homeyJay

Theres probably some really simple way to do this but I've got a bit of a mental block! I just need to create some shapes like a capital 'L' made of two straight lines but I need to have a round corner connecting them and I need to be able to control the corner radius. How do I do that. I'm using Designer..

How about you guys add an option to the launch panel (the panel that opens up showing samples, tutorials etc) that shows previously opened documents? I know that this can be had from the file menu but it would be quicker if you could just select that from a list immediately, as long as that list doesn't have to be selected to be seen every time you launch the apps, ie make the apps remember your choice to see the list or the other options already available. Anyway, just a thought!

That’s awesome. I’ve not investigated the Customise Toolbar section yet. Just sooo much to learn when you’ve switched to a new app!

Phew, thank god for that. I was trying to find my backup file and of course, I can’t!

With the layer selected, I think... Edit > Defaults > Revert is the best you will get --------------------------------------------- Only problem with this is that it's right next to the Factory Reset menu option and it's easily clicked accidentally. I just did it and its reset all my key combinations and menu shortcuts etc. Not sure which genius was responsible for a Factory Reset command with no 2nd tier verification to proceed or not...Bloody brilliant 😖

OK, that looks about the best we have. Not sure why it shrinks the text to a micron but its easy to drag it back up to what you need!

Hmm, this doesn't really work! If you just create a blank document and add a single letter of artistic text to it, make it large and then add the "Gold Rust" style to it from the styles panel. It works and looks ok. Now if you go to the FX panel and switch off everything, you're still left with gold gradient and some sparkles. I was wondering if there's a simple way to reset the layer to the way it was before you added the style.

Sorry, should have been more specific! I meant a graphic style that’s been put on artistic text (I think that’s what it’s called!). Like the sample metal styles the app comes with etc

I was experimenting with styles and just want to know how to just remove a style and reset the font to a basic colour!

OK, figured this out for anyone that may experience the same issue. Stoke in the separate panel (View --> Studio-->Stroke) is NOT the same as Outline in the FX panel. I've been using both assuming that they are just 2 paths to getting to the same thing but they are NOT! Text that uses a stroke in the stroke panel will be converted perfectly to curves when output to a pdf. Test that uses the Outline option in the FX panel will be rasterised on export to a pdf at the resolution set at document creation. I'm sure that it's explained clearly somewhere but I've not noticed it. Anyway, hope this helps someone if they've been having the same issues!

Thanks for this. Loads of work that I'm doing always involves outlines and drop shadows. How are you supposed to work to print quality using these? Right now if I put any FX on any text, the printed output looks like a dog's dinner. I'm struggling with putting a .2pt stroke around a headline and adding some drop shadow to it. I've tried duplicating the layer and making the one underneath black and resizing so it's slightly bigger but it's damn-near impossible to get the effect a stroke to look uniform. Does anyone have any work-arounds for this issue?

Thanks for the download! I've just recreated it on my own and it now seems to work. I'm doing exactly what I was doing yesterday but today it works. I guess the fates are smiling at me today! Many thanks all!

OK, thanks guys but none of this seems to work properly! If I create a new layer via add layer and drag some shapes into it and then choose the layers option on export, those objects show up in their own separate layer in the pdf. However, if I drag any text into a layer created by 'add layer', the layer does appear separate in the pdf but for some reason, it drops the layer name and calls the layer 'image' and inside it is the text, now called 'curves'. It's not fab because usually you'd do this to call the layer something like 'gold text' or 'left hand text' or something useful like that! I can't rename the layer because exporting to pdf drops the layer names again..

No, I've just sorted it out! I have no idea why but there was something about the text frames in this document that were causing the text to be rasterised on export! I honestly can't understand why but the frame was an odd shape (what I needed) and started life as a distorted rectangle which was then converted into a text frame. For some reason, when I poured text into it and exported it, all the text kept getting rasterised. No idea why. I deleted the text frames, created them again using the same method and it's all fine now. Just some weird sh*t going on but I spent a whole day chasing this..

Actually, pre converting to curves doesnt help. The converted text in the pdf still becomes a low (ish) res image. Desperate for help here..

I think this reply made my head explode...

If I use the "Embed Fonts: Text as curves" option on export on any of the Affinity suite, sometimes (and I don't understand why) the text is actually converted to an image instead of being converted to curves. This seems to happen randomly. I can get around this by pre-converting all text to curves on the Layers menu but it's useful to just convert to curves on export only instead of converting outside export. I just did this for a whole A4 advert (loads of text) and then saved it accidentally. Luckily I could undo it but if I d have walked away and forgotten, I'd have been screwed! Can anyone tell me why this happens?

Hmm, that's a novel approach. So, what exactly does the 'save layers' button do?

This is proving a bit of a deal breaker for me as I'm having to go back to using illustrator again. If I group all red objects / text in one layer, all blue objects / text in another layer etc, when I export to PDF and choose 'keep layers', none of the groups are honoured. Everything is just a mess and I have to go back and group them all again. This takes a long time to do as sometimes I have to deal with well over 100 layers / groups. The frustrating thing is that even after I've re-grouped all the objects & text in colours, there's no way to just save the pdf again without re-exporting the document and guess what happens to all my newly created groups on export? Yup, Publisher rips them all apart again and chucks every thing all over the layers pallet. Not happy at having to go back to Adobe but there you have it.

Sadly, this doesn't work. As before, some layers and groups are kept whilst others are blasted all over the layers pallet..

When I create documents destined for commercial printers, I always group in colours wherever possible. Everything that's white goes in one layer / group, same with black etc. Stuff that's destined to printed in metallics also get grouped by colour so that eg, blue metallics will go into a blue metallics group, same with red metallics etc. I've found over the years that printers prefer stuff laid out like this because, basically, they have less to cock-up with complicated documents & artwork. When I used to use Ai, exporting to a PDF for printing would preserve this folder / group structure but I've found that using AP, most of the time this structure is ripped apart completely and layers are just thrown all over the place. This means that I have to open the pdf again, re-group everything and then save. This is obviously hugely time-consuming and something that I shouldn't have to do in pro-level software. Am I missing something? Is there some parameter I've missed in the export dialogue that preserves the layer / group structure?

Yeah, that what i was worried about. I'm doing a long, folding leaflet that's around 12cm X 50cm, print both sides, so I don't think it does well with facing pages!

ok, that makes sense, I'll try that!

Oh wow. That's just bloody brilliant. Works like a dream! Many thanks MEB

I'm not really sure how to describe this but when I nudge something there are really useful dimensions and positional measurements that flash up on screen (usually quite small). Is there some way to keep them on screen for a little longer or make them appear again as long as you hold down a key or something?