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    Support a Blob type of vector brush

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Features and Ideas
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    • E Offline
      EricP @Bitten
      last edited by

      @Bitten You can try the Path Brush Tool and also the Eraser tool which do essentially what you describe.

      You can change the size but (as far as I know) not the nib shape itself

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
      • S Offline
        Subpath
        last edited by Subpath

        @Bitten , @EricP

        you could change the Shape of the Path Brush Tool here
        see Picture

        0_1758121665378_pathbrush shape.png

        .
        .

        To create a user defined shape, just select the Shape you like
        and give it a "Shape" Role.
        Select your shape and go to > Menu > Object > Object Role > Shape. After this you
        could select this Shape in different Tools of VectorStyler also the one i shown above

        Win 11
        CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, 6-core.
        GPU: Nvidia Geforce RTX 5070.

        BoldlineB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
        • BoldlineB Online
          Boldline @Subpath
          last edited by

          @VectorStyler @Subpath thank you for the reminder about this! I'm not getting the same result you are. I created a triangle and gave it the tole of "shape". I selected it as my path brush shape and tried to use it. Often when clicking, nothing happened and when I did drag the cursor, it looked no different than a circle. Here is a video of this.
          Obviously it's working for @Subpath so maybe my settings are off?

          ๐ŸŽ macOS Tahoe 26.2, Mac mini (M1, 2020), Chip Apple M1, Memory 16 GB
          Cintiq 27QHD Display and LG Ultra HD Display

          BoldlineB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • BoldlineB Online
            Boldline @Boldline
            last edited by

            @VectorStyler I noticed that it would sometimes work depending on what I was clicking overtop of. Then eventually I lost my custom shape path brush entirely and it went back to being a default circle.
            Link to new video showing this

            ๐ŸŽ macOS Tahoe 26.2, Mac mini (M1, 2020), Chip Apple M1, Memory 16 GB
            Cintiq 27QHD Display and LG Ultra HD Display

            BoldlineB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • BoldlineB Online
              Boldline @Boldline
              last edited by Boldline

              Update: I tried this on my laptop running default settings and had the same issues.

              The shape only seemed to work when i was touching an existing shape. in my case here, the shape somehow changed mid-use and merged another star into itself....

              0_1758131671558_95ba5a1e-c881-4a69-b50c-22fcfe488376-CleanShot 2025-09-17 at 13.47.36.png

              ๐ŸŽ macOS Tahoe 26.2, Mac mini (M1, 2020), Chip Apple M1, Memory 16 GB
              Cintiq 27QHD Display and LG Ultra HD Display

              S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • S Offline
                Subpath @Boldline
                last edited by

                @Boldline

                its not your fault, got the same behaviour

                @VectorStyler

                it seems a bug
                a single Blob could only set with the
                default circle blob

                all blobs shape made via the "Shape" Role
                works only if paint with it and then single blobs can
                be set if there is a kind of overlapping. They dont work
                as single blobs

                0_1758136920305_blobs.png

                Win 11
                CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, 6-core.
                GPU: Nvidia Geforce RTX 5070.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • B Offline
                  Bitten
                  last edited by

                  Hey all thanks for the responses, I can't find anytool called a path brush tool in the ui of the version downloaded if it is in there, it's well hidden.

                  I made a video to try help explain what exactly this freeform paint style tool can do

                  https://youtu.be/6JAoFnc9-Zk?t=367

                  The ability to erase parts of it as well is also as important as the painting.

                  Devil DinosaurD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • Devil DinosaurD Offline
                    Devil Dinosaur @Bitten
                    last edited by Devil Dinosaur

                    @Bitten
                    Hi,
                    Like said above, what you need is the "Path Brush Tool". It's located on the left main tool bar, third icon from the top, then the last of the menu that opens to the right. It's pressure sensitive and seems to be what you want. You may check some other tools of this section.

                    0_1758151429412_path brush tool.png

                    Fred.
                    MacBook Pro (M1) - MacOs Sonoma 14

                    B 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • S Offline
                      Subpath
                      last edited by

                      @VectorStyler

                      I noticed two additional things:

                      First:
                      I miss a live preview when changing the size of the Path Brush tool.
                      The brush tip size only changes after I've set a new size. This
                      makes adjusting the size a bit unintuitive.

                      Second:
                      No matter which shape you select as the brush tip, the Path Brush
                      tool always paints with a rounded tip. This makes changing the
                      Brush tip somewhat useless.

                      I also demonstrate both of these points in this video.

                      Win 11
                      CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, 6-core.
                      GPU: Nvidia Geforce RTX 5070.

                      VectorStylerV 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                      • VectorStylerV Offline
                        VectorStyler @Subpath
                        last edited by

                        @Subpath said in Support a Blob type of vector brush:

                        When painting with the brush (not clicking) the top is always rounded.
                        Only when clicking you can use the selected shape

                        S BoldlineB 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • B Offline
                          Bitten @Devil Dinosaur
                          last edited by Bitten

                          @Devil-Dinosaur Ok nice yeah I found the brush tool now and it does seem to work a lot like the other tools mentioned which is great. One big issue with it right now though as I think Subpath also calls out is that the pressure changes you make don't adjust the size of the "preview / cursor" until you release.

                          What this results in is a situation where it's difficult to know if you have actually painted in a filled area on your canvas till you release the pen from screen, often showing that actually there are little gaps because pressure wasn't hard enough, This also makes it hard to do fine pen work because the preview is max brush size not the actual brush size with pressure factored in.

                          So I think in summary Yes there's a brush tool that can let you draw as shapes, and an eraser to go with it but both tools seem geared for use with a mouse not pressure pen as the brush size indicator does not adjust to match actual brush size when laying down new pressure based strokes

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • S Offline
                            Subpath @VectorStyler
                            last edited by

                            @VectorStyler

                            Yes, I know that and I have already mentioned it,
                            but I find this behavior a bit curious

                            Win 11
                            CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, 6-core.
                            GPU: Nvidia Geforce RTX 5070.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • E Offline
                              EricP
                              last edited by

                              @Subpath thanks for the tip about shape nib.

                              I had tried earlier to change the shape on the toolbar when the path brush tool was active, but all it did was to replace the selected object by the shape, not change the brush nib.

                              Watching your video, I now understand that the shape must be selected with no canvas object selected so it can change the nib shape. Thanks

                              But using the feature, it doesn't apply the shape when dragging the path brush. It only seems to apply it when clicking on the border of an object, it then modifies the object shape with the selected tool shape.

                              Not very intuitive but still useful

                              S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • S Offline
                                Subpath @EricP
                                last edited by Subpath

                                @EricP

                                You're welcome.

                                I also find it strange that you can't paint with the path brush tool
                                using the selected shape tip.

                                Btw. this option to select a shape that have previously been
                                assigned the shape role is available for many tools in VectorStyler,
                                you can always check to see if a shape selection is offered in the
                                setting of a tool.

                                You can also use this to create shape presets, for example. You
                                can also do this with the parametric shapes in VS, which remain
                                editable.

                                Here a video where change a shape used in a blend

                                Win 11
                                CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, 6-core.
                                GPU: Nvidia Geforce RTX 5070.

                                E 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • E Offline
                                  EricP @Subpath
                                  last edited by

                                  @Subpath thanks for these tips.

                                  Yes, I've tried to change the shape of some tools like the "Shaped Bump Tool" but did not find it to work as expected. Maybe I missed how to use it properly.

                                  Coming back to the Path Brush tool, I really like what can be obtained with it, to imprint some patterns on the surface of shapes.

                                  I experimented a bit and tried some modifier keys with it. I was hoping Alt would turn it into a Path Eraser but it doesn't.

                                  However, a cool modifier is Shift, where if you shift-click with Path brush tool on a shape (doesn't have to have a shape role), the nib takes that shape. You can repeat over and over and get some kind of fractal construction where the path embeds smaller versions of itself.
                                  here is an example : https://somup.com/cTQFl7P10Y

                                  S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • BoldlineB Online
                                    Boldline @VectorStyler
                                    last edited by

                                    @VectorStyler said in Support a Blob type of vector brush:

                                    @Subpath said in Support a Blob type of vector brush:

                                    When painting with the brush (not clicking) the top is always rounded.
                                    Only when clicking you can use the selected shape

                                    Is there a reason you donโ€™t want to have it operate in that manner? From my perspective, I would find that option very useful. A lot of interesting things could be done if the painting aspect used the shape and was not just the default rounded.

                                    ๐ŸŽ macOS Tahoe 26.2, Mac mini (M1, 2020), Chip Apple M1, Memory 16 GB
                                    Cintiq 27QHD Display and LG Ultra HD Display

                                    VectorStylerV 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • VectorStylerV Offline
                                      VectorStyler @Boldline
                                      last edited by

                                      @Boldline said in Support a Blob type of vector brush:

                                      Is there a reason you donโ€™t want to have it operate in that manner?

                                      When paining with the path brush, an expanded outline shape is created (calligraphy and variable width included).
                                      But there is no method to using an arbitrary shape in this process. It is just no way to "define" it, unless I do some hacking.

                                      E S 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • E Offline
                                        EricP @VectorStyler
                                        last edited by EricP

                                        @VectorStyler It's not the way it's working today but I agree with @Boldline it would be great to be able to "paint" with a shape

                                        The way I imagine it is you drag the mouse and VS inserts+merges shapes continuously (at intervals), like if you were clicking after each small position offset

                                        like this : https://somup.com/cTQF2FP1a9

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • S Offline
                                          Subpath @VectorStyler
                                          last edited by Subpath

                                          @VectorStyler

                                          I don't think any user here would want to pressure you into any kind
                                          of hacking. Is just we don't know in full the mechanism behind.

                                          As for me, I can live with the current situation. Once I know how
                                          something works, i have no problem to act accordingly.

                                          Win 11
                                          CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, 6-core.
                                          GPU: Nvidia Geforce RTX 5070.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • S Offline
                                            Subpath @EricP
                                            last edited by Subpath

                                            @EricP

                                            ... However, a cool modifier is Shift, where if you shift-click with Path brush tool on a shape (doesn't have to have a shape role), the nib takes that shape. You can repeat over and over and get some kind of fractal construction where the path embeds smaller versions of itself ....

                                            Interesting, did not know that.

                                            Win 11
                                            CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 9600X, 6-core.
                                            GPU: Nvidia Geforce RTX 5070.

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
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