[Alignment Option – Use Key Object for Spacing Operations and from the Toolbar Pop-Up]

5 hours ago, ,,, said:

Key object is in Affinity 2 apps. Option/Alt-click one of the selected objects to make it the key object - it gets denoted by a thicker outline. Key object is used by alignments and by the command Cut Curves With Key Object.

Wait, what? Wow, how did I miss this?! 😲

Thanks for pointing this out, I never realised!

However though right now these work with Align Horizontal/Vertical operations only. Better than nothing, now I’d like to see distribution as well.

[Alignment Option – Use Key Object for Spacing Operations and from the Toolbar Pop-Up]

Ah, I think I see what made it appear like it’s the same as »Last Selected«! Watching the linked YouTube video I noticed it’s not really explaining what elevates it from »Last Selected«. I’ve updated it with a little bit better example. 😅
There's still no real demo of the distribution using anything other than the leftmost shape, which could be done even without selecting it as the key object - but I recorded that in my clip. The distribution works with any other key object. Like it's the centre from which the distribution happens.

[Alignment Option – Use Key Object for Spacing Operations and from the Toolbar Pop-Up]

On 5/9/2023 at 3:45 PM, fde101 said:

Out of curiosity, how would you expect it to work for these commands?

These work on the space between objects at the two extremes (ex. the leftmost and rightmost if spacing horizontally) so there isn't really any way to use a "key" object for these as far as I can tell...

As it's rather hard to explain and would involve a lot of repetition of terms, I'd say this clip should answer your question. While at the same time showing why I think (much as it pains me to admit it) that Illustrator has a more intuitive approach to this than Designer's »First/Last Selected«, because in Illustrator you don't really have to think about »what to select first/last« to make the alignment work, you can just adjust it after the selection is made. In Designer you’d have to start over if you realise you haven’t selected the right shape from the beginning/end.

And especially with a growing number of objects, this gets ... messy.

On 5/9/2023 at 3:45 PM, fde101 said:

This is exactly what "last selected" does

Except it’s not exactly what »Last Selected« does.  Otherwise I wouldn't have opened this topic. Please also have a look at the linked article/clip, you can see how it works in detail. 😉

Last Selected, as the name suggests, orients shapes always and only to the last (or first) selected shape.
A Key Object can be freely switched between all active selected shapes on the fly, without having to re-add shapes.

See this clip.

 

[Alignment Option – Use Key Object for Spacing Operations and from the Toolbar Pop-Up]

Hey everyone,

Update: Okay, apparently I completely missed the introduction of Key Objects somehow. Thanks for telling me it’s already there! 🤯

Firstly, however, part of my original subject was that key objects should work for any alignment – this includes the spacing operations »Space Vertical« and »Space Horizontal«. They currently work for the general alignment options such as top/bottom, left/right.

From my logic it could/should work like this:

1. If NO key object is selected, the last set »Align To:« option works as intended and expected.
2. However, if a key object IS selected, the »Align To:« option should react and prioritise it by changing the »Align To: Key Object«.
   1. As soon as there’s no Key Object selected, it switches back to the previous item in the list, like »Last/First Selected«.

Without checking, I think this is how it works in Illustrator as well.

And I mean, it's just logical (at least to me): If a user actively selects a Key Object (and for Designer this can't be accidental, since you have to hold down an extra key on your keyboard), the user most likely wants to use it as such.

So the Key Object should always have the highest priority in the list of alignment candidates/options.

Secondly: They also only work from the Context toolbar – when I work with the toolbar popup and want to align (top/bottom, left/right, ...) it prioritises the selected »Align to:« option from the drop down. I think there's an item missing from this list for key objects to work in the toolbar popup as well, and I think that's the culprit.

It's not at all obvious that »First Selected« equals »Key Object« in the »Align To:« dropdown in the Toolbar (not Context Toolbar).

–––

I very dearly miss the ability to click on one of multiple selected shapes (especially in Designer and Publisher) in order to define it as some sort of »pivot« object, so to speak, around which all other alignments will happen since day one switching to Designer almost ten years ago. (Wow, Designer really turns 10 next year!)

The »First/Last Selected« options in the »Align to:« dropdown come close to what I mean, but are not as intuitive, nor do they work for all alignment operations such as »Space Horizontal/Vertical«.

Illustrator has solved this more elegantly and functionally by allowing you to mark one of the already selected objects as the »centre« by clicking on it, around which all further alignment operations will take place. They call it »Align to Key Object«. Here's a short clip of how it works. Here’s a video that explains its differences a little bit better compared to other alignment options present in Designer.

Please please pleeease Affinity, I need this QOL back in my process and would love to see it and in the Affinity Suite. 🥲

Cheers
Dennis

[Issues with Linked File: Layer Visibility Override]

One thing I forgot to mention, but which is also visible throughout the clip, even from the beginning: The overridden layers with the hidden status change as soon as the document is saved in Designer. However, the Affinity website explicitly mentions that »Even if the source file is changed, your layer visibility settings will be maintained.«

That's not true, and unfortunately it's another issue that comes up when working with the feature. ☹️

[Issues with Linked File: Layer Visibility Override]

Hey there,

I came across the following question and bug while working on a document today.

Initial situation: I want to link a Designer document with several differently named artboards, each containing between two or three layers that I want to show or hide separately while the document is linked in Publisher. I'd like to use the long awaited and now available "Layer Visibility Override" in Publisher. I was very excited to finally see it!

Question/Possible minor bug:

Why is the order of layers in Publisher reverse compared to the order in Designer? The lowest layer in Designer is shown first in Publisher and vice versa, the first layer in Designer is shown last in Publisher. I can't quite follow this logic and it seems a bit backwards in the most literal sense. (Sorry, the screenshot is meant to be read from right to left, because on the right side is the way I set up the layers first in Designer, before linking them second in Publisher on the left side).

Bug (?):

There is no other way to describe it than that it simply does not work. In my particular case, I'd like to switch between two layers, ticking one off, ticking one on. And it just doesn't work. Instead of switching between these two layers, a third layer is displayed which should remain invisible because I am not even touching it.

Also, I'm not so much interested in workarounds for the problem, I know there are other and cleaner ways to set it up, like I could have opted for additional artboards (as I would eventually do once the client narrows down to one version). However, as there should be Layer Visibility Override in Publisher, I'd want to use it.

Please see the clip attached.

Perhaps someone can confirm this? Or maybe this issue is already known/reported?

Cheers
Dennis

[»Set Fill to Black and White«-Shortcut Irreversible Breaks Fill Layer]

Sorry, @walt.farrell, the website bugged out on me while editing my comment, feel free to re-read it – but there’s no need, I guess because …

I now have to admit, you're on the right track, I think!

Although, yes, regrettably it completely erases the Fill Layer's mask by covering it with black, it also resets the Fill Layer's colour to white (as expected).

One can easily check this:

1. Create a Fill Layer.
2. Change it’s colour to what ever suits you. (Except white, obviously. 😁)
3. Draw something on it’s integrated Mask.
4. Hit D.

Result:
The Fill Layer suddenly appears transparent, evidently because its Mask is filled with black.
But with Layer → Invert (⌘+I), as suggested by Nathan, a white fill layer is revealed again! The previous choosen colour is gone – magic! (Or something like that.)

Therefore, I now assume that Set Fill to Black and White actually affects both, the Fill Layer itself and the Fill Layer Mask.
It seems that the white fill is assigned directly to the Fill Layer, while the Mask gets the black fill, making it look like it's transparent.

Man, at this point it almost feels like a game of social deduction. 😅
The only thing I'd like to know now: Is that how the Fill Layer really was murrrderrred? 🔎‍

[»Set Fill to Black and White«-Shortcut Irreversible Breaks Fill Layer]

4 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

sounds like the shortcut is working on the Fill Layer's mask

You were talking about the Fill Layer Mask previously, @walt.farrell.
This Mask – magically embedded in the Fill Layer or not – simply has to be a rasterbased layer.
How else would you be able to manipulate it with virtually any raster-based tool such as a brush, smudge or eraser?

16 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

So, when you reset the foreground/background colors, and you have a Fill layer selected, that should change its color.

Yes, that’s the result I was aiming for!

[»Set Fill to Black and White«-Shortcut Irreversible Breaks Fill Layer]

Deleted, because double.

[»Set Fill to Black and White«-Shortcut Irreversible Breaks Fill Layer]

2 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

It sounds like the shortcut is working on the Fill Layer's mask, rather than its fill color. Which is also the intended behavior if you were to paint on the Fill layer, I think.

Hey @walt.farrell,

to me it sounds like you are confusing the topic of the usually vector-based Set Fill to Black and White with any of the raster-based Fill-options found in the Edit menu (see below).
These Fill-options work with all kinds of raster-based elements (layers or masks) but are not connected in any way to the item discussed.
And yes, while it's also used to reset the foreground and background colours to black and white, it shouldn't automatically floodfill the entire mask with either colour.

Simply hitting D (Set Fill to Black and White) shouldn't affect any raster-based layers – or masks – because there is no fill in terms of »fill of a shape«, if that makes sense.

So I counter and say it's not the intended behavior for Set Fill to Black and White on any raster-based layers or masks, as Nathan already confirmed with further tests and other issues.

[»Add Pages From File« Requires a Target Page Number Even if »After Last Page« Is Selected]

4 minutes ago, stokerg said:

Thank you  

I know where I was going wrong, I was using the option on  Document>Add Pages From File, which always gives me a field with a Page number, yet when I do it from the Right Click menu in the Pages panel, that field does indeed open blank!  I'll get both of these issues logged with the Dev team  

I see! Haha, and I didn’t consider trying it via the menu. 😅

Glad you can log it. 😉

[»Add Pages From File« Requires a Target Page Number Even if »After Last Page« Is Selected]

Hey @stokerg, sure!

Here is a clip showing both scenarios in sequence.

Add_Pages_Bug.mov

I have also added some information about scenario two and clarified my previous post about it, hope this helps recreating it.

[»Set Fill to Black and White«-Shortcut Irreversible Breaks Fill Layer]

Hey @NathanC, thanks for your reply!

Thanks for your further tests, curious!
But these steps won't revert it to its original state, will they? Still seems a bit untidy to me. 😅

So I'm glad you could log it as a bug! 🫶

[»Add Pages From File« Requires a Target Page Number Even if »After Last Page« Is Selected]

1 hour ago, stokerg said:

MacOS won't allow you to leave that field empty, you can delete the page number but as soon as you leave that field, it comes back.

I'm not sure if this is what you are talking about … but it looks to me like it actually can be empty? (This is a screenshot on MacOS following the 2nd scenario. Publisher release 2.0.4)

[»Set Fill to Black and White«-Shortcut Irreversible Breaks Fill Layer]

4 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

@Mr. Doodlezz, Nice catch. This is also problem with the latest beta. Weird how hitting the D key (the default for the reset to Black and White) turns the Fill layer to transparent. It also seems to be Independent of tool choice, meaning it happens with whichever tool I have active.

@Old Bruce, thanks for confirming. Oh, so it’s actually set to D by default? I wasn’t sure if that’s me and assumed it’s not set up at all by factory standards. 😁

[»Add Pages From File« Requires a Target Page Number Even if »After Last Page« Is Selected]

20 hours ago, stokerg said:

When you first brought up the Add Pages dialog, what was in the box next to Pages?  Was it the last page number?  If so, did you delete it?

Hey @stokerg, thanks for chiming in.

There are two scenarios:

1. Having a page selected results in »Pages: [current page number]« (e.g. you're working on page 3 and decide to import a few pages from another document, the dialogue shows »Pages: 3«)
2. Have no page selected at all by left-clicking in the empty space next to/below the two pages surrounding it and then right-clicking, resulting in »Pages: [field is empty]«.
   In order for the »empty space« to appear on the bottom right side, you may need to expand the Pages palette a little, depending on how many pages your current document currently uses.
   

For me it was the 2nd scenario.

Hope this helps
Dennis

[»Set Fill to Black and White«-Shortcut Irreversible Breaks Fill Layer]

Hey community!

The title actually says it all. I've been using this incredibly useful little feature ever since I learned it decades ago (when I was working with Adobe applications), and was very happy to find it right from Affinity’s first ever release (?) in the shortcuts menu: »Set Fill to Black and White«. It's particularly useful in Designer when you need to quickly reset the base colours of your shapes, but also in Photo, especially as all the apps in the suite work so seamlessly together.

However, using this shortcut in Photo with an active Fill Layer in the layers panel completely breaks it, like … irreversibly. Not even the »Revert defaults« button (if added in the toolbar) can revive its initial state! ☹️

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Set up a shortcut under Shortcuts → Miscellaneous → Set Fill to Black and White.
   Note: There's no menu item for this option at all, it's only accessible via a keyboard shortcut, factory default is D.
2. Create a Fill Layer.
3. Select Fill Layer (if not already active) in the layers panel.
4. Use the designated shortcut previously assigned to Set Fill to Black and White.

Expected Behavior:

I’m actually not sure what I expected. 😅
Probably a reset to white? But I'm not sure about the stroke, since a fill layer is practically borderless. And I suppose that might be the reason why it breaks.

Current Behavior:

The Fill layer turns transparent and stops responding to any changes of color or other fill.
As mentioned, Set Fill to Black and White completely breaks the layer irreversible. You have to delete the layer and create a new one.

I'm having the same problem on MacOS and Windows, but as I'm sitting in front of a Mac at the moment (and since the forum is lacking a thread for bugs that affect the application regardless of OS), I'm going to post it here.

Can someone verify this?

Cheers
Dennis aka The Guy With All the Fill Layer Issues 🥲

[»Add Pages From File« Requires a Target Page Number Even if »After Last Page« Is Selected]

Thanks for confirming, @MikeTO.

[»Add Pages From File« Requires a Target Page Number Even if »After Last Page« Is Selected]

Hey forum!

I'm not sure if this is a bug or if I'm missing something. Basically I simply want to import all pages from document A into B after the last page. However, I'm asked to specify a valid target page. Am I misunderstanding the message? Why do I get the below warning?

Also, even if I wanted to, I can't access any boxes with this setting. 🤔

Thanks for any help! 😊

[Liquefied Identity]

5 hours ago, dannyg9 said:

A glimpse of brilliance. Fantastic.

Thanks, @dannyg9! 😊

[Liquefied Identity]

I'll never get tired of tinkering with this kind of style. For me it's a refreshing break from all the flat designs of the last two or three years. 😊

 

[Liquefied Identity]

Here's another test, this time with a photo. It's a bit rough around the edges (jagged pixels), so a bit more tweaking would be needed to make it look a bit smoother.

[Liquefied Identity]

For a few days now I've been playing around with layer effects and some procedural filters – it's super fun and I love the results it can generate!

This is the result this morning, based on my own logo and 100% pure Affinity Photo magic, and (except for the very last couple of steps) nondestructive.

Maybe I'll release a macro for this sometime, if I can manage to squeeze it into a clean sequence.
It'll work with almost any kind of base – images, texts, vector layers.

This is what the base result will look like after the macro is applied, everything else is layer effects (and a background texture):

 

[Invisible/Non-Refinable/Immovable Fill Layer Mask]

I'd say we're done here. Maybe I'll pick this up again in a couple of weeks, maybe as a new thread in the Feedback & Suggestions section of the forum.

Nobody is able or cares to understand all the cross-quotes at this point anyway. 🥴

Thanks for all your input.

[Invisible/Non-Refinable/Immovable Fill Layer Mask]

6 minutes ago, ,,, said:

V1 and V2 are behaving the same, but the Layers panel presents a built-in mask differently. You are misinterpreting V2's thumbnail of a built-in mask as an independent 'regular' mask because it is presented to the right of the thumbnail of an Adjustment or Live Filter.

Hot damn. You're reading my mind, that's what I just realised. Oh wow.
From the looks of it, I assumed it was a normal mask. Maaan. Still, you get the option to refine it, and Alt/Option-Leftclick works on them too? But why does it only show up for adjustment and live filter layers like this and not fill layers as well? I don't get it.