[Text positioning related to text boxes]

@Alfred I know what you mean regarding optical balance, but am unconvinced that this is how alignment and snapping should work.

 

For one thing there is no consistency here... if optical balance is the aim, why does snapping align letter edges, and Arrange aligns bounding boxes?

 

Also should AD make decisions about optically aligning other objects beyond text? What if I cant to left align a circle, square and diamond? Even if they have the same areas, the difference in shape leads to very different feel for each object, but if I tell AD to left align that is exactly what it should do!

 

I just tried snapping in Xara Designer as a comparison, and both methods snap to the letter edge, which is what I would expect.

 

@R C-R if you aren't seeing the same behaviour on Mac then it could well be a bug.

 

[Text positioning related to text boxes]

Behaviour seems different depending on technique…

 

• If I write a few different words, and drag to snap the left edges, then everything aligns to the edge of the first letter as expected.
   
• If I use the Arrange button to align the words, this uses the bounding box, which as Varnas notes doesn't abut the letter edge, so the words end up misaligned.

 

This doesn't seem desirable to me.

[Colored Layers in AD and AF]

This only works on Layers... in your screenshot mockup the things you've highlighted are Groups.

 

Create a New Layer (button bottom right of the Layers panel) and you should see the Properties on the right click / context menu.

[a zig zag generator]

I understand that this is a feature request (to allow paths to be distorted by a macro or equation), and I can see how this might be fun/useful/powerful, but for your specific case I can see a number of relatively simple workarounds.

 

For example...

• Create a large rectangle with one side that is zigzagged.
• [Make this an Asset so that you can reuse it in future projects.]
• For any object where you want to have one or more zigzag edges, drag copies of the zigzag asset onto the object thumbnail (to make a mask layer) rotating one for each side that needs the effect.

ZigZag.afdesign

[[Designer] UI/UX Feature suggestions & designs]

Yes! Much as I like the UI I agree that there is room for improvement.

 

I hope that refinements such as these will be considered.

[[Multi] Color Coding For Layers]

My first instinct was that the colour highlight is very subtle!

 

Just a single pixel line where I was expecting it to tint the whole folder.

 

Perhaps it is sufficient.

 

Time will tell I guess!

[Feedback, this time for the users, not the devs!]

Well said.

 

I think the features already in Affinity, the general polish (for a first version), and at this price, are simply astounding.

 

The friendly helpful community is wonderful too - long may it continue.

[Layer comps - Layer comps to files]

Have you tried recording making a Macro?

 

DavidDoesAffinity doesn't say whether he's using AD or AP, but I believe macros are only currently in AP aren't they, so can't be used in Designer

[[Bug] Join Curves causes them both to vanish!?!]

I am trying to reproduce the effect again today (PC has been shutdown since last night) and everything works as expected.

 

Grr... that is so annoying, because last night I played with the buggy version for half an hour trying to discover what caused the problem and it happened time and time again.

 

Bug occurred whether I Joined by clicking the Join button, or with the shortcut (j) which I added as Join, under both the Pen tool and Node tool.

 

If it happens again I'll be sure to video!

 

Thanks for checking.

[How to Cut?]

OK I'll take a stab at this.

 

 

Splitting the photo into two sections...

 

 

At present there is no Cut tool in AD (it is a frequently requested feature, so will be added no doubt in the future).

 

However there are several ways to achieve what you are after depending on what output you want...

 

Vector Crop Method

1. Duplicate the photo object (Ctrl+J)
2. Use the Vector Crop tool to crop the top off the photo, leaving the bottom.
3. Now use the Vector Crop tool to crop the bottom off the copy of the photo, leaving just the top!

Export Persona Method (if you need the sliced photo as two files for external use)

1. Enter the Export Persona
2. Create two slices, one for the top part of the photo, and one for the bottom.
3. Export the slices!

Cutting out the Rectangle

I assume that you want to crop the photo to the rectangle, rather than end up with a photo with a rectangular hole in it.

AD excels at this task...

1. In the Layers panel, just drag the rectangle on to the thumbnail of the Photo.

The rectangle is applied as a mask. This works for any shape, not just rectangles.

 

Finally if you've not yet read the help file (cover to cover) and watched the tutorials on the Affinity site, I strongly recommend both. They are easy to follow and cover many basic and advanced techniques.

[Eyedropper Magnifier, get rid of the shading!]

The magnifier of the eyedropper tool has a grey gradient in the lower half, which I find really distracting when trying to sample colours.

 

It passes right through the reticle!

 

Any chance you'd consider removing it?

 

Thanks.

 

[[Bugs] Styles panel categories.]

1) I deleted the category Default form the styles panel.

 

Then selected an object and clicked Add Style from Selection.

 

I am sure that this should have been grayed out, since no category existed in which to add the Style.

 

AD crashed with Object Exception error.

 

Sadly, I have not been able to recreate this issue :(

 

 

 

2) With an object selected I can right click and choose Create Style, but the in the Styles panel menu Add Style from Selection is grayed out - why?

 

Are the two options not the same?

 

If they are the same, then it is confusing that one is called Create and the other Add.

[[Bug] Join Curves causes them both to vanish!?!]

Odd thing just happened (AD 1.5.1.43 Win7)...

 

• Drew a curve
• Made a clone
• Flipped it horizontally
• Aligned the start nodes
• Attempted to join them
• And the whole lot vanishes!

I've erased the rest of the drawing leaving just the two curves, and this behaviour happens repeatedly.

 

File attached - try selecting the top centre nodes where the curves touch and joining.

 

If I tamper with the file in almost any way (such ad adding a new object to the canvas) then the curves join correctly.

 

What is going on?

 

Have just loaded the file into 1.5.0.36 Retail and the behaviour is different... here the curves remain, but do not join.

The Vanishing.afdesign

[Layer comps - Layer comps to files]

Agree with your observation that the feature although present is not yet developed to the same degree as it is in Photoshop.

 

Perhaps the devs have something to add about the issue?

[flip in relation to anchor point]

+1 for the ability to flip about the rotation / anchor point.

 

Very useful to me, do it all the time in Xara Designer (or 'my old design software' as I now call it ;) ).

[Layer comps - Layer comps to files]

I am not familiar with Layer Comps, but they sound like what Affinity Designer calls Snapshots.

 

You need to enable the panel from View > Studio > Snapshots.

 

Then you can save Snapshots of layer states, and even export them to a new file.

[Funny brush animation]

Hilarious and very inventive.

[Beta .43 - Wacom cth-460 Bamboo Touch and Pressure]

Confirmed :)

[Very poor performance in Affinity Designer (Win7). Better on slower computer! Why?]

OK so the culprit is (without question) Bins by 1UP Industries.

 

This is a small application that allows icons on the Taskbar (aka Windows 7 Superbar) to be grouped / stacked.

 

I've used it for many years and never had issues with it before. AD is the only application that has reacted badly to its presence.

 

Have tried several versions (current and old) and all exhibit the behaviour.

 

Really odd thing is...

• I run AD and it is super smooth.
• Then I run Bins and AD starts to lag.
• I quit Bins and AD continues to lag!
• I quit AD and run it again, AD is super smooth.

Sadly Bins seems to get little love from its developer these days - I am not sure if the support forum even exists anymore (I will check). - so I think there is not much chance the this will be investigated.

 

Time to bin Bins?

[Mouse wheel zoom...]

You set Mouse Zoom in Preferences > Tools > Use Mouse Wheel to Zoom.

 

Pan by holding Middle mouse button, or Holding Space.

 

If this isn't working for you, then something has gone wrong.

 

Also, which app (Designer or Photo) and which OS (Win or Mac) is useful to know.

[[AD Windows] Break curve, multiple nodes?]

Thanks MEB, have set shortcut, which as yo say helps.

 

Can this be moved to feature requests please?

[Designer Tutorial - Creating a Funny Pirate]

Thanks for the inspiration.

 

I used your tutorial to learn Designer.

 

 

 Most enjoyable and helpful.

[Pasting License Key]

There is a Paste Key button next to the entry field which pastes correctly into the 4 boxes.

 

But I agree that Ctrl + V should really do the same!

[[AD Windows] Break curve, multiple nodes?]

If I select more than one node on  a curve and click Break Curves, only one of the nodes is broken.

 

Is this by design or a bug?

 

If by design, then I'd like to request the behavior is altered, as breaking a curve into multiple shorter sections is very useful at times, and currently rather time consuming.

 

Thanks

[Very poor performance in Affinity Designer (Win7). Better on slower computer! Why?]

Update: I killed all other applications on my PC, even suspended the virus killer, and just ran Affinity Designer... and it is...

 

As smooth as silk!

 

So Joss13 and SrPx are correct - there is some weird interaction going on with something else on my system. I'll gradually reactivate my various apps and report back with the culprit!