StuartRc

Comic Book Toolkit
It is really about building a comic Toolkit rather than Template in Publisher. Just wanted to see how feasible it is... Used images from Inktober and Untamed as they are a mix of vector and raster images + can create pages  | panels in AD and just place!
Still some work to do yet but it is getting there! Still a lot of assets to add

The test template (below) was built in Publisher but a lot of the layouts could also be constructed in Designer. 
Mask Overlay Assets (Orange)

Layout pages


Panel and Tier inserts

I bought a X-Tools F1 laser cuter/marker and I made å pattern that I am going to try to etch in to a knife.
Made masking in Designer and positioned where I wanted it to be.
I will post pictures of how it looks after I have lasered it.
 

Working now...thanks for fixing it

You could try playing around with this toolkit
 

It appears to be an RGB document (because there is no "K Only" button in the Context Toolbar).
Although the requested Colours Panel is hidden behind the Swatches Panel the visible colour well for fill might indicate that you have black fill colour assigned to the currently selected image.
If this is the case I assume you did it inadvertently … and possibly to other images, too, and possibly had redone the fill accidentally for the meanwhile coloured images.

Hi @Gridlock,
Welcome to the Affinity Forums!
A "fill" can get set in quite a few ways, for instance as image (nested as child layer) or as bitmap fill (with Gradient Fill Tool) or as a filter … see the attached Affinity (V1) document for closer inspection.

v1105 some text fill options.afpub

A fundamental question that has engaged people since the invention of the car, and has divided opinions up to today
Graphic created from scratch with Affinity Designer 2.0

We are still investigating. 

Yesterday, 2nd Aug 2023, we accidentally released the 2.2 beta release to retail users on Windows, which prompted users to download and install the 2.2 update. We have since removed the update.

If you've installed this update, please remove this version and redownload 2.1.1 from our website here. Please note any files edited and saved in 2.2 will not reopen in 2.1.1. If you do not have a back up of the file, you can signup for the beta version here.
If you're being prompted to download the update and getting an error, please follow these instructions to stop the message from appearing.
I know this will have caused some confusion and will be incredibly frustrating for affected users but our QA team are currently investigating.

I never made all the brush sets available for download.
Any that are are located in the links to resources section. There are lots!
Still have some work to do on V2 updates but most of the texture brushes available from V1 Should import fine.
New Distance option in dynamics affects Inking and Paint Brushes

Project Brush Sets:
PB 01 Hungry
PB 02 Crazy Tree
PB 03 Big-T
PB 04 Ammonite
PB 06 Poison Inkers
PB 07 Ink
PB 08 Organics
PB 09 Grunge
PB 10 Leaf
PB 11 Camouflage and Paint
PB 14 Organic Pattern
PB 15 Textured Pencils
PB 19 Inker and Inker Toolkit
PB 20 Patterns
PB 23 Dinosaur Styles Patterns and Brushes
PB 28 Ink Stipple
PB 31 Base Texture Toolkit

Working on series of brush sets based on Inktober 2018.(here)

Project Brush inkBrush Vector -Render 
Built for flat inking and to extend inkBrush Vector - Paint
Consists of 30 Vector Brushes: 
Flat colour painting for use with Blend mode/s:Average AND/OR Controller:Pressure OR Opacity settings OR Solid and tint colour values
Mixing with opacity
Layering with average

 
Sample  PDF as attached
Zip file with 30 vector brushes


ProjectBrush - Document_Vector_Render_01.pdf
inkBrush - Vector - Render.zip

Thanks StuartRc and Sean P!
I turned back to 2.1. We are now working with a backup file. Fortunately not much work ist lost.
 

Project Brush 28 Ink Stipple
Uploaded new condensed set of Ink Stipple Brushes mostly based on existing nozzles which I have adjusted significantly to get better results!
You can increase the nozzle spacing for greater stipple control
Consists of 35 Raster brushes  extracted from PB 03 (Big-T) | PB 19 Inker | PB 15 Texture Pencils | PB 17 Concept | PB 21 Scratch & Scribble
Added 6 Sketching Brushes from Textured Pencils
Added 5 Ink solid Concept Brushes (red brushes on sheet) as necessary if you are going to use for inking
Added 24 Stipple Brushes old nozzles but new dynamics

removed Accumulation and Flow Jitter
Samples as below:

Affinity V1
ProjectBrush 28 - Ink Stipple.zip
Affinity V2
PB 28 - Ink Stipple A2.zip

Here's a list of some of the bugs which have been fixed in the beta build 2.2.0.1931
There have been 3 new features added since 2.2.0.1903 which are discussed here
Please only reply in this forum to comment on any fixes which are in this list (in particular to let us know if you notice that something we say is fixed isn't!) To report any new bugs please do that against the relevant new feature post, or if unrelated to new functionality in the Other bugs & issues forum.
Bugs affecting all platforms
For indexes, provide additional character styles for more parts of the generated text Index Between Items separator was missing the comma  Added an additional Index spearator after any cross references  Reset Visibility Options and Reset Snapping Options do not work  Cross reference - Index marks show no name  Selection hit area on text is too large [AFB-7735] Store pack updates can't be installed without a ctrl-run up  Update table format from selection [APL-1520] Index panel options for inserting special characters into separators insert a regular Tab when you select Right Indent Tab  Could F&R scope include option for Section?  Prevent a custom field being given the same name as an existing custom field  Fields are not being included in the word count (Fields now count 1 word) A PDF with a master password prevents an Affinity document in which it's placed (as 'passthrough') being exported to PDF  When you delete a custom field it doesn't remove the those fields from the document Bugs affecting Desktop (Windows and macOS)
Resetting account data in one app while another app is open causes the second app to crash  Cross References 'Include End Character' is including a trailing space, and not toggling the end characters behaviour  Cross Reference can include Break characters if they directly follow an End Character in the Anchor  Show in Explorer is enabled for embedded files  Clicking additional index entry fields creates history entries  User File - PDF imports with unsupported characters (þÿ) for the 'Subject' field, then fails to export out to PDF [AFB-7775] Add toolbar buttons for no FX and greyscale view Index panel would benefit from having the ability to add formatting to See entries [APL-857] Font drop down does not use Dark UI version Placing a passworded-protected PDF and entering its password crashes the app Develop Persona - Last used preset shown but not applied, requires returning to default before you are then able to apply this preset [AFP-6218] Develop Persona - Last used preset shown in list but not applied [AFP-522] Move data entry - add reset button Crash when dragging the contents of duplicate symbols outside of a symbol [AFD-5143] Cross References switch to show [Cross-reference not updated] when you edit a text style Replacing a passworded PDF with another image crashes app [AFB-8083] Crash when copy and pasting a passworded PDF Crash undo'ing replacing an image with a document in a picture frame Editing custom field name doesn't close dialog after pressing return Text Tool: Holding ALT to toggle Hand tool gets stuck when changing tool or persona OK should be disabled until you enter the password on a passworded PDF Password field doesn't clear and populates with previous password Packaged Passworded PDF fails to open correctly Field Formatting Pattern field can get cut off if the contents is too long PDF password - place doesn't work with drag drop Previously Viewed Page's tooltip is Previously Viewed Spread [AFB-7913]  Artboard data entry - should be disabled for document with pages Index Panel's Between Ranges field can be empty on Windows, but not on macOS Fields Panel truncates v long value, and converts that truncation to actual value when edited Exchanging an .Afpub between devices which contains embedded PDF files set to passthrough will reset the policy to linked with the files missing Bugs affecting Windows
Crash opening file [AFP-6297] Index Panel's Between Ranges field can be empty on Windows, but not on macOS  Index's After Topic field contains one space on Windows, instead of two like macOS  Font for index marker options can change if selecting all and deleting  Character Style dropdown is missing on Email, File and URL  Insert Cross Reference dialog lacks contrast Insert custom fields button lacks the + symbol The Fields Panel background is missing the darker area for each category Add toolbar buttons for no FX and greyscale view Brush Panel: Move/Copy to Category doesn't show leading _ in category names [AFP-6306] Cannot Drag-drop a brush from Brush panel into Sub Brushes [AFP-6284] Crash when pressing Esc whilst dragging a node on a graph Live Noise Reduction with AMD GPU, Hardware Acceleration and HDR enabled causes rendering issues [AFP-6217] Layer identifiers get stuck when changing the UI Style Preserve Luminosity does not function with hardware acceleration turned off [AFP-6040] Crash when double clicking inside Cross References dialog directly after editing a cross reference Paragraph Text box is initially cut off in Cross Reference Cross Reference Paragraph Style dropdown isn't being hidden When inserting/editing a cross-reference, Above/Below subfield label is missing punctuation Clicking create Custom Field doesn't place focus inside Field name Text Tool: Holding ALT to toggle Hand tool conflicts with ALT keyboard navigation PDF Export: Password field should be greyed out until 'Require Password to Open' is checked Naming of cross reference fields Security Password dialog - icon is clipped PDF Password - Dark UI - password edit boxes are bright white Fields Panel - Custom Text Field - Add field icon is either very tiny or a dot Cross Reference text field is single line only ePub - Crash Launching export dialog with ePub as default setting Cross references Panel - Target name list does not have a scrollbar Pressing Enter to select Parent Index topic crashes app [AFB-7513] App freezes when shift+click twice in a blank space with Art text or frame selected [AFB-6977] Odd behavior when using a colour profile with an accented character in the filename Deleting a mask preset offers a No and Cancel option which do the same thing Custom Fields fail to update in other frames when using 100% screen DPI Brush name has focus when you first open Edit Brush dialog UI Glitch in Fields panel when using multiple docs Bugs affecting macOS
When editing text holding delete doesn't quick delete characters  Sub brush editing very laggy [AFP-6318] Unable to Manually Enter a Width Value in the Stroke Panel [AFD-6516] Insert Cross Reference dialog cannot be resized  If you switch the index language to one we don't have translations for all the separators are empty  Localisation - New index panel option labels can clip  Copy and paste of hyperlink source and target doesn't fix up anchors  Cross-reference panel doesn't update when both source and target are deleted  On the Index panel, unable to use the Tab key to navigate between new Labels settings  Incorrect display of assets in list mode on OSX. [AFB-7559] Add On File Size isn't being hidden during download/install progress on macOS/iPadOS  Macs/iOS > Swatches panel > Cannot change selected bitmap fill to another bitmap fill in the same swatch  Adding a custom variable causes Fields Panel to jump to the top Bugs affecting iPad
PDF Export - tidy up UI (considering new password option)  Decimal options not reflected in Stroke Panel  OCIO package file (.ocio) not selectable from Preferences, Colour, "Choose OCIO Package" dialog (file greyed out) [AFP-5773] OCIO Package is not being created [AFP-3534] Edit > Group pops up dialog for only a few secs when "Ask for name when creating Layers or Groups" is enabled in Settings  No prompt when creating groups when "Ask for name when creating Layers or Groups" is enabled in Settings  Unable to open password protected PDF / OK button greyed out App will crash if you attempt to access Text Styles list when a document contains Cross References Sample files can occasionally have Preferences button incorrectly and cause crashes Backgrounding then restoring Affinity app while loading, shows sign-in prompt even if licensed Cancelling the PDF options dialog prevents the most recent document from being opened during that session IMPORTANT KNOWN ISSUE in 2.2.0.1931: Sorry, but
Documents created in previous 2.2.0.1881 betas will crash Windows Photo Persona, but will load into the next 2.2.0 beta to be released soon. Document Statistics [Created/Saved/Printed dates] are incorrect in documents made in some earlier betas.

The issue "(Win) Cannot Drag-drop a brush from Brush panel into Sub Brushes" (REF: AFP-6284) has been fixed by the developers in internal build &quot2.2.0.1925&quot.
This fix should soon be available as a customer beta and is planned for inclusion in the next customer release.
Customer beta builds are announced here and you can participate by following these instructions.
If you still experience this problem once you are using that build version (or later) please reply to this thread including @Serif Info Bot to notify us.

Hi All,
We have just begun rolling out a new beta build - version number 2.2.0.1931 - which should become available to you on auto-update over the next hour
Three new features are included in this build:
Object creation data entry Move tool data entry OCIO v2 support added And some other feature improvements which are worth drawing your attention to:
Find and Replace now includes the additional scope options of 'Section" and 'Page' 'Hide Effects" and "Greyscale' view mode options are now available as optional toolbar buttons. Additionally these view modes (as well as all other Designer view mode options previously only available in Designer) have now been added to Publisher. You can now both insert anchors and link to them from data merge fields. There are also a lot of fixes which have gone in since the last build which will be listed on the bug fix list post .
Important: PDF Password feature
While this build does include many fixes for PDF password, we have decided to drop this feature from 2.2. The feature is still available in this build, but will be removed in the next one. For that reason we're going to hide the feature thread and ask that no more reports are made on this feature. 
Apologies if this causes some disappointment, but we feel we need a little more time to solve some of the problems being reported. We certainly anticipate this will be available again at the start of the 2.3 beta and that it can make the 2.3 release.
Thanks,
Ash

Apps: All
Platforms: macOS and Windows
When in the move tool, as well as other object creation tools such as shapes, picture frames and artboard tool, pressing Return or Enter will now show a new dialog, allowing you to specify a precise distance you want to move your current selection. e.g. below I am moving the apple 100px to the left and 200px down. As you can see that also shows what it means in terms of what angle and distance that relates to. You can alternatively choose to manually specify distance and angle. 

The original position of the object is indicated with a light grey box.

In addition you can chose to duplicate the object to the new position, and also specify how many copies of it you want to make. In the below example I've moved the item 200px at a 45 degree angle and checked the duplicate box, and 5 copies. This results in a total of 6 apples.

 
As you are adjusting any of the values you will get a live preview of your result. You can choose to cancel the operation with the Cancel button (or Esc) or commit with the OK Button (or Return / Enter) or simply by clicking off the dialog.
The dialog will optionally remember it's previous values the next time you bring it up when you have "Previous Settings" checked, meaning you can move multiple objects one by one by the same amount (for example in a case where items are on different spreads / artboards or in other cases where achieving a multiple selection of them to begin with is difficult). A Reset button is also available to quickly zero all the values in the dialogs to start from scratch.

As well as manually typing the values in, you can also change them by click-drag on any of the labels, or using mouse roller when hovering over any of the input boxes.

Rotation

As has been requested during the beta of this feature we have now added the additional option of Rotation. This again makes it easy to rotate an object by a specific amount. It also opens up some useful options when used in combination with duplicate.

e.g. in the example below I have created a ring of 25 evenly spaced squares, by moving the transform origin of the square and choosing a rotation of 14.4 degrees with 24 copies. TIP: you don't need to get your calculator out as all of these fields accept equations. So in this case you could just type "360/25" in the Rotation field to work out 14.4 degrees is the required value.

You can also try playing with a rotation and distance step on duplicates for various effects. e.g. below a couple examples with a line and a star where copies are being stepped by both a distance and rotation:


 

It would be nice to have the option to make additional changes to an already created shape using the object creation data entry floating window, perhaps a Cmd Option (Ctrl Alt) click on the already created shape re-invokes the object creation data entry floating window for that shape to allow further adjustments to the shapes settings.

Apps: All
Platforms: macOS & Windows
In any of the shape tools, picture frame tools and artboard tool you can now cmd+click (macOS) or ctrl+click (Windows) to bring up a dialog to manually specify the size and other properties of the object you want to create. The new object will be created in the position that you clicked, and you have the option in the dialog to change whether that position relates to a specific corner, side or the centre of the shape being created.
For example, here I want to create a circle with 20mm diameter centred at the corner of the square. So I choose the Ellipse tool and then cmd / ctrl + click over the corner of the square. I then get the option to manually enter the size I want the circle to be, set the anchor position to be centre, and hit OK.

Each tool will remember the settings of the last time you created that shape. So in this case the next time I cmd+click with the Ellipse tool it will still be set to 20mm x 20mm anchored to centre.
Some additional notes about this feature:
When the dialog is up you can commit by clicking OK, hitting Return / Enter or clicking anywhere else on the document You can cancel by clicking Cancel or hitting Esc You can click-drag on any of the labels in these dialogs to change the values. So here you could click-drag on the "Width:" label for example. Hover + mouse roll over the values also changes them of course (along with Shift or Alt modifiers to increase / decrease steps made by a factor of 10). If you create a shape by dragging it out on your document, that will also set the W+H for the next time you cmd+click. e.g. if you drag out a rectangle at 100mm x 50mm and want to create another one you can just cmd+click and that size will be preset.

Providing you haven't upgraded, can you go into C:\ProgramData\Affinity\appname\2.0\ and delete the files inside there please. When you launch the app it shouldn't prompt you again

Infected
This is my first drawing using Affinity Designer 2.0 (A revamped version of the colourful Lena which I have not uploaded!)
It is really a test of the updates made to the Brush Dynamics in Affinity 2.0
Created a new set of inking brushes that makes use of interpolation and the new Distance options with the brush dynamics. I have found that the brushes are much smoother, faster and more responsive..I really like the ability of 'Distance' to allow for the tapering of the nozzle. Even though you have to adjust the direction of the graph!
Affinity Designer 2.0
original 400 x 400mm | 300dpi
Brushes inker | Comic Grunge and Concept Painter

Just thought I would share these 12/31 sketches and vector interpretations for Inktober 2017
I have been re-creating a few of them in AD 
word prompt sketches re-created  as vector artwork so far and linked below:
[03:Poison] | [05:Long] | [06:Sword] |[07:Shy] | [08:Crooked]
[09:Screech] | [10:Gigantic] | [14:Fierce] | [18:Filthy] | [24: Blind]
[25: Ship] | [23:Juicy] | [26:Squeak] | [29:United]
United
Uploaded original ink as created in Sketchbook Pro 8.5 and vector conversion in AD 
Original File sizes:
SB=200 x 200 (300dpi)
AD= 510 x 603 mm (300dpi)
 

 
Vector
 

 
Wireframe
 

Thought I would just share this one...took a little break from vectors 
 
Created in AD pixel Persona at A4 (300dpi) with a little help from some texture brushes

as in file above

I come back from the 'Paint Festival' and my notification are full of responses to this thread.. Wow!😀

I had a look into the original question raised by @awakenedbyowls over the weekend and largely believe that I stand by my original comment. There simply are issues with workflow that do not adhere to the way Affinity apps comply fully. 
1. Don't believe that the approach of adding a transparent gradient to a shall we say Layer and subsequently dragging objects inside will function. It is obvious really in that you are attempting to apply a tool (transparency or gradient) to something that does not exist because a layer is just a container. If it is empty then there is nothing to apply the gradient to.
As discussed earlier layers groups etc are containers not vector objects as @walt.farrell in his usual effective and precise responses has pointed out. The same functionality applies in Blender where a shape object is just a container but the mesh holds the content data. I actually tried it. So what is implied by the question does not explain the result; only the reasoning of an idea. Oddly though If you apply a gradient colour to a pixel layer that is or contains an object i.e is not just a blank layer a gradient is applied but the px object disappears (this I could see as a potential bug in that you should not really be able to do it!).
2. @walt.farrell is absolutely correct when describing the differences between objects and other representative items. I am surprised that no one has mentioned the really useful ability to be able to drag vector objects inside a raster object and add colour to the parent this way
3. If you process workflow in a logical fashion i.e adding raster images into a layer then apply a gradient or transparency effect.. then it works exactly as you would expect. This apples to whether you use FX or tools. I still cannot see any real issue here with the app (bug) it is just the method being attempted is flawed
4. Even though AD is incredibly flexible and offers some brilliants px Vector integrations  there are sometimes limits. This is probably just one of them. Personally I would not attempt to set up workflow this way. It is an interesting idea (pre-styling a layer) but you can't as it stands at the moment!