Is there a way to take a shape, draw a line across it, and slice the shape in two at that line? Preferably with an adjustable width to the gap between the two resulting shapes?
I would like not to have to create another shape, position it over the first shape, and then subtract it.
Why ?
What is the difference between drawing a line vs drawing a shape (and then subtracting the line or shape) ?
Preferably with an adjustable width to the gap between the two resulting shapes?
How do you plan on adjusting the width of something that is not there, that does not exist ?
With a line it does not work as far as I know. But when you draw a rectangle shape with the width of the gap and height long enough to cover the shape you want to slice, you can then place and rotate the rectangle over the first shape, select both shapes, subtract the shapes and the result corresponds to the result you want to achieve.
Yes, but that’s what I said I would prefer not to have to do.
Why ?
Because I do.
What is the difference between drawing a line vs drawing a shape (and then subtracting the line or shape) ?
Because drawing a line to make a cut is easier than making a shape and getting it the right size and then positioning it correctly and then subtracting the two shapes. Other graphics programs have a similar tool to what I’m asking about, called things like knife or slice or somesuch.
How do you plan on adjusting the width of something that is not there, that does not exist ?
I probably worded that poorly. I mean to adjust the width of the line before slicing through a shape.
Now that I think about it, I wonder if there’s a way to accomplish this using automation. I could draw the line (with the desired width) where I want to slice a shape and then run a script to convert it to a shape and subtract it from the underlying shape. Still not as good as having a specific slice tool, but it’s less tedious than doing everything manually. Hmm, have to try this out…
The other issue would be that a shape that has had something subtracted out of it is still a single shape, not two (or more) new, separate shapes. But that’s a problem to tackle another time.
I only wrote this because of the gap you mentioned. Actually it is not fully clear what you want to achieve exactly and what the gap should be: Slicing be deleting a piece of the shape with the width of the desired gap A) or slicing infinitely thin and then moving the two parts so they have a distance of the gap B). The latter is for general shapes not even possible as you see in variant A): Slicing by subtracting shapes results in one disjoint shape - you are not able to move the two parts independently. The second variant was only possible because it’s a symmetric shape. I subtracted half of the shape, made a copy, mirrored the copy and finally moved the copy.
So it seems like a nice feature to have slicing by a infinitely narrow line with a result of two shapes.
According to your stated manipulation of the line, which is of course required, there is no difference between manipulating a line vs manipulating a shape (before the subtraction). I am counting each click and drag. Sizing the width of the operative shape is actually easier (drag vs fiddling with fields in the Inspector).
By all means, make an enhancement request. Explain that you want the slicing tool to have a variable width, and perhaps the bounds of that variable width.
Ok, so you really want a split or divide along the line of the prospective tool, not a slice or subtract.
You could probably script something pretty easily. I did this with Keyboard Maestro because I don’t want to dig into OmniAutomation right at the moment but that would be the right way to go.
Starting from A: Copy. Intersect. Paste. Subtract. Takes a fraction of a second.
Using a shape isn’t that much more hassle than using a line.
