bagmetv

Hi dear Affinity Developer Team,
Now in Designer v2 when you do 'Convert to Curves', Move Tool is being changed to Node Tool automatically.
Earlier in v1 there was no such behaviour.

I do a huge amount of 'Converting to Curves' daily (without further purpose of editing nodes) and this constant switching to Node Tool hurts me workflow significantly. 
Is it possible to bring keeping selected Move Tool after 'Convert to Curves' back?
Or at least can you please make an according control/switch in Settings for turning off this 'changing to Node Tool' behaviour after 'Convert to Curves'?
Sincerely
Vitalii

We've been getting reports from customers who are experiencing issues loading documents into Affinity V2 apps since updating to macOS Sonoma. When opening existing documents into Affinity V2 users are shown "Loading 1 Document" in the app's Toolbar and it appears to remain loading for sometime - customer's have reported instances of the app taking up to an hour for the document to fully load but subsequent documents appear to load normally.
We have not been able to replicate this internally but we are actively investigating. This issue could be related to documents synced via iCloud and possibly other cloud providers. Users on the Apple Community pages are reporting that after updating to macOS Sonoma they've noticed that Sonoma is updating file attributes for all files synced to iCloud.
If you're currently experiencing this issue, you can simply keep the app open until the document loads and you should find that subsequent documents will open and load normally. if you continue to experience this issue or you're certain you're not using any form of cloud syncing such as iCloud, please start a new thread in the Bugs section and provide as much information as possible including the following:
Previous macOS version before upgrading to macOS Sonoma Affinity V2 app version Name of any Antivirus/Malware/Adware apps installed Location of document(s) e.g Desktop, USB Drive, NAS Drive Name of any cloud sync and backup services installed &/or running on the machine e.g iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive etc.. Is Store in iCloud enabled in System Settings > General > Storage?

I also have this same concern, and I think it would also be good if they gave the option to choose between moving to the node tool or keeping it as before (V1) in the move tool.
Please consider it.
Thank you

Good evening, Ash.
Many thanks for your time and detailed reply.
The thing is my production requires doing this curving one text after another hundred and even more times every day so extra click (not talking about two clicks) each time unfortunately does makes a difference (and fatigue) in my workflow. Curving all text elements at once is not a way as I have to keep editable copy in one file too. 
So if it'd be possible, I will be happy to have a small dedicated switch/control/preference with the according 'No switching to Node Tool after' logic in Settings.
 
 

Hi dear Affinity Developer Team,
Now in Designer v2 when you do 'Convert to Curves', Move Tool is being changed to Node Tool automatically.
Earlier in v1 there was no such behaviour.

I do a huge amount of 'Converting to Curves' daily (without further purpose of editing nodes) and this constant switching to Node Tool hurts me workflow significantly. 
Is it possible to bring keeping selected Move Tool after 'Convert to Curves' back?
Or at least can you please make an according control/switch in Settings for turning off this 'changing to Node Tool' behaviour after 'Convert to Curves'?
Sincerely
Vitalii

Thanks @bagmetv
I've passed this over to the devs. 

Sorry @Ash i couldn't resist 😂

Yes - sorry about that everyone, we made a slight error here to mean this trivial fix didn't end up in the GM build. This has been corrected now 
 

Also, this wasn't new in the beta, it's the same in 2.0.4

I'm seeing the same thing (macOS Ventura). "Start" and "Keep with next" are also larger after restart.
From left, 1: Default, 2: Switch to Large, 3: Large after restart, 4: Switch to Default. #1 and 4 are virtually identical except that the tab positions are slightly different, also note the shortened tab names in #2.
   

Hi All,
We made a slight mistake and the fix for this issue in the alignment drop down didn't go into the right 2.1 branch. Anyway, considering it is a dead safe fix we have decided to quickly get that in before release.
This is a macOS only issue, so have also decided to only rebuild for Mac. For that reason, you will now be getting an update to 2.1.0.1806 for the macOS version which is our new GM build. Windows and iPadOS remain on 2.1.0.1799.

Thanks,
Ash
 
 

Confirming the same in 1799 too:

Hi All,
An update to the beta has just been made available which we are expecting to be the build we release publicly very soon! This means you can update your beta version to be the same code as what we will be our initial public release of 2.1.
We will therefore now have a period where the latest beta version is the same as the release version. That will remain the case until we begin a fresh beta which will either be a patch to 2.1 if we feel it's needed, or hopefully moving straight to the first beta of 2.2. At that point you will be able to update the beta versions you currently have installed for that latest update to test. 
During the period that 2.1.0.1799 is in sync with the release build (when 2.1 is made public) it's up to you if you want to continue to report any bugs in the beta forums or the main bug reporting forums.
I want to take this opportunity to thank you all so much for being so actively involved with the testing of 2.1 - along with all the new features and improvements we have got through a huge number of fixes, and that's only been possible with having so many of you putting it through it's paces. It's made a huge difference, and we're very much looking forward to working with you all on the next beta!
All the best,
Ash

Here's a list of some of the bugs which have been fixed in 2.1.0.1790
The Improvements in build 2.1.0.1790 are found in this post
Please reply in this forum only 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 Desktop (Windows and macOS)
Margins that are linked in New document setup are shown as unlinked in document setup [AFB-7642] Books Panel Menu still has entries for Cross references "Calculations failed" error message while flow filling of design containing complex geometry in some instances Bugs affecting Windows
New Document Dialog: When deleting a Recent document, the scrollbar jumps up Background grey level slider doesn't function [AFB-7679] General performance improvements Bugs affecting macOS
Zooming in/out on a document with Live Perspective can intermittently cause a crash on (M1/M2) MacBooks [AFD-6345] Running Header Settings dialog can get stuck open in the background Book crashing on export to PDF [AFB-7606] Bugs affecting iPad
Brush Panel corruption can occur with multiple brush kits installed [AFP-6132] Viewport 'furniture' is not being drawn at the correct scale when document is opened with rulers enabled [AFD-6519] On fields whose output can be formatted, the related context menu item is labelled differently than on desktop Popover that contains tab stop options is missing a couple of labels It's possible to force gaps to appear in the Studio Panel bar

Hi All,
Another build has just been made available (2.1.0.1790) including a few more fixes. They are listed in the fix list thread here.
Nearly there!
Thanks,
Ash
 

Hi. I'm not a "creative" pro. I have next to no talent for anything artistic. However, I'm a patent attorney and like to do my own patent illustrations. Always have. Over the years, I've used Visio (which is quite good for circuit schematics), Draw.IO (which, aside from a few frustrations, is even better than Visio for circuit schematics), CorelDraw (which I liked) and, more recently, Vectornator.
I finally grew sick of lack of stability in Vectornator --  given that I'm using a 14in Macbook Pro for my work machine and that it is rock solid in literally everything else, I blame Vectornator. I also grew sick of the inability to change the size of arrows at the beginning/end of lines. Given how simplistic my uses are, Illustrator would feel like a ripoff. Decided to try Affinity 2. I'm liking it so far, after a bit of a learning curve. Thus far, it has addressed the complaints I had about Vectornator and has been stable.
So, uh, hi everyone. I'm here to learn tips and tricks, ask questions, etc.

@loukash referred to this thread in my last post regarding the Corner Tool.
@Ash, I would very, very much appreciate this to be toggleable somewhere in the preferences! 👏
Especially when I'm working with the Corner Tool and need precision because I want/need to try different radii, it is very irritating for me and stops me in my tracks because I have to actively work against the automatic tool selection. I have become so used to the way it worked in previous versions that I currently see no advantage in automatically switching to the Node Tool. Maybe the option to exclude this mechanic from certain tools would be a solution?
Cheers!

Hi loukash,
Wow, thanks a lot for your detailed reply!
Sure, I'll give a Keyboard Maestro a try.

You're aware that you can convert hundreds of text objects objects with just one keyboard shortcut?
No clicks necessary.
Select all text objects in the document (Select > Select Object > Art/Frame Text) Hide them Duplicate all, keep duplicates selected Unhide the duplicates Convert the duplicates to curves All these commands are accessible in menus, customizable via keyboard shortcuts.
No click necessary.
Additionally you may want to make use of named objects or layer tags for quick selection of specific objects.
You should definitely get a 3rd party macro utility.  
On Mac, I'm using Keyboard Maestro.
While Affinity apps aren't officially scriptable (yet), some script support is available out of the box via MacOS UI scripting. That involves all keyboard shortcuts or selecting menu commands, to a certain limited degree even clicking UI elements in the window.
For instance, I'm often using a Keyboard Maestro macro via keyboard shortcut that will click the layer name input field for me, based on my canvas object selection, so that I can type in a name right away, without having to click anything:

 

aff_km_macro_click_layer_name.mp4 Similar macros can speed up your repetitive workflows.
Make use of such helpers!  

Hi, I hope this one is no duplicate but I could not find anything like this one.
I would really love to use AD on software projects with multiple designers, but to this day I could not find any pragmatical way to simultaneously work on e.g. UI designs with more than one designer.
The limitation is that only one person can work on an .afdesign file at a time, otherwise there would be file conflicts (if for example the afdesign file is stored in a synced cloud service like dropbox).
Since the .afdesign file is binary (not in a text based format like e.g. json or xml), we also cannot use git for example to somehow try to merge conflicting versions of the .afdesign file. Maybe I totally miss something here, but so far I believe there is no pragmatical way to collaborate with multiple designers on a single .afdesign project file, and I would love to see changes regarding this topic For me it would be worth to purchase another license if this feature set would be introduced in AD v2 or something 
Please keep on your great work!

Status: Release Candidate
Purpose: Features, Improvements, Fixes
Requirements: Purchased Affinity Designer
Mac App Store: Not submitted
Download: Download
 
Auto-update: Not available
 
Hello,
If this is your first time using a customer beta of an Affinity app, it’s worth noting that the beta will install as a separate app - alongside your store version. They will not interfere with each other at all and you can continue to use the store version for critical work without worry.
This beta is significantly different from the 1.8.x version available for purchase - we strongly recommend that you do not use this beta for real work as data could be lost and the files you save are not guaranteed to open in previous / future versions of Affinity Designer.
Thanks again for your continued support!
Many thanks!
Matt
 
Changes this time
- Numerous drawing issues resolved
- Fix for paste-style leaving objects with misbehaving lines
- Fix for PDF export on an M1 Mac causing issues
- Fix for PDF passthrough failures. Disabled passthrough of multi-page PDFs (for now, at least)
- Fix for macOS beep when using keyboard shortcuts within the Export Preview window
- Updated help
 
Changes Since 1.8.x
- Numerous export preview improvements (press Escape to close the preview quickly, you can now reposition the export dialog so you can work with it and the preview window more easily at the same time, shortcuts for zooms implemented (as per the main view), click-drag with mouse to pan the preview, Apple Magic Mouse better supported
- Account-related improvements
- Added user-controlled Mitre limit to the Contour Tool
- Enabled PDF passthrough context toolbar control
- PDF import improvement with mask images
- Fixed Contour Tool's light UI context toolbar icons being invisible
- Contours now form miters (when requested) until greater angles
- Performing a boolean operation on an object with a contour no longer leaves the new object with an additional (unwanted) contour
- Double-clicking the View Tool's tool icon should zoom to fit
- Export preview UI tweaks and ensure it uses the correct ICC profile to show the colours as intended
- Improved performance of OpenType features
- Added export preview panel (for raster types) - updates live whenever you change an export parameter
- Added JPEG-XR 101010 import support (useful for screen captures from Xbox, etc.)
- Added new splash screen
- Content download service improvements
- Numerous assorted fixes
- Help improvements
- Localisation improvements
- Export Time-lapse should now draw without pixellation when showing zoomed in areas
- PDF export improvements - particularly around filter effects
- Added 'Select Same Name' and 'Select Same Colour Tag' options
- Updated Help
- A few Big Sur UI-related tweaks
- Fix for printing of passthrough PDFs
- Fix a number of potential symbol-related problems
- Text improvements - particularly relating to mid-word punctuation
- Snapping tweaks - you can now snap to column guides if they're hidden and you have 'snap to hidden objects' turned on
- Added hierarchical antialiasing control - accessed from the Blend Options dialog on the layers panel
- Added 'Export Time-lapse' feature from Photo
- Fixed insertion target button failure!
- Fixed font combo not previewing changes in the document correctly
- New cat shape (accessible on Friday 13th or if you know the magic trick!)
- Misc PDF export tweaks
- Fix for Column Guides not updating correctly
- PDF Import improvements (particularly around tinted colours and unknown fonts)
- Fix for a UI issue in Big Sur (the vertical positioning of some checkboxes)
- New samples! 
- Added Preferences item to allow auto-updating of linked images in the document when the images are edited externally
- Fix for 'Embed'/'Link' image placement preference working incorrectly from some dialogs...
- Added 'Save as package' feature for easy delivery of a complete project
- Improvements to application registration and content syncing
- Fix for pixel layers inside symbols occasionally acting incorrectly (painting may not apply to all symbol instances, items may transform oddly, for example)
- Added Studio Presets with, hopefully, complete functionality 
- Tabbing between fields in the New Document dialog should no longer crash! (sigh)
- Fixed sporadic crash with Pencil Tool (yay!) and hopefully generally improved product stability
- Fix for artefacts occasionally noticed in the noise pattern while editing objects with noise on a linear fill
- Fix for occasional disabling of some buttons
- Added registration page to the app - allows users to login and auto-install brushes (so far)
- Fix for Select Same and Select Object when they encounter text objects
- Enable image placement options in Designer (you can now choose Linked or Embedded) and also Resource Manager (from the View menu)
- Added option for Designer to be able to show/hide overflow text - particularly useful for text on a path
- Application icon updated to fit the 'Big Sur' visual style, also document icons updated. Misc other Big Sur fixes.
- Fix for terrible rendering problems - particularly affected cropped items with layer effects applied
- Added ability to rotate canvas if you have a scroll wheel mouse (or two-finger vertical drag on your touchpad) if you hold down Command. This will rotate around the mouse cursor location. Holding down Shift in addition to Command while scrolling will rotate around the centre of the view.
- Contour tool.
- Select Same / Select Object functionality. I'm happy to consider requests for extra options, so if you have a favourite, just say...
- Improved performance with large documents. I will aim to improve this further over time.
- Added a new “Divide” blend mode.
- Allowed snapping to the bounds of the pixel selection.
 
To be notified about all future Mac beta updates, please follow this beta notification thread 
To be notified when this update comes out of beta and is fully released to all Affinity Designer customers, please follow this release notification thread

Status: Release Candidate
Purpose: Features, Improvements, Fixes
Requirements: Purchased Affinity Designer
Mac App Store: Not submitted
Download: Download
 
Auto-update: Not available
 
Hello,
If this is your first time using a customer beta of an Affinity app, it’s worth noting that the beta will install as a separate app - alongside your store version. They will not interfere with each other at all and you can continue to use the store version for critical work without worry.
This beta is significantly different from the 1.8.x version available for purchase - we strongly recommend that you do not use this beta for real work as data could be lost and the files you save are not guaranteed to open in previous / future versions of Affinity Designer.
Thanks again for your continued support!
Many thanks!
Matt
 
Changes this time
- Numerous export preview improvements (press Escape to close the preview quickly, you can now reposition the export dialog so you can work with it and the preview window more easily at the same time, shortcuts for zooms implemented (as per the main view), click-drag with mouse to pan the preview, Apple Magic Mouse better supported
- Account-related improvements
- Miscellaneous small bug fixes and crash fixes
 
Changes Since 1.8.x
- Added user-controlled Mitre limit to the Contour Tool
- Enabled PDF passthrough context toolbar control
- PDF import improvement with mask images
- Fixed Contour Tool's light UI context toolbar icons being invisible
- Contours now form miters (when requested) until greater angles
- Performing a boolean operation on an object with a contour no longer leaves the new object with an additional (unwanted) contour
- Double-clicking the View Tool's tool icon should zoom to fit
- Export preview UI tweaks and ensure it uses the correct ICC profile to show the colours as intended
- Improved performance of OpenType features
- Added export preview panel (for raster types) - updates live whenever you change an export parameter
- Added JPEG-XR 101010 import support (useful for screen captures from Xbox, etc.)
- Added new splash screen
- Content download service improvements
- Numerous assorted fixes
- Help improvements
- Localisation improvements
- Export Time-lapse should now draw without pixellation when showing zoomed in areas
- PDF export improvements - particularly around filter effects
- Added 'Select Same Name' and 'Select Same Colour Tag' options
- Updated Help
- A few Big Sur UI-related tweaks
- Fix for printing of passthrough PDFs
- Fix a number of potential symbol-related problems
- Text improvements - particularly relating to mid-word punctuation
- Snapping tweaks - you can now snap to column guides if they're hidden and you have 'snap to hidden objects' turned on
- Added hierarchical antialiasing control - accessed from the Blend Options dialog on the layers panel
- Added 'Export Time-lapse' feature from Photo
- Fixed insertion target button failure!
- Fixed font combo not previewing changes in the document correctly
- New cat shape (accessible on Friday 13th or if you know the magic trick!)
- Misc PDF export tweaks
- Fix for Column Guides not updating correctly
- PDF Import improvements (particularly around tinted colours and unknown fonts)
- Fix for a UI issue in Big Sur (the vertical positioning of some checkboxes)
- New samples! 
- Added Preferences item to allow auto-updating of linked images in the document when the images are edited externally
- Fix for 'Embed'/'Link' image placement preference working incorrectly from some dialogs...
- Added 'Save as package' feature for easy delivery of a complete project
- Improvements to application registration and content syncing
- Fix for pixel layers inside symbols occasionally acting incorrectly (painting may not apply to all symbol instances, items may transform oddly, for example)
- Added Studio Presets with, hopefully, complete functionality 
- Tabbing between fields in the New Document dialog should no longer crash! (sigh)
- Fixed sporadic crash with Pencil Tool (yay!) and hopefully generally improved product stability
- Fix for artefacts occasionally noticed in the noise pattern while editing objects with noise on a linear fill
- Fix for occasional disabling of some buttons
- Added registration page to the app - allows users to login and auto-install brushes (so far)
- Fix for Select Same and Select Object when they encounter text objects
- Enable image placement options in Designer (you can now choose Linked or Embedded) and also Resource Manager (from the View menu)
- Added option for Designer to be able to show/hide overflow text - particularly useful for text on a path
- Application icon updated to fit the 'Big Sur' visual style, also document icons updated. Misc other Big Sur fixes.
- Fix for terrible rendering problems - particularly affected cropped items with layer effects applied
- Added ability to rotate canvas if you have a scroll wheel mouse (or two-finger vertical drag on your touchpad) if you hold down Command. This will rotate around the mouse cursor location. Holding down Shift in addition to Command while scrolling will rotate around the centre of the view.
- Contour tool.
- Select Same / Select Object functionality. I'm happy to consider requests for extra options, so if you have a favourite, just say...
- Improved performance with large documents. I will aim to improve this further over time.
- Added a new “Divide” blend mode.
- Allowed snapping to the bounds of the pixel selection.
 
To be notified about all future Mac beta updates, please follow this beta notification thread 
To be notified when this update comes out of beta and is fully released to all Affinity Designer customers, please follow this release notification thread

Status: Beta
Purpose: Features, Improvements, Fixes
Requirements: Purchased Affinity Designer
Mac App Store: Not submitted
Download: Download
 
Auto-update: Not available
 
Hello,
We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of the first build of Affinity Designer 1.9.0 for macOS.
If this is your first time using a customer beta of an Affinity app, it’s worth noting that the beta will install as a separate app - alongside your store version. They will not interfere with each other at all and you can continue to use the store version for critical work without worry.
This beta is significantly different from the 1.8.4 version available for purchase - we strongly recommend that you do not use this beta for real work as data could be lost and the files you save are not guaranteed to open in previous / future versions of Affinity Designer.
Thanks again for your continued support!
Many thanks!
Matt
 
Changes Since 1.9.0
- Contour tool.
- Select Same / Select Object functionality. I'm happy to consider requests for extra options, so if you have a favourite, just say...
- Improved performance with large documents. I will aim to improve this further over time.
- Added a new “Divide” blend mode.
- Allowed snapping to the bounds of the pixel selection.
 
To be notified about all future Mac beta updates, please follow this beta notification thread 
To be notified when this update comes out of beta and is fully released to all Affinity Designer customers, please follow this release notification thread

Status: Beta
Purpose: Features, Improvements, Fixes
Requirements: Purchased Affinity Designer
Mac App Store: Not Submitted
Download: Download
Auto-update: Not available
 
Hello,
We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of Affinity Designer Beta 1.8.4.2 for macOS.
If this is your first time using a customer beta of an Affinity app, it’s worth noting that the beta will install as a separate app - alongside your store version. They will not interfere with each other at all and you can continue to use the store version for critical work without worry.
This beta is an incremental update to the 1.8.3 version currently available in the store to all customers (though it installs parallel to the release). We recommend that you use this beta in preference to the store version if you are affected by any of the issues listed below.
Many thanks!
Matt
 
Changes Since 1.8.3
- Fix for incorrect rendering of grids in OpenGL past certain zoom levels.
- Fix for poor functioning of 'Force Touch' trackpads in pressure-sensitive tools.
- Speculative fix for occasional lockups in Pencil Tool.
- Added option in preferences to re-enable the old behaviour for deleting objects (we used to previously favour empty selections).
- Added ability to show folders as icons in the layers panel.
- Added option to always show folders as “small” in the layers panel.
- Improved dragging behaviour in the layers panel (make it easier to drag child items around within their container without affecting parenting).
- PDF import performance improvements.
- Document save performance improvements.
- Text performance improvements.
- Assorted small bug fixes.
- Help improvements.
- Localisation improvements.
 
To be notified about all future Mac beta updates, please follow this beta notification thread 
To be notified when this update comes out of beta and is fully released to all Affinity Designer customers, please follow this release notification thread

Hi All,
Unfortunately, we are hearing many stories from the creative community about how they are being severely impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We know we can’t solve a lot of these problems, but we do want to try to offer as much support as possible.
That’s why we’re announcing three measures that we've just put in place. They are:
A new 90-day free trial of the Mac and Windows versions of the whole Affinity suite A 50% discount for those who would rather buy and keep the apps on Mac, Windows and iPad A pledge to engage more than 100 freelance creatives for work, spending the equivalent of our annual commissioning budget in the next three months (more details of this will be announced next week). The introduction of the 90-day free trial and deeply discounted pricing is done in the hope that this will make life a little easier for people who rely on creative software to make a living, but may be stuck at home without their usual tools, or for students who might not have access to their Affinity apps on their personal devices. In addition, by increasing our spend on commissioning work from freelancers we can also put some extra money into a part of the industry which will be particularly affected. 
We plan to make the free trial and additional discount available until 20 April, but of course we will continue to review the situation as time goes on.
We have put posts on Facebook and Twitter about what we are doing if it's something you would like to share.
We're now all working from home
In terms of the team here, we have all vacated our Nottingham offices and are now working from home. Naturally this is causing us some disruption, but we continue to type code and expect to carry on making good progress with our development efforts. 
Support is a bit trickier though. Firstly, we can’t accept inbound telephone calls right now, and there are also going to be challenges for our staff to work their normal full-time hours – especially with imminent school closures in the UK. We’re obviously going to do our very best but hope you will understand if we are not as fast to respond to email as usual.
Of course, if a question you have is something which could be answered by our community, then we’d also greatly appreciate if you put that here on the forum rather than contact us directly. It would definitely help us out a lot. 
Frankly it’s hard to know what to say or do in this unprecedented situation. But more than anything else, we want to use this opportunity to wish good health to you and your loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.
All the very best,
Ash