Layers as in Photoshop

[ffg]

Does seamly support the use of layers as in Photoshop. It would make my life easier if I could import an image and work on top of it. Another use would be lay down guide lines and delete the layer before printing

[Douglas]

@ffg

Does seamly support the use of layers as in Photoshop.

No.

@ffg

It would make my life easier if I could import an image and work on top of it.

If I can ever get back to it, I was working on a background image import feature. It got lost in a harddrive crash, so I have to figure it all out again.

@ffg

Another use would be lay down guide lines and delete the layer before printing

Would not apply, You can only primt what’s created in the layout screen, which does not show what’s on the draft mode scene. Unless, you export the draft mode scene as a pdf, png, svg, etc, and then print that. In which case a background image would appear in the print, as the export in draft mode is just dumping the whole scene with no way to select which objects to export. Besides why would you want to delete the image layer? What if it doesn’t print correctly and you have to reload (and orient?) the image to make changes to the draft?

You can refer to ths topic where it left off…

Existing SVG file as a background

I have some patterns that I drew by hand in a vector graphics package. I can export them to SVG. I would like to make a parameterised version of these patterns in Valentina. I know the body measurements and ease that it was drawn for. So, my feature suggestion is the ability to display an SVG file as wallpaper/background. It would be an entirely static image. The only requirement is that it is display in the same scale as the Valentina drawing objects that I would create on top of it. That…

[Grace]

@ffg

Does seamly support the use of layers as in Photoshop.

To expand on what @Douglas said, Seamly doesn’t have Layers like in Photoshop, Seamly has Groups instead. And then, like in Photoshop, you can hide a group in almost the same way as in PS. So you can have a lot of objects on your drawing board, but, if you place some of them in different groups, you can hide most of them to work on other groups without the majority distracting you.

[Douglas]

@Grace

Seamly has Groups instead

I think the user’s main use of layers would be a background image.

Actually a Qt scene does have layers. It has 3… the background, the foreground, and then everything else rendered in between. Else - being qGraphicItems (which can be made up of many items in a parent / child relationship) … which are stacked from the bottom to the top. You can program the scene to reorder the items so an item can be on top of another - which is not an easy task. OR…if an item has multiple children you can set the Z value of the child items to be able to “layer” them within the parent item. The higher the Z value, the closer to the top an item is displayed. The Z only works with siblings. The app actually uses the Z value in several instances… like when clicking and highlighting a point. The fact a qGraphicsSene has a background is why it’s relatively easy to load an image behind all the other scene items and not have to deal with keeping it underneath everything else, as it’s always as the name implies - the “background”.

[ffg]

I find it very useful in other programs like Photoshop to have a layer to put down guide lines or even a image to work from and then turn off the layer when I am ready to print the finished product. Another example is I have finished a part of the image I am working on it, I lay down a layer and work on a new part with out disturbing my previous work. I guess after 20 years of working in Photoshop I miss feature I have always taken for granted.

[Grace]

@Douglas

I think the user’s main use of layers would be a background image.

Yes, I just expanded on what you said.

@ffg

I find it very useful in other programs like Photoshop to have a layer to put down guide lines or even a image to work from and then turn off the layer when I am ready to print the finished product.

Yes, at the moment, we can’t put down an image layer, but you can group the guide lines and other steps inbetween until you have your final objects that will make up the pattern piece to create your final piece. And you can hide the original bits and “work on a new part without disturbing your previous work” by using the groups. I do this all the time

[Douglas]

@ffg

I guess after 20 years of working in Photoshop I miss feature I have always taken for granted.

Understood… I use Coreldraw so I’m familar with using layers and guidelines. Thing is Seamly2D does not function like your typical paint or vector program. It’s parametricly driven, where you draft your blocks in draft mode from which you create pattern pieces. It’s geared towards using instructions from a given garment pattern system, and is not really designed as a freeform drawing program where objects need to be aligned along guidelines. Guidelines which would become meaningless once you apply a different set of parametric measurements. Think of Seamly2D as an Etch-a-sketch application. In piece mode you’re simply adding details to the pieces where there’s no need or use for guidelines. Same for Layout mode where it just takes the pieces and creates a print layout - which you can then plot or print.

[Douglas]

@Grace

Yes, I just expanded on what you said.

Understood, but groups have nothing to do with hiding what’s printed - unless you’re exporting the draft mode - which is really not the main purpose of the app.

Even if you faked guidelines in a seperate group, what purpose would they serve? When we draft garment patterns we’re not drafting within a fixed size. As opposed to say drawing a CD jewel case insert which is a fixed size of 120mm x 120mm with like another 10mm extra around for cropping… where you can have a fixed template of guidelines to work within. It’s apples and oranges.

[Scholli]

Wenn ich richtig verstanden habe gibt es einen ganz entscheidenden Unterschied zwischen Photoshop und seamly, so dass man sie überhaupt nicht vergleichen kann: Bei seamly wird mit Maßen gearbeitet mit dem Ziel aus einer Zwei Dimensionalität eine Drei Dimensionalität zu schaffen. Dafür werden Punkte in Funktionen und Abläufe eingebettet, die Auswirkungen bei Veränderungen in der Zukunft haben. Bildlich gesehen heißt dass für mich: Ich habe eine Aneinanderreihung von Punkten die als Ergebnis meinen Schnitt haben. Die Reihe würde aber zusammenbrechen, wenn ich Punkte einfach herauslösche. Bei Photoshop arbeite ich in den Layern mit Bildern, die ich einfach übereinander legen kann - dadurch entsteht ein neues Bild. In der Schnittkonstruktion arbeite ich aber mit Flächen, Längen und Drehungen usw. die immer aufeinander abgestimmt sein müssen. Diese können nicht individuell gesehen werden.

[Douglas]

@Scholli

Wenn ich richtig verstanden habe gibt es einen ganz entscheidenden Unterschied zwischen Photoshop und seamly, so dass man sie überhaupt nicht vergleichen kann:

Exactly. The purpose of Seamly2D vs other CAD, paint, or vector applications are totally different. For the most part guidelines wouldn’t have much use in Seamly2D. The usual purpose of guidelines are to constrain what you’re drawing, while a pattern in Seamly2D is dynamic, and can change according to the measurmeents applied. And since quideline are not really needed, so is trying to hide them before printing.

That being said… There is a use for importing a background image that you can draft over. You could import an image of an existing pattern piece, scale it to the correct W & H, then draft the grade points over it. And by using a method I’ve decribed elsewhere on the forums, you can grade the pattern to other custom sizes.