sergio

When duplicating objects (or artboards) via dragging it would be a huge time saver if smart guides work during the drag to duplicate operation. Currently we're restricted to first having to drag to duplicate, then moving to allow smart guides to work.

One frustration I have with Affinity Designer (and Photoshop) is that if I want duplicate while dragging using the ALT modifier key, I have to remember to press ALT before dragging. Illustrator and Sketch are much more forgiving if I forget to press ALT - if you press/unpress ALT while dragging, it will toggle the duplicate mode.

JFisher - it helps if you don't mind working in Separated mode, which is not my case. So I'm still wondering whether this is by design? Or you're planning an option to hide it in non-separated mode? It's a bit puzzling that you can literally hide every other UI group individually, except the one which is relatively least useful.

Hi MEB, Is that by design? Or you're planning an option to hide it?

How to hide the bottom bar with shortcuts and other tips? I don't need it and instead of it I could use the extra vertical real estate. Thanks, Sergio

Thanks MEB, that's an acceptable workaround. Would be nice if it were the default, though.

> The AD solution allows me to turn off _modal in some of them very quickly, without crawling around... That's a great example. In illustrator, you turn off all modals with one click. In the current AD version, you'd have to turn off _modal layers one by one for each artboard. > The Adobe Layers palette looks the very same of AD's one... I don't see artboards in the layers panel in Illustrator... Either you arranged that manually, or there's an option to mix. > So I don't really see the need of Artboard Panel... Ordering artboards for instance. Having a list of all artboards for quick management (e.g. renaming, re-ordering)

But that would miss the use case I mentioned previously, i.e. selecting objects in a single layer, but located in different artboards. I find that really valuable and saves a lot of time in many tasks. I think the ideal here would be an option - show everything in one panel or show artboards and layers in separate panels.

Thanks for everyone's reactions. If you're referring to the possibility of keeping the same zoom level when cycling through artboards, I'm not sure if that makes sense, since I'm not aware of any buttons/shortcuts to go to the previous/next artboard. That could help for now, but it's sort of messed up because of this bug. Still, it wouldn't solve the problem of easily discovering the artboard tool for new users. Thanks. I'm not sure what kind of work do you do in AD, but I expect to do the same I do in Illustrator, which is basically UI and light DTP design. Often I have items in different artboards in the same layer because I need to quickly select all of them to adjust somehow (symbols wouldn't help here since it may be different types of object on the same layer). IMO layers and artboards don't serve the same purpose, and mixing them in the same panel only adds clutter in that panel. That's not correct. Either CMD or ALT can be used as modifier keys to duplicate content via drag and drop.

Selection tool switches to Artboard tool if I toggle the Artboard tool via custom added Artboard button in toolbar in Affinity Designer Customer Beta (1.3.5.7). Steps to reproduce: 1) Customize toolbar and add separate artboard tool button 2) Click separate artboard tool button 3) Now both the custom button and the selection/artboard tools button are toggled for Artboard Expected behavior: have a separate artboard button by default (instead of nested with selection tool), that avoids any conflicts and is easy to spot by new users.

Here's some feedback about the new Artboards functionality introduced with v1.3.5.7: - It took me ages to find out how to add Artboards. Eventually I found it's a tool nested with the selection tool button. While I understand I can quickly switch to it the a keyboard shortcut, I think it's hard to find and access with the mouse. I'd make this a separate button in the toolbar. - I'd separate layers from artboards, i.e. make a separate panel for listing artboards. I may need to select multiple objects contained in the same layer, but on different artboards (I'd have to select multiple layers now, which is not practical if I have several artboards - Need number input to be able to customize artboard dimensions in toolbar (surely that's coming soon :) - Need option to customize colour of background behind artboards. I'd prefer if the default is what you use for single artboard documents (dark). - Need UI buttons (in artboard mode) to cycle through artboards at current zoom level. Perhaps placing it in the bottom "help bar" - Need keyboard shortcuts to cycle through artboards at current zoom level - Allow for direct ALT-drag of artboards without having to select an artboard first - Allow for toggling duplicate mode (hold ALT) while dragging an artboard, instead of required ALT to be pressed before starting to drag. This helps compensate for error/forgetting to press-hold ALT before starting to drag to duplicate. - Nice to have - ability to edit artboard name directly above the artboard Other than that, great start with this feature. Thanks.

This is is one of the most epic beta releases so far!

CONGRATULATIONS - the Affinity team definitely deserved the award!!! Thanks for all your work :-)

Now wondering about what the Serif team thinks about this :-)

Thanks!

If I close the tab from an unsaved document and save the document via the save prompt, then the document tab won't close after saving. AD 1.2.1.25410 Mac OS X 10.10.3

@A_B_C sorry for the confusion about the post edits. Regarding align and distribute options in toolbar, I'm referring to © set of controls from your screenshot (i.e. object align and distribute, not text align options). In your screenshot they're all visible. My suggestion to reduce UI clutter is to have the option to place each group (align group, distribute group) behind a single dropdown menu button. When you click that button, all options show in a menu. So users have the option to see always see all (already possible) or, if they edit the toolbar layout, they can replace with the dropdown button. Not stupid at all, I may have not been clear enough for you. Regarding "Okay, now I see what you wanted to suggest: even if multiple text frames (objects) are selected, the context toolbar should (regardless of the Tool chosen) still display the font properties (font family, point size, …)" Yes, you got it right.

Would be awesome if AD offered the option to export a document with the grid visible in the final exported image. Use case: improved reference for front-end development.

@A_B_C would have been better if your reaction was a new post, as opposed to editing the previous one (where you didn't see the point of the suggestion in my screenshot... ;-). This would have shown better how the discussion has been evolving for other interested people. Anyway, to respond to UI clutter in toolbar: you could argue there's other places where it's unnecessarily cluttered. Personally, I prefer having all options available in a single click. But you can always condense the the align & distribute options in a drop-down button in the mail toolbar by default, and offer to show it expanded as a toolbar customization option (like in my previous screenshot).

@A_B_C you seem to be quite used to this workflow judging from your comment. Yes it works, but it's not efficient nor is it discoverable for new users - i.e. 2 usability sins. The point is to remove the number of steps it takes to complete the task. If you perform this task several times with the improved UX, you'll appreciate the savings in discoverability, cognitive effort, time spent performing the task, and RSI prevention. One other task that could benefit from having the align & distribute functions present in the toolbar by default is changing/adding rounded corners to multiple rectangles. You have to select all the rectangles with the selection tool, then switch to the rectangle tool to get access to the rounded corners options. I think the contextual toolbar should not be used for functionality/options (e.g. align & distribute) common to different object types. It should be reserved for functionality/options that is specific to those objects, e.g. text objects, nodes in curves, etc. And it should be available by default if I have multiple objects of the same type selected.

How about showing the align & distribute functions in the main toolbar by default, so that one can easily change font properties for multiple text selections without having to first switch to the text tool? (see attached screenshot)

Thanks for the detailed explanations @Leigh and @Dave Harris!

@nravenlock that did the trick, thanks!

@MEB - good to know it's already a feature. However, it's not working here with documents created using the latest beta version. Using Mac OS 10.10.3.

Not sure if this has been requested before, but it'd be great if AD would embed previews in documents so that you can see thumbnails in Finder and preview the document using Quicklook.