[Stuck "loading document" on Monterey and Ventura; load time not improving over time]

@stokerg Thank you, I appreciate the help!

[Stuck "loading document" on Monterey and Ventura; load time not improving over time]

Hi @stokerg,

Thanks for getting in touch and for looking into the issue. I've uploaded the file.

[Stuck "loading document" on Monterey and Ventura; load time not improving over time]

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I assume this issue is different from the more widespread Sonoma issue.

I don’t think so. This issue fits the description and is concurrent with the other reports.

Affinity 2.2 was released on September 28, two days after macOS Sonoma was released. I think the tie to Sonoma is mistaken and that it's likely just a bug in Affinity 2.2 itself.

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Are there any linked resources (not embedded) used by this file?

There are no linked resources in the document.

The document was saved as a new file that was never synced with iCloud, and when placed on a separate computer with iCloud disabled, the issue still occurred. I don’t believe iCloud is the culprit.

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Good luck

Thanks.

[Stuck "loading document" on Monterey and Ventura; load time not improving over time]

Yesterday, I reported Designer 2.2.0 getting stuck loading a document. Shortly before then, a pinned post was published, tying the issue to macOS Sonoma. I'm experiencing the issue on Monterey on a 2015 MacBook Pro as well as on an M2 MacBook Air that's still running Ventura, not Sonoma.

Additionally, the pinned post suggest the issue will resolve itself if the document is left to fully load. In my case, I'm still waiting up to 15 mins for the document to load after having already let it load completely yesterday. The load time is not improving.

It's suggested the issue is related to use of iCloud. The document has spent some time on iCloud Drive, but I've since moved it back to local (internal) storage without seeing any change in load time. I've also made a copy which hasn't touched iCloud with no improvement in load time.

It's also been suggested the issue relates to embedded images. This seems to be accurate in my case. I've saved a third copy of the document with all embedded images and all snapshopts deleted (to truly remove the images). Load time improved to near instant and the file size is down from 261 MB to 47 MB.

Finally, in addition to taking a long time to load, I've noticed it takes a similarly long time to save the affected documents.

Here are the troubleshooting details:

MacBook Pro early 2015

• macOS Monterey 12.6.8
• Affinity Designer 2.2.0 (installed via AppStore)
• 8GB RAM
• no antivirus
• iCloud Drive enabled
• document saved locally on internal storage
• browser only other app open in addition to Designer (500 MB memory use; <10% CPU use)
• Affinity uses 16GB of memory and 60-100% CPU while loading and saving affected documents

MacBook Air M2:

• macOS Ventura 13.2.1
• Affinity Designer 2.2.0 (installed via AppStore)
• 8GB RAM
• no antivirus
• iCloud Drive disabled
• document saved locally on internal storage
• Affinity uses ~16GB of memory and 90+% CPU while loading the affected document

The document (original copy):

• File size is 261.3 MB
• Created in Designer 2.1
• Contains embedded images (~100 of which ~40 unique)
• No linked resources
• Snapshots used extensively (100+)
• 13 artboards
• 12 fonts

I can't share the documents publicly, but Serif staff are welcome to get in touch for a copy to troubleshoot.

[Endlessly stuck on Loading Document for a specific document]

You can disregard the last post. I just got the file opened on the M2 after trying for a while. 

If someone from Serif is interested in troubleshooting, you're still welcome to get in touch. I'll be happy to send the file.

@Leigh I just saw your recent pinned post and it sounds like the exact issue I was having, except I'm stuck on Monterey 12.6.8. The M2 that was able to open the file is running Ventura 13.2.1. It also took several minutes of letting it sit and load.

[Endlessly stuck on Loading Document for a specific document]

I'm in the same situation. I'm stuck trying to open a document with embedded images that I keep on iCloud. I haven't moved the file recently, however, it just stopped working since last time I opened it. I've tried the steps suggested in the thread to no avail.

If someone wants to take a look at the file, please send a DM or share a dropbox link here. I can't share the file publicly.

I'm running Designer 2.2 for MacOS. I've sent the file to a friend to open it on their M2 MacBook, but it's stuck loading there too.

[Copy / Paste Layer Effects]

Paste FX (ctrl+⌘+v) seems to be working normally for me on Designer 2.2 for MacOS.

[Symbols not restored with snapshop]

I recently restored to an old snapshop on a document that includes symbols. The symbols were unaffected by the restoration, i.e., they kept all changes made after creating the snapshop. I would expect symbols to be rolled back to their appearance at the time of the snapshop, not to have an independent history separate from the rest of the document.

Is this the intended behavior or a bug?

I'm using Affinity Designer 2.1.1 on macOS Monterey 12.6.6 running on a MacBook Pro.

symbols and snapshots.mov

[Grouping disperses objects]

 

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Interestingly, if you manually select the parent Layers in the Layers Studio, rather than the objects on the canvas directly, the grouping works as expected

Thanks for the workaround. The bug is still present in the latest release, 2.1.0.

[Apply Erase Brush Tool along path?]

Thank you for the help!

I didn't need the change in opacity to simulate a dynamic change in pressure with the Brush Erase Tool, but it's good to know how to achieve that too.

Here's a before and after:

 

[Apply Erase Brush Tool along path?]

I'm trying to erase pixels along a path in Affinity Photo 2 for MacOS.

Using the Brush Erase Tool can be slow and fiddly, so I've been looking for a way to apply the tool along a path, but applying brush tools along paths doesn't seem to be a feature.

Is there a workaround for deleting pixels along a path with a gradient effect exactly like with the Erase Brush Tool?

[Auto Hyphenation for Affinity Designer]

There's very little use for paragraph justification without automatic hyphenation.

[Grouping and Constraints]

How is this still not fixed? It's still an issue in Designer V2.

I run into it several times per week, each time requiring me to spend time rebuilding constrained objects to escape the problem.

[Affinity Designer - Cropping based on a shape]

This is inconvenient when working with rotated shapes that you would like to resize afterwards. Isn't there a way to do it destructively?

[Blurring background?]

A workaround for those who have both Photo and Designer is to use Live Filters from Photo:

1. Create a live Gaussian Blur filter in Photo, then copy and paste it into Designer
2. Create an object the size and shape as your desired blur (use an opaque color for the strongest blur effect)
3. Place your object above the live filter in the Layers panel, then right click and select "Mask to below"
4. That's it, you now have a live blur. One caveat is in order to move or reshape it, you have to select the mask inside the live filter, not the live filter itself. Another caveat is that it doesn't work well with groups, but for a simple live blur on top of an image, it works.

[Add layer visibility toggle to keyboard shortcuts]

This would be very useful when presenting designs or designing live in person. Having to aim the mouse cursor can sort of inhibit the flow of the presentation.

[Line width breaks when line constrained to "max fit" and parent scaled, affecting undo levels]

I have a demo file where the line width of a line appears to glitch out when its parent is scaled if the line is constrained to Max Fit. Undoing just the scaling action doesn't fix the line width. To fix it, undoing further appears to be necessary.

bug file.afdesign

[Select nodes with SHIFT while cycling (using [ and ])]

On 1/16/2023 at 11:53 AM, loukash said:

If it's a separate curve – and your selection obviously contains 3 curves...

It's actually all one single curve, but what I ended up doing was making it a separate curve by breaking the original curve at two points.

[Select nodes with SHIFT while cycling (using [ and ])]

I would like to suggest the ability to make a selection of mulitple nodes while cycling through nodes on a curve using the keyboard shortcut (the default keyboard shortcuts are [ and ] keys on a US and UK layout).

I think the ability to select multiple nodes by holding down Shift while cycling would be a useful enhancement.

As an example, I have a leaf graphic that consists of an outer edge, an inner edge, and the inner branchings of the leaf in the middle. I would like to select the inner edge sandwiched between the two other sections, but since the graphic consist of many nodes, it's cumbersome to select them either manually or using the marquee and lasso tools. Selecting successive nodes using the keyboard while holding down Shift would be a fast way to accomplish this.

[How to hide a bounding box?]

Another instance where holding down the spacebar gets in the way is whenever the attribute you're changing is entered in a text field, e.g., trying on fonts by hovering over a font in the drop-down selection menu, or if you're entering precise pixel or percentage values manually, such as for outer or inner object shadows.

[Want to remove noto fonts (split)]

Is there any update to this issue? Can it really be true that Affinity won't offer to filter out all the excessive Noto variations on MacOS?

[Node snap and align]

Beautiful—thank you so much. That did the trick 🙂

[Node snap and align]

I've come across a couple of threads of people asking about node snapping or node alignment. Each one has received a response promising that the feature is in the works. Is there are news on this? Or maybe I'm somehow overlooking a feature that's already implemented?

 

[Is there any freehand/lasso selection tool in AD ?]

@R C-R Thank you. I appreciate the consideration and the clarification of what's allowed.

@Old Bruce I'm not sure what your point is. I thought I made it clear I wasn't going to continue that discussion either, but I do think I'm entitled to respond to accusations leveled against me by someone on their way out. In case you missed it:

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If my attempt to point out the absurdity in that as well as the prior point in a colorful way wasn't well received, then I apologize for that. You have a pleasant evening as well.

[Is there any freehand/lasso selection tool in AD ?]

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I’m an ordinary forum user and simply tried to understand the forum guidelines and follow them for the benefit of all members.

You and I have agreed to the same guidelines when signing up. I can't find anything in the guidelines that forbid expressing feedback in a thread on a relevant topic outside the feedback category.
 

2 hours ago, NotMyFault said:

Its difficult for me to recognize any good intentions in your post

Quite frankly, I think bringing up the costs of the Affinity applications as an argument was specious if not outright condescending. If my attempt to point out the absurdity in that as well as the prior point in a colorful way wasn't well received, then I apologize for that. You have a pleasant evening as well.