Bryan Rieger

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

All the current placement icons are placeholders and the feature should not be judged by them, thank you.

I can't duplicate the problem with Page Up and Down on macOS. Are you sure you have the beta's shortcuts set to Cmd + Up/Down Arrow? The menu will look like this if you have, but if you see arrows there instead of triangles it's not correct. Go to Settings > Shortcuts and re-type the shortcuts. Note that the wrong symbols are shown in macOS menus due to a bug in the OS. This isn't an Affinity problems and will happen in all Mac apps. The bug was introduced when Apple switched the OS font and forgot to change the glyph shown in the menus. It's been this way for years.

The icons in the Page panel cursors are part of this other thread:
 

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

Apps: Publisher
Platforms: macOS, Windows and iPad
Reading Order Panel
V2.6 introduces the Reading Order panel to improve the accessibility of PDFs produced in Affinity. The panel gives you control over the order in which screen readers and other assistive technology read PDF content.
Where to find it
It is accessed via Window > Reading Order on desktop, and via the ellipsis below the panel icons on iPad.
If you have Acrobat Pro (not Reader), tags related to reading order can be viewed in its 'Accessibility tags' pane.
How to use
Text objects are automatically added to the Reading Order panel. At the panel’s lower-right corner, the ‘Add Article’ button can be used to group and order related objects. Articles indicate this relationship to the assistive technologies. An Article can be given a more representative name by selecting it, then clicking its name and typing, but Article names are only used for identification in Affinity.
Non-text objects, such as images, for which you provide alt text on the Tags Panel are automatically added to the reading order. (Note that removing an object’s alt text also removes it from the reading order.)
The button to the right of Add Article adds the selected object to the reading order. Use it to add objects for which alt text is not set – perhaps because it hasn’t yet been provided to you. If you don’t add alt text to such objects prior to export, the objects simply won’t be included in your PDF’s reading order.
With regards to accessibility tags in text, you can set any text style so that it encloses text in 'Paragraph tags' (<P> in Acrobat Pro’s ‘Accessibility tags’ pane) or 'Heading tags' (<H1> to <H6> in Acrobat Pro). To do this, use the Export Tags section of the Text Style Editor.
The reading order can be changed by dragging items up or down the reading order and dropping them, in a similar way to the Layers Panel. When dragging an item, a blue line indicates the item's new position if dropped.
To locate the object that corresponds to an item, select the item in the reading order and then click 'Go to Article’ at the bottom left of the panel. This focuses the document view on the object and selects the object.
Any item you manually add to the reading order can be removed by selecting it on the panel and then clicking 'Remove Article (the ‘trash can’ icon). Items automatically added to the reading order, such as text objects and images with alt text, cannot be removed from it.
To omit an item from a PDF’s accessibility tags on output, click its adjacent green check mark to change it to a red cross, which indicates the item is excluded from the reading order and so will not have an accessibility tag in PDF output.

Thanks for letting us know - this is a bug with Photo and Publisher. It is logged with development.

I haven't used these machine learning models yet, but I just wanted to say how nice a surprise it was to see that these were optional downloads, and not simply bundled into the existing applications. I really appreciate Serif giving creatives the respect to choose whether or not they want to integrate any machine learning into their workflows. 
Also, kudos for side-stepping the blanket AI hype train and calling these 'Machine Learning Models', which is not only more accurate, but also helps to frame the discussion in a much more informed manner.

Sure thing @EmT.
In this video the toolbar starts with a black stroke and a width of 5.5, while the colour panel also shows the black stroke, the stroke panel indicates no stroke. Drawing with this results in a curve with no stroke or colour applied. Applying a colour (green) to the strokes makes them visible (0.2 stroke width), yet then drawing another line with a green stroke, 5.5 width in the toolbar results in a no stroke displayed in the stroke panel, and a curve drawn with no colour or width.

CleanShot 2024-10-22 at 09.03.03.mp4    
 

Apps: Designer, Photo and Publisher
Platforms: macOS, Windows and iPad
Auto Apply (Colour Panel) Colour Picker to Selection
Previously when you used the Colour Picker available from the Colour or Stroke Panel it would first add the picked colour to the well next to the picker and then you would be required to apply the colour manually by clicking the well.
We are now changing this to automatically apply the picked colour to the selected object, so you’re no longer required to select the colour well.
If you would prefer not to apply the selected colour (i.e the previous behaviour) you can hold Alt down whilst picking the colour (note this Alt behaviour is currently only available on Windows).

Apps: Designer
Platforms: macOS, Windows and iPad
Pencil Tool improvements
Affinity Designer’s Pencil Tool now includes several new options on its context toolbar.

 Auto Close
Up to 2.6, we’ve only offered a proximity-based auto-closing option when making a closed shape from a pencil curve. As a reminder, a red ‘dog bone’ indicator popped up when the active end of a pencil curve approached the stroke’s starting point. This design aid suggested that the curve could be closed by clicking.  
In 2.6, we’ve now introduced an Auto Close pop-up menu that offer a choice of options:

Off - the curve is never closed. Near - the curve is closed when end points approach each other (this is as per the [2.6 release; the ‘dog bone’ indicator still shows). Far - similar to Near but the distance between end points is greater. Always - the curve is always closed irrespective of distance between end points. 
Auto close behaviours when using the Pencil Tool: Off (A), Near (B), Far (C) and Always (D).
Smoothness
Smoothness can be applied in advance of pencil drawing or to pencil curves you’ve just drawn. By design, further smoothing is no longer possible once the curve is deselected.

The feature works by repositioning, adding or removing nodes on the curve to affect the smoothing results. You can decrease or increase smoothing by dragging the slider left or right from the default value (50%), respectively; nodes are removed or added as a result.
Note that this is not to be confused with the smoothing you’ll see when using the Stabiliser option on the context toolbar. It would be beneficial to switch this off while testing Smoothness.
Use line style
Prior to 2.6, the Pencil Tool presented the Use fill option as a check box on its context toolbar. This is now presented as an icon, and is accompanied by a new Use line style option, also an icon. This lets you adopt the currently set stroke properties (width, dot/dash, pressure) you have currently set up on the Stroke panel for new pencil strokes.

Applying Use line style as you draw a pencil stroke.
Pen Tool improvements
The Pen Tool also benefits from the new Use line style option described above.
Node Tool improvements
Converting nodes from Sharp to Smooth requires a visit to the Node Tool context toolbar or right-click menu. In 2.6, Affinity now lets you double-click (or alt-click) a node to cycle between these node types, keeping you more focused on the curve. 
As another addition, either control handle on a Bézier curve’s node can be removed by double-clicking on its handle; the associated node becomes a sharp (cusp) corner

Apparently Canva releases updates each year on October 22 (also known as 'Droptober'), so I suspect we'll know more tomorrow.

Image from the dashboard of my Canva account this morning.

Hi,
my opinion is that we don't need beta forums and software, because:
we would be able to start using all new features in our production work, without asking ourselves: "when it will show up in retail version to use it"; you will have ALL the users to test it instead of a "small" group of beta testers. At least, all other software companies work without beta software.

The poor UX of the Affinity apps has been discussed at length over the years on these forums. Unfortunately things haven't improved much, and the big Serif v2 UI/UX 'rethink' has only made things worse IMHO. There are so many cases in the v2 apps where they're not following platform guidelines, the UI is inconsistent, and users are left scratching their heads (or told to RTFM) as to what many of the obscure icons and visual indicators represent—let alone trying to understand how the various layer types work, or which app/persona has what tools available in it—which often feels like a very arbitrary design decision.
That said, now that Canva owns the Affinity suite, AND they are looking to attract more 'professional' users to their platform(s), I have some hope that Serif will be forced to address these long-standing, and glaring UX/UI issues in the coming v2.x releases. As has been mentioned many times on this forum, 'cheaper' is only better if it doesn't cost more in time than the alternative(s), and 'better' is really down to personal preference and perspective. But if somebody is constantly frustrated with the UI/UX of the Affinity apps (compared to the alternatives), there's little possibility they're going to adopt them as primary drivers in their toolset (if at all, as the investment in learning the apps is not insignificant ).
I've seen some folks speculating on what features v2.6 will hold. Personally, I just want many of the long-standing issues fixed, and some UI/UX improvements for now. Adding more and more features to an already shaky foundation typically doesn't bode well for the long-term. 

@BarKeegan I responded in your previous identical thread:
Make sure Settings > Tools > Select object when intersects with selection marquee is checked.