Kaffeepause

The worst thing
The worst thing is that with subscription models you can be locked out of your own creations – even for political reasons #AdobeVenezuela. It's extortion. 
https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/7/20904030/adobe-venezuela-photoshop-behance-us-sanctions
And once you've subscribed, it's even harder to switch to another software company because you have to be subscribed to open old documents.
So never, never, never subscribe if file formats from other software companies can't be fully read like .indd .afdesign .afphoto .afpub!
I stayed on Adobe CS6 for years for this reason and I will never subscribe if there is even the slightest suspicion that I could be locked out of my own work, even if I have unsubscribed.

I recently illustrated a Zebra Swallowtail Butterfly (Protographium marcellus) for my brother. He wanted a photo, which I did not have, so I decided to create an illustration for him instead. I used AD v2.31., but spent a lot of time in the Pixel Persona. I also made a few trips to Affinity Photo for a few features that AD does not support. Hope you like it. 

First you need to find a unicorn egg then smash it with Thor's hammer and burn the pulverised eggs shells in the fires of Hades, the resulting incense will attract them.
Alternatively, you could just wait to see if/when they see this thread. But bear in mind they have a lot of threads to catch up on after the holidays, so the unicorn egg route would be the quickest option.

I've just uploaded a new Version of my little SVG calendar generator with Slovak language.
https://svg-tools.mensch-mesch.com/calendar/
Thanks to @PhosPhorus25 for the Slovak translation!

I am asking for your help with the following performance problem in Affinity Publisher on my 2020 Mac Mini:
When moving text frames and other objects, e.g. shapes, I notice a strong delay. The text frame or object takes the new position only after a delay of about 0,5 up to 2 seconds. This makes accurate placement of objects extremely difficult, as I always have to wait a short time after repositioning before I can correct the position.
I don't recall observing these delays in previous versions.. However, I have not worked in Publisher since March on the MacMini. Now I want to update a project for work and I notice these severe delays when rearranging text frames. It is a straightforward project with two pages containing only a few text frames and vector graphics. But this affects not only this project, but also a completely newly created file, with only one text frame (see video).
I have already tried various measures recommended here in the forum without success:
* Hardware Acceleration: turn metal support on and off.
* View Quality: Bilinear and Nearest.
* Display: Metal, OpenGL or OpenGL (Basic), Software
* Retina Rendering: Automatic, low quality, high quality
* Reset user settings
* Uninstall Publisher completely (including files in Library folder) and reinstall.
Unfortunately, none of these actions made any significant improvement. If metal support is turned off, then things get worse. I also notice a slight delay in Affinity Designer, but not near as much as in Publisher. Now I don't know what to do and hope for your help.
Since all three programs are also installed on my MacBook Pro, I did a test there and notice virtually no lag.
I purchased all three Affinity programs from the Serif store. My Mac Mini and MacBook Pro are rather well equipped, please see the specs in my signature.
To illustrate the difference, here are two short videos. The first shows the delays on the MacMini and the second shows the behavior on the MacBook Pro for comparison.
I am grateful for any tips. Many thanks in advance.
 
Moving text frame on MacMini.mov Moving text frame on MacBook Pro.mov

It's reported a few times …
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/tags/afb-4577/
Not sure if it is intended to be resolved according to this release note: (I still get the issue in a German OS + English APub)
@Kaffeepause, bin neugierig interessiert: Wie erzeugst/aktivierst du die Darstellung der Tastatur-Keys in deinem Video?

It was, a few times already.
The forum search could be better for sure…
I recall that in the other similar thread I've already proposed the following "ugly workaround":
type the value in any other text field; that can even be the Style Name field right above, then cut it to the clipboard right-click (control-click) the color value field and paste the previously copied value At least on El Capitan, it only works via context menu, not via cmd-V.
Mit der silbernen Tastatur und mattem Bildschirm? Hab ich auch! Hat optisch zwar schon was abbekommen in all den Jahren, aber seit ich ihm eine 2TB SSD spendiert hab, läuft es wieder wie am Schnürchen. Inklusive Affinity.

If I understand your request in the first video correctly, then I can recommend tutorials of the forum user @Mensch Mesch, which he offers on his Youtube channel:
I also have bookmarked this tutorial:
I hope this is of any help for you.

I share markw's assumption that the second installation is on an external drive or another partition, because in one of the screenshots showing the sidebar there is the drive "Macintosh SSD - Datos".
But I would like to mention one more thought, which probably does not apply to your problem, but is still worth checking.
In macOS there is the possibility to install apps for all users of the Mac or only for a certain user.
So there can be two Applications folders in the system where apps are installed:
in the root directory of the system in "Macintosh HD/Applications" in the user's home folder in "Macintosh HD/Users/YourUserName/Applications" Therefore my suggestion: Check your home folder to see if there is an Applications folder and if there is an installation of Affinity Photo inside.
Based on the screenshots I have come to the assumption that there is an installation of Affinity Photo in the Applications folder in the root directory and ianother installation of Affinity Photo in the Applications folder inside the Home folder. With CMD + I you can find out the version and then delete the old version.
As written, this is just a thought and does not have to apply to your problem, but I didn't want to leave it unmentioned and I think markw's hint ist more accurate.

I share markw's assumption that the second installation is on an external drive or another partition, because in one of the screenshots showing the sidebar there is the drive "Macintosh SSD - Datos".
But I would like to mention one more thought, which probably does not apply to your problem, but is still worth checking.
In macOS there is the possibility to install apps for all users of the Mac or only for a certain user.
So there can be two Applications folders in the system where apps are installed:
in the root directory of the system in "Macintosh HD/Applications" in the user's home folder in "Macintosh HD/Users/YourUserName/Applications" Therefore my suggestion: Check your home folder to see if there is an Applications folder and if there is an installation of Affinity Photo inside.
Based on the screenshots I have come to the assumption that there is an installation of Affinity Photo in the Applications folder in the root directory and ianother installation of Affinity Photo in the Applications folder inside the Home folder. With CMD + I you can find out the version and then delete the old version.
As written, this is just a thought and does not have to apply to your problem, but I didn't want to leave it unmentioned and I think markw's hint ist more accurate.

Let's go back to school, with some of those common and well known plastic/wood/metal like school rulers.

The ruler assets shared here ...

... are all vector based and do have a printed on centimeters or inch scale (some also do contain both cm + inch scales together printed on). The default ruler sizes and thus their shown scales, should nearly match the Affinity ruler measurements, which means they could be used to measure when placed into Affinity docs, as far as their default size is kept and they are not resized from their initial size.
Note that all rulers are just a bunch of grouped together vector parts (curves and text) ...

... thus they can be modified in colorings and the like.

 
The set of rulers contains some straight rulers ...

... a few triangles smaller and bigger sized ...

.. and some simple protractors.
Here is the associated assets file:
school-rulers.afassets Have a nice school day!

I'm going to use a Calendar as a way of showing a few useful features I found out - and some suggestions.
Firstly, dragging out a table is great! Select the Table icon in the tool bar, select the Snapping tool to get it to snap to the margins, and simply Drag Out the table - you will see it gives dimensions - rows and column counts too! Pretty cool!
There are only a few modifier keys available. A modifier key is when you are using the mouse to move/alter something and press a key on the keyboard to get it to behave a different way.
Shift = constrains proportions CMD = sizes from the centre point where you clicked on the screen What I think is missing is a modifier key to allow the amount of rows and columns  - simple arrow keys could add and remove rows and columns would be super useful!
 
 
For this calendar - I only want the First 3 rows to appear. Month - Days - Dates
I draw out the table and let go of the mouse and low and behold - I have 7 (that was lucky) columns and 3 rows, as I only dragged down that far.

The added feature that's pretty cool!
With the Table tool still selected - you can drag down the table from the tab as indicated. Or similarly - on the right hand side, grab the tab and drag to add more columns!
You can slide them up and down or left and rigth until you have the desired amount of columns or rows.

However, once you have made your decision - you cannot remove the rows/columns by dragging them back up. I presume this is to prevent deleting information accidentally, however, if the cells are empty I don't see why this can't be done
If you want to remove the column/row you can select it and right click and choose Delete Row
However if you have more than one row/column selected you cannot choose to Delete Rows!
        No option to Delete Rows 
To delete more than one Row/Column you have to use the Table menu and choose "Delete Rows" or "Delete Columns"

 
 
Onto the calendar!
Select the top row and right click and choose Merge Cells

 
View>Studio>Table (I believe this menu and sub menus are subject to change)
 

 
Select your table and add some "Insets" so the text doesn't butt up against the cell wall - this is optional and you can adjust to how you like. 
Very important to ensure you're on the CELLS portion - there is an option for the FRAME - which is above in the screenshot of the Table  Panel, this is relating to the Frame the table sits in and not the Table Properties.
That's a bit confusing becuase you'd expect the Table options to the forefront of the options, however, not a major issue! 

In fact it's all optional - I'm leaving mine plain because I want to show another feature.
Insert the Month top row - days on the 2nd row - and leave the 3rd row blank.
 
Select the entire 3rd row and go to View>Studio>Paragraph
   Expand the Bullets and Numbering List!      
 
 
Choose 1. 2. 3. 4.     Change the text section to read as. 
 
Note - when you edit this panel option - you need to hit Return - this shouldn't be the case - if you don't hit return your changes won't be implemented. 
Your table should now look like this!

 
Grag the TAB as shown before - to expand the table to add more rows. 

 
January 2019 starts on a Tuesday (any calendar will tell you that )
Cool feature! You can select cells noncontiguous - that means they don't have to be beside each other. 
To do this - select the A3 cell - then let go of the mouse to leave it highlighted. Press the CMD key (possibly CTRL on PC) which is the "modifier key" then select the remaining cells. 
From the List Type in the Paragraph Panel - you can then set this to NO LIST.

 
Your table will now automatically renumber to ensure all the days have the correct number assigned.

 
Drag the handle down on the side of the table -  to make it fill the page! 

 
Select the numbered rows - right click and select distribute rows evenly
 

 
Duplicate your page
 

 
Rename Month to February 
January ended on a Thursday - so February starts on a Friday and February 2018 has 28 days. 

 
 
Select the first 3 days - and set the Paragraph Numbering to No List

 
Voila! February is Done! 

 
Add your icons! 

 
 
Now you can repeat the steps to make the remaining calendar months! 

Hi @A_B_C, for a modern Mac system with a reasonably powerful GPU that has sufficient VRAM, you should absolutely use Metal Compute (hardware acceleration) where possible.
The main hurdle to overcome is graphics memory. macOS will use a certain amount of VRAM to simply drive the display—the amount is dependent on your screen resolution. Previous 15” MacBook Pro models would use a resolution of 3360x2100 I believe (1680x1050 logical resolution) but the 16” models use a slightly higher resolution. Be aware of this memory usage if you plan to use an external display at 4K or 5K—even more so if you run an external drive whilst keeping the lid open to use the internal display as well.
In addition to this, the Affinity apps will demand graphics memory for the Metal view context. With Metal Compute, this memory requirement increases because the GPU is also being used for compositing, and this is typically where you may run into slowdown if you max out the VRAM—you’ll then be eating into swap memory which incurs a performance penalty.
Under everyday editing circumstances, you may never run into any memory issues. If your editing experience suddenly becomes very slow and laggy, however, you may have run into the limitations of your graphics card. I know you can configure the 5500M/5600M models with 8GB, but am I right in thinking the 5300M can only have 4GB? In which case you will simply have to work in your usual manner and try for yourself!
As an example, I do a lot of work with 32-bit OpenEXR multichannel documents—I typically have about 20-30 layers in a document that averages 5000-6000px in width (and usually similar in height). On top of all that, I run a 5K monitor. This combination is a little extreme, but I can edit comfortably with 8GB VRAM most of the time. I previously had a MacBook with a 4GB VRAM GPU however, and I did find it wasn’t quite sufficient—I ended up borrowing an external GPU enclosure with a card that had 8GB VRAM.
For most editing, including compositing in 16-bit with multiple layers, I think you will typically be fine with 4GB—again, though, this is also dependent on your screen resolution and document resolution.
The advice about switching to OpenGL is typically just a troubleshooting step, but it has more meaning for Photo since you have to disable hardware acceleration to use it—thereby alleviating the significant GPU memory requirement and potentially speeding up older systems where the GPU’s capabilities would not be meaningful enough anyway.
Hope that helps!

Intentional behavior; not a bug.
If an object has an inherent aspect ratio, then by default resizing maintains the aspect ratio. If you do not want to maintain it, press Shift.
If an object does not have an inherentt aspect ratio, then by default resizing has no reason to maintain one. But if you want the resizing to be proportional to the current aspect ratio, press Shift.
If that approach bothers you, you can change the behavior. Preferences, Tools and then set Move Tool Aspect Constrain as you want it to behave.

I also would recommend to do so as @R C-R described.
As additional step you could start in safe mode which clears up some caches. How to use safe mode is described here.
If safe mode doesn't help, it also may help to clear the icon services cache of mac OS. Some time ago I had a similar problem and got mac OS back to work with a paid tool called TinkerTool System. Here is the site of the manual, which describes what it means to clear icon caches. Please scroll down to the section "Icon Caches".

I also would recommend to do so as @R C-R described.
As additional step you could start in safe mode which clears up some caches. How to use safe mode is described here.
If safe mode doesn't help, it also may help to clear the icon services cache of mac OS. Some time ago I had a similar problem and got mac OS back to work with a paid tool called TinkerTool System. Here is the site of the manual, which describes what it means to clear icon caches. Please scroll down to the section "Icon Caches".

Vector Assets: Camouflage
Added some vector assets based on Camouflage consisting of:
1. Mesh (10)
2. Composites (7)
3. Textures 01 (10)
4. Branch (10)
5. Plants:Leaves (32)
6. Plant:Forms (11)
7. Textures 02 (10)

With the exception of Composites detailing has been removed.
samples as below:
Vector Assets Camouflage_01.pdf

Vector Assets Camouflage 02.pdf

Vector Assets Camouflage 03.pdf

Vector Assets Camouflage 04.pdf

Version 01: 6 categories and 43 Vector Assets in 6 Categories
Version 02: Categories and 90 vector Assets in 7 Categories
vectorAssets - Camouflage 01.zip
 
 
vectorAssets - Camouflage.zip

Hey @Kaffeepause,
I've just added a little example Affinity Photo file (Papierabriss.afphoto). Just play with the different layers and you will get the idea. The vector calendar is just the base for the rasterized pixel calendars.
For the top and the bottom paper I've inverted the mask layer (⌘ i on a Mac).

Keep on drawin'
Norbert
Papierabriss.afphoto

In this short quick tip i'll demonstrate how to create simple parallel outlines with expand stroke and geometric functions in Affinity Designer.

Parallele-Außenkonturen-720.mp4

My workflow for resizing images with Affinity Photo in most cases goes with the export.
First I load the image with full size and quality in Affinity Photo. Then I do my modifications and edits in the image. At the end I export the image where I can enter the desired image format (e. g. jpeg) and the desired pixel size in the export dialog. In this dialog I also can adjust the file size by entering the quality percentage of the jpeg. And I also can find the best In addition, I can set the best compromise between quality and file size of the resulting image. On this way, the meta data is preserved (if I don't uncheck to embed meta data in the "More" panel).
In the attched screen capture the original size is outlined yellow and the desired size in export dialog has a green outline. The 2nd screen capture shows that the meta data is kept in the resulting file.
My experience is that for quality reasons resizing of the image should be the last step of an editing process.
I only use the resize dialog if I want to change the dpi resolution of the image.
In old Photoshop times I also first resized the image and then made my edits and the stored this image. In Affinity Photo I learned the described workflow woking best for my needs and results in little quality loss.
 

Hi Kaffeepause
Welcome to Affinity Forums :)
I see what you mean. You can use a vector shape (Ellipse Tool) to get a clean stroke, but using an Outer Shadow and an Outline FX (which is what i believe you're doing) should really give a better result than this. I will investigate it further and fill a bug report if needed.
 
Meanwhile here's a quick workaround that should give you a clean result:
- draw an ellipse with the Ellipse Tool and give it a width, covering the area you want
- duplicate your screenshot layer: right-click on it on the Layers panel and select duplicate or simply select it and press ⌘ (cmd) + J
- drag the duplicated screenshot over the ellipse shape layer (we are using the vector shape as a clipping mask) in the Layers panel
- select the ellipse layer and enlarge it to the size you wish if needed (the clipped screenshot will also scale with it). If you want to enlarge only the clipped screenshot, select it from the Layers panel and scale it as you usually do.
- add an Outer Shadow to the ellipse.
 

 
The advantage of this is that you can resize the shape and the screenshot inside independently from each other to suit your needs.
Check the attached file for a sample.
focus.afphoto.zip