matt.baker

Non-Destructive Warp Tool or Live Filter.

Come on, it's 2018!

Click here to download the latest beta
Status: Customer Beta
Purpose: Features, Improvements, Fixes
Requirements: A valid product key (for Affinity Store purchases), or an installation of the full retail version from the Microsoft Store

As this is a beta it is considered to be not suitable for production use. This means that you should not attempt to use it for commercial purposes or for any other activity that may be adversely affected by the application failing, including the total loss of any documents. 

We hope you enjoy the latest build, and as always, if you've got any problems, please don't hesitate to post a new thread in this forum and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Thanks once again for your continued feedback.

If you have a general question about the software, please head over to the Questions Forum, or if you have any suggestions, please head over to the Feature Requests forum.
Fixes
Added Transform panel "relative" mode for Point Transform tool  Fixed setting arrow heads to None Fixed several Appearance panel UI issues Fixed Draw Behind/Draw In Front stroke options not working correctly with Appearance panel Added support for resetting adjustment sliders via double click Documents are no longer closed when a network drive disconnects (prevents loss of work on transient connection errors)  Fixed rendering error with compound curve nodes with multiple lines/fills  Added 'Touch for Gestures Only' option in Preferences  Fixed sporadic hang (and 100% CPU usage) Fixed assistant manager being disabled with no documents open Added Paint Mixer Brush tool setting serialisation  Fixed closing application during Customise Toolbar, resulting in application being stuck in Customise Toolbar mode  Added missing shortcuts for move inside/move outside  Fixed sporadically being unable to add Styles to the Styles panel Added Asset panel drag and drop from Explorer Fixed Layer Blend Modes failing to display after deselecting a Group or Layer object  Fixed Appearance Panel unable to use Cap, Join, Align and Mitre stroke options Fixed Layers panel mask thumbnails to draw without checkerboard  Fixed sporadic crash when viewing history panel Tweaked layout of some Preferences options Layers control has now been re-written to improve performance and stability Fixed some crashes due to parsing image metadata Added 'Image Info' drop down for placed images (allows DPI/scaling to be changed) Fixed Advanced History showing timestamps in UTC Disabled Swatches panel when a document isn't open Fixed asset search Added option for TIFF export compression 1.7.0.258 release notes

For what it's worth, my system doesn't have that problem.

It's a 32" screen, but I've just verified that it also occurs on my work PC with a HD monitor when setting the display scaling to 125, 150 etc.% from the in-built Windows Display Settings dialogue.
Just to clarify, as the gif and video may be reducing fidelity, it only seems to be ones that use the cross-hairs such as the shape tools and text.
Compatibility options are off:

Click here to download the latest beta
Status: Customer Beta
Purpose: Features, Improvements, Fixes
Requirements: A valid product key (for Affinity Store purchases), or an installation of the full retail version from the Microsoft Store

As this is a beta it is considered to be not suitable for production use. This means that you should not attempt to use it for commercial purposes or for any other activity that may be adversely affected by the application failing, including the total loss of any documents. 

We hope you enjoy the latest build, and as always, if you've got any problems, please don't hesitate to post a new thread in this forum and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Thanks once again for your continued feedback.

If you have a general question about the software, please head over to the Questions Forum, or if you have any suggestions, please head over to the Feature Requests forum.
 
Fixes
Increased hit box area around Layers visibility checkbox Removed Fill flyout 'None' tab, and replaced with a 'None' button Added support for import and export of PSD layer colour  Fixed moving the mouse away from a blend mode doesn't change the preview back to Normal  Fixed Arrowhead preview menu in light UI  Fixed dragging a slider in an Adjustment dialog resets the Blend Mode  1.7.0.256 Fixes
You're never going to believe it... ARROWHEADS! Added ability to have multiple fills and lines on objects (Appearance panel) Fixed crash at startup when only .NET 4.6.2 is installed (due to Microsoft bug - we now require .NET 4.7.2 which prevents installation on Windows 10 1507 and 1511) Reverted change to Layers panel font size Fixed crash printing constraint group node with multiple lines/fills Fixed PDF import bug preventing layers from being imported Fixed CMYK printer profiles not appearing in print dialog Improved consistency in hot key assignment (CTRL + Numpad + 1 will do the same as CTRL + 1 now, assuming Numlock is on) Fixed Stroke width being printed incorrectly on rotated objects  Fixed Open / Save dialog file extensions list being too long 1.7.0.251 release notes
 

One cool function to try - Insert Inside.  This is the button on the far right of the top toolbar.  With a vector shape selected, and selecting this option means anything you do next will be inserted inside the shape.  I've attached a video showing this with a raster brush...
InsertInside.mov

For those not familiar, the behavior result that Rudolphus is depicting here…

…is reminiscent of FreeHand. Unlike most drawing programs, FreeHand did not just provide two node types ("smooth" and "cusp" or "corner" and "curve"). It also provided a third node type called a "Connector Point." A Connector Point was a node with just one handle, the length of which affected the curvature of the next (outgoing) segment. But that single handle always maintained tangency with the end of the preceding (incoming) segment. Its purpose was to always ensure perfect tangency between a straight segment and a curved segment, no matter what you subsequently did to those adjacent segments. Particularly important in drawing font glyphs, but just as useful in accurate general illustration.
Most vector illustrators are not even aware of it, because it was never a feature of Illustrator.
So the behavior which Rudolphus is suggesting could be useful for the same purpose. But since Affinity also only provides the two most common types of nodes, the tangency would not be maintained if the two associated segments are thereafter altered. The node is still just an ordinary smooth node with one handle retracted.
But it would be a great thing if the concept of FreeHand's Connector Point were "resurrected" in a modern drawing program. It's just one of many "long lost" superiorities of that program.
JET

Thats the key! I've reproduced it now, and do agree this does seem a little off, so I shall get it reported to development! Thanks for GIF  

Why is this awfull bug stil here? after more than a year ...  

Splash Screen
Icons.
Best regards!

Click here to download the latest beta
 
Status: Customer Beta
Purpose: Features, Improvements, Fixes
Requirements: A valid product key (for Affinity Store purchases), or an installation of the full retail version from the Microsoft Store

As this is a beta it is considered to be not suitable for production use. This means that you should not attempt to use it for commercial purposes or for any other activity that you may be adversely affected by the application failing, including the total loss of any documents. 

We hope you enjoy the latest build, and as always, if you've got any problems, please don't hesitate to post here and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Thanks once again for your continued feedback.

If you have a general question about the software, please head over to the Questions Forum, or if you have any suggestions, please head over to the Feature Requests forum.
 
Tools
We've overhauled most of the core tools, adding subtle new features to make you more productive:
Node tool has a new 'Transform Mode' which provides a containing box for the selected nodes and allows for more freeform editing of the nodes. Node and Pen tools have an utterly amazing Construction mode which gives easy access to common construction features to help you build complicated shapes or intersections accurately and easily, giving you simple access to parallels, right angles, reflected and mirrored angles, in addition to circular construction snaps and all construction intersections. This really needs a video to show how to use it - but it's awesome. Pen tool now has a 'rubber band' mode and also a mode to allow future curves to be added to the current object's curves (for example, the character 'a' is constructed of two curves in a single 'curve object' and this mode makes that construction simpler). Node tool can now auto-snap nodes if you drag a node from one curve over the top of a node from another (selected) curve and pause, it will offer to snap to the same geometry as the node you're hovering over (i.e.  modify the on and off-curve nodes to match). This is really useful for trying to reconstruct areas of one curve from another curve. Node tool now allows for lasso selection of nodes by holding the Alt/Ctrl key and dragging a selection lasso. Pencil tool now offers a 'sculpt' mode that allows for extending or manipulating curves in a more natural way. More to come in this area soon. Many tools now allow for 'Alignment widgets' which you can toggle the visibility of in the context toolbar. When enabled you can visually adjust the alignment or even, for example, 'align to centre, snapped to the left edge of this object' by simply click/dragging. Fill tool correctly allows editing of skewed fill handles and newly-created skewed fills draw much nicer now. Ruler origin can be edited by simply dragging the area where the rulers intersect each other - it can even be snapped onto objects in the document. Guides can be edited in most tools by simply dragging a guide in the ruler area. Grid setup is now more interactive: origin can be dragged, axis scale adjusted and angle adjusted on-document, complete with snapping to objects and angles in the document to help you reconstruct useful grids from finished artworks or sketches. By enabling 'Edit in Plane' on the new Isometric Studio, tools can edit objects and appear to make those edits along the currently active plane - extremely useful for artists who enjoy working with any axonometric projections. You can now drag the rotation centre point (when enabled on the context toolbar) while holding Ctrl and it will translate the object - this is actually very useful for positioning and snapping objects relative to others. Shapes tools now have presets so you can create your own favourite shape setups and more easily use them again. There are just far too many subtle tool changes to mention here, but hopefully you'll find the tools much improved
 
General
New brushes, styles and assets are now shipped with the product. Visible bleed (accessed from the View menu) so you can more easily design into the bleed area - a common feature request. “Alternate futures” for document history have been added. Traditionally, if you roll back the undo history then do something else all your changes after that point are lost. Designer will now display a small branch icon in the history tab when you do this. Pressing that button will cycle between all the different “futures” after that history entry - meaning you will never lose work you have done. New 'Isometric' Studio makes it easy to setup and work with various axonometric projections within the application. HEIF images can now be loaded directly into Designer. If they contain a depth map, this will also be loaded as a second layer. Because depth maps are typically lower resolution than the main image, optional “smart” upsampling will be performed. Designer now supports custom document presets - a popular feature request. A new blend mode - Linear Burn - has been added. New “Move inside / outside” commands have been added - useful for quickly clipping/unclipping. New "Merge curves/Separate curves" commands. Grids now have an editable number of angle subdivisions. The Hard Mix blend mode has been improved. Numerous text improvements have been made - including new features such as bullets and numbering. Significant PDF import / export improvements and fixes. Added support for per-monitor ICC profiles (previously we only used the primary monitor's ICC profile) in the document view (controls still use the primary monitor's ICC profile, which will hopefully be fixed in the future).  
Brushes
Designer 1.7 introduces a new “sub-brush” mechanism, developed in conjunction with Paolo Limoncelli (DAUB® Brushes). This exciting feature allows any brush to have a list of other brushes attached which will draw at the same time. Each sub-brush has a fully separate and customisable set of dynamics. You can control when the sub-brushes are drawn and how they blend with the main brush. Symmetry (up to 32-way) is now supported - including on-canvas controls and optional mirroring. Wet edges and accumulation are now available on colour brushes and brushes with HSL variance. Brushes with multiple nozzle textures have always chosen the nozzle at random. In 1.7, the nozzle choice has a dynamic controller and ramp for greater control. All pixel brush tools now support left and right arrow keys for rotation - a common feature request.
Adjustments
The HSL adjustment layer has been rewritten. It now supports custom hue ranges, a new algorithm, new UI and picker controls. The Levels adjustment layer now supports output levels - a common feature request. The White Balance adjustment layer has been rewritten. The Selective Colour adjustment layer has been rewritten. PSD import / export of adjustments has been improved. The Vibrance adjustment layer has been rewritten. The Recolour adjustment layer has gained a lightness slider.  
Fixes
Numerous other bug fixes - too many to list!

Hi matt.baker,
This is not the same nor as complete as Illustrator isolation mode - I just don't know if you are aware of it - but if you press and hold ⌥ (option/alt) and click a layer/object in the Layers panel Affinity will isolate it for editing (if the layer is already highlighted/selected in the Layers panel ⌥ (option/alt)-click the thumbnail instead) until you click on somewhere else.

I've just downloaded the latest Windows beta 1.5.0.25 (RC) and it's now fixed (the change history mentioned user variables in this release). Before, I didn't have the light grey row.
 

 
Also, I agree, it definitely needs more features such as a way of creating global/document variables that can be referenced by all of the slices/exports.
 
Thanks

Hi Lukasz.tyl and Welcome to the Forums,
 
Sadly it's not possible for us to change the email address thats paired with the product key, and is why we have the bit in the FAQ about always needing to use the original email address you purchased Affinity with.
 

Welcome to the Serif Affinity Forums, Blu_Lion. :)
 
For Affinity Photo 1.x on Windows, you'll find a Product Key value in the registry key at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Serif\Affinity\Photo\1

Also would be useful in the following case to show the number of lines/segments to determine if the path is closed as they both appear the same:

Coincident nodes is something to avoid in font glyphs. As I recall, Fontographer, since way back, displayed coincident sequential nodes (adjacent in the path winding order) with a dashed circle around them.
Auto-deletion or "merging" of coincident nodes is not necessarily a good idea, because you don't always want the same thing to happen in the results. Should the associated handles be retracted? Should just the two inboard handles be retracted? Should the resulting single node become a corner or a curve node? Or should the segment joining the two nodes simply be removed (i.e.; the path opened or cut between the two nodes)?
It can be simpler to just highlight the coincident nodes and let the user decide what to do with them. It's not uncommon for me, upon encountering coincident nodes, to select the frontmost one, use the arrow keys to nudge it, say, six increments in one direction, delete the joining segment, and nudge the moved node back.
Frankly, in general drawing practice, it's not that big a deal. One soon learns to sense when coincident nodes exist by the giveaway behaviors. But display of number of paths (open and closed) and count of nodes in the current selection should always be provided. So should path length. These are some of the reasons why I've always preferred programs with an "Inspector" based interface (as in FreeHand since around version 3) which tells you everything you need to know (and set) about the current selection in a tidy, concise palette, instead of having the  information scattered all across the interface.
JET

This is very well thought out, and I experience the same problem. The only thing I question is that more complex objects would have dozens of nodes. So, the person won't count to compare how many he or she sees over what is actually there. But I would be open to maybe a color indicator if there are nodes or vertices overlapping on the same path.

Also would be useful in the following case to show the number of lines/segments to determine if the path is closed as they both appear the same:

Why would this be useful? The below should sum it up.

Even in outline view with zoom at maximum you cant tell.
For objects it shows how many are selected, but not for vertices/nodes.

There is no bug. This behavior is common to all Bezier-based drawing programs. Since paths can be opened, closed, cut, added to, subtracted from and otherwise reshaped at any time, it would be quite debilitating if closing of "straight" paths were somehow "disallowed" whenever a move resulted in a path's being "straight."
Each "segment" of a path is a complete cubic Bezier curve. The interface of the drawing program effectively "strings them together" end-to-end.
By definition, a cubic Bezier curve has four ordered XY coordinate pairs, even if it appears to be just a "straight line" with "just two nodes." The whole "nodes" thing is just an interface convention. The first and last of the four coordinate pairs are the "from" and "to", or "start" and "end" of the plotted curve, so are always located on the curve. So those are the coordinate pairs which drawing programs treat as "nodes" or "anchor points" or just "points." But the second and third coordinate pairs still exist, even with what appears to be a "straight line." They may be coincident with the first or last, or they may just happen to lie somewhere along the straight line between the first and last.
Closing an open path simply adds another segment which starts where the last segment of the open path ends, and ends where the first segment of the open path starts. So there's no reason a single-segment path (your "straight line" with "just two nodes") cannot be closed by adding a second segment identical to it in shape.
For example, forget straight paths and consider a curved path. There's nothing preventing you from doing this:
Create a curved single-segment path; for example, a 90 degree arc. Copy it. Paste the copy in the same position, exactly in front of the original. You now have two complete cubic Bezier curves, each still having four defining coordinate pairs. Join the two identical single-segment paths at one end. You still have two complete Bezier curves. But the smoke and mirrors of the software interface treats this construct as a "single path with two segments." It's just treating the end coordinate pair of the first curve and the start coordinate pair of the second curve as a single "node" since they are at the same location. It's effectively "sharing" a coordinate pair between two Bezier curves and through the smoke-and-mirrors of the interface, enabling their associated "handles" (the third coordinate pair of the first curve and the second coordinate pair of the second curve) to be optionally "linked" in one of several behavioral ways when you manipulate them. Close the path. Now you have what the interface presents as a 2-segment closed path. It's still two complete cubic Bezier paths, each defined by four coordinate pairs, but the interface is effectively "sharing" two pairs of start and end coordinates and providing that optional "linking" at both of those "shared" locations (the two on-path "nodes.") This "closed path" still has a start and an end. It also still has a direction. But now, because of that wonderful "magic" of the software interface, you can:
Select one of the two nodes. "Convert" it to a smooth node, causing the third coordinate pair of the first segment and the second coordinate pair of the second segment to act like they are interdependently "linked" so as to be constrained to make a straight line with the "shared" coordinate pair... ...and have a teardrop shape, while being confident that the two curves (segments) remain perfectly tangent at the other node. And now, just because the two segments are not identically shaped, it doesn't seem at all strange that a path having "just two nodes" can be closed.
JET
 

Instead of Click + Shift or Drag + Shift it would make sense to change it to Shift + Click and Shift + Drag respectively.
This then matches the natural operation order and convention of key modifier first e.g. Ctrl + Alt + Delete would never (under normal circumstances) be written Delete + Ctrl + Alt.
 

Why would this be useful? The below should sum it up.

Even in outline view with zoom at maximum you cant tell.
For objects it shows how many are selected, but not for vertices/nodes.

Instead of Click + Shift or Drag + Shift it would make sense to change it to Shift + Click and Shift + Drag respectively.
This then matches the natural operation order and convention of key modifier first e.g. Ctrl + Alt + Delete would never (under normal circumstances) be written Delete + Ctrl + Alt.
 

I'd never really considered it before. Perhaps it could be improved with a reason for why the curve join, or any operation for that matter, failed?
Another one for migration to the feature requests and feedback forum I guess.