Petar Petrenko

Please, make the Typography panel resizable vertically. Now it has fixed height.

Is there any chance to extend QR code generator to work with selected text?

What they don't mention there are modern photo editor features like font and vector layers or live filters.

https://jpeg.org/jpegxl/

Is there any chance to extend QR code generator to work with selected text?

Please, make the Typography panel resizable vertically. Now it has fixed height.

I've just done it. Thanks Alfred.

I've just done it. Thanks Alfred.

It is not there.

Please, make the Typography panel resizable vertically. Now it has fixed height.

I think what is being suggested is that the popup box where the URI is entered have a few tabs to build some of the common schemes for the user so that the user doesn't need to work out the encoding for all of them.
For example, iQR (on the App Store for the Mac), in addition to the URL option (which they label "WWW"), has tabs for Phone (enter a phone number), SMS (phone number and message), eMail (to address, subject and body), Map (enter an address and it looks it up using Google Maps or some other map service), Contact (first/last name, phone number(s), email address, web page, street address), Calendar (event name, when, where, etc.), PayPal/Bitcoin/SEPA payments (account, description, price, etc.), WiFi (network name/SSID, password, encryption type, hidden?), and Text.
 

 
It also provides an interesting range of formatting options to spice up the appearance of the generated codes:

 
Granted that this range of formatting options is probably a bit out of scope for a program that is not specialized in producing QR codes, but still thought I would point it out.  The more important thing to consider is to throw in the forms for a few of the common URI schemes.

Is there any chance to extend QR code generator to work with selected text?

The new smoothing algorithm looks good! Works really well with a mouse as well.

Left = Old
Right = New

 
I tried the new Auto Close and while I do think it is useful and creates more natural looking closed shapes, I still would like to have the old functionality still available. The gap is very narrow to be able to close it and not having the option to increase the spacing for the closing to happen removes my ability to create elongated shapes quickly. Not to mention that I can't make sharp straight lines when it closes. I would suggest adding a slider value for how much distance is required before Auto Close kicks in, with an alternative to have it always activate regardless of distance.


I can no longer get a closed shape out of this:


Here's an example of a type of shape I want to continue making:
 

 
Good update besides that! I hope we also get the option to auto-boolean our selection by either adding or subtracting from the shape in the future. It would be incredibly handy for silhouette paintings.

I think being able to set the tolerance of auto-close feature would be helpful so folks can tune it to their liking, or set it to ‘maximum’ where it would always auto-close regardless of the distance.

I confirm that EXE versions keep my CSV files in resources folder.
YES!!!

Hi All,
I'm pleased to let you know we have now added the ability to add QR codes as Affinity Shapes and is available now in the 2.5 beta...
 

Hi All,
Below is the list of all new feature and improvements which are included in the 2.5 beta (bug fix list is available here).
To learn more about these features please click on the link to go to each feature's dedicated post. To give feedback or report bugs against any of these features please reply to that same post (also check out bug reporting and feedback tips).
Variable Fonts  Line Width Tool Pencil Tool Improvements QR Code Object "Default preset" for grid Typography Dialog turned into a Panel Other Improvements Getting the 2.5 beta
If you have not enrolled into the beta program yet and would like to take part, you can do so here. This will immediately give you access to the latest 2.5 beta builds to try for yourself.
If you are already enrolled in the beta program you have two options:
1. If you still have the 2.4 beta installed, you can now run up those beta versions and you will be prompted to update them to the 2.4 beta.
2. If you have uninstalled the 2.4 beta, you will need to go back to Your Account -> Downloads and product keys and find your previous order for the Affinity Beta Software Program, and you can download the 2.5 beta from there.
Thanks,
Ash

There are a few other minor improvements to mention in 2.5:
1. Some new cameras have been added to LibRAW:
FujiFilm X100VI Leica SL3 Pentax KF (Rioch) Samsung Galaxy S23+ Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra Sony ILCE-9M3 (A9 III) [improved] 2. As was requested in a few places before and on the last beta, when you have "Transform objects separately" checked and have a multi-selection, if you type a value in either the width or height field and precede it with an equals sign (e.g. H: '=100px') then it will set all objects in that selection to have that specific width or height value entered. This is opposed to scaling the other objects in your selection proportionally based on the key object which is he result you get without the equals sign.
3. DWG polylines import improvements
We have made some substantial improvements when importing polylines, which now ignores the cached points which AutoCAD creates. This simplifies the resulting curves substantially.

Apps: All
Platforms: macOS and Windows
As has been requested numerous times we have now converted the typography dialog from a pop-up dialog into a panel so you can now easily dock it / keep it available should you wish. 
This is available both fro the Window menu (note: this is currently at the bottom of the panel listing, but will be changed to be a sub menu from the Text panel options next week), and also from the typography button in the context toolbar  when you have text selected.
 

Apps: All
Platforms: macOS and Windows
Within grid and axis settings you can now set any of your grid settings to be the default, meaning any new documents will have that grid set when first created.
You can set / clear default grids from the burger menu next to the grid preset drop down:

Apps: All
Platforms: macOS, Windows and iPad
A new QR Code tool is now available from the shapes flyout in the toolbar, making it easy to add a QR code to your documents. 
After creating or selecting a QR Code object you will find a 'Payload' option in the context toolbar. Here you can type whatever URL you want the QR code to link to when it is scanned.


In addition to URLs you can use other syntax as detailed below to have the QR code trigger other functions when scanned by a device:
SMS
Payload structure: SMSTO:number:text message
Eg. SMSTO:07513123456:Hello mate!
GEO location
Payload structure: GEO:lat:lon:height
Eg. GEO:40.71872,-73.98905,100
WIFI credentials
Payload structure: WIFI:S:ssid;T:type;P:password;;
Eg. WIFI:S:MyWiFiSSID;T:WPA;P:MyPassW0rd;;

Apps: Designer
Platforms: macOS, Windows and iPad
We have made some further improvements to the pencil tool.
Firstly we are now using a new curve smoothing algorithm which we believe gives general better, smoother, results when using the pencil tool.
Secondly as has been commonly requested we have now changed the "Auto-close" method so that when you have that option checked in the context toolbar the curve only closes when you are near to the start point of the curve being drawn. You will now get an indicator when you are in range of the start position of the curve so you know when a curve will be auto-closed.

Variable fonts
Apps: Affinity Designer, Affinity Photo, Affinity Publisher
Platforms: All
You're now able to use variable fonts in all Affinity apps, providing a plethora of new typographic design possibilities.
As well as providing predefined font styles, such as light, bold and condensed, variable fonts give you fine control of specific design aspects known as axes of variation, or just axes for short.
To try out variable fonts in Affinity, apply one to some text and then:
- On desktop, click the Font Variations button on the context toolbar (or on the Character Panel).
- On iPad, tap the arrow to the right of Bold/Italic/Underline/Strikethrough on the Text Panel and then tap Variations.
Variation settings on desktop.

 
 
Variation settings on iPad.

 
You'll see settings for each axis that the font designer has made individually adjustable.

Axis' slider being dragged.
Many variable fonts allow you to adjust their width and weight axes, and possibly italic, optical size and slant. These five axes are common enough that they're defined by the OpenType specification.
All manner of other axes may also be adjustable, such as:
- the height of ascenders and depth of descenders to better fit your chosen line spacing.
- the stem terminals, to choose between straight and swelling.
- the width of counters, which are enclosed and partially enclosed spaces within glyphs.
For examples of other possible axes, check out the axis definitions that are available for variable fonts at Google Fonts.
You may see fewer axes in Affinity than are mentioned by a font provider's marketing. For example, Google Fonts lists 13 axes for Roboto Flex and Affinity exposes five of them. This is because we respect font designers' ability to specify that an axis should be hidden. This is part of the OpenType specification and means that software isn't meant to provide an interface for such axes.
Why would a designer do this? Well, a variable font might adjust an axis internally based on your choices for other axes that you can directly adjust. For example, observe how counter widths change when the weight axis is adjusted in the animation above.

Variable fonts and PDFs
PDF doesn't support variable fonts. So, when you export a PDF of an Affinity document that uses a variable font, we create a static instance of the font with fixed settings.
We've taken steps to ensure static instances of fonts are well named. You should find this minimises the need to identify the original variable fonts if you later import or place the resulting PDFs.

Apps: Designer
Platforms: macOS, Windows and iPad
Affinity Designer now includes a new width tool which is available by default alongside the pencil tool in your toolbar:

The Line Width Tool gives you an on-document way of editing the pressure profile of any curve. For example the curve below has 3 pressure points (5 including the start and end pressure). While in the Line Width tool the position of those points are shown along the curve, and you have the ability to drag to change the width and position of them. 
You can also click to add a new pressure point, or double click to remove any pressure point on a curve.

There are various modifiers available which you can see in the status bar:
Shift + Drag - allows you to modify the width at any point without adjusting it's position
Cmd (Mac) / Ctrl (Win) + Click - manually enter the width required at the chosen point
Ctrl (Mac) / Ctrl (Win) + Drag - move the point position without adjusting the width
Double click - remove pressure point
Additionally you will find some other options in the context toolbar when using this tool:

Adjust Line Weight - if this is turned on then should you drag the width of any point to be greater than the current line width (i.e. greater than 100% pressure) the line width will be increased to allow you to drag the width unrestricted. If it is turned off then the maximum width you can drag to is 100% of the set line width.
Allow point reordering - This option allows to you to specify whether you want to allow the tool to drag one point past another along the curve, effectively swapping their order, or not.
Snap to curve nodes - This will show any nodes on the curve as small white dots and will snap any pressure points to those nodes
Snap to widths on same curve - this will snap the width at any pressure point on a curve to other widths which already exist on that curve. This only applies when holding shift (i.e. you are adjusting the width without altering the point position).
Snap to curve geometry - this will snap the width to the geometry of any selected curves (again if you are holding shift). 

Thanks so much for helping us test pre-release builds of our apps. The idea of the beta program is to primarily identify any bugs and issues we have introduced in the latest version or find problems where any new functionality in the apps is not performing as expected. We would also love to hear your feedback on any of the new features / improvements, and suggest any ways in which those features could be improved further. Below are some pointers...

Reporting bugs

If you do come across any bugs here are a few pointers on the best way to report them so we can quickly replicate and investigate a fix for the problem…
Check that you are using the latest version of the beta. We will be releasing regular new builds (every 7-14 days) and it's quite possible your issue has already been fixed. Please let us know which app, operating system and device you are using. If you are happy to do so, and to save repeating yourself on each post, it's a great idea to include this information in your signature. You can do this via your forum account settings If the issue relates to any of the new functionality in the app, please go to the relevant post about that feature and report your bug in that thread If the issue relates to anything else please post in the general bugs area here. If certain steps need to be followed to reproduce the problem, please explain that as clearly as possible If the issue relates to a specific document please either attach to your post (preferable) or if you would prefer to not share the document publicly but are happy to share directly with us let us know on your post and we'll DM you for it. If the bug involves a crash and you are given the option to send us a crash report, please do that as it really helps with our diagnostics. Even if you do send an automatic crash report it is still valuable to us for you to report the crash as a bug on the forum too. Giving feedback
If you think there are ways we could make the experience of any of the new functionality better we would love to hear about it. Please keep this within scope of the improvements we have made, and post that feedback in reply to the relevant new feature / improvement post. We will do our best to take this feedback on board and if it's sensible / we have time we will certainly look at it - whether for the current update cycle or to have on our list for a future update.

Please bear in mind the beta forums are not for giving new feature suggestions which are outside of what have been added to the beta. You can give any new feature or improvement suggestions in our feedback forum for consideration in a future update cycle.

Other than that we hope you enjoy testing out our latest developments. If you have not enrolled into the beta program yet and would like to take part, you can do so here. This will immediately give you access to the latest 2.5 beta builds to try for yourself. If you have any questions about this or anything to do with the beta program please post in this members area for us / the community to respond to.

Thanks again for taking part!

Ash