retrograde

Illustrated maps for village promotion and tourist places. Created in Affinity Designer using vector technique combined with bitmap using Concept Master Vol.1: Nature Brush Pack brushes and those created by myself. So far, for several maps, I have drawn about 200 objects with varying degrees of accuracy.

I am very surprised, A that this wasn't implemented from the start and B that after 3 years of requesting this, it still hasn't been implemented or addressed for that matter... 
If it's not going to get resolved can we at least get some kind of explanation??
Guys you've got to start reading and responding to your own users forum. 

Users need some sort of simple way to organize and save favourite brushes in their own panel. There are now hundreds of brushes, all in separate panels. It's becoming counter productive and I think some sort of system is needed to get the most out of all of these great resources.

Yep, plus 1 here too!
And also have the brush that is in use stay highlighted in the brush panel. How many times have I had to guess which brush I am using...

Yep, plus 1 here too!
And also have the brush that is in use stay highlighted in the brush panel. How many times have I had to guess which brush I am using...

All layers should have a lock icon. I dont know whats going on. I dont know whos logic it is a serif but this needs to change ASAP. I hate how theres no lock icon on layers. Instead, the lock icon is at the very top right corner of the layers panel. Why? Just why?! Whos logic is this? Like, thats like taking the checkmark icon to each layer, removing it from each layer, and putting it at the top right corner. Its just so wrong. You need that check mark icon and you need the lock icon. Youre forcing me to go all the way to the top right corner of the layers panel just to view or hide my layer and now I have to lock my layer by going up there as well. Its ridiculous. The check mark icon and the lock icon NEED to be on each layer because they relate to the layers! I'm so upset right now. Whos logic is this at serif? Its so wrong and its so simple to put a lock icon next to the check mark icon. You literally do it when a layer is locked.  
PLEASE add a lock icon to all layers. 

I agree with a lot of what you are all saying.
I've been using Designer professionally since 2014 and would love to hear from the team more than we do on stuff they are working on or ideas they are thinking about for the future of these applications. I'm not talking about firm dates on upcoming features. That sort of stuff can wait until they are good and ready to share, no, just a little bit more behind the scenes contact with their user base would be nice from time to time. I would think that would be part of community building, an integral part of any company offering a product or service. I think they could be doing a better job at these sorts of things. Spotlight is great and the Affinity Youtube channel is starting to get some love but it would be nice to get a sense of where this ship is heading once in a while.
Having said that, I for one really hope some of the long standing requests/issues/features mentioned (by Serif and others) going back years now are either being addressed or at least discussed behind the closed doors at Serif HQ. I'm assuming they are cooking up some good stuff (2.0?), I hope I'm not wrong. Some of us have been in the waiting room a long time.
Edit: the below link is a great example of the sort of thing I am talking about. It's a link to Blenders latest roadmap from October 2021. 
https://code.blender.org/2021/10/blender-3-x-roadmap/

Users need some sort of simple way to organize and save favourite brushes in their own panel. There are now hundreds of brushes, all in separate panels. It's becoming counter productive and I think some sort of system is needed to get the most out of all of these great resources.

In the layers panel, when you disable (not remove) some effects on a certain object it might be worth keeping the "fx" icon in the panel but maybe with a red "X" through it so you know there are some effects applied to it but are just disabled. That way with a click on that "fx" with a red "X" you can toggle the effects on and off right from the layers panel. Currently when I disable the effects, the icon disappears and I don't know which objects I have tried some effects on... This way, at a glance you are reminded which elements have effects applied but are turned off.

I agree, the UI is a bit too dark and icons are way too small and too fine in appearance.
Please either bump them up for the next update or add a preference for users to make size adjustments. It's currently borderline unusable.
Thanks!

I think what they mean is to convert your type to curves. This way you don't need to send the fonts with the file to them for printing. It converts your type into vector graphics.
 
To do this in Designer, select your type, go to the layers drop down and choose convert to curves. Personally I think this should be in the text drop down... and called something like convert type to curves.
 
You should keep a version of your file with the fonts intact first so you have a back up copy.

I am very surprised, A that this wasn't implemented from the start and B that after 3 years of requesting this, it still hasn't been implemented or addressed for that matter... 
If it's not going to get resolved can we at least get some kind of explanation??
Guys you've got to start reading and responding to your own users forum. 

I am very surprised, A that this wasn't implemented from the start and B that after 3 years of requesting this, it still hasn't been implemented or addressed for that matter... 
If it's not going to get resolved can we at least get some kind of explanation??
Guys you've got to start reading and responding to your own users forum. 

I'm having an issue with the placements of new;y created art boards. If I create a new art board, the artboard is placed next to each artboard you create. So as you create a new artboard what happens is you get this line of art boards that are being placed next to each other and eventually you have all these artboards in 1 row. Its a row of artboards. 
My issue is if I create a new row of artboards by creating a new artboard and dragging that artboard to the bottom of the first row and then create a new artboard to grow my 2nd row of artboards, that new artboard is placed at the end of the first row. Not the second row I created. And if the first row is full of artboards then that requires me to go all the way to the end of the first row, select that new artboard, and move it down to my second row. So I'm trying to create a 2nd row of artboard but every time I create a new artboard its placed at the end of my first row and it requires me to move that artboard manually to my 2nd row.
So what I'd like is if when creating a new artboard if affinity could make that new artboard be placed next to the last artboard that was created or next to the last artboard that was selected. One of those 2. Preferably next to the last artboard created. Something like that. 
So if I create a new artboard and place it under my first row and then create a new artboard, that new artboard will be placed next to the first artboard on my 2nd row. Not all the way at the end of the 1st row. 
So I need newly created artboards to be placed next to the last artboard created. 
 
 

Why does the color picker tool work the way it does in every studio panel? Its so frustrating. Let me explain. 
I'm not talking about the color picker tool in the tools icon. Keyboard shortcut (i)
I'm talking about the color picker icon in all the studio panels. Mainly color, swatch, and effects studio. You usually see it next to any swatch of color
So the logical thing you would think is you would select the color picker icon in the studio panels, pick a color of your choice, and what ever object you had selected before is going to change into that color you selected, right? No! It doesnt work that way! Heres how it works. So you can't click on the color picker icon in the studio panels to pick color. Its not a clickable icon. I dont know why. You would think you could click the color picker icon in the panels but you cant. Instead, you have to click on the color picker icon AND DRAG over the screen to start color picking whatever color you want, and then once you've selected your color, the swatch icon next to the color picker icon will change into the color you wanted. BUT WAIT! Its not going to change your object color you had picked with the color picker even though you picked the color already. You have to select the color swatch icon next to the color picker icon in order to apply that color. Like? Just why?!?!😡 Just change my color. Its not that hard. Its so annoying!! Like, its so many steps just to do 1 single thing. UGH!!! 
Just let me select the colorpicker icon, let me select the color i want, and done. My shape is now the color I wanted.
No. Instead, i have to click over the color picker icon, drag to select the color I want, have my color selected but not change the color of my shape just yet. I have to then click the color that I wanted in the swatch icon, and then my color is finally applied. Its just a mess and too many steps for something so simple. 

First, I love Affinity Designer, but I do love a tool from Concepts app called Nudge, attached you can find a video showing how it works.
And it’s not just for lines, is so fun to use it with complex art too!
It’s an amazing tool, that makes so easy and interesting to edit vectors, and I believe is so revolutionary that Affinity Designer must have it (and improve it) so we don’t need to use Concepts instead.
 
Sorry for my bad English,  thanks!
929F89D9-716B-4D2F-AF63-C8F41F3C3671.MOV

I agree, the UI is a bit too dark and icons are way too small and too fine in appearance.
Please either bump them up for the next update or add a preference for users to make size adjustments. It's currently borderline unusable.
Thanks!

+1 for this feature. The node tool has a neat ‘snapping’ feature that you can use to close a path - we just need that same functionality when drawing to save extra work later.

Yep it's possible but it's a bit clunky to control at the moment or at least I found it that way... see attached.

I agree with a lot of what you are all saying.
I've been using Designer professionally since 2014 and would love to hear from the team more than we do on stuff they are working on or ideas they are thinking about for the future of these applications. I'm not talking about firm dates on upcoming features. That sort of stuff can wait until they are good and ready to share, no, just a little bit more behind the scenes contact with their user base would be nice from time to time. I would think that would be part of community building, an integral part of any company offering a product or service. I think they could be doing a better job at these sorts of things. Spotlight is great and the Affinity Youtube channel is starting to get some love but it would be nice to get a sense of where this ship is heading once in a while.
Having said that, I for one really hope some of the long standing requests/issues/features mentioned (by Serif and others) going back years now are either being addressed or at least discussed behind the closed doors at Serif HQ. I'm assuming they are cooking up some good stuff (2.0?), I hope I'm not wrong. Some of us have been in the waiting room a long time.
Edit: the below link is a great example of the sort of thing I am talking about. It's a link to Blenders latest roadmap from October 2021. 
https://code.blender.org/2021/10/blender-3-x-roadmap/

To sum up what users want:
Transparency of currently supported/unsupported features to current and potential users so they can make educated decisions about workflows and programs. Buying a program with the expectation of better workflows and features only to stumble because of a feature that doesn't exist is a huge cause of grievance. Roadmap so users know which features are being worked on, instead of being left to wonder. If we see something like Android/Chromebook development, or performance improvements in the works, that might make a lot of sense to schedule ahead of development for this feature. Without a roadmap, it just feels like nothing is happening, and every now and then we get a release dropped without the features we want. SOME kind of community interaction would be massively beneficial. A feature that's requested STRONGLY enough by the community should be given some kind of formal response. 17 pages of replies, over 7 years, for a feature found on most vector-editing programs and required for many workflows, but missing from Affinity, should receive some formal response a little more than "we won't do it unless it's done well," and then silence. Plugins for new features or filters to be added in by third parties and the community. Not just brushes and textures, but actual code that can allow Affinity to do things it can't otherwise do. This way, the program can expand far beyond the core developer's capacity.

It sure would be nice to have some more transparency and insight into the roadmap.  I do miss seeing the development roadmap for their software.

Any news on this Chris, using designer on the 12.9 ipad is almost unusable for me with the current size and darkness of the ui?

All of the above, especially a keyboard command to close the curve would be very welcome. Thanks.

I agree, the UI is a bit too dark and icons are way too small and too fine in appearance.
Please either bump them up for the next update or add a preference for users to make size adjustments. It's currently borderline unusable.
Thanks!