ianrobertdouglas

Try this... (works in my test document but I don't know the complexity of yours)
Select all the Layer layers in the Layers Panel
Right-click and select Expand All
Select > Select All
Right-Click any child Layer and select Release
All child layers should be released but the Layer layers will still be there. But they will be empty, so you just ignore them or delete them if you want to

Habit. If I'm in Publisher, it's for the special tools that are there. I got used to AD over the years before Publisher existed.
It's a fair point, but I never thought of using Publisher as my alternative to Illustrator.
Yet, if that is possible, why wouldn't baseline grids (which is hardly the whole of what Publisher offers) be available in AD?
Again, especially as AD has a toe or two in the web/app design field.
I didn't explore, but is there anything you can't do in Designer Persona in Publisher that you can do in AD?
If not, and you're new, why buy AD?
In other words, the mirror of the weird discussion above.

I stumbled across this bizarre thread by hazard. I'm an AD user since the beginning, and I love Publisher. I use AD as an alternative to Illustrator mostly, but I also create presentational files in AD, as I'm more comfortable there than in any other graphic software I have. I was working on one presentation tonight and was looking to implement baseline grids, but no dice.
Baseline grids are an important option to have available for web and app design, and as AD has at least one toe in that pool, I'm surprised at what I read above. Publisher has a very different set of tools, and no way can I do in AD what I can do there. Nor is Publisher a space for web or app design. Adding baseline grids back into AD would never end my need for Publisher.
Honestly, I can't think right now of any other feature of Publisher I'd like to be available in AD. Perhaps Serif can reconsider adding this small feature back into AD in a future update.

Hi,
 
I more or less understand how you can create a new bitmap-based "vector brush". But I need my output to be pure vector (no rasterisation) and I'm wondering if something like in the image attached could be created as a custom vector stroke brush?
 
It's simply two lines with crossed lines in the middle.
 
Is there any way to create a brush like this that could be: 1) Applied to a stroke; 2) Pure vector (no bitmap or rasterisation on export).
 
Thanks in advance!

Please add better stroke width control. I attempted to use Affinity Designer for complex character lineart with the pressure graph tool. Unfortunately, it works only in simple cases. When many points are added it gets incredibly fiddly to change things or to even understand which point I have to move for editing. Not to mention the pressure graph often bugging out completely in complex situations either with points merging for no reason or point not moving at all and me having to close it down and turn it back up. The current solution is simply not good enough for many complex cases.
Moho Pro 12 (previously called Anime Studio Pro) has a great tool for this, simply called "line width tool". Here you can see it in action: 
 
Even Illustrator's version of this would be good to have: 
Just do something, please. Threads about his have been around for ages. In 2015 it was mentioned as being worked on yet it never landed. Only silence. No mentions of this improvement on the roadmap. This is such a fundamental missing feature that keeps me away from using Designer.
Previous threads: 
1. 
 
2. 
 
 
 

Like the new icon! 

Like the new icon! 

Like the new icon! 

Aaron - iPad version will follow shortly after
 
Uncle Mez - the Beta and Store versions are completely separate - deliberately. Brushes from one unfortunately cannot be automatically mirrored in the other. If you have previously used the Beta, created brushes in it and these have now disappeared, then we have a problem and could do with this bug reporting in a new thread
 
ALL - sorry that some of the long-standing requests aren’t here this time. Over the last development cycle I’ve been very busy writing the iPad version so I haven’t had chance to look at those issues- but now the iPad version has been written, I should be able to dedicate more time to those long-requested features
 
Thanks!
Matt

Status: Beta
Purpose: Features, Improvements, Fixes
Requirements: Purchased Affinity Designer
Mac App Store: Not submitted
Download: Here
Hello,
We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of the first beta of Affinity Designer 1.7 for macOS.
Designer 1.7 is a significant change to the currently shipping 1.6 version. Files edited in this version will not be backwards-compatible with the shipping 1.6 version. As such, we would not recommend using this 1.7 version for critical or production work at this stage. It is inevitable that there were will be a number of issues with 1.7 but we hope these will be minor and aim to resolve any issues very quickly, so please use it and explore the new features, but also do keep in mind that you may find snags and we would appreciate your help with finding and reporting these to us.
If this is your first time using a customer beta of an Affinity app, it’s worth noting that the beta will install as a separate app - alongside your store version. They will not interfere with each other at all and you can continue to use the store version for critical work without worry.
It’s also worth noting that we aren’t done yet - we are still working through reported bugs from previous releases and hope to fix as many as possible before the final release of 1.7.
With all that said, we hope that you will enjoy the new capabilities introduced in this initial release and we look forward to any and all feedback you give to us.
Many thanks,
Matt

Affinity Designer 1.7 - Changes Since Last 1.6 Release
 
Tools
- We've overhauled most of the core tools, adding subtle new features to make you more productive:
   - Node tool has a new 'Transform Mode' which provides a containing box for the selected nodes and allows for more freeform editing of the nodes.
   - Node and Pen tools have an utterly amazing Construction mode which gives easy access to common construction features to help you build complicated shapes or intersections accurately and easily, giving you simple access to parallels, right angles, reflected and mirrored angles, in addition to circular construction snaps and all construction intersections. This really needs a video to show how to use it - but it's awesome.
   - Pen tool now has a 'rubber band' mode and also a mode to allow future curves to be added to the current object's curves (for example, the character 'a' is constructed of two curves in a single 'curve object' and this mode makes that construction simpler).
   - Node tool can now auto-snap nodes if you drag a node from one curve over the top of a node from another (selected) curve and pause, it will offer to snap to the same geometry as the node you're hovering over (ie,  modify the on and off-curve nodes to match). This is really useful for trying to reconstruct areas of one curve from another curve.
   - Node tool now allows for lasso selection of nodes by holding the Alt/Option key and dragging a selection lasso.
   - Pencil tool now offers a 'sculpt' mode that allows for extending or manipulating curves in a more natural way. More to come in this area soon.
   - Many tools now allow for 'Alignment widgets' which you can toggle the visibility of in the context toolbar. When enabled you can visually adjust the alignment or even, for example, 'align to centre, snapped to the left edge of this object' by simply click/dragging.
   - Fill tool correctly allows editing of skewed fill handles and newly-created skewed fills draw much nicer now.
   - Ruler origin can be edited by simply dragging the area where the rulers intersect each other - it can even be snapped onto objects in the document.
   - Guides can be edited in most tools by simply dragging a guide in the ruler area.
   - Grid setup is now more interactive: origin can be dragged, axis scale adjusted and angle adjusted on-document, complete with snapping to objects and angles in the document to help you reconstruct useful grids from finished artworks or sketches.
   - By enabling 'Edit in Plane' on the new Isometric Studio, tools can edit objects and appear to make those edits along the currently active plane - extremely useful for artists who enjoy working with any axonometric projections.
   - You can now drag the rotation centre point (when enabled on the context toolbar) while holding Ctrl and it will translate the object - this is actually very useful for positioning and snapping objects relative to others.
   - Shapes tools now have presets so you can create your own favourite shape setups and more easily use them again.
   - There are just far too many subtle tool changes to mention here, but hopefully you'll find the tools much improved
 
General
- New brushes, styles and assets are now shipped with the product.
- Visible bleed (accessed from the View menu) so you can more easily design into the bleed area - a common feature request.
- “Alternate futures” for document history have been added. Traditionally, if you roll back the undo history then do something else all your changes after that point are lost. Designer will now display a small branch icon in the history tab when you do this. Pressing that button will cycle between all the different “futures” after that history entry - meaning you will never lose work you have done.
- New 'Isometric' Studio makes it easy to setup and work with various axonometric projections within the application.
- HEIF images can now be loaded directly into Designer. If they contain a depth map, this will also be loaded as a second layer. Because depth maps are typically lower resolution than the main image, optional “smart” upsampling will be performed.
- Designer now supports custom document presets - a popular feature request.
- A new blend mode - Linear Burn - has been added.
- New “Move inside / outside” commands have been added - useful for quickly clipping/unclipping.
- New "Merge curves/Separate curves" commands.
- Grids now have an editable number of angle subdivisions.
- The Hard Mix blend mode has been improved.
- Numerous text improvements have been made - including new features such as bullets and numbering.
- Significant PDF import / export improvements and fixes.
 
Brushes
- Designer 1.7 introduces a new “sub-brush” mechanism, developed in conjunction with Paolo Limoncelli (DAUB® Brushes). This exciting feature allows any brush to have a list of other brushes attached which will draw at the same time. Each sub-brush has a fully separate and customisable set of dynamics. You can control when the sub-brushes are drawn and how they blend with the main brush.
- Symmetry (up to 32-way) is now supported - including on-canvas controls and optional mirroring.
- Wet edges and accumulation are now available on colour brushes and brushes with HSL variance.
- Brushes with multiple nozzle textures have always chosen the nozzle at random. In 1.7, the nozzle choice has a dynamic controller and ramp for greater control.
- All pixel brush tools now support left and right arrow keys for rotation - a common feature request.

Adjustments
- The HSL adjustment layer has been rewritten. It now supports custom hue ranges, a new algorithm, new UI and picker controls.
- The Levels adjustment layer now supports output levels - a common feature request.
- The White Balance adjustment layer has been rewritten.
- The Selective Colour adjustment layer has been rewritten.
- PSD import / export of adjustments has been improved.
- The Vibrance adjustment layer has been rewritten.
- The Recolour adjustment layer has gained a lightness slider.

 
Misc
- Numerous other bug fixes - too many to list!

Sometimes I literally put Artistic Text in a rectangle the size of the artboard and copy and paste into Illustrator. That way, you keep your positioning, and you get editable text. But I don't know if other losses are incurred.
I prefer working in AD. But when text is involved, it becomes too much of a pain to stick with it.
Again, eager to see how Publisher handles this.

Today I took my kids to see Ferdinand, and as I'm sat watching the incredible animation, I'm thinking, "I cannot get a simple text box from Affinity into Illustrator and remain formatted and editable."
 
I understand that the majority of the problem lies in Illustrator. But heavens above.
 
This week I faced the task of producing editable .pdf files from Affinity. Yes, I know Acrobat can handle them (or I think: it had no problem reading my export as unified paragraphs), but the truth is, my client wants a file he can open in Illustrator.
 
Simply put, I found no way to do this. At all.
 
I looked into bridges. Sometimes different software can fill in gaps, or change something critical. Nothing worked. Sketch outlines text, Acrobat brought the same errors into Illustrator (or Illustrator read the .pdf in the same way, creating errors). InDesign is useless. 
 
Illustrator: a) destroyed some tracking; not all, just some; b) resized fonts in some cases, and not all; c) outlined two lines of text in a paragraph for no apparent reason; and d) put everything on a single line each anyway.
 
I had to recreate a complex text layout from scratch.
 
Wonderful.
 
Again, I know Adobe and Illustrator do their own thing. But is it impossible to figure out what they actually do?
 
Is Publisher, when it arrives, going to resolve this? Will Designer also benefit from whatever you're developing for Publisher?
 
Watching two hours of incredible animation made it so stark how hobbled we are in our everyday tasks while also trying to be loyal to Affinity.

Thanks Patrick!
 
We’ll keep an eye on Affinity developments with interest. As when an extension framework becomes available, please keep us in the loop.
 
Best wishes and season’s greetings,
 
Nick

Hi!
 
This was deliberately removed a few beta versions ago - and we did talk about it a fair amount because I used to like it but we rationalised that maybe I was the only person who actually did this, so removing it wouldn't be a problem... Basically it was to fix issues with the Apple Magic Mouse which generates sporadic gesture scroll events at random during mouse drags. These events look identical to those that are generated deliberately during the interaction you describe, so we had no way at all to tell whether to scroll the view or not, and Magic Mouse users were getting infuriated that their view was incessantly moving around without them asking for it... It looks like we can just add this back in but put a preference item to disable the behaviour so that we have both camps happy, maybe?   
 
Thanks,
Matt

Sorry to be so late to reply. I think it may be a matter of the complexity of the symbols (I don't use constraints: I'm talking about using symbols in geometrical graphic design), or perhaps hitting font limits because of the sandboxing issue (which I truly hope was not the case). At any rate, the next time this happens in the normal flow of my work I will save the file aside and send it to you.

The Reset Fonts preference button is still not working. It doesn't make available fonts activated while AD is open. You still have to quit and restart the program, which defeats the point of the reset button
Not sure if you saw my note on this on the thread of the last beta, so I'll tag you @MattP

Matt. The Reset Fonts button in Preferences seems still not to work. If I activate a new font and go to reset, that font remains unavailable within AD. Resetting fonts in AD used to make any newly activated fonts available without the need to restart the app.

Hi ianrobertdouglas,
You can use the Corner Tool for that without expanding the stroke.

Hi ianrobertdouglas,
No, currently it's not possible to create vector brushes from vector objects/shapes. This is something that should come later in a future version.

Don't know if this is known or reported, but I get consistent crashes via the Fill Tool in trying to add gradients.
 
I can add a gradient, but not move it. It doesn't happen always, but the ones I cannot manipulate crash every time.
 
 

Reset Fonts in Preferences is not actually resetting the fonts, at least for me. Newly enabled fonts don't become accessible in open documents.

Hi I just want to share some icon assets i made using free icons. Included in this pack. All icons are searchable.
Entypo+: https://github.com/chancancode/entypo-plus FontAwesome: http://fontawesome.io/ Foundation: https://github.com/zurb/foundation-icon-fonts Game Icons: http://game-icons.net Gnome Symbolic Icons: https://github.com/GNOME/gnome-icon-theme-symbolic Hawcons: http://hawcons.com/ Icomoon: https://icomoon.io/icons-icomoon.html Ionic Icons: https://github.com/driftyco/ionicons Material Design Icons: https://materialdesignicons.com Material Icons: https://github.com/google/material-design-icons Typicons: http://www.typicons.com/ Greetings,
 
v2.1.0 (07/10/2017)
Updated Game Icons, Hawcons, iconsmoon & Material Design Icons to the latest version;
Bonus: added a Golden Ratio Asset;
 
v2.0.0
Changed default icon color;
Fixed wrong material icons symbols;
Added Entypo+, Icomoon and Typicons;
Updated Material Design Icons;
 
Download: icons_pack.zip

I know, I'm harping on this warping thing guys but I'm really just asking questions. Again, I know it's extremely hard work getting all the functions everybody is asking for so I'm very sorry if it seems as if I'm nagging. I really just had a couple of questions and thought it would be better to just make a video to explain.No worries though, I was just working on something and thought of the questions.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-dcJuHUuN4

Cool! I would have to say, I've been using AD for awhile now and I have to say than any little things I miss from Illustrator are minor. There are work arounds to completing those tasks, but not having the ability to warp vector images is hands down THE BIGGEST shortcoming I've come across when working with Affinity designer. I'm happy this is in the Designer's roadmap and I'm hoping that it is as versatile as Illustrators capabilities. I'm always trying to upsell AD and AP to other people but the missing function of warp tools in particular, is a sore spot that is hard to defend. Especially since they have been a part of Illustrator for over 5 years or so. I think since CS5!
 
I know, I know, I'm sure you guys hate  it when some random forum person starts lecturing or making suggestions when we don't know how hard you're working on the programs and how much time and talent it takes to make it happen! Believe me, I understand. I'm just sick of Adobe and I want so badly for another company to succeed where they fail and you guys are the ones to do it. If I come across as less than appreciative I assure you I'm praising you guys every day! I just want AD to be the best it can! AD 4 Life!  :)

Umm, yeah, I still don't quite have a grasp on building vector brushes, and have had similar results.
 
However, there is a pretty easy way to get something close to what you want.
 
I used the tear shape tool, default setting. Fill, none, stroke 10 pt. Copied, pasted and flipped. Moved to make an upright 8. Duplicated the original and scaled it up till it looked about right. Duplicated & flipped as above. Repeated making a set of smaller tears.
 

 
Then I started boolean adds for the pairs.
 

 
Continued till I had 3 curves.
 

 
Drew a black rectangle. Changed the stroke to white, and placed it over the rectangle. Rotated the "8s". Realized the strokes were not quite a smooth as they should be, and so tweaked some node positions.
 
Next, the fussy part, hand drew in the shadow shapes. 
 

 
The results not quite what you showed. I suppose the tear shape needed to be altered a little at the start.  But the method seems workable.
 
Total time, with fumbling, about 45 min. I'm supposing I might be able to get that down to 1/2 hr. or less.