Jim Monson

Very nice. AD designers have thought through so many ways to help us. Thanks!

Thanks. A nice feature that I did not know. In this case, however, I have not used the number keys but only the arrow keys. I just realized that these also control various options (kerning, spacing, character size, etc.). Also, when this happens I am not in any of those types of options, but simply nudging an object on screen. I will try to pay careful attention to what happens in my History. I have already gone back to before "Set Global Opacity" to restore the object opacity and thus cannot send you that section of the history.

The available settings in Prferences/Tools for nudging are great. However, after I have nudged an object into place with several nudges, the next time I nudge a different object, the nudge replicates the entire set of nudges I just used on the previous object. Thus I must take more time to get the new object back into place after it "jumped"out of place. I've look in Preferences but find no help there..

As I'm working nudging objects in place in a complex layer doc, the objects under a layer suddenly disappear. In History I see that somehow "Set Global Opacity" has been activated without my notice. It must be some type of shortcut that as yet I have not discovered., but since it is "global" it must be in Preferences. However, I had not gone to Preferences. AD Help does not offer an help on this matter. This happened earlier today, but only *one* object among many in a layer disappeared, although I could still select it under Layers. If there is a thread on this could you point me in the right direction. Thanks.

I believe I have found a work around. It appears that if I click anywhere on the actual document after editing an object and then click back on a different object, the above problem does not happen. I'll keep trying this and report back.

I am using AD 1.5.5 on Mac, Sierra OS. It happens quite often but not consistently. To be specific, I am editing an object in a sub-layer (seen below as "RIFT-Jordan ..." below a top layer, "SPRINGS" not seen below). When I select the adjoining object to edit, the formerly selected object moves under/within the newly selected object and both lose their blue thumbnail, although the outline can be seen in one of them (first attachment below taken at 11.23;04). I produced this now having just booted up my MacPro and loaded AD. Thus it should not be a matter of RAM memory or too many undos. To return the object back to its former position I must undo a couple of times. This restores the thumbnail (the blue dot) to the formerly selected object but not to the newly selected object (second attachment below taken at 11.34.28). This thumbnail is never regenerated, even though the on-screen ellipse blue color has not changed. To restore this thumbnail I must reassign a color via swatches. Perhaps this is because the thumbnail now "thinks" its an "empty layer" rather than an object. The following also might be relevant. I imported this doc from Illustrator over a year ago Since then have recreated these objects (from curves to ellipses) under newly created layers. Since then I've "saved as" this doc with a new name hundreds of times in AD and cannot imagine that some vestigial remain of Illustrator could survive that. Thanks for any advice you can offer.

After working on an object in layer, I sometimes click a nearby object in the same layer and suddenly the former object is moved under the layer I have just clicked. This reminds me of an old Freehand feature. It seems random, but I know it must not be. Undoing this takes a a moment, but it becomes time consuming. Is this a feature in AD, and if so, can I turn it off?

Exactly. This is what bothers me. Even though I load the shortcuts or every save it under a new name, the shortcuts are not there when I reopen the same doc. I must reload them. Thanks for the clarification of what should happen. Next time I might try to "clear" the shortcuts and then bring them up again. That might clear up the problem.

I've looked in AD Beta 1.6 and have not yet found that longed for feature, Transform Each. Am I missing something or is it simply not there? I have thousands of objects to resize through scores of layers, and if it is there I'll await until the official release of 1.6. Otherwise its the old, slow, individual object method. Here's hoping....

Thanks for the tip, owenr. Also, one simply wants to check something quickly in each object it would be very useful to be able to move through layer objects and actually have them selected to be edited. Mouse clicks on layer objects can do this, but this takes more actions.

Thanks. I know that color palettes cannot be saved, and someone from AD confirmed that with me long ago. I accept what you say but wonder why my specific shortcuts always came up previously as I opened various docs, but now they do not. Is there anyway to have a set of shortcuts come up every time I open an AD doc, no matter where they reside? Previously, when I added to my shortcuts (I have one set I use everywhere), the saved shortcuts came up with my changes. I guess I'm asking if there is such a thing as a "default" for shortcuts, i.e., the last one I saved, even by a new name? If this had not been the case before I would not even had started this topic. Thanks for your patience.

I understand the above, but what continues to bother me is the fact that when now working only on my MapPro, and after numerous times saving my shortcuts on this same computer, they still do not automatically come up with the document I am working on. Each time I close the document and bring it up again I must load my shortcuts. Previously, as I saved my shortcuts on this computer, they would come up with the document when I opened it. Since it is a very complex document, I do not want to create a new one and bring my work over to it.

Double clicking on an object to get in close is a great feature on AD. Often, however, I would like to get more context around the object. I have hundreds of small ellipses (city dots) that I must reposition, and to do this I need a slightly larger area around each ellipses. As of now, each time I double click on the object I must zoom out with my mouse to see the context. It would really help if there were a preference option (or helper key) that would allow the user to double click and bring up the object, as well as the area around it, if possible, to a given distance.

Previously, the shortcuts I had created and saved via .affshortcuts would automatically come up when opening the doc in which I saved (or loaded) them. This no longer is the case. Now I must reload the .affshortcuts each time the doc is reopened, even though I re-saved the shortcuts in this doc. The only change that might have done this is the fact that sometimes I work on this doc on my Mac laptop, but later return to work on it on my MacPro. After reloading (or re-saving) the shortcuts on my MacPro, closing it and bringing it up again, I must reload them each time. Are not the .affshortcuts info saved within the doc?

Thanks, R C-R, but when I press, hold and drag my mouse drags the entire layer (all objects) on which the object is located. What is strange is that when in the Move Too sometimes a double click does what I want (remain on the Move Tool allowing me to drag the object). At other times, however, a double click will take me into the artistic text, and thus bringing up the Artistic Text Tool. I'm now simply holding down CMD when I double click and the does what I want every time. BTW, I hope you are okay and not located in the flooded areas. My + got you to 1000!

To avoid resizing Frame text I usually use that Artistic text. After bringing up my Move Tool via my shortcut and clicking once on an artistic text, AD often brings up the Artistic Text Tool which I do not want. I simply want to remain in the Move Tool and move the text as a whole. Of course, I can find the text in Layers but this is cumbersome. Thus I have used CMD/OPT and dragged over the Artistic text to select it and then move it. I just found that simply holding down CMD while in the Move Tool and clicking once on the artistic text allows me to remain in the Move Tool and thus to move the text around. QUESTION: Is this programmed into AD? I've never read that this is so, but it must be. A related issue is that when I click the screen while in the Frame Text Tool nothing happens until I drag out the frame box. To change tools I can thus use my keyboard shortcut (the handy "s") for choosing Move Tool . However, if by mistake I get into the Artistic Text Tool (see above) I must always remember *not* to click, i.e., unless I actually want to type in an artistic text. If I do, the Artistic Tool creates the place on screen where my text would begin (if I were to want a text). I wish AD would require a double click when one actually wants to type with the Artistic Text Tool. This would eliminate the necessity to remember *not* to click by accident after the Artistic Text Tool comes up by mistake (see above). If I do click by mistake then I must back up in order to eliminate what the Artistic Text Tool created on screen. I am not able to use a keyboard shortcut to bring up a different tool since since that would enter the letter I typed on the screen. Thus I am then forced to go to the Toolbar and my editing is slowed. Sorry to be wordy, but I want to be clear.

Resetting the studio appears to have corrected it. Thanks again.

Thanks for your trial info. I'll try reset and see what happens. I realize that the way it works for you two is as it should be.

In moving objects with the Move Tool I go to various places on the doc by pressing the space bar. After letting go of the space bar I expect the cursor to return to the Move Tool, but it almost always goes to (or remains in) the View Tool (the hand). In my Preferences/Shortcut the shortcut for the View Tool is empty, so that is not the problem. Doesn't pressing the space bar simply allow one to freely move around in the doc rather than actually bringing up the View Tool? It is time consuming that each time I press the space bar to move around the doc I must use my Move Tool shortcut ("s") to return to the Move Tool. Actually, often after letting go of the space bar and pressing my "s" shortcut, the shortcut does not work and I must use the Node Tool shortcut ("d") which does work---and then use the "s" to bring back my Move Tool. As far as I see there is no shortcut conflict. Might these issues be a bug in AD?

Good idea, Alfred. I'll try this. Get some sleep....

Works great, Alfred. I only wish that there were a way to enter a number in the Transform box (with constraints on) and have an exact resizing rather than having to drag the corner node (with OPT down) to get to the desired Transform number. Again, this appears to work but not with Frame Text.

Thanks, R C-R. That little extra control handle did the trick. Your prompt and wise responses are always appreciated. The 96/300 DPI issue is still outstanding, but I can live with that with the extra control handle. Many thanks!

After many trials I found that by holding down CMD and OPT (Mac) in AD I could resize my selection proportionally, including text which otherwise would be distorted. Today, however, this appears not to be working as it did in the past. I've looked over Preferences but as yet find nothing there that I could have changed. Is it true that CMD/OPT should maintains all proportions while resizing? ... Aha! I've just discovered that it appears the Frame Text does not resize (probably due to the constraints of the box) but that Artistic text does. Thus I will have to redo all of my Frame Text into Artistic Text. Related Issue: One of my map docs is 96 DPI in Doc Setup, while earlier work on the same map was 300 DPI (my fault for not discovering this earlier). I thought that I could simply change my earlier doc to 96 DPI, adjust the Doc Setup size to the 312.5% larger size on screen, save it and then be able to copy/paste it into my 96 DPI doc for finer adjustments. However, when I copied/pasted my revision into my 96 DPI doc, it reverted to the 300 DPI larger size on screen. Some basic tips on these issues above would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I'm talking about clicking on the Document Setup that provides the dimensions of the doc. It has a lock on the dimension on the right side.

This is about an AD doc that I have worked on for some time and used Save As to create a daily copies. I have done this hundreds of time and each time the new copy is precisely the same as my previous doc, and the Doc Setup numbers are of course the same. Today I have done this, taken out various layers, and saved it with a new name and then deleted some layers, only to find that my Doc Setup numbers have changed. I closed AD and brought it up again with fresh files and found this had again happened. Then I took a closer look and found that the Doc Setup in my original doc was not locked. When I locked it and went through the same process, the Doc Setup docs remained the same. This leads me to believe that there is something about taking out selected layers after duplicating the doc that would allow the change if the Doc Setup were not locked. Is that true? If so, this may cause some real problems for some users, and a warning perhaps should be added when closing the Doc Setup. Thus this question.