[Designer: Masking the Shadow Layer Effect]

@v_kyr: I knew about the rasterization... the difference here would be ~35 kb, what's exaptable.

However, you motivated me to try a pure SVG-alternative

It was easy – with your example code – but I don't manage to get rid off the one pixel outline/glow in the upper right part of the circle. I think that masking could be the solution, but I still don't get it implemented. Have to look deeper into that...

<circle cx="1860.6" cy="338.234" r="338.686" style="filter:url(#ausschnitt-shadow)"/>
[...]
<defs>
    <filter id="ausschnitt-shadow">
        <feDropShadow dx="-17" dy="17" stdDeviation="10" flood-color="black" flood-opacity="0.4"/>
        <feComposite operator="out" in2="SourceGraphic"/>
    </filter>
</defs>

 

[Designer: Masking the Shadow Layer Effect]

Thanks joe_l, that's it!

I didn't recognize the select box in the popup.

[Designer: Masking the Shadow Layer Effect]

I'd like to use the "Shadow"-layer effect on an object but without having this object filled so that the background can shine through.
PhotoShop-users can achieve this with the second opacity slider on a layer that controls the opacity of the fill. ("Fläche: 0%" – no idea how it's called in english.)
Any ideas for Affinity Designer?

(Note: I can't do this like in the demo where I've masked the background and used this layer to cover the yellow circle. Finally I need a solution that can be exported as a SVG for websites and the background will not be under my control.)

Thanks
Tom

[Designer 1.9.0: Export can't overwrite existing file]

Found! MacOS was the culprit.
Not only Affinity could not overwrite existing files, no app could.

Strange things happen...

[Placing designs in my documents]

I''ve just tried to open and place JPEGs, NEFs and .afphotos in Designer and Photo (or did you mean something else?) – without any problems and quick as always. (iMac 2020 & Catalina)

Maybe your images come from a slow external file or network, or there's another App causing trouble. I would try a reboot.

[Designer 1.9.0: Export can't overwrite existing file]

When exporting SVG and PNG files (haven't tried other formats) from Designer 1.9.0 and a file with the same filename already exists, the "Overwrite?"-dialog appears for some milliseconds and seems to be automatically answered with "No", so that I can't save the new respectively updated file.

Work around: Delete the older file before exporting the new one.

Cheers
Tom

[Affinity CRASHING when scanning]

Same here (but different scanner). Use the Scanner-tool that MacOS offers: Spotlight search for "Scanner" finds "printer & scanner" or so.

Affinity uses the same tool but I could not find an explanation why it crashes...

[How to protect transparent areas in APhoto]

IMHO it's absoluty human to first try out what has worked before in a similar situation. 

> Following this, the computer, the  iPhone, … never would have been invented.

The computer as an example... originally paper tape was necessary. Necessary, but not a user-friendly idea. So they finally used what the users already knew since the 19th century: The keyboard. And this in an old layout that could have been improved in the process. (Dvorak keyboard for example.) A good decision, IMHO.

When I create something new, I always consider user expectations, and only when I think there is a *really* better solution, I do implement that.

> So, you really want a copy of Photoshop? Are you looking for a cheaper version of Photoshop?

Not a copy, but: A software that has been developed for 30 years must contain some good ideas. Why not find them out and make them your own (speaking for Serif here)?

By the way, the price is not why I don't want to use PhotoShop anymore: I don't like the rental software system. Because of AD (among others) I have cancelled my Adobe CC subscription in the meantime. Only the photographer subscription is left, because AP does not contain yet all features that are helpful for my jobs.

[How to protect transparent areas in APhoto]

3 minutes ago, mac_heibu said:

That is the „drama“ for all users, who expect a new application B working identically as application A. This is not the case, and if, it would be an evidence of incapacity for the software engineers of application B.

Truly, but this is how you typically approach new software... or a new Microwave, Radio, Navi, Toaster, ... 

I think that's perfectly okay, and maybe for the developers of "B" it could be an indication that the developers of "A" had a good idea too that should be adopted.

[How to protect transparent areas in APhoto]

"Color overlay" ignores any selections. Currently the "Brush-trick" seems to be the quickest way...

"New Adjustment Layer/ Recolour" could also be an alternative, but here we can't define the new color precisely; respectively not by RGB value or so.

[How to protect transparent areas in APhoto]

Thanks Pixel, I didn't notice this Checkbox in the Brush-Context-Toolbar.
It's a little more cumbersome than it should be, but that's acceptable to me.

[How to protect transparent areas in APhoto]

Thank you all!
So unfortunately there is no function to protect the transparent surfaces like in PhotoShop.

 

1 hour ago, John Rostron said:

Why do you not want to apply masking (proper or otherwise). The obvious solution would be to select the transparent area, invert the selection and then fill this non-transparent selection.

If you want to apply a new color to some pixels, filling with transparency-protection can be the quickest way.
PhotoShop has a checkbox for that in its "Fill"-popup and besides that a "protect transparency" option in its layers context menu. Both are quite useful.

Example: Today I received a logo as a transparent PNG file in which I had to change some text, but only a part of the graphic. In the end, I made a selection of the entire content and deselected the area that wasn't to be colored. With simple filling it would have been faster.

 

 

 

[How to protect transparent areas in APhoto]

Hi,
how do I protect transparent areas of a pixel layer against filling?
Or in other words: How do I fill only the not-transparent parts on a pixel layer? (...without first applying a proper masking)

 

[White Edges on exported .png file]

Where do you see white edges?

[Affinity Publisher]

In my opinion, "Studio Link" – the way the three programs are connected and integrated – is an absolute highlight!
The easy switching makes Publisher very productive and a real "creative" tool.

[PDF import work-around for missing fonts]

"Printing to PS" seems to be the best work-around for me.

Thanks to all!

[PDF import work-around for missing fonts]

Hi Seneca,
nope, I meant PDFs I get from clients.
Today that was a PDF with a logo that was not converted to curves...

[PDF import work-around for missing fonts]

AD cannot interpret fonts embedded in PDFs and asks for missing fonts during each import...

Ok, that's not great, but is there a work-around?
E. g. an App (other than Illustrator :) or Online-service that can convert typo to curves?

[AD 1.7 - Lock Guides?]

Sure: "View" / "Lock Guides"

[Publisher Export For Print - JPEG quality issues]

26 minutes ago, thomaso said:

Don't you see it just by file size – compared to a not-compressing file format?

Nope. Besides the raw image data there is much more info stored in almost every picture format – and in addition compression algorithms create very different results – that makes plain file sizes incomparable.
 

[Publisher Export For Print - JPEG quality issues]

@thomaso: I just wanted to find out if even a JPEG in highest quality is compressed or not. And the pixel clouds show the compression. Only a 100% white sample would have meant "identical".

["Acquire Image" crashes constantly with image correction enabled]

Didn't know that there is a built-in interface... 
Using the Mac-scanner-interface works fine, AP still crashes.
Serif doesn't seem to use the exact same interface: See the missing "Scan to/Name/Format"-settings.

 

[Publisher Export For Print - JPEG quality issues]

A bit off-topic... I expected an 100 % JPEG to be of the same quality as the uncompressed original. Now I wanted to make sure and did a simple test:

1. Create a JPEG with 100 % quality from an uncompressed TIFF
2. Import the JPEG as a second layer above the original TIFF
3. Set layer effect to "Difference"
4. Combine both layers
5. Invert
6. Zoom in to 1200 %
7. Use "Levels" to highlight the differences

And that's the result – tadaa:
Even an 100 % JPEG is somewhat different (compressed). And an 100 % Affinity-exported JPEG is closer to the original than the PShop JPEG is.
(Without these image manipulations, however, one would not see any difference.)

["Acquire Image" crashes constantly with image correction enabled]

Thanks for the tip, R C-R! 
I hadn't installed any drivers yet, and used the TWAIN interface instead.
Now I have installed both Canon drivers for test purposes, but unfortunately with the same result: The scanner popup crashes...
 

["Acquire Image" crashes constantly with image correction enabled]

Hi,
this is 100 % reproducable in APhoto 1.7.1/iMac 27 Late 2013/Mojave:

Using "Acquire Image" with "Image Correction" set to "Manual" crashes the Scanner-Interface (CanoScan 5600 F) immediately as soon as I press the "Scan"-Button.
With "Image Correction: None" it works fine and PhotoShop has no problem with any setting.

Looks like a bug to me...

Cheers
Tom