- S -

Hardware acceleration is automatically off, as this machine has never had an eligible GPU for hardware acceleration (just an Intel Integrated GPU).
It's a particularly odd issue, as the last time I wiped this machine was only about 3-4 weeks ago when I was testing something else.  And it really is a clean install each time ("Win11_23H2_EnglishInternational_x64v2.iso" booting from USB stick and wiping all disk partitions).  At that time, "affinity-photo-msi-2.4.1.exe" worked OK and also updated using "affinity-photo-msi-2.4.2.exe" OK.  So, same hardware, same Operating System, same applications – just 3-4 weeks apart.  Also the MSIX version still works OK.
That's why I'm thinking along the lines that it's possibly not a problem with the Affinity installer/application per se, but something else has changed in the last month that the Affinity application doesn't like now (at least when installed using the EXE installer).
 

There's also a video at the below link (starts at 3:45) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hntb-PMGUEA
 

Agreed.
 
I have attached a set of macros below created with Affinity Photo 1.6.5.135, including one for 120DPI.
Importing:
1) Ensure the Library panel is active in Affinity Photo by going to [Window > Library].
2) In the Library panel, click the "hamburger" menu in the top-right corner.
3) Select "Import Macros…".
4) Import the below Affinity Photo Macro file.
Macro Set:
DPI (Affinity 1.6.5.135).afmacros
Screenshot:

 

Agreed.
 
I have attached a set of macros below created with Affinity Photo 1.6.5.135, including one for 120DPI.
Importing:
1) Ensure the Library panel is active in Affinity Photo by going to [Window > Library].
2) In the Library panel, click the "hamburger" menu in the top-right corner.
3) Select "Import Macros…".
4) Import the below Affinity Photo Macro file.
Macro Set:
DPI (Affinity 1.6.5.135).afmacros
Screenshot:

 

Agreed.
 
I have attached a set of macros below created with Affinity Photo 1.6.5.135, including one for 120DPI.
Importing:
1) Ensure the Library panel is active in Affinity Photo by going to [Window > Library].
2) In the Library panel, click the "hamburger" menu in the top-right corner.
3) Select "Import Macros…".
4) Import the below Affinity Photo Macro file.
Macro Set:
DPI (Affinity 1.6.5.135).afmacros
Screenshot:

 

Currently it only seems possible to use the Mesh Warp Tool on a single layer at a time, therefore this feature request is for the ability to use it on multiple layers selected in the layers panel at the same time. 
With other tools, E.G. making a selection around a part of an image and then using the Move Tool, it works on all the selected layers and still keeps the individual layers separate.  The Perspective Tool also works like this, as does the Liquify Persona.  The Mesh Warp Tool however doesn't.  For example:
With all layers selected, the Mesh Warp Tool will only work on one of the layers:

 
If you group the layers first, then the Mesh Warp Tool will work on all the layers, however doing so means the layers get rasterised into a single layer, which is a no go.  In addition, it's no use if layers you want to alter are already organised in various different groups:

 
Perspective Tool works OK:

 
Selections work OK:

 
Liquify Persona works OK:

I am also able to reproduce this issue with a new blank TIFF file created with Affinity Photo.  At least for the "Comments" and "Subject" fields, but not for the "Tags" field.
When opening the TIFF file, Affinity Photo converts some Microsoft metadata tags to their own Serif-specific XMP metadata tags [XMP-serifExifExt].  When the file is then saved again from Affinity Photo as another TIFF file, Affinity Photo writes back to the metadata tags shown below.  However, when it writes the Microsoft metadata tags, presumably a text encoding/byte issue is introduced as the written text string now appears as Chinese characters.
The IFD0:XPComment tag gets written to:
XMP-serifExifExt:XPComment IFD0:XPComment (as Chinese characters) The IFD0:XPSubject tag gets written to:
XMP-serifExifExt:XPSubject IFD0:XPSubject (as Chinese characters)  
Screenshot showing comparison before and after saving in Affinity Photo:

 
Exporting to JPEG works as expected.
-----
Affinity Photo - 2.3.1.2217 (EXE)
Windows 10 - 19045.4046
 

The up/down/left/right arrow keys on the keyboard should adjust rotation and scale of the Clone Brush tool.
 

Are you able to give steps of a particular workflow where it doesn't embed metadata when exporting as JPG (for example, is this when exporting from the Export Persona, rather than File > Export)?  Ideally, also upload a sample JPG file that it happens with here in a ZIP file.
 
The PNG file format historically didn't support standard metadata formats (I.E. IPTC, EXIF, XMP).  While the authors of the PNG specification did finally add official support for metadata chunks fairly recently (2017), they took so long to add it quite a lot of applications such as Windows File Explorer never added support for it.
 

One option is to uninstall the MSIX/Microsoft Store versions of the Affinity apps and install the alternative EXE versions that Serif provide as well.  Using the EXE versions will use predictable file paths to the Affinity executables (I.E. %ProgramFiles%\affinity\photo 2\photo.exe).
However, if you would prefer to continue using the MSIX/Microsoft Store versions of the Affinity apps, you could add the apps to the Controlled Folder Access allow list using PowerShell.  By using PowerShell, it will allow you to use wildcards (*) in place of the version numbers in the file paths to the executables.  See my previous post at the below link:
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/170384-saving-files-blocked-by-controlled-access-folder-how-to-fix/&do=findComment&comment=979210
 

Yeah, it's a bit confusing.  Look where the double lines are in the Layers panel and also the colour of the layers in the Layers panel.
- If the adjustment layer is above the double lines and is a dark grey colour, it denotes that the adjustment layer is in the mask section.

 
- If the adjustment layer is below the double lines and is a light grey colour, it denotes that the adjustment layer is in the clipped or child section.

 
This is why you're seeing the difference.

Video A.mp4  
Also refer to the Serif video here [3:13]:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fiCvurH0is&t=193s

 

Windows Firewall doesn't block loopback (localh‍‍ost) communication, therefore the Affinity applications will still work, even if blocked by Windows Firewall.  Other third-party firewalls however can cause issues if they block loopback (or the user blocks loopback).
Therefore, people can block Affinity applications with Windows Firewall, however there will be a few caveats:
1) Affinity programs require outbound internet access the first time they're run after installation – as users need to enter their Affinity ID and password to perform a one-time licence check with Affinity servers and activate the licence.
2) Other functionality that requires outbound connections – such as the Affinity Stock panel – obviously won't work if outbound connections are blocked.
3) If using the MSIX installer (rather than the upcoming MSI/EXE installer), the Affinity application paths have the version number in the path.  This means the firewall rule will only be relevant for that exact version (I.E. 2.0.3.1688), as Windows Firewall doesn't allow wildcards in paths.  Windows Firewall does allow creating rules using an App Package name – instead of a direct file path – which gets around this issue and is how firewall rules are created for Microsoft's own Store apps, however this method doesn't work with Affinity applications (see my previous post HERE).
I'm not entirely sure why there isn't an option to disable automatic update checking from the UI, particularly as MacOS has the option.  Some people don't like applications having internet access unless strictly necessary, however there is another practical reason why some people may want to disable automatic update checking in professional software – consistency.  When doing a large project (for example scanning and restoring a batch of a few thousand photos), a lot of testing and checking will be carried out before starting the run because it's a long, tedious, time consuming task and having to go back and correct any problems is no fun and extremely costly in terms of time.  It essentially becomes a production line and the last thing needed is for any of the programs to update midway through the project and introduce any bugs, inconsistencies or unexpected behaviour.  Some projects may last weeks or months, so it would be useful to be able to turn off automatic update checking in these circumstances.
 

I am able to reproduce this issue.
The original image dimensions in the above post were 4000 × 2250; the image has then been doubled in size to 8000 × 4500.  In this scenario, the masks will display this phenomenon when converted to RGB/16, RGB/32, Grey/16, LAB/16.
Steps to reproduce:

01 Mask Bug.mp4  

I am able to reproduce this issue.
The original image dimensions in the above post were 4000 × 2250; the image has then been doubled in size to 8000 × 4500.  In this scenario, the masks will display this phenomenon when converted to RGB/16, RGB/32, Grey/16, LAB/16.
Steps to reproduce:

01 Mask Bug.mp4  

I don't deal with vectors much, so it's entirely likely the following method may not be what you're looking for.  However these were the steps I used.
1) Created the main shape with the pen tool
2) Duplicated it
3) Removed the top part of the duplicated shape by breaking the curve and deleting the top nodes, leaving just the line along the bottom
4) Used this as the base for outline effect in the layer effects panel (see pic for settings)
5) Clipped it to the original main shape

 

 
 

Perhaps it would be better not to store IP addresses or location data in the first place?  Especially not for months like in the below page.
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/settings/devices/
 

Perhaps it would be better not to store IP addresses or location data in the first place?  Especially not for months like in the below page.
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/settings/devices/
 

Perhaps it would be better not to store IP addresses or location data in the first place?  Especially not for months like in the below page.
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/settings/devices/
 

Perhaps it would be better not to store IP addresses or location data in the first place?  Especially not for months like in the below page.
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/settings/devices/
 

Perhaps it would be better not to store IP addresses or location data in the first place?  Especially not for months like in the below page.
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/settings/devices/
 

Perhaps it would be better not to store IP addresses or location data in the first place?  Especially not for months like in the below page.
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/settings/devices/
 

Perhaps it would be better not to store IP addresses or location data in the first place?  Especially not for months like in the below page.
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/settings/devices/
 

Perhaps it would be better not to store IP addresses or location data in the first place?  Especially not for months like in the below page.
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/settings/devices/
 

Perhaps it would be better not to store IP addresses or location data in the first place?  Especially not for months like in the below page.
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/settings/devices/
 

Perhaps it would be better not to store IP addresses or location data in the first place?  Especially not for months like in the below page.
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/settings/devices/