Frozen Death Knight

Not sure what exactly is the bug here. I tried the exact same colours you have on your canvas and using Select Sampled Colour is in fact very effective at selecting these low contrast pixels without much issue. At around 3-8 Tolerance you should be perfectly able to select these monochromatic pixels with this operator with no issue. The Selection Brush Tool is more suited for selecting pixels with a much higher contrast than your example image, so I would discourage using that tool in this particular case.

This is not quite the same thing as your request, OP, but it is related to Embedded Documents. One aspect I want to see changed with Embedded Documents is the auto-updating of the main document that is happening while working inside one of those documents. I've compared Embedded Documents with Smart Objects in Photoshop and the performance difference is pretty significant. In Photoshop I can save my progress while inside a Smart Object, but in Photo I have to switch back to the main document to save. Because of the auto-update feature the switch can be heavily delayed in big projects or even freeze, so you end up losing all the changes done to the embedded document. With Photoshop Smart Objects this does not happen. Updates to the main document only happen when you save your Smart Object and switching between the two documents takes very little time, thus making it a very good performance booster for larger projects where the amount of layers can blow up quite a bit. Also, I have noticed that Embedded Documents are really resource heavy even while working on the main document, while in Photoshop you in fact save performance by converting stacks of layers into a Smart Object layer. Photo needs a way to create an option for Embedded Documents which is resource light and does not automatically update your main canvas until the user decides that it is time to save.

Hey! Sorry for the very late reply. Kind of forgot about this thread. ^^; Well, it's not so much that you can't resize it rather than the minimum width of the panel is wider than all the other panels in the program. Only way you can make the width match the other panels in undocked mode is to nestle it with other panels, which in turn will hide bits of the link icon in the panel, as you can see in the video. It's an old thread now, but I recall mentioning to you that my Windows scaling is 100% with two screens in extended mode. Though, this width problem happens even when I disable my 2nd screen.

Exactly. In the end, what is the difference between an application menu and other menus? In my eyes, there isn't one. If nearly every single operator has a keyboard shortcut but only a select few don't, then I think it is perfectly reasonable to call this a bug. Also, as @carl123 mentioned, there are operators that do not even exist in the application menus but still exist as keyboard shortcuts, so saying that an operator has to exist in the application menus to have a shortcut is just simply not true. That said, even if this isn't a bug, as long as it gets fixed I am happy.

I simply disagree with the premise that the majority of these missing keyboard shortcuts are a feature request and not a bug. If the operators are perfectly accessible through menus, including R click menus, but you can't even add a keyboard shortcut to them, then it is a bug. Rasterize & Trim in Designer is a perfect example of what I mean. You can access this operator not just in the Layers panel, but also with R click while using the Move Tool, yet it is completely non-existent in the application menus and in Keyboard Shortcuts. I seriously doubt that this was somehow intentional. I don't expect every feature to be accessible in all programs, just the ones that already exist. Operators that exist in both programs through any menu should always be accessible in Keyboard Shortcuts, otherwise you can't keep a consistent workflow when moving from one program to the next. The only part I can agree with being a feature request would be adding the missing operators in the R click menus. I really hope they add them soon, since it's something I have been waiting a long time for.

Today I was busy customising a bunch of keybinds when I came across some missing ones in both programs despite them already existing in some form. Designer doesn't have Transparent Background toggle and Rasterize & Trim in the list of Keybind Shortcuts despite both features existing in various menus (the latter is both accessible in R click in the Layers panel and with the Move Tool. Desktop 2021.04.29 - 23.35.29.02.mp4 As for Photo, I found out that Ungroup All doesn't exist on the Keybind Shortcuts list despite being there in the R click menu for the Move Tool. It is also missing in the R click menu in the Layers panel, along with a myriad of other useful operators like Merge Selected and more. Desktop 2021.04.29 - 23.38.04.03.mp4

They did add a feature in 1.9 that is really useful for UI/UX prototyping; Linked Layers. You need Photo to do this in Designer (I really hope they add it to Designer in the future, because it is incredibly useful), but it most certainly a worthy investment. You can create repeating patterns, link fill, line styles, vector shapes and more. The links work across multiple artboards and in all three programs. Here's a quick video demonstration. Desktop 2021.04.29 - 16.06.33.01.mp4 Considering that this is the first official version of this feature, I can't wait to see what they will add to it in the future.

Was trying to make vector art with multiple strokes in Designer and noticed that I had to reapply my style per stroke because each tool defaulted to basic settings. I tried applying a style to a Vector Layer, but the layer only supported at maximum one stroke in the Appearance panel, so I got back to reapplying the style to each new stroke I made instead. Still, I wanted to ask if there is some way to make a style always be applied to a new vector line, or must I make a feature request asking to add this particular feature to all the brushes? Thanks!

After seeing some people making pixel art with vectors thanks to the new anti-aliasing options for layers, I wanted to take a shot at it as well, so I made something light and fun. Found the vector shape tools very useful when creating these. I was pretty relieved that Affinity's snapping features supported 1/2 pixel snapping, since it would have been next to impossible to create symmetrical and good looking shapes without it. Also used linked layers to create symmetrical shapes for my Pikachu from Photo. Here's a small video demonstration of what's going on underneath. I really hope the devs will add the ability to animate by adding a timeline someday, since I really like the vector to pixel conversion approach. Desktop 2021.04.25 - 22.55.09.01.mp4

Why are you being so aggressive? Yes, I know of that feature. I barely use it however, since I use the Channels panel to achieve that same effect. It's not that I dislike this particular feature, but there are actual limitations to this approach compared to my typical workflow. It is true that Protect Alpha works on many brush tools, but it does not work on tools like the Smudge Brush Tool, Blur Tool, etc. A very common thing I do while painting is locking the alpha so I can smudge the painting without ruining my silhouette. This method only works when disabling all edits of the Alpha channel in the Channels panel and I am more than thankful for this feature. One thing I praise Affinity for is its Channels panel, since it is absolutely excellent for painting, especially compared to Photoshop that does not have these features built into the UI for this panel. That said, locking individual layers like transparency is still a feature I want, regardless of how good the Channels panel is. I just like to be reassured that any layer I decide to lock will behave the same way when I get back to it. Silhouette painting is one area where I think locking alphas on individual layers excels at and having all tools with alpha lock available is always nice to have. Also, being able to lock the alpha layer allows me to bypass annoying bugs like these for the Smudge Brush Tool that I reported 2 years ago: Personally I don't see how adding these lock features would in any way detract from Affinity as a whole. I think Affinity can be flexible enough to handle more than one approach to these types of workflows. Photoshop does have its quirks as well as Affinity, but I think both programs could learn a thing or two from each other, in this case Affinity implementing more features in the Layers panel that Photoshop has.

Man, how I miss locking transparency on a per layer basis. Sure, I can do this by locking any edits in the Alpha channel in the Channels panel, but locking the transparency on individual layers I have always found very convenient. I hope the devs add all of those locking options in Affinity someday.

Found another weird interaction just now. If I group the group then it all works as it should for some reason. Desktop 2021.04.23 - 20.59.10.02.mp4

Was attempting to use the new anti-aliasing options added in 1.9 by creating pixel art with vector shapes and finally rasterizing each piece. However, I noticed that rasterizing a group with Force Off activated for instance would not rasterize the group based on the setting in question, but based on the setting of each individual layer. This, as you probably understand, is an incredibly tedious process of needing to manually change everything to make it work as it should. Pretty impractical on much larger projects. Desktop 2021.04.23 - 20.46.17.01.mp4

While I was working on a storyboard lately using artboards, I noticed this problem in the Channels panel that affects the visibility of the Editable, Visible, Toggle Quick Mask, and Invert icons being pushed out from view when having multiple artboards in a row. Adding more artboards vertically on the other hand readjusts every icon back into their proper places, so the UI here is pretty inconsistent. Desktop 2021.04.22 - 03.13.51.03.mp4

Agreed on adding a proper lock feature that completely locks all edits on a layer. The current iteration I don't mind existing as an option since it can be useful when just wanting to exclude something from a canvas selection, but it should not be called "Lock", since it only disables selecting and moving layers on the canvas in specific circumstances. I just want the Photoshop version of locking layers, including locking everything inside a group when you lock the group. It is just simply a useful feature to have, especially as a painter. The current Affinity version may not make or break any project of mine, but it is simply a nice feature to have, and to me Affinity's Lock is not following my expectations of what such a feature should do. I think most people here would agree as well.

Oops, I meant 1.9.3. Typo! ^^; Anyway, sending it over now.

I did some more testing and I think GPU Acceleration might be the culprit. When I disabled it and used my CPU the files did not freeze and crash in the Beta. This doesn't happen in 1.8.3 however and I am able to have it both on and off there without any freezes. I could send the file over if you are unable to replicate it in the Beta version. Also, no, it is not exclusive to that document. I tried it on a different file with similar document settings and it happened there as well.

I tried this in the Beta build, but I was unsure if I should leave this report here or in the Beta. It seems like the Beta is more prone to crashing after going back in the timeline than in the retail version after checking both the Beta and official release. So I would say the crashing is mostly a Beta problem.

I tried customising Pressure for my pen strokes and noticed that when I switched the modes of the lines from Solid Line Style to Dash Line Style, the latter remained invisible while still retaining the looks of the former with pressure added on. However, Expand Stroke tells a different story, since performing this operator will show the true shape of the lines, which is dashed lines. Desktop 2021.04.11 - 17.59.35.06.mp4

I tried changing Toggle Snapping, Zoom In, and Zoom Out recently in the Miscellaneous section in Keyboard Shortcuts. However, when I tried using "Apply to all" (some of these shortcuts also appear in multiple Personas, thus wanting to use this feature), the shortcuts did not actually get changed properly. Only when I disabled "Apply to all" did I get these specific shortcuts to change to my desired keybinds, but because of this I had to manually go into multiple Persona keybindings and change each of them manually. Desktop 2021.04.11 - 22.23.03.08.mp4 Desktop 2021.04.11 - 22.24.55.09.mp4 Desktop 2021.04.11 - 22.23.03.08.mp4

Was trying to use the slider function of different attributes in the Transform panel by L click dragging the values. However, I noticed that this created an unreasonable amount of transform actions in the History panel, in this case one transform action equaled to 1 pixel. When I tried to undo these actions the program pretty reliably froze when done on my normal work files. Tried two work files already and I had these freezes happen without fail in the latest Beta build. Besides the freeze I think the more expected behaviour of sliding these values would be a single history state created after releasing L click. Desktop 2021.04.19 - 02.34.20.01.mp4

I recall some post long ago mentioning that a raster to vector converter for Designer would be in version 2, but that was before the roadmap was scrapped. Though, as others have mentioned, we don't know when or what will be in it, especially considering that Serif only announces features when they have something they are willing to share. For 1.9 we had one developer actually announce several features on the forums that came with the update and even then there were several unannounced features and updates that weren't even mentioned ahead of time. If history repeats itself we might get news on a possible 1.10 during summer with an autumn/winter release of the Beta, so we'll see what happens. Right now I honestly doubt that 2.0 will be next considering previous statements made by staff saying things that would suggest more free updates are coming until they release version 2.

My apologies. Accidentally mixed you up with another person who wrote that stuff.

The only way you could consider this "ownership" regarding Adobe software would be more as a role reversal. That is, Adobe owns you. What you described here looks more like the company owns you more than you "own" their software. You are really stretching your definition of "ownership". You should really learn the difference between a service and a product in business. There is a clear distinction between selling a product and selling a service. Adobe used to primarily sell products back in the Creative Suite days, but then later on changed their business model completely to a service model. Serif is doing exactly what Adobe used to do by selling Affinity as a product first and foremost. You can own a product, but for a service you can't. A good comparison would be taking a taxi or driving your own car. You don't own the taxi just because you pay for it. Once you have paid for a car you own the car. Adobe is the taxi and Affinity is the car.

It is possible to get some of that fill effect in Affinity by using Blend Options, which is accessed through the cogwheel icon in the Layers panel. You can choose to let through different parts of your underlying colours by changing the opacity ranges. It's a pretty neat way of adding convincing looking paint effects like makeup, war paint, etc. since the overlaying colours properly blend with the rest of the image. I do hope though they add a simple Fill as a slider option as well. Seems like a pretty standard thing to have in an image editing program.