ashf

Have you ever tried to arrange objects in the layers panel only to loose them, and then find it nestled in a collapsed group of objects?  
Ever try and move an object so it clips anther object and it ends up with an unexpected result?  
Ever wonder what those enigmatic icons in the layer thumbnails are trying to tell you?
 
This guide is for anyone with those questions. From folks that are new to Affinity Products, to people who has been using it for years and struggled with the behaviour of layers.  This 3-page visual how-to guide will hopefully help reveal any or all of the cryptic layer mysteries!
The guide is in English for desktop versions of the products, designed the Windows version, tested mostly in Affinity Designer, but should translate well to Affinity Photo and Publisher.
I would love to hear your feedback, if you notice any errors, have any additions, and/or let me know if it helps you, please chime in!
 
NOTE: PDF DOWNLOAD AT THE BOTTOM.  Please download it!
 
Cheers,
Dave Vector



Affinity Layers Guide - Understanding Masks, Moves, Crops, Clips, Adjustments.pdf

See also here the shown samples in that thread (top to bottom).

I stopped using the separated mode long ago, but now with the Studio Presets, I just figured that I could give it a chance again. I've never liked this monolithic window mode anyway. Never used it with Adobe apps either.
On Mac: System Preferences > Accessibility > Zoom > check out the various options and zoom modes to find what suits you best.
I prefer the "Use scroll gestures […]" Picture-in-Picture mode. Using it all the time. You know how it goes: aging eyes & wrong glasses, bad app UI designs with microscopic text and icons created by twenty-somethings who apparently don't need reading glasses yet, et cetera et cetera…
But yeah, that just magnifies the screen, so it might not be what you're after either.

@jmudglove & @ashf, how 'bout this:

apu_pages_panel_preview.mov

Affinity can not read ai files.
Affinity reads PDF data of hybrid ai files, not native ai data.
So the swatch won't be available when you open it in Affinity.
 

Use Select>Select Same to change a common color.

There's:
View > New View = opens a new tab/window which can have a unique view
selections are being synced, but Zoom, View Mode and Preview Mode can be unique for each view Navigator panel > hamburger menu > Advanced = adds a popup menu > cog popup menu or hamburger menu > Add = adds a new view point
switch between saved viewpoints = zoom factor via View menu > Move To Previous/Next View Point; assign shortcuts to those for quick switch For "split screen", you must switch to Window > Separated Mode and arrange windows manually.

He is completely "unintuitive" the whole concept of pseudo locking without locking content in Affinity applications.
And unfortunately, Serif does not even understand and does not respect the needs of users.

It's intentional, and not a bug.
 

(...)

I believe GTX960M is supported.
Try to update the driver to the latest one.
 

Since the software seems to be moving towards giving more non-destructive functionality – more Live Filters, etc. – I doubt that the older destructive functionality will be getting a lot of attention in the future, but you never know.
You have raised a request so all you can do is wait to see what (if anything) happens, and maybe try different techniques to what you are used to in the meantime – you might find them to be easier to use in the long-run.

Hi ashf,
There a couple few things missing (Satin is also missing for example) because there's no feature parity between the apps so we have no way to translate them to something equivalent/usable in Affinity.

It's also a good tool, but it just supports potrace, thus no color and centerline tracing etc. at all, also it's not portable usable between operating systems. - With Delineate you can access and run both, Potrace and AutoTrace, thus you can also perform color- and centerline tracing here then. And thanks to Java, the whole is portable between Windows/MacOS/Linux by reusing just one and the same JAR package!

D E L I N E A T E   -   A   R A S T E R    T 0    S V G    C O N V E R T E R

What is it?
Delineate is a tool for converting bitmap raster images to SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) using AutoTrace or potrace. It displays SVG results using Apache Batik. Input formats are JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, PNM, PBM, PGM, PPM, IFF, PCD, PSD, RAS. - Output format is SVG.
Delineate is distributed under the GNU General Public License, see the in the ZIP-archive included LICENSE.txt file.
For more information about Delineate, see http://delineate.sourceforge.net
NOTE: that the old original Delineate 0.5 version might not run anymore nowadays with actual Java runtime environments. Thus you should use delineate-0.6.zip, which is my refactored, slightly enhanced and adapted over Delineate 0.6 version here (see also below under Installing for it's distribution archive). Also note that my port of Autotrace 0.40.0 for MacOS (autotrace-0.40.0-MacOS-vkyr.zip) is different and more clean than the version found on GitHub. My version is compiled against El Capitan (MacOS 10.11.6) with all library dependencies, which the GitHub version isn't, the later (the GitHub version) needs probably at least High Sierra (MacOS 10.13), or Mojave (MacOS 10.14) and uses GraphicsMagick instead of the original ImageMagick, which I used and compiled against.

Installing
Installing - GNU/Linux & Mac OS X
1) To run Delineate, you will need to install the following software:
 AutoTrace 0.31.1  or  AutoTrace 0.40.0 (needs MacOS >= 10.13)   or   autotrace-0.40.0-MacOS-vkyr.zip (MacOS >= 10.11)

NOTE:  that the above MacOS AutoTrace 0.40.0 versions are just CLI apps (command line programs) inside an app wrapper (AutoTrace.app) thus you can't start those as common OSX apps via double clicking. - You need always to access and run the autotrace CLI binary inside the app wrapper:
-->  ...autotrace.app/Contents/MacOS/autotrace            I suggest a user best makes a symbolic link from the binary inside the app wrapper to the Desktop or /usr/local/bin etc., thus like ...

            -->  ln -s /Users/<your-username>/Applications/autotrace.app/Contents/MacOS/autotrace  /Users/<your-username>/Desktop
          ... or ...
            -->  ln -s /Users/<your-username>/Applications/autotrace.app/Contents/MacOS/autotrace  /usr/local/bin

          ... so that you can point from inside of Delineate to the needed autotrace CLI binary then!
 
potrace 1.16 Java J2SE 13
2) Set your JAVA_HOME variable to the location where you have Java installed.

3) Extract delineate-0.6.zip on to your machine.

4) To run:
     cd <install dir>/delineate
     chmod a+x delineate.sh
     ./delineate.sh

... or alternatively in a shell/terminal ...
   > cd <install dir>/delineate
   > java -jar delineate.jar
5) When you run a conversion for the first time, you'll be prompted to select the location of the autotrace or potrace application file. You must have these applications installed (see step 1).
   In the file chooser dialog window select the appropriate file:
      <autotrace install dir>/autotrace  
  or
      <potrace install dir>/potrace
 
Installing - Windows
1) To run Delineate, you will need to install the following software:
 AutoTrace 0.31.1  or  AutoTrace 0.40.0  potrace 1.16  Java J2SE 13 2) Set your JAVA_HOME environment variable to the location where you have Java installed.
   In Windows you can add this environment variable by going to:
     Start -> Settings
           -> Control Panel
           -> System
           -> Advanced
           -> Environment Variables
   Click the New button:
     - enter the variable name as JAVA_HOME, and
     - enter the variable value as the location where Java is installed,
       for example: C:\Program Files\J2SDK_13

3) Extract delineate-0.6.zip on to your machine

4) To run:
   Go to the directory:   <install dir>\delineate
   double click on or run the file:   delineate.bat
... or alternatively in a Powershell ...
   > cd <install dir>\delineate
   > java -jar delineate.jar

5) When you run a conversion for the first time, you'll be prompted to select the location of the autotrace or potrace application files. You must have
   these applications installed (see step 1).
   In the file chooser dialog window select the appropriate file:
      <autotrace install dir>\autotrace.exe
or
      <potrace install dir>\potrace.exe
 
Quick Delineate usage overview:
When Delineate starts it's main window should appear, where you first can on top select and switch which tracing tool, the Autotrace or Potrace tracer, to use for vectorization ...


(1) The input file setting area
(2) The output file setting area
(3) The trace option settings area (there are always slightly more descriptive tooltip popup help strings shown when you hover over certain areas with the mouse)
(4) The run button, which when first time used will ask after where to find the path to the autotrace or potrace binary, which it needs to use ...


(5)+(6) The traced SVG result preview areas, the top area shows the actual trace result, the bottom area the previous traced result ...

There is a right click popup menu with command entries (which also show the keyboard shortcuts) you can use on both SVG preview areas ...

... in order to zoom in/out and scroll around the view. Further you can inspect the generated SVG code (via View source) in an text view popup window ...

... where you can select all (the keyboard shortcut is Cmd-/Ctrl-A) SVG code, or SVG code portions and copy (the keyboard shortcut is Cmd-/Ctrl-C) these to the system clipboard.
Some common usage screenshots:

 
Final words
I hope this raster to SVG converter GUI tool is useful for the one or other Affinity community member here then, regards v_kyr!
 
 

I'm used to using Photoshop where I find that some of these manipulations mentioned below were solved more intuitively, and wonder if this could be improved in Affinity Photo (which is great!):
I'm a scientist, and often obtain several single-channel/grayscale images from a CCD camera or a microscope (ie an 8-bit grayscale image), which I then need to combine into a single RGB image. So basically I start with two grayscale/single-channel images and I want to put one into the green channel of an RGB image, and  the other into the blue channel of the RGB.
With Photoshop, it was easy: I would first convert one of the grayscale images into an RGB. Then I would click on the other grayscale image and 'copy' it. Then I would go back to the RGB image,  select the red channel and delete (because in  this case, for instance, I don't need it), then click on the blue channel, 'paste', and be done. (ie the copied grayscale image would be pasted into the blue channel only).
This approach does not seem to work in Affinity photo. Instead, I found the following solution:
1. open the two single-channel TIFF files in affinity photo 2. convert one to RGB by going to Document > Convert Format / ICC profile and then select RGB/8 as the color format 3. click on the ‘Channels’ panel.  4. Select the channel you want to delete (e.g. Composite Red), then use the markee tool to select everything, and hit the delete key. (Selecting everything with “Select All” / Command-A will cause everything to be deleted). 5. Go to the other file containing the grayscale image that you want to paste into one channel of the RGB image, copy, then go to the RGB, click on “Layers” and paste. This should create a new layer with a black & white version of the channel you want to add. 6. Make sure you select this new layer in the ‘layers’ panel, then click on ‘channels’, select the channel you want (e.g. blue), right-click and select “create spare channel”. 7. Go back to the ‘layers’ and delete the new layer that you added in step 5 8. Go back to ‘channels’, right-click on the spare channel (which is still there after deleting the original layer) and select ‘load to Background blue’. 9. In the upper right corner of the ‘channels’ panel is an arrow that goes around in a circle. Click on this to ‘reset’ and see all the channels. Since I am fairly new to AP, there might be a faster/easier way to do this? If so, I would be happy to hear about it !
Otherwise, I would suggest the following change to make it more intuitive to work with channels: if I select only one channel  for editing, then all copy/paste/delete operations should apply only to this channel. (Otherwise, what's the point of having the other channels not selected for editing?)
Currently, in AP, the following things seem un-intuitive:
1. if I select only one channel for editing (e.g. "Composite Red") and do "Select All" and hit delete, then the entire layer gets deleted (ie all three channels), rather than only deleting the information from the red channel. The work-around for this currently is that selecting everything with the markee, rather that saying 'select all', works.
2. if I have only one channel selected, and then click 'copy', for some reason the entire layer (ie all three channels RGB) gets copied into the clipboard. Instead, I would suggest that if only one channel is selected, then only the information from that one channel should be copied, yielding an 8-bit grayscale image in the clipboard.
3. if I have only one channel selected, and I paste from the clipboard a single-channel 8-bit grayscale image, then for some reason this image gets pasted into all three channels. I would suggest that the data from the single-channel image in the clipboard should only go into the single selected channel.
I think these changes would make it much easier to both split channels and combine channels to make RGB images...
 
Thanks !!
 

Only way I know of is this method.

Thanks.
 
Solved

Install 1.9.2 beta and register in it. so you can sign-in in 1.9.1 as well.
 

It was one of the first tracing capable apps for iOS, formerly better known as Imaengine then instead of Vector Q!

A fast note here to mention that - crazy as it sounds- I was not aware about Opentoonz (free, open source animation package) having a raster to vector conversion feature. But also, that apparently, the also free and open source (you can contribute with donations, or patreon, etc) Synfig is going to have as well a raster to vector autotrace. Based as well on Opentoonz autotracing system. I still heavily recommend everyone needing this type of workflow,  to use Inkscape's autotrace feature (or the original potrace in command line), but is nice to know more free, opensource alternatives for this operation. Synfig will get it through a Google summer of code project (a programmer will be adapting Opentoonz code for that feature, it seems), but still does not have it. So, linkies for those with curiosity and flexible brains : 
https://inkscape.org
http://potrace.sourceforge.net
https://opentoonz.github.io/e/index.html
https://www.synfig.org  
 
Edit: Link to the part in the doc of open toonz where the feature is explained. Please realize that Synfig hasn't got it yet, but Google summer of code projects tend to get  finished, done as is in the interest of  the developer, student, etc. But it could be months from getting it:  https://opentoonz.readthedocs.io/ja/latest/drawing_animation_levels.html#converting-raster-drawings-to-vectors

No they can't for Potrace due to strict GPL license restrictions here, they would have to buy a commercial license for reusing it in a commercial software product.
The other services and free tools which make use of Potrace or AutoTrace usually use the GPL license variant, or maybe might have bought a non-GPL version of Potrace.
Further Potrace initially supports just black & white tracing and no color tracing, it also initially doesn't support centerline tracing. But Autotrace supports the later two things here. So a combination of both (like Inkscape uses and which enhanced those) would be good to have then here.
However, if I will find the spare free time, I can offer my refactored and slightly enhanced to nowadays Java building support versions of Delineate. Delineate is a Java based (and thus portable between Win/Mac) GUI-Frontend tool which makes use of the Potrace & AutoTrace CLI command line tools.


I've recently adapted, slightly enhanced and rebuild this tracing solution trio (Potrace/Autotrace and Delineate) and all their library dependencies for actual Mac/Win versions. Maybe (though I have to ask @Patrick Connor first, if he gives green light for this step) if it's Ok, I can provide these for the Affinity community as some forum resources addition then.
 
 

Please make adding/modifying appearance of multiple objects at once possible.
I know I can  paste a style to objects but would be nice if I could edit the appearance at once.

It means Files. Those portrait RAW are already in Photos  

I believe this happens on iPad as well.