always try to keep an open mind -
OK - if keeping them together was the general idea I would argue that (auto)grouping them or something else where it was made obvious that the objects are still related and kept together by the program would be a better choice.
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@Ingolf The knife tool will try to separate the resulting part now (enabled by default, can be changed in the preferences). But since the parts are touching, separation will not always work.
Adding an automatic break apart would not work because it could break shapes with holes.
