Seneca

This is a fantastic addition. Thank you.
A couple of suggestions:
1. Ellipses are great to visually show that the heading has been truncated. But it would be great to be able to control spacing before the ellipses. At the moment there seems to be no way of including a space just before the ellipses. This can be helpful for a style house that dictates that.
2. It's great that we are able to control the length of the running header by the number of words but sometimes this can be awkward. Would it be possible to truncate the header according to the length of the running header text box and adding the ellipses just after the word that fits into one line. That would serve as another option in addition to the number of words per line.

I would respectfully suggest to read (again) page 17 of this thread before jumping into any conclusions.
 

I would respectfully suggest to read (again) page 17 of this thread before jumping into any conclusions.
 

I would respectfully suggest to read (again) page 17 of this thread before jumping into any conclusions.
 

Hi All,
We are pleased to make available the next update to the 2.1 beta (2.1.0.1736). This will be available for you shortly on auto-update. Below are some of the main changes in this update...
WebP and JPEG XL now available in batch export
As has been commonly requested since adding these new formats to V2, we have now made them available as batch format options in Affinity Photo.

New left swipe options on iPad layers panel
You can now access lock/unlock, rename layer and change compound type (if layer in question is a compound) by swiping left on a layer as shown below:
RPReplay_Final1680080397.mov
 
Brush panel improvements
Texture brushes in Designer persona can now be viewed in thumbnail view (i.e. you now have ability to uncheck "Show as list") Alt-Click on raster brushes now changes brush while keeping your current brush width as well as ignoring associated tool. If you just want to ignore associated tool then use shift-alt-click Auto-select
With auto select turned off you can now hold cmd (Mac/iPad) / ctrl (Windows) to temporarily turn it back on to make another selection on document.
Also note: We have encountered some problems with auto select being off with multi-page documents. For that reason it is currently disabled with a multi-page doc, we are hoping to have a fix for this soon.
Vector flood fill tool
When your bucket is loaded with a colour / fill you can now just click on any object to fill it even if it is not selected. In this case this will just fill the whole object - if you want the fill tool to take into account intersecting shapes and curves they all need to be pre-selected as before. While in the tool you can now just click on an asset or stock item to load your bucket with that bitmap texture (i.e. without having to drag drop as before). This is currently only implemented on desktop, but will be added to iPad in too in the next update. There are new controls for whether you want to add as an additional fill or replace the current fill. To be honest there is still some outstanding work which needs to be done with this, so we will talk more about this / what the expected behaviour is in the next update. A new option to "fill to visible boundaries". This means if any of the objects in your selection are obscuring any line segments from other objects, these can now optionally be ignored by the tool. In the example below - without the new option checked there are 12 possible areas you can fill to, but now you can alternatively choose to just show the 6 areas on the right. 
Crop tool
Cmd / ctrl / shift constrain modifiers are now available when in unconstrained mode as promised.
Dashed lines
We now accept zero as the 2nd and 3rd dash value to give different options, particularly when in combination with balanced lines. This example was discussed on the thread - the left option begins with a dot and when balanced dots are in the rectangle corners. The right option begins with a dash, but the 2nd "dash" can now be set to a dot (zero value) to enable dashes in the corners in this case.

Pencil double tap option for quick menu
If menu is already visible a second double tap will now dismiss it.
Rename Layers
You can now double click / tap on an artboard name to rename it!
 
Plus as usual lots of bug fixes as listed in the fix list thread!
To comment / give feedback on any of these changes please go to the relevant thread for that feature which is linked to in each of the headings above.

Thanks,
Ash

Just to point out we have also now made it that double clicking (or on iPad tapping) an artboard name on document should bring up a dialog to rename the artboard in the latest build (1736). Would be great if you could confirm that is behaving as expected!

Hi - thanks for this feedback. In the 2.1 beta we have added new options to the left swipe menu from layers which include changing compound type when the layer in question is a compound. More info in post below. Be great if you wanted to try it - you can sign up to our beta program here.
 
 

Hi - I'm pleased to say WebP and JPEG XL are now available from batch export in the 2.1 beta as below. If you want try it out in the beta you can sign up to our beta program here.
 
 

Hi - I'm pleased to say WebP and JPEG XL are now available from batch export in the 2.1 beta as below. If you want try it out in the beta you can sign up to our beta program here.
 
 

This is hopefully now sorted in the latest build
 

Here's a list of some of the bugs which have been fixed in 2.1.0.1736
The Improvements in build 2.1.0.1736 are found in this improvements post 
Please reply in this forum only to comment on any fixes which are in this list (in particular to let us know if you notice that something we say is fixed isn't!) To report any new bugs please do that against the relevant new feature post, or if unrelated to new functionality in the Other bugs & issues forum.
Bugs affecting all platforms
Add default shortcut SHIFT+[CTRL/CMD]+R to rename layer Add default shortcut to rename layer  Rename Layer - could we initiate with double click on Artboard name  Add 'Enable associated tools' to the burger menu Crop Tool - shift constrain issues Shared content may not load or save correctly when running apps side by side Add WebP & JPEG-XL to batch export options Crop Tool - CMD shouldn't initiate straighten when over a transform handle/edge  Metadata Panel - EXIF 'Date Shot' field incorrectly re-applies the local OS time offset for images lacking timezone data [AFP-6061]  Mask gets deleted when undoing the last brush stroke [AFP-5214]  SVG code generated by ChatGPT AI crashes Affinity on open [AFD-6524]  Balanced dash lines - accept zero in 2nd and 3rd dash  SVG copy and paste by defalt [AFD-6466]  Vector Flood Fill - add a fill with click on unselected object  Exporting File Hyperlinks to PDF is escaping files/escaping them incorrectly. Pixel Brush Tool fails to output if using Accumulation or Flow Jitter when its not 100% [AFP-3919]  Text in a Placed PDF is No Longer Split by Layer making it difficult to hide individual items File size in master doc increasing inexplicably with linked files  Non supported lens Nikkor Z 26mm f/2.8 is detected as a KMZ Helios-40 85mm f/1.5 [AFP-6072]  Bugs affecting Desktop (Windows and macOS)
Brush selection may change after switching to an associated tool when selecting a brush  Brush panel - support Grid mode for vector brushes Editing a brush selection from More Info will cause source brushes to be edited if you change the brush.  Add a manual 'Refresh' to Resource Manager (Specific) File crashes when saving after being modified [AFB-7512]  Move tool > Context toolbar > Settings button is not translated  Crash editing Running Headers with no document open [AFB-7523]  Book created in an earlier version has begun to display 'locked by another app' dialog or cause app to stop responding [AFB-7544]  Tooltip: Can the Place Image Tool be named Place Tool on desktop (to match iPad)  Brush selection may be incorrect after duplicating a vector brush Close all - should just close all files in develop [Under Review] Crash after autosave  Inconsistent visibility of the frame preset cog on the context tool bar.  When cross-references are updated during export of a book, their values disappear from publication pages Update Endnotes and Update Numbers > Note Numbers fail to respect Restart Every: Book numbering Brush panel - thumbnail view in vector brushes Bugs affecting Windows
Asset Panel preference menu isn't being reflected correctly on Windows Crashing using books [AFB-7536]  Preferences, User Interface, Light UI: UI Brightness and Text Contrast sliders reset to defaults when we restart the app [AFP-5676]  Adding a global colour dialog allows list separator selection when using Tab key to change fields  Learned words are forgotten when document is reopened after restarting the application [AFB-7538]  Settings > Filler text is clipped on German [AFB-7534]  Dragging JpegXL creates new layer instead of dropping into frame when dropped from desktop. [AFB-7486]  Context Menu appears in top left of app if called on opened document without left clicking the layer first [AFB-7150]  Stroke Panel From Context Toolbar clipped Cannot change document DPI [AFB-7528]  Dragging Bitmap onto Tools Panel with the Vector Flood Fill switches to Move Tool Hang/Crash when dragging an FX to the Links Panel  Bugs affecting macOS
[macOS] Artboard label font size too small Unable to edit file Hyperlinks on macOS after the first Alt-click select raster brush to not set size Swatches on FX menu displayed as an RGB preview when document is set to CMYK [AFB-7219]  Crash when closing app after collapsing EXIF/XMP fields in Detail dropdown  UI-Misalignment in text styles panels [AFB-7217]  Crash with Fields Panel and no document open [AFB-7530]  Artboard label font size too small Manually modifying AppleHighlightColor in defaults can cause app to crash on launch [PD-556]  Bugs affecting iPad
Fonts installed from creative cloud show on context toolbar with name in Chinese [AFD-6170]  Crop Tool - (iPad) finger modifiers not working Compound icons missing  Auto flow has a missing icon for "replace existing"  File > Place from Photos uses the first file placed on that session for all subsequent place operations of that file type [AFP-6054]  Style picker - status bar copy Fields panel not switching locale after app language change  Breaks and Fields incorrectly available in Designer and Photo via keyboard  Text > Decorations > Relative to > Top and bottom selectors don't stick [AFB-7220]  It's not possible to close the Quick Menu with the Pencil's double tap feature [AFD-6499]  Navigator panel rotation lock hit area is too small  When installing add-ons, the UI says Installin... due to running out of space Localisation - Account screen - Button text truncated  Fix compact mode vector brush previews Artboard label font size too small  Delete button missing from Quick Menu  Text Capitalisations have gone missing on iPad  PDF export issue / lock up on iPad - Area dropdown does not reflect the correct state  Add 'Enable associated tools' to the burger menu  Artboard label font size too small

Apps: All
Platforms: iPad
Firstly blend mode and opacity settings have now been added to the top of the layers panel (so no longer having to go to the more menu to get to those) as shown below. Worth pointing out also that a double tap on opacity will reset the value to 100% and a double tap on blend mode reset to "Normal".

New options have been added when you swipe left on a layer:
Lock / Unlock Rename Layer... Change compound type (if the layer in question is a compound) See video below:
RPReplay_Final1680080397.mov
 

Apps: Affinity Photo
Platforms: Windows and macOS
You can now choose both WebP and JPEG XL as export file types from the batch export dialog in Affinity Photo.

Thanks for this feedback - though getting a bit off topic from balanced dashed lines
It won't be in this update but a double line style is something we'll get on the list for future consideration. What we could also do with a a much better way to save any line styles you create yourself (with various dash patterns, arrow heads, multiple strokes in appearance, etc,) as well as us being able to provide a nice set of presets. These could potentially just be saved in other categories of the brushes panel within Designer persona. Again one for a future update...

Hello @kimtorch,
Tim and Patrick went to great lengths to stress the fact that this is just a very early pre-pre-pre-alpha, of what they are working on. This is not representative of what we get when this is released.
And secondly, as far as I remember the team is also working on a C based extension system. For companies that need greater automation this plug-in system might be more suitable. 

I asked for a similar question earlier.
Here's the answer given by TonyB:

@Aisthetikos Yes, sadly, it's inevitable scripts break overtime. Especially programs that are undergoing so many changes all at once. Affinity does have one major advantage in its pockets it seems that the foundation of all 3 programs are built more or less the same, share a similar code base, hence being able to use the same functionality from one program to the next. This means (hopefully) that script aka extension developers really only have to target one code engine. So that makes updating scripts, also reusing/repurposing them, so much simpler than having to work within the confines of multiple programs. Anyway, I always recommend to someone who relies on scripts themselves that they pick up some script writing capabilities themselves, jic.

@kimtorch I would say @Seneca's post is more relevant to your discussion and points there. People get touchy about criticism on these boards, but you're entitled to give feedback just like the others. Serif's goal on these boards seems to now be to make the process more open to taking in feedback during development, so I'm sure that your discussion is already welcome here. To your point, I would not be surprised if they are not already looking to that large of a scope given the amount of talk over missing functionality/lost productivity. Scripting would certainly help to fill in some of these gaps until the same features are present in the vanilla apps.
The availability/readability of scripts also give them a much better idea over how users are actually using their programs and can inform their design decisions overtime. Notably it would help show which features are important, or are not as important, in the grand scheme. An open system would easily repay itself in time, imv.

Well the overall keyword is evolution of programming languages here!
In the past (and partly still today) C allowed to write machine-like code without having to program in assembler. C was and still is one of the most portable languges, which beside CPU hardware specific assembler code was available on every operating system. Further it's the foundation of many other programming languages which have been developed with it's help and the help of lexical analyzers & compiler compilers (like lex & yacc) then.
Other extended languages (during the OO area) were later built on top of C, so as a superset of it and partly backward compatible (C++, Obj-C, D ... and some other OO related stuff). Further most other programming languages libraries, APIs, frameworks etc. are encapsulating and just wrappers around system base C code here.
Once upon a time the first Unix C++ compiler developed from Bjarne Stroustrup was just a C++ to C translator, so C was needed to compile the C++ enhancements at all, before native C++ code compilers appeared on the scene. - I recall that I once bought one of the first native Win C++ from a company called Zortech (the main force behind that was Walter Bright who also later developed the D language).
Other educational plain objects related OO languages, like Eiffel from Bertrand Meyer, were first also just Eiffel to C translators. - That darn Eiffel compiler drived one crazy, since it was generating thousends of unreadable C files which it then afterwards started to compile. The whole procedure took endless time, even on faster RISC based SparcStations those days, and sometimes after 30 min waiting of compiling C file number 1999, the whole ended with some unresolved dependency errors and the like, so one had to find and fix errors inside the Eiffel code and the whole bloody procedure had to be started/done again.
Nowadays much more modern programming languages (including interpreted languages here) are stll heavily based on underlayed and wrapped C system code, no matter if C++, D, Obj-C, Swift, Rust, Go, ... Python, JS, Lua ... or whatever. Those (the later) are more comfortable and maybe overall easier to use, with enhanced language constructs, but their origin is mostly some in base C written code, which afterards is bootstrapped ("dogfooding"). - And performance wise, C based code -when hand optimized, or thrown through some high optimization compiler- is still very fast and can just be topped by good hand optimized CPU specific Assembler code.
So all in all the whole is (as software development is in general) more a logical evolutionary process, here also for programming languages!
And back to Affinity scripting, well personally I would have favored Python or LUA here, since those are overall easier to use and debug, are more predestinated for rapid prototyping and RAD and there are all kind of already preexisting and reusable third party modules for nearly everything one can imagine. But Serif will use JavaScript instead. - Well JS/Typecript is more a necessary evil for me, necessary since I have to use it either way when doing some full stack dev work (...there then the hated frontend side parts). - So basically I don't care much about what scripting they use, as far as it's powerful and flexible enough to fullfil one needs. And if not (?), well then let's hope their API is at least useful and well documented instead.
 
 
 

But we get WASM for free if it is in the JavaScript engine. It is widely supported. It is also portable, so no compiling for specific architectures and opens up the use of any language such as high performance RUST. 

Couldn't agree more, that's one of the reasons we've put these examples up.  However I should re-emphasise that the examples don't represent everything that's possible with scripting, even at this early stage.  It's ok to find the examples underwhelming:
Note: "just to demonstrate" and "basic"  But like I said, constructive feedback is welcomed, just don't worry that this is all you're going to get.
This next bit is mainly for any devs who might be reading this.
The Javascript API is built entirely on top of the C API.  Actually, it's built on top of a header-only C++ SDK that minimally wraps the C API so we don't have to worry about explicitly deallocating any handles that might be used.  We've not cheated and called directly into the Affinity backend from the Javascript layer, it's all going through the C++ wrappers and therefore through the public C API functions.  This is great for testing, as tests written in Javascript exercise all abstraction layers.  We will likely release the C++ headers along with the C headers.
There is a low-level Javascript API that is as similar to the C API as possible, which has the benefit of reducing the amount of documentation we have to write.  There are some differences between function signatures, but essentially they are the same, with each C function "projected" into Javascript land.  We then provide a set of JS files that wrap those exposed JS functions into ES6 classes and hide a lot of the boring boiler-plate that no-one cares about.
For maximum performance, you'd use the C or C++ layer.  For convenience, you'd use the high level JS layer, which is what the examples use. For Javascript consumers who want to design a different OOP layer, they are free to require() the API functions directly and wrap them up however they like.  I would say that as a dev coming from a mainly C/C++ background, I was surprised at how performant the Javascript levels have turned out to be.
 

Hi folks,
I thought I'd give you a quick progress update and let you see some of things we've been working on at Serif Labs.  We now have a scripting core that we're reasonably happy with and have put together a little test area where we can run Javascript code, so I thought I'd show you some of that. Things to note:
This is all VERY early, like pre-pre-pre-alpha. The JS API is extremely fluid and is constantly changing. This is not how the Affinity suite will run scripts and plugins; it is just a sandbox window for internal testing. There is still a huge amount of work to be done. I can't provide any timescales for when scripting will be publicly released, for Beta or Retail. Constructive feedback is welcomed, but I won't be able to answer all questions - see previous points. I'm not claiming any of these examples are particularly useful on their own; they're just to demonstrate some basic scripting functionality. Re Javascript async - yes, we support it, I've just not recorded anything yet. The sleep calls are there for screen-recording purposes only. Here are some demos as low-res gifs. If you want to take a closer look, movs are attached.
Create a Mandelbrot image

Some dodgy physics

Insert a dragon curve

"Emojification" (translation?) of text

Create a grid of colours
 
Select and hide based on hue

Replay a document's edit history

mandelbrot.mov
balls.mov
dragon.mov
grid.mov
hue.mov
replay.mov
emoji.mov

Yes, this will be great. Ultimately what will make Affinity a top tier platform will be having a marketplace for plugins/scripts. So that you can just click a button and add a feature/script to your application. Just like in the VSCode editor. As a developer myself, this would be very exciting to be able to start providing enhancements for Affinity.
I know we can't everything at once, but yes this would allow for a much better and integrated experience for script and plugins. Having that professional level of integration where we can add capabilities that just naturally fit into the workflow and new buttons, menus, context selections etc are available where they should be.

This is a very valid point.

This is a very valid point.