Boolean assistance by layer/layer toggle?

[charliex (charlie)]

is it possible to do the boolean assistant by layer, so subtract one layer from another. as far as i can tell you can select dest/source binary op per shape so if you’re doing a lot it takes a while and they don’t seem to show any selection. or being able to select one shape and the multi select the others ? maybe i’m missing how to do that though

also is there a way to do isolate for a layer vs switching all off/on , so you can isolate one layer as a toggle like photoshop/illustrator? maybe even a shift multi select in the layers to set properties at once on multiple layers?

[berainlb (PY)]

@charliex

is it possible to do the boolean assistant by layer, so subtract one layer from another. as far as i can tell you can select dest/source binary op per shape so if you’re doing a lot it takes a while and they don’t seem to show any selection. or being able to select one shape and the multi select the others ? maybe i’m missing how to do that though

I can’t really follow your examples but I have no issue using Boolean Assistant across objects in different layers.

If not this, can you clarify what you’d be looking for?

@charliex

also is there a way to do isolate for a layer vs switching all off/on , so you can isolate one layer as a toggle like photoshop/illustrator?

Can you elaborate what you’d do with this? If you want to select all the objects in a layer then Shift-left mouse click on the layer will select all objects on the layer.

[charliex (charlie)]

sure thing i’ll give it a go. someone asked me reddit if i could make them a layered dragon, and i am trying to do all the work in lightburn vs illustrator since a lot of folks don’t have illustrator ( and i dont know inkscape)

here is where i am at now.

to get here, i took the layer that is in red, and individually did a boolean assist subtract on each of the red scales of the dragon from the black layer.

so now i have the black layer, in blue with all the holes cut out where the red was.

so rather than pick each shape individually in the boolean op in the red layer, then subtract each from the black layer one at a time, i’d like to be able to subtract the whole layer in red from the layer in black

hopefully that makes sense, and there is a way to do it that i am missing, coz its very tedious work

isolate in illustrator means if you have multiple layers, i can right click one, select isolate and all the other layers disappear , doing the same again and selecting un-isolate returns the other layers back to where they were.

so if i have this

then i right click a layer, and select isolate

it does this

un-isolating, would return the layers to the settings before i did the isolate,

hope that makes sense? and again perhaps i’m missing a way to do this

[berainlb (PY)]

@charliex

so rather than pick each shape individually in the boolean op in the red layer, then subtract each from the black layer one at a time, i’d like to be able to subtract the whole layer in red from the layer in black

Try this:

1. shift click black layer, group all objects
2. shift click red layer, group all objects
3. Select black layer, add red layer
4. Boolean difference

@charliex

isolate in illustrator means if you have multiple layers, i can right click one, select isolate and all the other layers disappear , doing the same again and selecting un-isolate returns the other layers back to where they were.

I see. No. I don’t think there’s anything that will do that in a single step.

@charliex

and i am trying to do all the work in lightburn vs illustrator since a lot of folks don’t have illustrator

What’s the target output format? I’d expect even fewer people to have LightBurn. And LightBurn can read AI and SVG files.

[charliex (charlie)]

ahh that seems to work, perfect, thanks! i figured it had to be something i was missing. only wished i’d ask 20 mins before: )

What’s the target output format? I’d expect even fewer people to have LightBurn. And LightBurn can read AI and SVG files.

people with mostly chinese laser cutters, they’re more likely to have LB than illustrator and this is just for a single person anyway as just to help them out (just for fun) and also so i can do more of the work in LB than switching between illustrator and lightburn all the time.

cheers!

[Rick (Technical Evangelist)]

There are options to change the viewed or output layers. Right-click header in ‘Cuts / Layers’ window to expose.

[charliex (charlie)]

thanks rick, those aren’t quite what i was hoping for. it’s more about being able to move quickly through the layers for editing working.

sometimes you just want to isolate a layer momentary or quickly to view or edit then flip back, the way it works in illustrator/photoshop is basically what i’m hoping for just helps with work flow speed.

thanks!