[[READ BEFORE POSTING] Common issues found in the Affinity 1.9.0 Designer Windows update]

1 hour ago, Mark Ingram said:

If you try the latest customer beta, and confirm it's fixed there, then there is no need to report your artboard document crash. If it's something different, then yes, please do report the details 🙂

I was unaware of this, I've tried it and my issue is fixed. Thanks I'll know to look for this option in the future.

[[READ BEFORE POSTING] Common issues found in the Affinity 1.9.0 Designer Windows update]

So if I encounter any crash that involves printing a document with multiple art boards, no-one wants to know the detail (e.g. not even the context and what user action triggers the crash)?
It doesn't help that I have a file and a very short user sequence that does it 100% of the time?

[Why don't I get to decide the default units for the Designer persona?]

This is all good, yes it's easy to manually switch to mm, but I want the *default* to be mm...for me.

It is clearly possible to do, there just isn't the user choice to make it happen.

[Why don't I get to decide the default units for the Designer persona?]

I fully accept that points are perhaps the correct default units. but no-one is justifying why I cannot make AD always switch to mm when I open an Adobe Illustrator file.
It wouldn't be illegal, it would make life easier for me....who "wins" by not allowing me to do it?

[Why don't I get to decide the default units for the Designer persona?]

Thanks both.

What I'm still missing is the "why?".

Opening 20.ai files equals having to change the units every one of those 20 times. Why no choice of default units?

[Why don't I get to decide the default units for the Designer persona?]

Hi,
I have been trying to switch from DrawPlus to AD for my business for a while and every time I give it another try I find another annoying aspect of it that makes me wonder if it's worth bothering.

Today I needed to import a number of Adobe Illustrator files that a client supplied and convert them into work product that I can use.
For every file, immediately after importing, I had to go change the default units from pt to mm - in order to see how big the client wanted the items. Every file.

This has nothing to do with creating a new document, where there seems to be some support for default units.
Why can't I control how I want stuff to be presented - where does it say "Thou shalt work in Points"?

What am I missing? Is there a way to force units to mm for files I open (rather than files I create)?

[Default units - why not let the user decide?]

Hi,
I have been trying to switch from DrawPlus to AD for my business for a while and every time I give it another try I find another annoying aspect of it that makes me wonder if it's worth bothering.

Today I needed to import a number of Adobe Illustrator files that a client supplied and convert them into work product that I can use.
For every file, immediately after importing, I had to go change the default units from pt to mm - in order to see how big the client wanted the items. Every file.

This has nothing to do with creating a new document, where there seems to be some support for default units.
Why can't I control how I want stuff to be presented - where does it say "Thou shalt work in Points"?

What am I missing? Is there a way to force units to mm?

[Designer object alignment - don't understand]

2 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

In my opinion it should and this has been requested. I would like an option in the preferences for it to fixed (as it is now) or choosable.

Thanks, I found a couple of the requests and added my agreement. No idea if that has any effect.

[Align / Distribute beahvior not consistient]

On 9/7/2018 at 2:59 PM, gabriel_komorov said:

Don't know - maybe it's intendent  "feature", but it makes no sense so I consider this a bug.

Basically - keyboard shortcuts and toolbar buttons don't respect settings in Align / Distribute panel. I have choosen "to last selected" but using shortcut or button always defaults to "selection bounds".

Please fix this, as clicking on panel each time I want align something is very counterproductive .

I agree that it is a bug and should be relatively easy to fix.
When the user clicks a standalone alignment button in the toolbar, have it pick-up the current setting of align-to that is set in the panel.
Intuitive and faster workflow.

[Shortcut for align to last selected]

+1 on this.

The work I do makes a lot of use of align to last selected.
Having to open the panel and then click the align button is a waste of my time.
Just have the align icons that can be separately added to the toolbar pick-up the align-to preference that is currently set in the alignment panel. 

[Designer object alignment - don't understand]

Update:

So the alignment icons I can add to the toolbar *only* do "spread" alignment?

I used the above help to change the drop-downs in the alignment dialog to "last selected" and, thankfully, closing down Designer and restarting it for a new document "remembered" that choice...but only if I select "centre align" via the dialog.

Clicking the "centre align" button I added to the toolbar still does "spread" alignment.
Why doesn't the toolbar button pick-up the "Align to" choice in the alignment dialog?

[Designer object alignment - don't understand]

8 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Try changing the “Align To” option in the Alignment pop-up. There are various options to try and one should do what you want.

 

7 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Now go to the little dropdown menu and select from Align to: Last Selected. It is weird that we have to make a choice and then we can make the alignment option.

Thanks both for responding.
I have just found that option - I had already added the alignment tools to the toolbar so I wasn't going through the Alignment popup.

It does seem odd that I have to trigger an alignment that I don't want (e.g. centre - spread - the default) in order to activate the drop-down so that I can then change the alignment to "last selected".

Is that choice remembered in my preferences (so close down Designer and restart it and it will be remembered)? - can't see a way to save the choice.

[Designer object alignment - don't understand]

Hi,
Sorry if this has been covered already but just from a few searches I haven't found a thread that answers it without introducing additional terms I don't understand (e.g. key objects"?).

My problem -
What I want to happen...
Draw two objects (A and B)
Select B, shift-select A - click "align centre" - Result: B moves to be centred on A

What currently happens...
Draw two objects (A and B)
Select B, shift-select A - click "align centre" - Result: both B and A move half of the distance to meet and be centred on each other.

Why is this considered useful?
If A is where I want it already and I just want B to be centred on it, what use is it to have A move?
Similarly, if B is where I want it, I can make A move by doing the selection the other way around. Having both move doesn't make any sense to the way I want the workflow to go.

[Update dialog not intuitive]

On 4/28/2020 at 9:53 AM, Pšenda said:

I'm sorry, but the message only talks about the availability of a new version. Nowhere does it say about performing an update.
So OK clearly means - "Yes, I acknowledge the message, I take note of its contents". This is, after all, the meaning of the OK button, a shorter version of the acceptance of the message content.

While I have to accept that, semantically, you are correct, I hope that you can see that this just means that the dialog is not wrong.
It doesn't mean that the dialog cannot be made better.
This is my goal - to have the dialog offer clear "update now" or "ignore for now" options. Not options that have to be interpreted in any way.

[Update dialog not intuitive]

23 minutes ago, markw said:

This screenshot is from Publisher but it’s the same for all three apps if bought directly from Serif.
But I agree with you that the wording on the Update window could be improved.

Thanks, but maybe that is Mac only? 
No such menu item in the PC version (bought direct from Serif). I thought it might be hidden in Help/Support... or Help/About... options but no.

[Update dialog not intuitive]

1 minute ago, carl123 said:

That does not exists

You only get the "update available" message whenever you fire up the app

...which enhances the disappointment of "OK" not meaning "OK - upgrade now" because I have to go out and come in again to trigger the side effect of offering the upgrade again.

Anyway, I'm not here to troll you, it's just my suggestion for how to make the experience better. If you think how it is now is ideal then we shall just have to disagree.🙂

[Update dialog not intuitive]

Thanks for that, it's a good point, but in those examples they tell you where to go to do the thing they are informing you about.
So the implied message is "this is the situation, if you want to do something about it, go here"...to which a single "OK" is a reasonable response.
In this case the implied message is "there's an update, what do you want to do?" to which "OK" doesn't fit so well as the "don't download" alternative.

As a separate but connected point, I could not find anywhere in the menu structure of Designer where I could check for, or trigger, the update.
Having chosen "OK" because I thought it meant "Update now" and that "Download" meant "just download it and I'll do it later", I had to close the program and restart it to trigger the dialog again and make the other choice.

[Update dialog not intuitive]

When I started Designer this morning it told me that there was an update available.
The dialog had two options; first was "OK" and the second was "Download";  both have positive connotations, neither suggest "not now".
The task of the dialog is to offer the chance to upgrade, so "OK" (the first and thus dominant option) can be considered to mean, "OK" upgrade now. 
You could read it as meaning "OK...so what, go away and don't bug me", but that takes a particular mindset that is not the norm.

I suggest it would be better/clearer to make the first option "Download" and the second option "Dismiss" or "Cancel" - something that sounds more like "not now".

[Affinity Designer Public Beta - 1.5.0.12 (Windows)]

No-one replied to my post about help-text windows clipping text (on page one of the .11 thread - now locked) but it seems to be fixed in .12 so I assume it was either a known problem or I actually helped. Would be nice to know but I guess it's small potatoes in the scheme of things.

[Affinity Designer Public Beta - 1.5.0.11 (Windows)]

Is the text clipping at the bottom of help windows a known problem?
It's in no way a critical bug but it doesn't look too good.