Paul Mc

I think I spoke too soon. This isn't working in as useful manner as I had hoped. I was hoping that I could set up an export destination filename based on the document filename or document name - which I presumed was the filename without the path and extension. This all works fine with a newly opened file. What I'm experiencing is that the document name and filename appear to be the original document names and filenames no matter how many iterations the document has been through and then saved under different names. If I open a png file, for example fred.png, that I use as the basis of a design, add content to it then save it as version1.afdesign then the document name stays as fred and the filename stays as fred.png. If I then tweak the design and save as version2.afdesign then document name and document filename are still fred and fred.png. It appears that I have to save the file, close it and reopen it before the name changes. Is this by design? It would be good if the path components were updated dynamically (just like the slice names) so that when a save or save as is performed they change to match the filename.

Hi @Callum, I'm hitting this issue more and more has there been any update on this?

I just want to say a big thank you to Serif for adding the filename as an Export variable in the new 2.4.0 release. This is going to save a lot of time in my particular workflow. Thanks for listening. Now to checkout the other new features.

Thanks @thomaso, I might give this a try. I can see this getting out of hand though with some of my previous projects. Ideally what I think is needed is a list of Export Objects each of which has a complete set of layers/groups visible, each of those can then be included or excluded from the export with specific file settings just like now. The slice idea is nice for simple projects but when you start doing client work where options, variations and revisions can run riot then it is not so useful (IMHO).

This issue has been mentioned several times over the years. I do a lot of packaging design and often have to provide clients with artwork with various style changes as options plus a preview with a cutter overlay and eventually a print-ready version. Often backgrounds and some peripheral elements remain the same through each option set. I really wish slices could contain cherry picked layers and groups from the design and reuse some layers in multiple slices (perhaps then they wouldn't be considered as slices though). My workflow now involves creating Symbols for each major element and then creating new layers for each combination. It's more work than I think I should need to do but at least all my edits stay in-sync.

@Digbydo 2 my pleasure. Like @smadell says, a live demo will be way more impressive - of the software features and your skillset - so do that if it is possible. Don't forget to rehearse it though. 😁 Good luck with the presentation.

Maybe consider the "journey" that might most interest your group. E.g. the RAW conversion journey focusing on the core steps - like cropping and curves and then move on to straightening horizons, verticals, removing lens distortion then perhaps onto sharpening techniques etc. I would consider masking an intermediate use and so it depends somewhat on your audience as to whether this would be a good idea. Another pathway could be recovering poor exposures, framing, colour balance etc. Yet another would be taking scanned images of damaged photos and showing how they may be "repaired". Even if astrophotography doesn't garner much interest, stacking is certainly a useful feature. End each with a before-and-after comparison to show what was achieved. I would agree with doing worked examples, even if they are pre-prepared, as this is likely to be the most convincing way to demonstrate the features/benefits. And then there is all the artistic stuff you can do too. 😁 My (subjective) take on the comparison with PS and LR is that they have both grown over the years and I've yet to meet anyone I'd consider a fully comprehensive expert. IMHO, most people don't need everything they have to offer and only use a fraction of the features. Affinity products are younger and have some limitations by comparison but it feels like it's possible to learn/know nearly everything they have to offer. The suite integrates well and allows for more work to be performed within a single toolset should you require that. E.g. doing a product photoshoot and then creating a catalogue that can go online or to print - something I had to do recently - was a breeze. Of course all this is doable in Adobe world - albeit with a slightly longer learning curve. If you already have PS/LR skills then quite a few can be transferred to AP. The cataloguing feature is something you'd have to go elsewhere for. I've not used PS or AI for around four years now. For me and my needs, the Affinity suite is a great fit.

It appears that changing all the nodes in the top curve to Sharp then allows the Add to work.

Hi Callum, No problem with privacy as this is just me trying some experiments. Unfortunately the saved file does not seem to exhibit the same behaviour as when editing the file. However, the Add function still appears not to work. Label11b error.afdesign

Hi, I'm seeing this message popup in the viewport whenever I select two specific layers. I'm guessing this popped up earlier in my workflow but I didn't notice it. I created a 5 pointed star using the Star Tool, then used the Pen Tool to create a set of lines which joined opposite corners. Then I did an Expand Stroke and Add on the lines and an Expand Stroke on the star. Trying to Add the star outline with the lines was when I first noticed it. Now without trying the Add, just selecting the two layers causes the message to be displayed. I presume this is a corner case where the maths breaks down. Any thoughts on what to "nudge" to make it work?

Thanks @GarryP Deleting the JSON files seems to have solved the notification problem.

Thanks @walt.farrell I missed this. It seems like it happened again yesterday.

I've just started AD tonight and was presented with this message but the version that downloads is 2.1.1 - is this just a WIP and I need to be patient? Also, please can the EXE version download the EXE version and not the MSIX version? If I then hit OK and run the program and select Check for Updates on the Help menu I see:

Hi @Nightowl, this had me fooled at the start too 🙂 I think that you are probably copying and pasting the whole layer and not the selection. Try, selecting the rectangle and then using Copy Flattened and then you should see the marching ants outline the duplicated part on a new layer. Then drag the selection to where you want it. Alternatively, create a new pixel payer and fill it with a sample of the desired colour.

Just bumping this because it wasn't fixed in the latest release and I've just had to revise a project where scaling of the design was required and the tidy-up was rather tedious. I would propose a Scale with object checkbox on the contour tool bar like we have in stroke. I can't think of any cases where you wouldn't want the contour to scale with the object so maybe this should just honour the stroke setting for consistency.

Loads like this for me. AD 2.1.1 on Windows. It took a while though.

I've recently had to do some halftone work and the workflow involved using Affinity Photo to prepare the image which included setting the levels and conversion to B&W with the addition of a Halftone filer. This is then brought into Affinity Designer for the other elements of the design o be added. Although there's no Halftone filter in AD, the filter from AP is preserved and is non-destructive until you export, at which point it is converted to a bitmap. Your document settings will define how that looks and there might be quite a difference from the vector image seen while editing so make sure you preview exports before going to print (assuming that's what you want to do). This is in AD:

I tried as well and it seems to work fine for me. Here's an overlay on your samples: Of course we might not have exactly the same font files and that might be the cause.

Try loading and saving your processed RAW file without any adjustments to see if that shows the same difference in file size. Try reloading the newly saved file and the original. Put the original on another layer and then use a difference mode on the top layer. Check the viewport and histogram. If you see black everywhere then you probably have an equivalent image file even if they saved at different sizes. I'm no expert in Capture One but I believe you can compare before and after adjustments. Maybe you can compare the Affinity Photo saved file to the freshly converted RAW image? You probably know this but there is also lossless compression which results in a smaller file than uncompressed but should be equivalent when viewed.

Ah. Thanks @walt.farrell that was the clue. Even though AP objected with an error message it does delete it if you clear masters from all the other pages. It then seems to keep sync. The linking seems to be using the index of the "page" and Master A is bumping them all along by one.

AP prevents it.

I've created a multipage Affinity Publisher document (using the Generate option in Data Merge). I then have a single page poster design in Affinity Designer which places these pages, 1 through 16, into the layout. All is fine at this point. If I then re-run Generate because of an update to the underlying data it regenerates the AP document which then is "updated" when the AD document is opened. The problem is that Page 1 now becomes Master A and Page 2 becomes Page 1 i.e. all the pages are off by one. Master A is not used in the AD document and I can't delete it from the AP document. Placing a dummy Master A page into the layout doesn't stop this from happening. This is clearly a bug but any thoughts on how I can get past this for now?

@ferreirex Here's a link to the Windows application I mentioned earlier. I'm hoping it is fairly self-explanatory but if not then please post here or message me if you have any questions. https://www.nothinghereisreal.com/downloads/QRLab.zip

@ferreirex The program currently generates PNG images. I could modify it to output SVG files instead but I'd need a few days as I'm busy with other work at the moment. How quickly would you need it? The program creates a folder of images and also the source data file in CSV format. You then need to create a "template" file in Publisher and use the Data Merge Layout Tool to create your grid. You then insert the text and image placeholders into the first element of the grid. Then connect the template to the CSV file using the Data Merge Manager and once that is done then the Field panel allows you to assign field values to the placeholders. After that you click Generate and this then creates a new document with all the data previously generated. It adds new pages as required until all the data has been processed. It sounds complicated but after you've done it a couple of times it makes sense.

Hi @walt.farrell so I go back to the original file with a view to cut down the design to a reasonable size to upload here and lo and behold the export was enabled and works. I can't explain it. Yesterday it was disabled and there appeared to be no way to enable it. There's no logic to this other than possibly an uninitialised variable in the code that is set to a random value and the enabled/disabled state is derived from that somehow. I spent a good 30 minutes or so on this before giving up and trying the Beta which solved the problem. If it happens again I will revisit this post with a file upload.