Hokusai

I've been posting on the forum here since Designer was released in 2014 but I've never posted anything of my own in the "Share your work". I'm always impressed by what others post and it inspired me to post something of my own. I chose this picture because it was so complex and it was overwhelming the amount of objects that I had to draw but I used it as a test to see how far Designer has come and I have to say that it has come a long ways since it was first released. Designer never quit or locked up on me and it performed beyond my expectations, especially on a project with so many boolean operations. I took an image that was done originally by the amazingly talented Gustave Doré and redid it completely in vectors using Designer. I did everything "by hand" as they say, I didn't use any kind of vectorizer as I feel that the results are never good enough. I also did the whole thing with a mouse, no Wacom. Somethings had to be created from scratch as the original was damaged in places so there are actually many differences between my version and the original but I think I've been able to maintain the spirit of the original. I've included some screenshots of the outlines to give you an idea of how many different objects there are. I'd like to give a giant "Thanks!" to MattP and the other developers for all their hard work. I'm especially thankful to them for adding a "Hide/Show All" command into Designer. It helped me greatly with this picture and I look forward to seeing what they will think of next. Thanks for letting me share. Hokusai

JesusSheep, Your request, as well as others who have been requesting a raster to vector tool, hasn't been ignored. If you are new to vector programs then it might be hard to imagine why it isn't included in Designer but Dave, one of the developers here, wrote three posts up and explained why it is not going to be included anytime soon. Think about Adobe. Illustrator didn't have it until version 12 (CS 2), it took them 18 years to add it to Illustrator so you can imagine the complexity and the difficulty of writing the code for a tool like that. The developers have stated that they don't simply want to add a tool that doesn't work well just to say that Designer has the tool and I applaud them for that. They are doing things the way that they should be done. I suggest, as others have mentioned, using Potrace as it is a decent alternative that may help to tide you over until the developers are able to add it to Designer. Give Potrace a try and see if it works for you. Hokusai

MEB, Your link is to another link so I'll save them a step: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/18966-adobe-photoshop-indesign-alternatives/#comment-240828

ttibsen, It isn't the "show center" by any chance is it? Does the little square in the middle show up if you draw other shapes? Hokusai

Italianappleさん、初めまして。チュートリアルのビデオはもう観てみましたか？　→　https://vimeo.com/channels/875980 Affinity Photoで使用されるメニューや用語はPhotoshopとは多少異なりますので、慣れるのに少し時間がかかるかもしれませんね。でも、その時間を費やす価値は十分にあると思います。Photoshopでできるほとんどのことは、Affinity Photoでもできますから。しかもサブスクリプションなしで！それにAffinity Photoでは新しい機能が追加されるのも速いです。デベロッパチームがユーザの意見やリクエストをちゃんと聞いてくれますから（でも、英語が英語が話せない場合、どうやって伝えるのがいいんでしょうね。グーグル翻訳も結構いけてますが、細かい質問になるとどうなんでしょう。逆にややこしくなったりすることもありますから。デベロッパチームに日本語が話せるスタッフがいるといいんですが。。。） 　　 Best of Luck, Hokusai

Bri-Toon, Nice idea but for me, I'd much prefer a pure vector eraser like the one in iDraw (sorry now it is named something else but the name escapes me). There are programs out there that have pure vector erasers that work well (and they don't change the shape nor do they become rasterized upon export) and I'd like to see something like that added to Designer. You are right, a vector eraser tool has been requested many times before and I'm sure that the developers are aware of it. I know that there are some people out there who would prefer a knife or scissors tool instead of an eraser but I'd prefer an eraser (as long as it is purely vector). Hokusai

rjmusto, Hello, there have been some issues in the past with gradients that get rasterised when saved as an EPS. I don't know if the issues were ever resolved. Here is a great thread to read with plenty of information about the topic: Hokusai

MaryLou, I actually like both of the U.I.'s to be honest with you. I something switch back and forth. I'm glad that the developers have opted to give us a choice. Something is needed to help make the tabs stand out and not all blend together though. Hokusai

MaryLou, Sorry, I didn't release that the lighter U.I. preference hadn't made its way into the regular release yet. The lighter U.I. helps for somethings but even with the the lighter U.I., the tabs are still hard to see (although a little better than with the dark U.I.). I agree, they should be easier to see. Hokusai

MaryLou, You might try the lighter U.I. that can be turned on in the Preferences. To me the tabs are a little easier to distinguish using the lighter U.I.. Best of luck, Hokusai

bagmetv, Thanks for the tip. I tried it and it worked. Having to go up to the menu to show the Studio panels on the left side has been driving me crazy. Hokusai

MattP, Thanks for the quick update! I do have one question, for some reason starting with the last beta, the Studio panels that I dock on the left side don't appear when I launch the program and I have to show them every time but the ones on the right show up as usual. Is that the issue that was discussed in earlier releases? It has never happened to me before so I was just curious. Thanks for all the hard work! Hokusai

MattP, Sorry, I figured it out. For some reason the "Auto-scroll" was enabled but I've never had it enabled before (or is that new?) so it threw me off. Thanks for all the hard work! Hokusai

MattP, Thanks for the update. I've really been enjoying the "Hide/Show All" commands! For me, when I select something, it automatically flips the layer contents and shows them (all of them). If I select something else, the flippy triangles are still flipped on the previous layer and then it does it to the next layer. I'm guessing that this is either a bug or a preference setting but I can't find the preference for it. Sorry if this doesn't make sense. It is a very distracting for me, is there a way to make it stop? I'm very happy to see some improvements to the expand stroke! Way to go! Many thanks, Hokusai

ALXHK, Thank god, now I won't have to waste anymore time reading your drivel. I seriously think you should take a writing course, it might help you to better communicate your "ideas". As well, you might want to work on your tone. It comes across as very egotistic, which seems out of place for someone with only 18 years experience in the business. Maybe that is what you were going for? Anyways, with all that typing you did, what you didn't do was actually provide anything that even remotely backed up your lies that Serif's business model is to make profits from selling manuals or that they intentionally make their software difficult to use in order to sell manuals. Hokusai

ALXHK, Hello and welcome to the forums. Everyone has different needs and different expectations and you might have a few good points in your posts but because of the length of your post, most of your ideas, suggestions and complaints get muddled. It is funny that you complained that there should be no manual but then you wrote a manual about not needing one. Serif didn't originally make a manual and it wasn't until lots of people asked, begged, and complained of a lack of one that they finally made one. So to say that it is a part of their business model is incorrect and just not true. It is true that a manual isn't needed by everyone but some people do need one. I, myself didn't need one and didn't buy one but there are others who did. I prefer the way that Serif did it because they allow those who don't need one to keep from having to pay for one but they still left the option to get one for those who feel that they need it. That seems to offer the best of both worlds and I can't imagine how anyone could complain about it. Hokusai

BudProd, Affinity is planning on releasing a Page Layout program sometime in the future. A page layout program isn't a word processing application though (which is what Word is) but they are similar in some regards. There isn't a release date given so far. I hope that helps. Hokusai

Matt, I think I understand now. You have two "Show All" options but one of them is actually "Hide"! Thanks a million for adding that! I'm so happy to be able to hide things and show all with a shortcut! Hokusai

Matt, Thanks for all the hard work! I love the "Unlock All" and the "Show/Show All" but for some reason I can't find the "Hide"? Was that a mistype or am I looking in the wrong place? Hokusai

JMaguire, What you are referring to in regards to locking and unlocking with a shortcut can be done with ease now. You can easily select an object and lock it although you can't unlock only one item without making a trip to the Layers Panel, you can simply "Unlock All" with a shortcut though (and save the trip to the Layers panel). I'm guessing that the reason for this is, once an item is locked, it is unselectable without making a trip to the Layers Panel to click on it and thus selecting it. You will have to go to the Preferences and create a shortcut for the "unlock all" command though (and the "Show All" command which is even more useful to me)! I agree with you about the need for a way to show outlines on a per layer basis, it is extreme important to have with complex drawings. Hokusai

Peregrin, Technically it is something you have been requesting for less than a year as you requested it on August 4th of 2016 and it is only July 23rd 2017 so you couldn't have been asking for it for years but saying "I've been asking for it for almost a year" just doesn't quite have the same ring to it. Just joking with you! I do agree with your request though and I'd love to see it added to Designer as it would be a useful addition for me too! Best regards, Hokusai

PatrickBosKessen, Multi-Page documents is on the Features Road Map so it will be added sometime in the future but they haven't said when. https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/842-affinity-designer-feature-roadmap/ As far as the rotational issues go, my understanding is the reason for rotating (using the command you are talking about) is to change the view point of the artist to make it easier to see or to draw things (and probably for an upcoming iPad release). I never got the impression that it was to be used for rotating pages from landscape to portrait but I don't know? That is why when you go to "reset rotation" it goes back to the original orientation. Just my thoughts on it, maybe MEB can clear things up? Best of luck, Hokusai

Kiarian, Glad to help. If you have any questions, just post them. Between the developers and the users, I'm sure that someone can help you. Hokusai

I like that the "Distribute" objects is improving but it is still needs some of the things mentioned here (like MEB & Retrograde's suggestions). I would love to be able to choose a shape for the objects to be distributed in and then be able to adjust the spacing. I often have to create things with a repeating pattern circular pattern (often around something in the middle, think of a clock face). It can be done now but it takes a lot more time and effort than it should. The new options that have been added to Distribute is a great step forward but more could be added to it to make it even more useful. Hokusai

Kiarian, Hello, you can't group objects using the Node tool (the white tool). If you switch to the move tool you will see the "Group" option show up on the Contextual Toolbar. Hokusai