hugpeter

Apps: Designer and Photo
Platforms: Windows and macOS

A few improvements have been made to the brush panel on desktop...
1. You can now choose to show brush names
In the brush panel burger menu you can now optionally choose to display the brush name in the panel. 

2. Alt-drag now duplicates a brush
3. Brush panel now always highlights the current brush
Previously when you first selected a brush it would be highlighted in the panel, but as soon as you made any change to the brush from its default settings (e.g. change the width) then it would no longer be highlighted. The new behaviour is as follows:
1. When you first select a brush it should be highlighted blue
2. If you change any temporary settings for the brush (e.g. width, hardness, etc.) the brush will remain highlighted but highlight colour changed to red
3. If you change brush tools (e.g. between paint brush and eraser) which have different brushes selected, the panel will now automatically switch categories if needed, meaning you can immediately see your selected brush for the tool you have just switched to.
4. If you have changed any of the temporary properties of a brush you can choose to update the brush to use those as the default settings of that brush. This is available from a right-click on the brush -> Update Brush.
5. Alternatively if you want to reset the brush back to default settings you can choose Reset Brush.

4. Nozzle preview visibility improved
In V2 we added the ability to view your brushes as a grid of nozzle thumbnails without the preview of the stroke (panel burger menu -> uncheck "Show as List"). However, the contrast of the nozzle preview in this view could sometimes be very low, depending on the nozzle itself. We've made some tweaks in 2.1 to hopefully improve things.




Please note: These are mostly just desktop only improvements, although iPad versions do now show a brush as being modified with highlight colour changed to red. While it's not available yet, iPad versions will also have the ability to update a modified brush (from t left swipe menu on the brush) in a future build.
 

This is now in the 2.1 beta - more details in the post below. It would be great if you wanted to try it out in the beta and let us know what you think - you can sign up to the beta program here.
 
 

As someone who would like/is attempting to use AP2 for digital painting, this feature is a must. It blows my mind it hasn't been added, there's posts from 2017 complaining about this. I've seen a few other posts from forums for some workarounds, but its still just not the same...
Workaround (if curious)->
Set Accumulation Jitter to Pressure and 40-50%
Set Flow Jitter to Pressure and 100%
Set Luminosity Jitter to Pressure and 4-10%
 
I would also like to be able to see the text names of my brushes without having to hover my mouse to see what the brush name is. 
 
Thanks,

This is available iPadOS

I also think it would be useful if the brush name could be visible – switchable via an option, not all the time for everyone – in the Brushes Panel. However, I don’t know where I would like the name to be.
If it is placed to the left/right of the sample then there may not be enough space to display either properly, e.g. some brushes have long names such as “Gouache 04 (for short strokes)”.
If it is placed over/under the sample then either the sample must get smaller, and possibly be less useful, or the vertical space for each brush will have to get larger, thus allowing for fewer brushes being displayed in the panel at any one time.
Placing the name over the sample isn’t an option I would like as it could obscure some detail in the sample which could be important.
I think it’s a good idea, I just don’t know how it could be best achieved.

I'm really loving the Affinity Suite, they are fantastic products. But it's become frustrating that my biggest pain point with the desktop software is seemingly something so easy to fix. I'm talking about how you can only see the brush names in the brush panel by hovering your cursor over the brush. For someone who has bought a lot of brushes for the software this is really painful. This has really hampered my ability to find a brush, or even remember what brush I had used previously. It seems like a small thing, but it really isn't. Seeing the names in the panel helps greatly with memory retention and creates a much stronger user experience. Right now I either have to hover over the brush, taking an extra second to let the name pop up (getting me out of my artistic flow and annoying me, and that annoyance meaning I'm unlikely to bother), or I have to not register the name in my consciousness at all, leaving me to hopefully remember later which in a long line of squiggly shapes is the brush I used.
While I realize this isn't the most important feature in the world, it's also really low hanging fruit. And doesn't the ipad versions of the suite already have this (I don't have the ipad versions but I'd swear I saw in a video that they do)?
Is this a result of someone in UI wanting to make the panel look prettier and more streamlined and thinking it doesn't hamper our workflows? Because if so please, please put that strange notion aside. You are most definitely hampering my workflow. 
Please don't tell me we have to wait for 1.9 for this. It's such a small thing but so important. 
 

I used to be able to do cool paint overs in PS (I use another program now). Manually touching up for personal works that had a unique flavor/blendy quality to them. The basic round Affinity brushes feel too "wobbly" because of the way pressure sensitivity is interpreting. I know we can use manual opacity levels, and this works OK for some situations, but it feels too restrictive for creating silky paint overs for fine detail... not saying this is impossible in AP, but that the brushes are less friendly to painterly users accustomed to smooth opacity changes.

Hey Peter,
great idea to see the name of the brushes without hovering 👍 I agree very much.
Thanx for your workaround for the pressure sensitive brushes. I tried it, but for my work I have settings that work slightly better for me.
Feel free to try my settings, maybe you can use them as well. If you like them give me a short reply. I actually added your brush to my list.
In the settings I changed the dynamics as well. Description in the attachemants.
Cheers
 

As someone who would like/is attempting to use AP2 for digital painting, this feature is a must. It blows my mind it hasn't been added, there's posts from 2017 complaining about this. I've seen a few other posts from forums for some workarounds, but its still just not the same...
Workaround (if curious)->
Set Accumulation Jitter to Pressure and 40-50%
Set Flow Jitter to Pressure and 100%
Set Luminosity Jitter to Pressure and 4-10%
 
I would also like to be able to see the text names of my brushes without having to hover my mouse to see what the brush name is. 
 
Thanks,

As someone who would like/is attempting to use AP2 for digital painting, this feature is a must. It blows my mind it hasn't been added, there's posts from 2017 complaining about this. I've seen a few other posts from forums for some workarounds, but its still just not the same...
Workaround (if curious)->
Set Accumulation Jitter to Pressure and 40-50%
Set Flow Jitter to Pressure and 100%
Set Luminosity Jitter to Pressure and 4-10%
 
I would also like to be able to see the text names of my brushes without having to hover my mouse to see what the brush name is. 
 
Thanks,

It would be great if there was a button next to the force pen pressure button that did the same for the brush opacity. Sets the flow and accumulation jitter settings to pressure without having to do it in menu.

Actually it's the setting I miss most since I'm coming from Photoshop.
It's pretty impossible to generate a pressure sensitive brush for smooth transitions that works in solid colors like blue sky oder studio paper backgrounds.

Don't do that.
Each feature request should be a separate thread, and most of these things already have one, so any additional comments should be added to those, not proliferated into numerous threads on the same topic.

Creating an SDK (Software Development Kit) for Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher would greatly enhance the value and utility of these applications for users, as it would enable them to access the underlying functionality of the software and extend its capabilities through custom plugins and integrations. This would allow for greater flexibility, automation of tasks, and streamlining of workflows, resulting in increased productivity and efficiency for users. Additionally, a SDK would open up new possibilities for collaboration and integration with other software and tools, making Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher even more valuable for designers, photographers, and publishers. Furthermore, providing SDK would attract and retain more developer community, and allows the company to expand their market share and revenue by providing customized service and solution to their clients and customers.
A SDK (Software Development Kit) for Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher allows programmers to access the underlying functionality of the applications and extend their capabilities through custom plugins and integrations. This allows for greater flexibility and customization for users, as well as the ability to automate certain tasks and streamline workflows. Additionally, a SDK can also open up new possibilities for collaboration and integration with other software and tools. Overall, a SDK allows for more efficient and powerful use of the Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher applications, making them even more valuable for designers, photographers, and publishers.
Multiple reasons to create a SDK:
Increased flexibility and customization for users Automation of certain tasks and streamlining of workflows New possibilities for collaboration and integration with other software and tools Greater efficiency and power in the use of Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher Attract and retain more developer community Expand market share and revenue by providing customized service and solution to clients and customers More features and functionalities can be added to Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher Provide an open platform for the community to contribute Increases Affinity's value in the eyes of potential customers Enhance Affinity's reputation in the industry The ability to create custom plugins and integrations Better organization of tools and resources Improved data exchange and interoperability with other software Customizable shortcuts and keybindings More efficient use of system resources Increased productivity and efficiency Easier integration with other software and tools More effective automation of repetitive tasks The ability to create custom scripts and macros Improved performance and speed Better support for different file formats More advanced color management options Greater control over typography and text formatting Better support for different input devices Improved printing and output options More advanced image editing and manipulation capabilities More advanced vector editing and manipulation capabilities Improved image and vector asset management More advanced layout and composition tools Improved support for different languages and scripts More advanced web and mobile design capabilities More advanced animation and motion graphics capabilities More advanced audio and video editing capabilities More advanced 3D modeling and animation capabilities More advanced interactive design capabilities Better support for accessibility and inclusive design Improved support for different screen resolutions and aspect ratios More advanced data visualization and information design capabilities More advanced game design and development capabilities More advanced AR and VR design capabilities More advanced scientific and technical visualization capabilities More advanced cartography and mapping capabilities More advanced educational and e-learning design capabilities More advanced marketing and advertising design capabilities More advanced digital signage and display design capabilities More advanced urban planning and architectural design capabilities More advanced industrial design and product design capabilities.