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Thanks, @NathanC. So this is a misunderstanding on my part of how Affinity handles leading. Muscle memory from decades of Adobe strikes again. Now if only there was a keyboard shortcut to access that particular field/value, or even the last accessed value in any panel.

Thanks @NathanC for your reply and the attempt to replicate this. Here's a screen recording showing the issue. As you can see, in both Artistic Text and Frame Text modes, the keyboard shortcuts, ALT + up/down, change the leading when it's in the default/auto state. After entering a leading value manually, the keyboard shortcuts no longer change the leading value even though the history panel records it being changed. The result is the same with filler text or manually-typed text, with hardware acceleration on or off. Windows 11 24H2, all updates including KB5054979 cannotSetLeadingByKeyboard.mp4

This is very disappointing, and it still exists in v2.6.2 After running "Expand Stroke" on any path/stroke, especially if the stroke has a pressure profile applied, the resulting shape is not faithful to the original path/stroke. What appears to be smooth curves can be sharp points, or worse—I was able to create small external loops in strokes after expanding. To see these, you might need to zoom in to 400% or higher. This may not seem to be that big of a deal if you're viewing on screen at 100% or less. But this is not how a designer's work is used. Frequently, our vector work is enlarged to enormous scale: 80' long banners in museums, billboard, bus wraps, etc. I have designed graphics that were a part of the Olympics; these were produced at more than 120' in length. At scale, these discrepancies and sharp points become huge problems. These issues can cause you to lose your client's trust, or their business altogether. Two of the primary reasons professionals work in vector are precision and scalability. Having worked with Adobe Illustrator since 88, I thought ... Did Adobe do this same thing, and I just never noticed it? Short answer: No. At least not in any versions that I still have access to, up to CS6. The precision of paths/curves and their "Outline Stroke" is 99%+ accurate compared to what's happening in Designer. Same with Figma; the Outline Stroke function there results in extremely faithful shapes. No, I'm not advocating that Designer copy Illustrator. There are many ways in which Designer is better. However... This is vector 101. This is the bread and butter. Everything else must be built on top of the fundamentals, not instead of them. IMHO, there appears to be a foundational flaw in how Affinity apps create, display and handle vector paths. It's almost as if the engine is set to use a 99% approximation of the original when converting. Whatever the cause, this really needs to be addressed and fixed.

Thanks, Mike. Sounds like it. I don't remember seeing it before, and it drove me crazy on recent project. Hope this one gets corrected quickly.

In Designer 2.6.2, text leading cannot be adjusted with the keyboard shortcuts (ALT up/down arrow) once a value has been set manually. In other words, if you replace the leading from whatever the default is, say "(12.4)" to "15", ALT up/down no longer changes the leading. Pressing ALT up/down, the History panel adds "Increase leading" or "Decrease leading" each time, though the value does not change. Applies to Frame Text as well as Artistic text. If the default Auto value has not been overridden, the keyboard shortcuts work as expected. The keyboard shortcuts work as expected in Photo and Publisher. Windows 11 24H2 / AD 2.6.2 and Beta 2.6.2.3228 (Searched but did not find this specific issue; hopefully this hasn't been reported before and I missed it...)

Very strange, but that does work.

A curious follow up on the missing/generic icons... Last night I left Photo open and told the computer to "sleep." (Windows 11, 24H2) Today, after "waking" the computer ("Oh, good morning, you're back so soon?") the missing Photo icon is no longer missing/generic.

Same issue here with the missing/generic icons. All three apps, Beta and Public. MSIX. Windows 11 24H2 (though this existed before 24H2) Curiously, the correct app icon shows while the loading/splash screen is visible. Then the generic icon appears to the right of the actual app icon. Finally, when the document opens, or the new document screen appears, the app icons drops down, leaving just the generic.

Lasso? It's there, but you have to use a modifier to get it: Node tool + ALT on Windows. Not sure about Mac, maybe control? iPad help says three-fingers and drag. (Seems like a dedicated tool/icon, and keyboard shortcut, for it would make sense, but that's even further off the original thread topic.)

Confirmed for me. Win 11 23H2/Firefox 131.0.3 Example image: https://images.pexels.com/photos/9672817/pexels-photo-9672817.jpeg Right click, copy Paste into a Photo 2.6 Beta document: pastes the URL Paste into a Photo 2.5.5 document: pastes the image as expected

Love this, and much prefer this over the old behavior. In my workflow and/or personal preference, the click to sample and click again to apply felt unnecessarily slow and clunky.

I believe @issicus is asking for the same functionality that's been requested above. If so, this really seems like a simple "fix" that would be especially welcomed by the many thousands who've just moved over from Adobe, whether having bought already or signed up for the six month trial to see if Affinity will work for them.

I would never have known about the complaint/suggestion here, but I get it. For apps like Affinity, I always run them full screen (i.e., maximized), so rounded corners and drop shadows don't matter to me, though I'm a tiny bit surprised they're not there. I'll confess to being baffled by users who 'float' their app windows. Personally, I want all the screen real estate I can get! In fact, I won't do any serious projects without two (or more!) monitors with all my panels undocked and meticulously positioned on the second screen. But preferences vary and I agree that Affinity apps should honor each OS standards and conventions as much as possible without interfering with functionality. It wouldn't be my top priority by any means, but I'd have it on the board.

+1 for adding the ability to link text I didn't realize linking text (i.e., not embedding) was not available as most of my work over the past several years does not involve collaboration. However, I worked for a long time in multiple environments where collaboration was not just essential, but absolutely required. This is, IMHO, a glaring omission for a publishing tool designed for and marketed to professionals. My most recent version of Adobe InDesign is 12+ years old (pre-rental days) but allows you to link text files, and has many helpful options re: the imported file(s) including keeping or discarding styles. Yes, I realize "Publisher is not InDesign," but this really is required in many workflows. When I encounter important but missing functions, I tend to think there is (or was) a lack of actual industry professionals involved in the decision making at Affinity. I believe that not having basic pro-level functions like this limits the adoption of the Affinity suite by many individuals and organizations. As always, I remain a huge fan of Affinity, and continue to earn my living (in part) with the fine tools they've created. Yet, as someone who's been involved in design and publishing for decades, I think I'd be doing a disservice to not add my $0.02. Thanks for listening.

I'd wholeheartedly agree with this, except ... I thought the vast majority of Chromebooks are severely under powered (processor, RAM, storage). I have one; it definitely is. Do Chromebooks exist with decent specs, and if so, do people actually buy them? I was under the impression that these were primarily for students and/or media consumption, both environments where decent processing power and memory aren't required.