LCamachoDesign

New beta is around, time to bump this up and see if it comes around this time.
We really need this to produce good packaging and print mockups.

New beta is around, time to bump this up and see if it comes around this time.
We really need this to produce good packaging and print mockups.

It's bumping time!
Can we please have a:
I've started mentioning this feature back in 2016!
Without it we're still stuck using Photoshop for many types of mockups. There's already a perspective filter, and the whole Liquify persona as a live filter!
Thanks!

I'm going to bump this topic with my +1
I've recently tried the iPad version of Affinity Designer and the touch interaction is much better! I disagree with bringing the whole iPad UI to the desktop, mostly because there's some key features missing in the iPad (global colours, swatches on layer styles...), but I do agree in bringing the Windows touch interaction to the iPad level.
Thanks!

I didn't realise in the beta thread discussions (I wasn't paying much attention to be honest) that Data Merge here means something different from Data Merge in InDesign.
In InDesign doing a data merge means a one time import of data, meaning if the data source is modified later, tough luck to you. This mostly renders InDesign data merge as a useless function, everyone just uses XML linking instead.
Turns out Data Merge in Publisher works much more like XML linking, meaning that if you change the data sources, you can update/sync the Publisher contents with a click of a button. This is quite amazing. This type of data linking is really hard to do, and you need some sort of masters degree to use the InDesign version (I know I spent almost a year perfecting this function for a client catalogue). That Serif was able to pull this off in such short notice is pretty amazing. Congratulations to the devs, well done and impressive work!

Hi  LCamachoDesign,

Thanks for letting us know. I've reproduced this and passed it on to development.

Hello again

I'll get this issue updated with development. Again no need to move - as this thread can still be found by searching! Just a simple bump to say it still affects you is fine
 

Hi LCamachoDesign,

The issue is still open with development, and I will update the issue with them. There is no need to move the thread however, as it is still visible by searching  

It's what the title says, ability to see markers for tabs, paragraph markers, spaces, line breaks, and so on. Absolutely fundamental for any kind of design using more than a couple of line of text.
Thanks!

I didn't realise in the beta thread discussions (I wasn't paying much attention to be honest) that Data Merge here means something different from Data Merge in InDesign.
In InDesign doing a data merge means a one time import of data, meaning if the data source is modified later, tough luck to you. This mostly renders InDesign data merge as a useless function, everyone just uses XML linking instead.
Turns out Data Merge in Publisher works much more like XML linking, meaning that if you change the data sources, you can update/sync the Publisher contents with a click of a button. This is quite amazing. This type of data linking is really hard to do, and you need some sort of masters degree to use the InDesign version (I know I spent almost a year perfecting this function for a client catalogue). That Serif was able to pull this off in such short notice is pretty amazing. Congratulations to the devs, well done and impressive work!

I didn't realise in the beta thread discussions (I wasn't paying much attention to be honest) that Data Merge here means something different from Data Merge in InDesign.
In InDesign doing a data merge means a one time import of data, meaning if the data source is modified later, tough luck to you. This mostly renders InDesign data merge as a useless function, everyone just uses XML linking instead.
Turns out Data Merge in Publisher works much more like XML linking, meaning that if you change the data sources, you can update/sync the Publisher contents with a click of a button. This is quite amazing. This type of data linking is really hard to do, and you need some sort of masters degree to use the InDesign version (I know I spent almost a year perfecting this function for a client catalogue). That Serif was able to pull this off in such short notice is pretty amazing. Congratulations to the devs, well done and impressive work!

I didn't realise in the beta thread discussions (I wasn't paying much attention to be honest) that Data Merge here means something different from Data Merge in InDesign.
In InDesign doing a data merge means a one time import of data, meaning if the data source is modified later, tough luck to you. This mostly renders InDesign data merge as a useless function, everyone just uses XML linking instead.
Turns out Data Merge in Publisher works much more like XML linking, meaning that if you change the data sources, you can update/sync the Publisher contents with a click of a button. This is quite amazing. This type of data linking is really hard to do, and you need some sort of masters degree to use the InDesign version (I know I spent almost a year perfecting this function for a client catalogue). That Serif was able to pull this off in such short notice is pretty amazing. Congratulations to the devs, well done and impressive work!

OH YEAH! FINALLY!
I hope my feedback helped with the development of this. I'll be in touch if I spot additional bugs or improvements to do in the future. Many thanks!

I didn't realise in the beta thread discussions (I wasn't paying much attention to be honest) that Data Merge here means something different from Data Merge in InDesign.
In InDesign doing a data merge means a one time import of data, meaning if the data source is modified later, tough luck to you. This mostly renders InDesign data merge as a useless function, everyone just uses XML linking instead.
Turns out Data Merge in Publisher works much more like XML linking, meaning that if you change the data sources, you can update/sync the Publisher contents with a click of a button. This is quite amazing. This type of data linking is really hard to do, and you need some sort of masters degree to use the InDesign version (I know I spent almost a year perfecting this function for a client catalogue). That Serif was able to pull this off in such short notice is pretty amazing. Congratulations to the devs, well done and impressive work!

Both of these should be sorted for the next RC...

Both this:
and this:
Still happen. Just to let you know.
Thanks!

Both this:
and this:
Still happen. Just to let you know.
Thanks!

Both this:
and this:
Still happen. Just to let you know.
Thanks!

Hi Matt, app is still crashing when adding a global colour without first touching colour wheel. Also no dropper to select an initial global colour from the current drawing.

I was waiting for the actual 1.9 beta to come out before posting this, but since it doesn't look like it's coming any time soon, I might as well post it in advance. Even if work in the UI has already started, I still think it's relevant to post this. If for nothing else then to make sure you avoid doing the global colours editor UI in the same disastrous way Adobe did with Illustrator for the iPad released today.
To avoid the above you must understand one thing, the whole point of global colours is to finely tune the colours of our illustrations, in real time. This means you must see the colours change within the illustration as you tweak the swatch. As such you must do your best to avoid obscuring parts of the canvas, no full screen editors please.
Another point with these mockups is to create them reusing as much of the existing UI as possible, so the amount of work needed to create this is reduced. This is a critical feature that has been missing for way too long, let's not delay it any further by requesting unique UI elements just for it.
With that out of the way, let's get started.
 
1. The first step in editing global colours is to actually have some.
For that you need to have a way to add them to the colour palette. A simple 'add global colour' entry on the existing flyout menu will do. The swatch will be further tweakable down the line, so this is enough or now.

 
2. Now that global colour swatches exist, you must be able to apply them.
For that you'll need an indicator showing the swatch is applied, a simple blue circle around the swatch will do. This is the same colour as used in many other controls throughout the app. On the next point I'll show these swatches as a grid instead of a list.

 
3. We must be able to apply global swatches to things beyond simple shapes.
Right now we're not able to apply any swatches, even regular ones, to things like layer effects. For global colours to be maximally effective this must change, we need a UI to select and apply swatches to things other than shapes. Here I'm showing how this would look when applying a global colour to a colour overlay layer effect.

 
4. Now that global colours are applied, we need to edit them.
This is where I ran into a possible UI inconsistency issue. What makes sense to me would be to long press a swatch, choose 'Edit' from a popup, and be taken to a panel for that effect like shown in point 5. The thing is, I don't think there's any instance where a popup menu like this takes us to a subpanel? And like I said at the start, if I want to minimize UI changes in order to deliver this as fast as possible...

... so if the above is an issue, then another solution can be used. Instead of long pressing the swatch, we could instead head to the Colours panel and have it behave in a way similar to the desktop version. That is showing a tint slider with a button linking to the colour editor.

 
5. Time to tweak the actual colour values
Independent of the design option chosen above, you'll end up on this panel to edit your global colour. You'll be able to tap the swatch name to change it, and more importantly change the colour values while you keep the canvas in sight at all time. Once you're done you can simple back out into other panels or tap away to close it.

 
Add... that's it. I'm open to take any feedback, and I'm sure the developers would like that too. However, remember that we must reuse as much of the UI as possible, so this critical feature can be delivered as soon as possible.
Thanks!

I see that global colour swatches are still not mentioned in the changelog. I find this troubling as it seems like you're unsure if it will be included in the retail build... Pretty please, no do not take this away! Global colours are a must, even if they're not doing everything they could, it's still infinitely better than nothing!
That said, I do have a bug report for the new global colour dialog:
Bring up the new global colour dialog Tap the slider type menu to bring up a list of slider types Drag your finger through the list and select any slider type Notice the list remains up if you try to compose a colour, and you can't change any of the values Notice that you interact with the shapes on the artboard instead Instead of dragging your finger on the slider type list, tap any slider type Notice the list is dismissed and that you can interact with the colour sliders now You no longer can interact with the shapes on the artboard as expected I also think the issue mentioned on the other thread is gone. I can rename the global colour on this dialog just fine.
See the attached video for a visual demonstration of the bug.
Thanks!
RPReplay_Final1609936126.mov

I can confirm this is happening to me as me as well. A few more details:
Toggling Spot or Overprint does not prevent the crash Changing the swatch name does not prevent the crash Swapping to another slider type, like CMYK to RGB for example, does not prevent the crash The only way to prevent this crash from happening is to move any of the colour sliders, even if just a bit. I can also prevent the crash from happening by moving a slider and then moving it back. For example, starting with CMYK all at 0%, move K to 100% and then back to 0%. The crash is prevented. It seems like the slider values are not initialised until a value change happens. See attached video.
FullSizeRender.mov FullSizeRender.mov

I was waiting for the actual 1.9 beta to come out before posting this, but since it doesn't look like it's coming any time soon, I might as well post it in advance. Even if work in the UI has already started, I still think it's relevant to post this. If for nothing else then to make sure you avoid doing the global colours editor UI in the same disastrous way Adobe did with Illustrator for the iPad released today.
To avoid the above you must understand one thing, the whole point of global colours is to finely tune the colours of our illustrations, in real time. This means you must see the colours change within the illustration as you tweak the swatch. As such you must do your best to avoid obscuring parts of the canvas, no full screen editors please.
Another point with these mockups is to create them reusing as much of the existing UI as possible, so the amount of work needed to create this is reduced. This is a critical feature that has been missing for way too long, let's not delay it any further by requesting unique UI elements just for it.
With that out of the way, let's get started.
 
1. The first step in editing global colours is to actually have some.
For that you need to have a way to add them to the colour palette. A simple 'add global colour' entry on the existing flyout menu will do. The swatch will be further tweakable down the line, so this is enough or now.

 
2. Now that global colour swatches exist, you must be able to apply them.
For that you'll need an indicator showing the swatch is applied, a simple blue circle around the swatch will do. This is the same colour as used in many other controls throughout the app. On the next point I'll show these swatches as a grid instead of a list.

 
3. We must be able to apply global swatches to things beyond simple shapes.
Right now we're not able to apply any swatches, even regular ones, to things like layer effects. For global colours to be maximally effective this must change, we need a UI to select and apply swatches to things other than shapes. Here I'm showing how this would look when applying a global colour to a colour overlay layer effect.

 
4. Now that global colours are applied, we need to edit them.
This is where I ran into a possible UI inconsistency issue. What makes sense to me would be to long press a swatch, choose 'Edit' from a popup, and be taken to a panel for that effect like shown in point 5. The thing is, I don't think there's any instance where a popup menu like this takes us to a subpanel? And like I said at the start, if I want to minimize UI changes in order to deliver this as fast as possible...

... so if the above is an issue, then another solution can be used. Instead of long pressing the swatch, we could instead head to the Colours panel and have it behave in a way similar to the desktop version. That is showing a tint slider with a button linking to the colour editor.

 
5. Time to tweak the actual colour values
Independent of the design option chosen above, you'll end up on this panel to edit your global colour. You'll be able to tap the swatch name to change it, and more importantly change the colour values while you keep the canvas in sight at all time. Once you're done you can simple back out into other panels or tap away to close it.

 
Add... that's it. I'm open to take any feedback, and I'm sure the developers would like that too. However, remember that we must reuse as much of the UI as possible, so this critical feature can be delivered as soon as possible.
Thanks!

Yes, ran into that limitation recently as well. Working on a series of illustrations that always use the same color palette (or for corporate identity work) it would be really useful.

I've searched around and while I see people asking about this, doesn't seem like there's any kind of formal request for this feature so here's one.
Essentially it's what the title says, please add the ability to create, edit and apply global colour swatches in illustrations and designs done on the iPad. Global colours are a fundamental part of vector design and illustration, the need for this is vital!
Right now the only workaround is to create them on the desktop and then open the file on the iPad, but this has limitations besides not being able to edit the swatches on the device itself. For example if you apply a global to an object, the swatches panel will not indicate in any way that the colour is apply to the object, unlike in the desktop where you can see the swatch highlighted.
Thanks!