Hokusai
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Posts posted by Hokusai
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Sorry but this isn't correct. You only need one click to do what you're describing. Just select the object on the Layers panel (locked or unlocked it doesn't matter - this is a conscious action from your part) and drag it to the layer you want. There's no need to click (or cut) in anything else other than the first click to select the object in the layers panel.
Meb,
Thanks for the explanation. I didn't realise that you can move shapes even on a locked layer until you have deselected them, that is very useful but it still doesn't help in situation. In my explanation I said that when I create shapes accidentally on a locked layer (it happens even to the best of us) I can't move them without having to unlock the layer, select them and then move them to an unlocked layer and then go back and re-lock the layer. This is correct because I was creating shapes without knowing that I was on a locked layer and of course I had deselected the shapes. If I was aware that I was on a locked layer, I could use your tip and then simply cut the shape and paste it onto an unlocked layer but most of the time I realise it later. It may seem odd that someone would accidentally be the wrong layer but it is easy to do. For me coming from Illustrator I'm used to just clicking on an object and it moves me to that layer. I know that Affinity Designer has that option too (and I love that we have options) but I prefer to work in the "single layer" mode as opposed to the "edit all layers" but I sometimes forget about it and then I end up on the wrong layer (it doesn't really happen all that much but it does happen). I liked your idea of "a preference to disallow the creation of new objects inside locked layers despite the layer being selected may solve this particular issue." Thanks again for the explanation about the thinking behind behaviour.
Hokusai
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One of the things that I love about Affinity Designer is the History palette. I always thought it was odd that Photoshop had a History Palette but Illustrator didn't. There is one thing that I think that could be added that would be useful (at least to me). In addition to the History palette, I think it would be useful if the "undo" command showed what it was going to undo. For example "Undo delete", as of now it only says "undo" but it doesn't say what action it is going to undo.
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mr_bee,
Affinity Designer is an incredible bargain at $60. Try it and you will understand. The software is very powerful, fast, and they have added lots of nice little touches that show that how focused they are on making a great product. Also if you see how hard their team works to squash bugs, make improvements, and actually listen to what their customers say, you would also think that $60 is a steal. Affinity Designer compares very favourably with Adobe Illustrator which is priced much higher (and you have to pay a subscription to use it). Most comparable vector packages are going to cost you $400 or more (US Dollars and so it would be even more in Canadian Dollars).
- peter and BethaniRose
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I always have the navigator tab visible so that when I'm zoomed in a lot, I can still have an idea of where I am. The only problem that I have is, sometimes the colour of the navigator indicator (the floating box that follows your movement and shows where you are) blends in with the picture I'm working on and I can't always tell where I am. Is there anyway that you can make it so that Designer detects the dominate colour of picture and then chooses another colour for the indicator that is easier to see (possibly an opposite colour)? For example, now I'm working on a picture that is predominately blue, but the navigator indicator is blue or kind of greenish and it is hard to see. If this isn't possible, then how about the ability to change the colour of the indicator square? Just a thought. Does this happen to anyone else?
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I completely understand what VectorCat is talking about. I too sometimes mistakenly create new shapes on a locked layer which should be impossible (as a layer that is locked shouldn't allow anything to be changed while it is locked). Then I can't select the item to move it to an unlocked layer without first unlocking the layer that was supposed to be locked, then cutting the shape and then moving it to another layer and finally going back and locking the layer again. This does create a lot of unnecessary clicking. To me a locked layer should be locked and nothing should be able to be added to the layer or deleted from the layer and no changes should be allowed until the layer is unlocked. I brought this up some time ago here but I got no responses. https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/3845-shouldnt-hidden-layers-be-locked/. I'm sure that there is some reasoning for this behaviour but to me it seems counter-intuitive.
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kbro,
Have you tried downloading and using the beta? Somethings that are problems with the App Store version have been fixed in the beta. The only thing to remember is that if you open a file in the beta version, you won't be able to open it in the App Store version. Try the one that I did using the beta version and see if it works for you. It is a PDF, not an Affinity Designer file. If it works for you then you might consider downloading the beta.
Hokusai
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I don't know if this is possible or not. I have always found the Distribute "horizontally" and "vertically" useful but there are times when I would like to be able to distribute things in a circular pattern. Sometimes I have a bunch of straight lines or rectangular boxes and I want them to be distributed in a circular pattern (normally around a circular centre but not always). Now I have to do it manually and it is time consuming. If it is a few shapes then it isn't such a big deal to do it manually but if it is many boxes, then it is a pain. It would be great if I could choose the centre shape and then have boxes or lines to be distributed around the centre shape evenly.
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Thanks Andrew, very helpful! I didn't realise expose did that!
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I could have sworn that I read this request before but when I searched for it I couldn't find anything. I'm not sure if this is something that affects only me but I have a terrible time selecting colours. Even in the latest beta, when I want to select a swatch I often accidentally click the one next to the swatch that I want (or I have a hard time clicking on the swatch that I want because of the small size). Would it be possible to make the size of the swatches user defined or at least just bigger?
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I can understand people's request for an auto-tracing feature, it seems to good to be true. Vectors made without having to actually draw anything. Auto-Tracing like Illustrator's live trace are handy if (and it is a really big if) quality isn't an issue. Sure it is a time saver if quality doesn't matter. The truth is there simply is no substitute for someone taking the time to create an image, logo, ect properly. If you have a high res image to use, then sometimes (depending on the image) live trace will do a decent job but not a great job. You just can't auto-trace something and expect it to be as good as one done by a skilled artist. That isn't to say that it isn't useful, sure there are times when it is useful but I think I would rather have the Affinity team working on adding other innovative features than an auto-trace function. Simple logos are easy to trace and they don't take so much time anyways. Complex images take a long time to trace but if they do, then the auto-trace wouldn't work well on those images anyways. I've never tried VectorMagic though maybe it's quality is close to that of a skilled artist but for $300, I doubt that I will ever know! I could buy a lot of sushi for $300!
- Gear maker and Fixx
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MattP,
Here is an example. MEB is correct, it is destructive but there are times when it is very useful.
MEB, sorry I have no idea when is the best time to add it to program but I agree, having boolean operations working perfectly (or as best as possible) is more important. Thanks for better explaining my request!
Thanks
Hokusai
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No one has posted, so I'm guessing that there currently isn't a way to merge a single shape that overlaps?
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I haven't seen Hide/Show All in the latest beta but I'm still hoping it will show up some time in a future release. For me it is such a huge time save, it is undoubtably the thing I miss most about Illustrator.
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+1 for curved gradients! I think this would be very useful in Designer.
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If this is already a feature, then if someone could point me in the right direction I would appreciate it, if not I would like to request a way to merge paths. I don't know if this would be considered a boolean operation or not but in Affinity as it is, I have to have two shapes selected to use the boolean operations. I would like to be able to merge shapes that I draw using the winding fill mode so that the overlaps are combined into one shape (does that make sense). In Illustrator, there are Pathfinders and you have the option to "merge" paths and it will clean up and combine any overlapped areas even if it is only one shape.
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Thanks guys, drawing with the pen tool seems faster and a bit smoother than before (or maybe it is just me).
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MattP,
Thank you!!!! :)
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Recently this has been making me crazy because I have to change everything that I draw to winding mode. Maybe I'm unusual? Do more people use the alternative fill mode than the winding fill mode?
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MEB,
Thanks for the answer. I didn't realise it was by design but it helps to know the thinking behind the idea. While I can now understand the idea behind the "recent" swatches on the Swatches Palette it still seems odd to me that the same colour would appear more than once in the recent colours. For me, it doesn't matter when I used a colour or even how many times I used it, it only matters that I have used a colour (and that I have access to that colour again should I want to use it later). So for colours to be listed sequentially is unnecessary (from my perspective) and as well, to have multiple swatches of any one colour only makes things confusing. Why would someone need to know what colours were used when? Thanks for the tip on creating a Swatches palette, that's helpful (but the "recent" is still the same no matter what palette I use).
Hokusai
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In Affinity Designer the swatches palette has a "recent" area that shows recently used colours. The odd thing for me is it will show many different swatches of the same colour. Why is this? This seems confusing and redundant to me. I would think that colours of the same value should only appear once in the "recent" colours. Is this the way it was planned or has something gone awry? I wasn't sure whether to post this in the "Feature Requests" or the "Questions" but because I'm not sure about the reasoning behind the current behaviour I posted it here.
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Thanks MEB, I'm guessing that thew two issues are linked.
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MEB,
Thanks for looking into it. I thought it was odd as when I restarted Affinity, but I wasn't sure how the autosave feature works (does it overwrite the current file or does it save a separate file someplace else?). It might be related to the crash that I experience while using Affinity (the beta not the app store version). I posted about it in the "Bugs" forum. Let me know if you have any insights. Thanks!
borderless printing problem?
in Pre-V2 Archive of Affinity on Desktop Questions (macOS and Windows)
Posted
Busenitz,
It might help to let them know which version of Affinity Designer you are using. Are you using the Mac App Store version or the beta version? If you are using the App Store version, you should download the beta and give it a try and see if it fixes your problem. Just be aware that if you save a file using the beta, you will no longer be able to open it using the App Store version (so I would make a copy of my files first just in case). I would also suggest that you try exporting your Affinity Designer file as a PDF and then try using Preview (or Acrobat) to print it and see if that works. Just something to try. Good Luck!
Hokusai