Let users manually enter the X and Y positions of nodes when editing vector shapes

What features would you like to see in Pixelmator Pro?
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2021-06-18 01:46:10

When editing vector shapes, the only way to position nodes is by moving them with the mouse or keyboard, and moving them with precision requires you to create horizontal and vertical guides to snap them to. It would save a tremendous amount of effort if the X and Y coordinates in the Arrange panel reflected the currently selected node(s)* and you could enter their exact position by hand.

* While you are in edit mode; it would still be the position of the whole shape in selection mode
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2021-06-22 11:23:24

Noted. We've had this requested before so we do have the feature in mind. If we were to add it, though, that would probably happen in the longer-term future.
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2021-09-13 16:48:10

Reminder, in the same vein, I requested the feature to allow alignment and distribution for anchor points, very similar to the way they work for selected objects. The current menu locations for alignment and distribution could be changed based on whatever, objects or vector anchor points, are in play. Just a thought.
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2021-09-15 13:49:54

Good point. In such a case we'd probably need to bring the alignment options from the Arrange menu over to the Shape tool as well. Not having the shape editing tools in the Shape tool options wouldn't be very intuitive, I think?
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2021-09-15 15:38:13

While we´re here is there a way to maintain symmetrical nodes? I mean handles are of equal length+direction while dragging?
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2021-09-17 09:19:30

by EllenM 2021-09-15 12:38:13 While we´re here is there a way to maintain symmetrical nodes? I mean handles are of equal length+direction while dragging?
Command-clicking the anchor points to select them before dragging will make them move together. This won't work with direction handles, though.
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2021-09-17 10:24:49

I can´t get this to work; ctrl-click immediately open context-menu no matter what.
I´m talking about this in first place:
https://postimg.cc/dZBvsRYx
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2021-09-17 10:41:59

Ah, Command-click actually selects the anchor points. Fixed it. You can tell I don't work with shapes a lot. :smiley: Yep, I thought you probably had the direction handles in mind. I double-checked it with the team and it seems I was right — there's no shortcut/modifier key for the function you showed at the moment. It would make sense to have it, seems like. :thinking:
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2021-09-17 12:04:07

Yup - call me a vector-veteran - I love Bézier-curves.
Ah, Command-click actually selects the anchor points
Mmh - do I really need cmd to select anchor points? Don´t think so.
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2021-09-20 08:41:13

by EllenM 2021-09-17 09:04:07 Yup - call me a vector-veteran - I love Bézier-curves.
I can definitely see that. Appreciate you sharing your experience here in the forums. :pray:
by EllenM 2021-09-17 09:04:07 Mmh - do I really need cmd to select anchor points? Don´t think so.
Click and drag over the points works too, but in case you need to select points of some noncontiguous vector paths, Command-click is probably the way to go. But that's a different topic, I guess.
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2021-09-20 09:51:51

Hi Aurelija.
Sorry if I'm so pushy, but I'd like to go into the topic again, because I'm not familiar with the cmd key in this context. I can't find any difference between shift and cmd- key when it´s about add-select - exception when shift is used as angle-constraint.
So what does cmd+click do on vector/points/handles exactly? Thanks for your time.
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2021-09-20 12:13:31

Hi Ellen,

No, it's totally fine. It's actually quite nice to delve a bit deeper into the areas of Pixelmator Pro I less frequently work with. There shouldn't really be a difference, at least from what I can see — Command and Shift both do the same thing as far as point selection goes, although Shift-click is more of an industry standard. For me, though, Command-click is more familiar and a bit easier to remember (as it also might be for other people less experienced with shape editing). In Pixelmator Pro, you use this very same modifier to select noncontiguous layers in the Layers sidebar, and selecting files in macOS Finder works by the same principle. By the way, I've noticed Keynote also has these two modifiers available for selecting existing anchor points, so this behavior is most likely taken from there.