jer

jer,
By taking all visible layers and creating an "additional" layer from them, you still retain all the original separate layers, BUT also now have an additional merged layer, whereby effects can be applied without disturbing the original layers.
 
Basically:
10 layers merged down = just 1 layer.
10 layers merged to a new layer = 10 undisturbed original layers, PLUS 1 new additional merged layer.
 
This makes a very big difference when creating large complex compositions :)
 
I am used to "Merge Visible" taking all visible layers and converting them into just 1 layer.
In Affinity Photo however, "Merge Visible" takes all visible layers and creates an "additional" layer.
 
I was looking for an entry saying something like: "Merge Visible to New Layer", or something similar. Hence why it wasn't what I expected.
 
I'm just happy that Affinity Photo has this capability, as the ability to create an additional layer from all visible layers is a real time saver (even though the name is confusing for me).
Hope that made sense  :)

See above from MBd:
Posted 20 November 2016 - 10:54 AM
there is a preference to automatically jump to the current selected object  :)
 
IOW, there is a preferences setting to automatically display the layer of an object you select.

I'm totally new to Affinity so I'm using this forum as a vehicle to learn more about the Photo app.  I scanned the Photo video topics, but couldn't immediately see anything about Digital Asset Management, such as is found in the Library module in Lightroom. DAM is just as important to me as image editing in the management of my - well, digital assets. Where do I find information about this capability?
 
I have watched a couple of the tutorial videos. My reaction is 'Ah, how delightful'. Here is somebody who knows how to speak clearly and at a measured pace, with intonation (BBC Radio 4-like) that is natural to me, without the usual, deeply irritating, YouTube vices of mumbling, gabbling, or general suffering from verbal incontinence while demonstrating a lack of basic vocabulary or grammar and using inappropriate colloquialisms which do not survive the translation from American; who doesn't wave the mouse pointer all over the screen, rapidly; who doesn't refer to me as a Dude (meaning unknown) or Guys (not the name shown on my birth certificate) but who generally seems to know how to convey understanding. What a refreshing difference to those excruciatingly embarrassing YouTube Photoshop and LIghtRoom videos (Pace, Tim Grey, yours are excellent). Keep them coming.
 
 

Nope, I don't work for Serif. They wouldn't hire me if they were paid to. I have issues (and have the t-shirt saying so).
 
I personally think, as I mentioned above, that there are currently problems with PDF output. I hope they get addressed.
 
I mainly make stuff for placement into layout applications and need to rely on PDF output for said placing. If I have to jump through hoops to get a PDF to be correct, I simply will use something I don't have to think about to get the desired outcome.
 
But the same holds true for simple leaflets, fliers and the like that I may choose to use a vector design application for. I don't need to get to the end of a design and need to try 5 different PDF types and their various settings to get one to work and be accepted by the print service.
 
I'm glad you had a process to get the design out the door.

Brian, it has been amazing watching you pull Angie together with the assist from your forum friends. Great job! She has shadows and highlights too!

•
 
Hi Phil,
 
BBF = back button focus.
 
I just want to mention the most negative side effect of sharpening.
Sharpening will increase significantly the aspect of the "grain" in
any photograph when
​the ISO was set higher in given light conditions and/or when already some low light recovery was applied. I see as bad practice to give supplementary vitamins to a healthy child
that has an already a good diet. So, if your shots "look sharp even be-
fore I try a sharpening step", then resist it. DRL and WB do far more
for the necessary end quality of a rendition then sharpening will… in
most cases anyways!
 
The following example is a 100% crop of a take shot yesterday at
ISO 540, 1/500s. ƒ8, estimated distance +/- 90 meters with my usual
600mƒ4 on D810 combo.
 
This is a picture I would not consider applying sharpening to.
 

 
Have a good time!

Going through my first panoramas from 2003 / 2004 from my first dSLR. I screwed up so badly then with overlap, zoom lens nudging (the lens didn't have a proper zoom stopping mechanism, had to hold it tight) that so far every tool I tried made a mess of it. Affinity Photo barely made any mess. One branch didn't match, easy fix. Few smaller ones I had to paint over and the blurry leaves can't be helped but aren't much of a distraction. I'm just glad to finally have a chance to do them without spending days on end.
 
500px: https://500px.com/photo/182113985
 
Moving pan: https://www.instagram.com/p/BMkndzDDDnr/

Just learned this "Alt" trick from the Affinity Workbook Chapter 2! This Workbook is probably going to make me into a semi-almost-nearly-adequate-AD-Pro!  :D

Tim, not having an eBook Workbook protects the value of the book others have paid for. Once there is an eBook, it finds its way into leaked links, shared sites and other mass-volume gimmees. While a hard cover can be loaned or given away, it doesn't become a mass-volume issue. I'm not affiliated with Affinity or Serif so this isn't an official response. I did purchase the pricey Workbook, I'm enjoying it, but I can see how I might feel ripped off if it was suddenly available as a free leak-link. 

Ordered Friday 10/21/2016 at 8:40 pm CST USA English, arrived at my front door Sunday 10/23/2016 at 3:00 pm under your std postage, not expedited. WOW! What, were you sitting in a truck around the corner waiting for me to place an order?!
 
As other have reported, Workbook is a beauty like you would hope for a graphics-subject book. White, heavy-enough pages but not too highly reflective, possibly a glare reducing coating. Colorful pictures and text large enough for spectacle-bifocal-wearing adult.  :P
 
Helpful organization. As an ex-IA user, I'm going through the book in sequence as opposed to scatter-shooting as I think I need the basic tour. Otherwise, I'll be trying to relate by virtue of IA features and will miss the AD specialties.
 
Oops! Typo on pg 52 bottom right. The bold words "Tap Stops" should be "Tab Stops." Really minor, and just a note for your 2nd edition.
 
I'm sure your editors debated over this already, but I like a computer book that stays open to the page I'm using, like in a spiral format but that would detract from the beauty of a coffee table book. Still, this is a "Workbook" and I need to not worry with pages flipping away from my subject. Just me, I know. Maybe a desk paper weight will help. Hey, an idea for the Affinity Store, a new product.
 
What might I add to the book? Maybe a few more key words in the index. E.g., couldn't find "spell" or "spell check." Okay, you caught me: I'm a lover of the VQG Visual Quickstart Books but I'm becoming a lover of the Workbook too.  :D
 
Having fun! Can't wait to get to the step-by-step Do-it chapters. Thanks for an outstanding book.

Ordered Friday 10/21/2016 at 8:40 pm CST USA English, arrived at my front door Sunday 10/23/2016 at 3:00 pm under your std postage, not expedited. WOW! What, were you sitting in a truck around the corner waiting for me to place an order?!
 
As other have reported, Workbook is a beauty like you would hope for a graphics-subject book. White, heavy-enough pages but not too highly reflective, possibly a glare reducing coating. Colorful pictures and text large enough for spectacle-bifocal-wearing adult.  :P
 
Helpful organization. As an ex-IA user, I'm going through the book in sequence as opposed to scatter-shooting as I think I need the basic tour. Otherwise, I'll be trying to relate by virtue of IA features and will miss the AD specialties.
 
Oops! Typo on pg 52 bottom right. The bold words "Tap Stops" should be "Tab Stops." Really minor, and just a note for your 2nd edition.
 
I'm sure your editors debated over this already, but I like a computer book that stays open to the page I'm using, like in a spiral format but that would detract from the beauty of a coffee table book. Still, this is a "Workbook" and I need to not worry with pages flipping away from my subject. Just me, I know. Maybe a desk paper weight will help. Hey, an idea for the Affinity Store, a new product.
 
What might I add to the book? Maybe a few more key words in the index. E.g., couldn't find "spell" or "spell check." Okay, you caught me: I'm a lover of the VQG Visual Quickstart Books but I'm becoming a lover of the Workbook too.  :D
 
Having fun! Can't wait to get to the step-by-step Do-it chapters. Thanks for an outstanding book.

•
 
 
Well, it was the first of many things for my son:
first shot he sold. The artist saw it on our website and called in first poster project commissioned by the artist and first time he worked with Designer. For a 17 yo, not bad at all! … my only contribution is to post it here.
 
 

 

Hehe, :) when I said distort type I was thinking along the lines of something like this:
 
https://www.behance.net/gallery/22937595/Diversity-cover-art-for-Derwent-Brass-UK
 
These piece was actually done in Affinity Designer and it was done using guides and skewing each letterform individually. In illustrator you'd probably use the Warp>Flag effect to achieve a similar effect.
 
If your layout work includes stuff like this, right now Designer is not really well suited... I believe something similar to Ai's distort feature set is on the AD feature roadmap...
 
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/842-affinity-designer-feature-roadmap/

The vector based brush engine (in Draw Persona) is still limited and doesn't allow you to apply dynamics to the brush.
So your best bet is to create a raster based brush in Pixel Persona. Note however that this type of brush cannot be applied/stroked to a vector path. It only lets you paint freely (hand drawn) with the Brush Tool in Pixel Persona using dynamic properties. 
 
So after you have saved the white star as a transparent PNG, change to Pixel Persona (second icon right below the traffic lights if you are on a Mac), go to the menu on top right of the Brush panel and select New Image Brush. Select the star PNG file from the dialog that will open. You should find the new brush on the botton of the Assorted section. Select it, click on the top right icon on the right of the dropdown (the icon with a white background), select the General and Dynamics tab in the Brush Editing dialog that will open and change its settings as you see fit.
 

Thanks Matt - great to "see" you…I'd love it if you popped back onto Sugs every now and then on the flickr site - we are still going strong 
 
Just one thing - I don't know if your forum servers are at fault or what! but, I couldn't get my membership to validate (no E-mail at all in 1 hour) I have since joined again under a member name  Sean Riley - but that too cannot be verified due to no e-mail back.  I got round this with trial and error and logged into this account (Seanyboy) and changed the e-mail address to a G.Mail addy instead of a .tiscali one and luckily this g.mail account brought in an e-mail with a clickable link saying that I had changed my e-mail address and should now click the link to verify…Thus getting finally onto your system.
 
I wonder if others with only one e-mail address (maybe tiscali is a bad addy) are having the same trouble - Just thought I would bring this to your attention...
 
Also if you would be so good as to delete the Sean Riley pending account as it serves no purpose.
 
Much obliged.
 
Sean