Valerio

In version 2: You can use a Symbol to keep your Composite Body and Composite Mask in Sync. Doesn't solve the banding on the gradient though.

Compounds don't retain individual colours like illustrator does and until the compound feature does it will always be messy.
You could make an outline to enable clipping of the belly  and anything else that overlaps the outer edge of the shape, so you can use the compound feature to create an outer curve, you do this by duplicating the compound and then converting it to a curve. Unfortunately you would need to do this again if you had to move arms ears etc but it is what it is and until the compound can retain individual colours I don't see a way round this, although there are some creative problem solvers on here that know a better way. 

This is what I've been doing for outlines, having to sync it for multiple objects is kind of a pain. I think @Aammppaa's suggestion to use symbols should really help with this as well.
 
Didn't know about symbols, I just watched a short video about them and they seem to be a great way to bypass the issue (and as a bonus to keep lineart in sync)!
Color banding can be solved by not grouping the inner shapes, since in my experience it's caused by the pass-through rendering of the group. It should be easy enough to use the compound path symbol as a mask for every inner shape since they will automatically sync through the symbol feature.
I'll be experimenting with symbols later and post any update. Thanks for the help!

This is what I've been doing for outlines, having to sync it for multiple objects is kind of a pain. I think @Aammppaa's suggestion to use symbols should really help with this as well.
 
Didn't know about symbols, I just watched a short video about them and they seem to be a great way to bypass the issue (and as a bonus to keep lineart in sync)!
Color banding can be solved by not grouping the inner shapes, since in my experience it's caused by the pass-through rendering of the group. It should be easy enough to use the compound path symbol as a mask for every inner shape since they will automatically sync through the symbol feature.
I'll be experimenting with symbols later and post any update. Thanks for the help!

Hi all,
I'm evaluating Affinity Photo (I'm a long time Designer user and absolutely love it) using the free 90 days trial before deciding on the purchase.
I have an issue where a simple brush stroke in Photo will have jagged edges, it's most noticeable on certain stroke angles but it's generally very present.
I am using a very simple brush, 80% hardness and 1% spacing. The problem does not seem to be affected by the stabilizer, or by using a tablet vs. a mouse.
I tried searching the forums and I already made sure that my 'View Quality' is set to 'Bilinear (Best Quality)'.
I drew a comparison using Krita, which displays a much smoother edge using an equivalent brush and stroke direction.
Is there anything I can try to smooth those jaggies?
Thank you.