What is a Path Effect, and why is it live?
In graphic design, when we talk about making shapes, edits to photos, and so on, there are two kinds of routes we can take to get what we want – destructive and non-destructive. Simply put, a destructive workflow means that once we do something to a shape, it’s done, and cannot be reversed (except for for a short time by the Undo function).
For example, when we use our Boolean operations (by selecting Path > Difference) to subtract a square from a circle, we make a new shape made of nodes, lines, and curves. Thus, the circle and square are destroyed to make the new shape and are no longer editable separately.
If we then wanted to move the square without moving the circle parts, we’re pretty much out of luck. We would be better off drawing a new circle and square and then combining them again in the same way.
A non-destructive workflow is different; if we take that same circle and square, add a Boolean path...
