globso

well, its not only with the text-tool this happens. its basicly every tool. when i click with anything on to the canvas it changes to that layer. the simpelest of tools works most of the time, like the brush tool. but i realized that it just happened with that tool aswell. i can see how it sometimes can be neat to just click on the canvas to get to that layer, but make it bloody work then... or like the fx-panel, make it work or just take it away, or the "canvas rotation" feature, or the text writing-tool over all. everything just seems so unfinnished. i read something about a new version of affinity, is it comming anytime soon? im just having a bad day here, just reebooted affinity bacause some feature stopped working as usual.

but that text layer will still place itself just above whatever random layer is beneeth wherever you put the text cursor on.

but if i click once, the text will place itself just above whatever layer happened to be under the text in the layer order. if, as i have it now, i have abunch of letters spread out the whole canvas, this will make an utter mess of the layer order. i want all the letters in a row in the layers panel. i can (as i also do now) off course readjust the layer order, but it feels like such an unnesesary extra process.

yes i am clicking to se the cursor exactly where i want it to be( like you do in right about every other software in excistence) , i dont want to click and drag and resize it, just to resize it back to the preset that i had from the beginning? i have tested it now, and sure, its easier to get the text to be, and not just selecting an other layer. but i still have to resize it afterwards. sure not a big deal if you are just writing one phrase, but i have a bunch of texts that has to be in different layers and the same size. but your tip worked for sure, i guess i just have to live with that i have to resize and correct everything afterwards.

how on earth do i shut off the function that enables selection of layers on the canvas? this is the number one worst function of this software, al least how it works now. as an example: im trying to put in some text on a document, instead of putting down the text marker and create a new text layer -the layer that is under the text tool icon is chosen. the same thing happens almost all the time whith different tools, the wrong layer is chosen and something bad is happening. sometimes i realize it right away, but sometimes you realize that you have been drawing/fixing stuff on the wrong layer for 15 minutes and have to cmd-z into insanity. is there a way to shut this off? so i only can change layers in the layers panel. and i dont mean to "lock" a layer as a solution. a locked layer can still be chosen and is still irritating if it is chosen without me wanting it to be. Affinity photo mac os

i realised now that not only if you copy a fx-feature it will get ruptured, if you just do a simple copy-past on a layer the FX will screw up. the layer i just pasted (a rather big picture on to a smaller project) also lost quality beyond repair. i understand if i copy a small immage and try to upsize it, there will be quality loss, but if i do it the other way around?? from a big picture to a small? are there a non destructive way to copy paste stuff? this should just be easy!

thanks again. well yes, there is some overhawl needed on the whole layer fx panel i would say when i have been working with it for a while. i feel its unessesary hard just to change colour on gradients, copy pasting colours i have not found a way of doing yet. as it is now i have a paper and pen and writing down all the values of the colours so i kan manually "copy" them. i guess we´ll have to wait untill the next version of affinity as you said.

nice, ill try that one out! but for now however im copying this FX to a whole new project in an other bar. but to copy to other layers in the same project it looks like a good workflow, not as easy as copy paste. but its nice to hear that the team are working on the bug fix for this. as it is now i cant test anything since the layer fx panel seem to have frozen and i guess i have to restard affinity again:P

not really what i was looking for i think. you can see the values on the second and third picture are different after i have pasted it. the one i copied from: opacity 100% radius: 21,7px intencity: 22% and when i paste it (third picture): opacity: 100% raduius: 23,6px intencity: 22 and sure, i can just adjust the "radius" here and make it correct, but i still have to deal with all the other effects that i have copied that obviously not are correct in their values. how can i just copy the fx and paste it, with nothing changed?

im trying to copy the "FX" features from one layer/document to an other. i do this via the function "select layer-copy layer-select the layer i want the FX on- go to edit- paste FX. the FX will the be copied on to the layer, but not the values. why does not the values get copied as well?? it took forever to find the "paste FX" in the first place and now that i have found it it does not work for me.

Thanks, to bad, but thanks for the work around suggestions. ill test to copy the layers and then warp together, if it gets bad ill delete and do it again and so on:P lets hope for an upgrade on this feature in the future.

hi. im havin trouble with the warp mesh tool. i have selected two layers that need to be warped together. i dont want to merge them yet, just change/warp them together. i can do other stuff, like move them together with the move tool. is there a way to do this? in the picture you can see that only the red layer is warped, even though both the red and the yellow sewing machine-layer is checked. Mac os affinity photo

oh my god!, that was a pretty well hidden feature! i have found ways around it now but good to know in the future, thank you so much. im now struggeling to figure out why -when i copy the "fx" from a layer and then paste it via the "Edit- paste FX" (also a rediculously hidden function) it does paste the correct effects, but totally random values.

ah im probably a little old school, this was the only way to make a selection/mask styff before layer mask became to be. they were still layer specific at least in photoshop. so there are no way to make the "pixel selection" layer specific in affinity?, or at least let me do anything else than only do stuff with the pixel selection. its pretty worthless if you have to "delete pixelselection- do change-make new selection" for every small change you make? just bacause the pixel selection overrides every other function?

it is the highest layer i want to move/transform/do anything with. that is impossible when i have made a mask with the lasso on an other layer. the mask that i have is on the sewing machine so it should not affect anything above it ( i dont want it to affect any other layer then the one i have made it on, but that seems impossible). the only way i found to import a new image and reesize it and such was to cmd/ctrl-D, and take the mask away completly. then i could import a new picture and after that make a new mask on the sewing machine layer and continue. i dont know what you mean by "nest" the mask to a layer, but it sound wonderful and exactly how i want it to be. however, when i make my mask it will effect both layers on top and beneath if i go to those layers and continue working. i would like the mask i make to not ever, never ever do anything to an other layer than the one i made the layer on. but it seems affinity does not really care about layers that much. you can simply click around the picture to change what layer you are working on(?). i guess thats great for some stuff, but sometimes, when you are zoomed in you sometimes dont realize that you have changed layer because you have clicked on an other layer by mistake. i want it to be so that every layer change thing i do, i do in the layers bar, and not on the canvas. im writing this because i think it has to do with the same thing, actions that should be focused in on specific layer are overruled by some function that allowes freedom between layers. is there some where you can play around with the restraints in the layers panel?

hi, i guess this is an easy task for you who know. i have just copied a part from one picture from one tab, pasted it to an other in an other tab( the upper most layer). when i paste it only a part of it gets pasted. i cant use the move tool to move it either, i cant change size to it, its like its stuck. when i click on it the mask from the other layer it also activates and the only task i can do is change size to that layer, even though that layer is not activated. i dont see the use of layers if you cant work with them separatly?? also, a thing with masks, when i draw a mask with the lasso and then, i want that mask "on" and not deleted. however i dont want the same mask effect every other layer when i switch to an other layer! i dont know why i would ever want that? i can not recall ever having this issue with photoshop, and i thought that Affinity Photo would act more similar in this basic task, but its like relearning everything again. Affinity photo Mac os

Amazing effort to help out! i see, then i will just reedo the house your way (and maby the other stuff asweell, it usually gets better on the second or third try anyway) . i was just hoping for a quick "connect the two sides so that they meet up, then tell the software to merge everything to one line/layer" but i guess we are not there yet:) and as you say, if i have to connect the two sides by hand, then i will have to connect every stroke i have made, that will take time !. i guess the best way is to remake it. but now when i have seen your picture of this i understand much better how to do it. making this again the correct way dont look that hard. and sorry you all, this is affinity designer if that was unclear.

yes everything seems to work fine when you draw simpler things, but when it start to get coplicated groups and layers it all just falls apart. in this picture, i drew half of the house, (since affinity designer does not have a bloody mirror tool!!) then i copied that, mirrored the copy, put them together and made them a group. now i want to put some colour to the house. i can mark one layer at the time and change the outline colour. but i cant off course get colour int to the model, since its two open halves. now i would like to close them and put some colour in. but since there is no merge tool it is impossible to make them merge together. and when i have tried to fill the group with colour it now fills a random layer pitch black, this is new behaviour. picture 2

as to be clear, i want to join all those hundreds of lines that makes the house, i want it to be one single lined layer. so that i can fill colour it...no i know that affinity does not have a fill tool, so i might just take my project to incskape witch has. but i rather stay with affinity since i like it here better over all.

where do i find "merge" in menu? is there an actual Merge tool in designer?

hi, im trying to colour a project. it now consists of about a milion lines and circles. i would like to make the house one layer, fill that with a colour, the different circles a different colour and then make them a colour. are there an easy way of doing this? like a merge tool that works? when i try changeing colour on the "group" layer it only colours in the weird way of picture 2. i have tried to use the "add" tool to merge layer by layer but that does not work. i cant come up with an other idea then to export the project and then colour it in an other pixel software? but that kind of looses the reason to make it a vector project.

1. can you pleace make it easier to switch on and off the guides and grid. none of the key shortcuts cmd; or cmd`works for toggle grid and guides on and off on mac. also, cmd ; and cmd `are not that good of shortcuts combination didgets, they are pretty far from each other. 2. can you pleace make it possible to change colour on the guides, one can change the colour on the grid but not the guides? the glowing blue can sometimes not fit in with the project/colours one is working with. 3. can you pleace make it possible to turn (the same blue coloured supersharp) outline and the bounding box around the layers when they are selected. in trying to colour my layers wthe small changes, some layers witch are really thin. but the blue outline kind of destroys the whole experience of testing different colours. sure, i can hold down the spacebar, then everything is gone, but then i cant use any tools to do any adjustments. this really feels like working with photoshop back in the 90s when there was no preview and you had to make the project a colour and then press ok to se if it worked. 4. an overlook of the grids and guides over all would be nice. last time i opened a project, turned on the grids and started working, the grid was not aligned with the centre of the canvas!? not that it was in the centre of a grid box, no it was a few random mm off. i did not realise this in the beginning and had to reestart the whole project. why on earth is this not centered? who would want their grids and guides a random amount of milimetres to one side?

thanks all. yes that grid template layer looks really neat! i think i´ll have that a go. I dont really understand how to change the shortcut for the guide on/off in preferences but ill look in to it. i cant even find that shortcut in preferences (but it is stated that it is cmd ; when you go view show/hide guides. ill check in to this. its not the whole world if its not working, just a little enoying. and if i can make my own grids and guides that would solve the problem over all.

4a. ah i see, thats a shame:( 4b. its not changing snap on/off, its the show guides on/off that does not work. that is, i dont want to see the guides or grid sometimes when i work, and to shut it off i have to go in to the menu to uncheck it because the hotkey "command ;" is broken. its just a shame, but not much to do about it. i have read other threads about it and it seems to have been broken quite some time.

1. Yes! the hand tool did the job. not the most obvious solution at all, but it worked. and i cant for my life understand why there have to be so many tool shifts to make stuff. if i want to change colour, just let me. not just with some of the tools, a random bunch it seems? 2. no its the "bounding box" i refere to and want gone sometimes (also would like to change colour to to make less of a laser beem in the eye colour:). "firstdefence" answered that question. 3. if i use a pixel layer to colour, how will that work with the vector layers? it wont be destroyed when resized? 4. hm, the change of grid colour works. but not the colour of the guides for some reason. i would also love a working short command for snaping guides on and of. on mac the "cmd ;" command only opens up "preferences user interface". cmd ; is also just an awful combination of buttons to do with one hand on a mac:)