Alfred

Thanks Alfred 🙂

Thanks, Walt. I forgot about that — again!

I agree. Looking at that distinctive cloud formation, I’d say there’s probably an overlap of only 10% or so. While you might not need as much as 30%, anything less than 20% or 25% is unlikely to work for images with so much sea and sky. The shift in the horizon is also likely to work against you.

With V2, they could simply download from the Affinity Store, at least if they've linked their license to their Affinity account. No need to use a Time Machine backup.

Hmmm...
Someone must have modified this font from the original (badly).
All the character code-points are in the normal Basic Latin bloc, not in the PUA.
26 are in the lowercase and two alternate forms are in the uppercase.
There are overlaps in many of the characters - which should be removed.
And some basic characters are missing, such as space, etc.
@uhebeisen
I like this font so I will fix this for you (and everyone else).
Just watched a documentary on the Hawker Hunter 2-days ago (go RAF!).
May get to it today, maybe not.
Documenting bugs in new variable font for a friend - which is going to take hours.
To Do:
- check all the outlines for any issues and fix
- remove all the overlaps
- put all 26 characters in both the uppercase and the lowercase code-points
- put the alternates in a stylistic set, and in character variants
- add a few missing basic characters - like a space
- export as OpenType-PS (.otf) and OpenType-TT (.ttf)
May get to this today. We'll see.
 
Not sure what you mean by this.
OpenType-PS (.otf) fonts are fully supported in Affinity.

No, as it is listed in the Hunspell dictionary provided with Publisher Windows

As an alternative to a Recolour adjustment you can just assign a fill colour to an image layer.

One of the parent Group layers of "Stick" has its visibility set to hidden and thus hides "Stick", too.

ah--good. Thanks!

As long as you’re not using an old version of Publisher, there’s no need copy/paste or export/import anything. The file format shared by all apps in the Affinity suite means that you can simply open your *.afdesign file in APub.

In the version 1.7 beta there’s a Preferences setting for this.

This was logged as a known issue a few months ago: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/177534-changing-brush-size-with-and-does-not-work-with-german-keyboard-layout-workaround/

ctrl+alt+dragging up/down/left/right seems to work even on German keyboards.

I don’t think square brackets have ever worked with German keyboards, and I don’t know whether it’s even possible to make them work.

It sounds as though you're working on an image layer, not a pixel layer. Image layers are treated as single objects, so you can only perform global operations such as rotating the image or adding layer effects: you can't work at the pixel level (e.g. for copying a selection). Go to the Layers panel, right-click the layer and choose 'Rasterize...' so that the designation changes from  '(Image)' to  '(Pixel)'.

Furthermore, even if your printer does support ‘borderless’ printing you may need to configure it specifically to do so.

Processes
Added a Method image after discussion in new Beta 2.2 update Use of recent tools added to Affinity Apps and mixing raster + Vector Graphic elements to build re-usable structures

The combined use of Knife + Style Picker has really improved the process of constructing these type of images.
1. Couldn't really use Vector for the outlines as would simply take too long So opted for a Comic Book Style using Raster Brush Outlines and backfilling using vectors flats and infill blocks (I have a new Brush set called Comic Blocking!)
2. Once the objects are separated out and created inside the solid outline it is much easier to apply flat fills in a vivid colour (So you can see what you are doing! + So if using grouped [Raster | Vector] to build larger combined images you have base to obscure any background elements)
3. Add Vector details inside solid shape
4. Select the Style Picker and load with the required style | Colour
5. Apply to target objects (much quicker than filling by hand)
6. Set up a previous drawing as a style palette to easily select what you need (So objects can become quick palettes)


Much Much quicker!😀
 

Found a really tiny reference photo and thought I'd see if it still looked like a car once I'd finished with it. I'm probably going to add a background as it's boring but not decided what yet. I will update when/if I do. No blurs in this one just gradients.

You earned the gold medal for (probably) answering the question which stayed unanswered for the longest time ever.

This is a proposal for an alternative way of interacting with Béziers that is lacking in the consumer vector design program space, though most of these have existed for years or decades with font design tools. I wrote it up to outline some key problems with vector handling in Affinity Designer and suggest a potential solution.

1. Diagnosis: "robust"
Currently Affinity Designer has a flimsiness problem with its current bezier tools. What I mean is that once a change to curvature must be made, it is difficult to make it consistently and parametrically. A "robust" set of tools is one in which the behaviours are consistent, expectable, and where as many transformations as possible can be done incrementally (i.e. without relying on the mouse motion to drag things into place). It should be possible to access basic transformations (translate, scale, rotate, skew) on any parts of the curvature (segments, anchors, BCPs, whole objects) in any combination, independantly of one another, with no unnecessary steps.
We can move anchor points and their BCPs ('handles', Bezier Control Points) with the mouse pointer, and we can snap them, but we can only use the anchors themselves to apply transformations or shift them with arrow keys. We also have no good way of applying transformations to even the anchors themselves if the group we wish to transform belongs to more than 1 vector layer. What this inevitably means is that for relatively simple transformations of curvature, if one does not settle for changing handle positions individually, they are required to set up elaborate grids, relying on the snapping mechanics of anchors and BCPs, which does work to achieve a final goal, but is not good for exploring a range of possibilities. If the same transformation has to be made to another part of the curvature (let alone one at an angle relative to the original), that necessitates extensive re-positioning. There are also many lacking aspects of managing curvature, such as no good ways of adding BCPs to straight line segments, inconsistent results in converting between smooth and sharp anchors, and no way to move an anchor point between its BCPs.

2. Applicability
Though I will propose many features found in e.g. font design software, this is not an attempt to turn Affinity Designer into a makeshift font editor or anything of the like. Since the software is relatively specialised and I imagine not many users of the Affinity suite have experience with it, I am bringing the lack of its features to light because I think anyone who uses Béziers would find them useful in their process, but it is impossible to desire what one doesn't know to exist. More robust Bézier tools touch on every aspect of vector work and make significantly easier the processes of, for example, editing expanded typography, designing ornaments, designing frames, creating precise logos or icons, digitising raster drawings, ensuring consistency in curvature (+ removing 'sharp points'), fine-tuning masks, creating consistent shapes not covered by the shape tools, working on anything technical where things like G-continuity and/or consistency of curvature make a significant impact, or even reliably editing meshes, which at the moment is extremely labourious. Currently Illustrator has the same problem; often editing a mesh for a specific purpose is more trouble than it's worth, given that the end result is not even guaranteed to be good and may need to be adjusted later.

3. Examples of robust vector tools
Most good examples of good vector handling are common within font tools, which is not very suprising given that their premise is precise vector output. For that reason I think Designer could pick up a few things common in font tools. The absence of these features in regular vector design programs could be partly because they create a lot of visual complexity with even a small number of elements. However, as I will propose later down the line, Designer already has a solution to allowing different types of editing and hiding their visual clutter which would make it possible to isolate selected objects and allow editing them comprehensively. Below are some examples of what I outlined before and a brief summary.

In Glyphs, BCPs can be selected independantly from their anchors and are given their own bounding box. They may be nudged by arrows or transformed by scaling or rotating by dragging or with precise parameters. Option-clicking on a straight line segment places both missing BCPs on the line segment. Double-clicking on an anchor point or pressing 'return' with any number of anchors selected turns them from a corner points (blue) to a smooth points (orange) — meaning the BCPs on their sides are always aligned. Being able to toggle between these two options is extremely useful, especially if it is possible to ensure only one BCP realigns (currently affinity designer displays smooth anchors as round but with the same colour which should be editable separately, and when converting from sharp to smooth, both BCPs change position. I think there should be an option to have a more predictable behaviour in that place) Also notice how despite being two separate objects, all the BCPs and anchors can be selected and transformed together.

There was already a post that suggested the option to view curvature combs. I will not reiterate their usefulness, only specify that the option to display them is in my view a useful tool to model Béziers with precision.
On the right of the image is a use case of having clearly defined corner and smooth points in curvature; the BCP on the right of the orange point always aligns with the line that leads into the point, thus moving it around always generates a straight line that curves downwards without performing any additional steps. This is not a call for 'that specific feature.' Rather I am attempting to demonstrate that some simple shifts in how the curves are handled can be very powerful for editing and exploring within the program. I believe many font tools are at the current 'apex' of the power the user has by virtue of nothing other than just their handling of Bézier curves.    

There area also more specific vector tools that make mundane tasks much easier. The I-disconnector, for instance, is similar to the knife tool, except it also allows a specified amount of overlap to be generated. The disconnectors in general are useful for breaking down more complicated shapes with minimal effort. I could understand such things never making their way to the program. I put them into this post only to demonstrate how many core vector features are possible (but largely unexplored) within software like Designer or Ai for simplifying mundane daily tasks that consume a long time when they must be done.
Brief list of integral features for precise editing of vector paths:
Independently selectable anchor points and BCPs (independent of one another and the selected object in the layers window) A convenient way to rotate and scale from an anchor point. The current behaviour of having to manually drag the anchor point from the centre of selection each time is too slow. This feature is good for layers because they remember where their anchor point is, but for more temporary selections another solution should exist. More consistent conversion between smooth and corner anchors and possibility to display the distinction clearer Curvature combs On hold of [whatever key modifier] and arrow keys, the selected BCP moves along side an extension of its original 'line' from its anchor point (this already happens with shift-dragging) and on hold of [the same modifier] the smooth anchor point is moved between its BCPs and the corner point is moved independently of its BCPs, such that in both cases only the anchor is moved and the BCPs stay in place (both with arrows and with mouse dragging). Below are some of the sources of features and potential sources of additional features that would benefit Affinity Designer in my view. The reason I list them is to show the breadth of how much can be done with Bézier curves alone, and why all those features could be placed into a Persona of its own (however radical or far-fetched it may feel). I would however suggest improving the basics of curve handling before an application of any of these is considered. 
Most of the proposed features come directly from Glyphs 3. There is of course much more to Glyphs. I could only wish for its segment component functionality to make its way to Designer's Symbols window.  The disconnectors come from DTL FM2. They are available in DTL LetterModeller. It can be a bit tricky to get into the font editor in LeMo. It has a lot of other really useful features that I didn't mention because I intend this post to primarily propose features that would be 'unlocked' to the user with only a difference in the handling of existing functionality within the software. However one 'separatable' feature I particularly like is the Shift Smooth, which is a way of moving an anchor point and recalculates all 4 BCPs of its adjecent line segments to maintain the smoothness of curvature. The curvature combs I showed come from Yanone's Speedpunk, which is a FOSS extension to RoboFont and Glyphs. Including this feature is part of why I am intent on proposing all these together as one Persona rather than individually — displaying this information in particular can be computationally intense if done by accident in an e.g. illustration process, so I think it should not be possible to accidentally enable it within a process that wouldn't make use of them. A lot of other useful functionality exists in the spaces of plug-ins for RoboFont and Glyphs. 
4. Why the proposal? Is it even suitable?
There are many things that Affinity Designer aims to be, and I know certain features, e.g. auto trace, are very often requested by people who wish to get as far away from Adobe's pricing model as they can. I notice that recently it also aims to be a bit of precision tool, allowing import and editing of CAD files which can also be locked behind an oppressive subscription. I believe that this is a strong point for both, providing features that most people would use and find indispensible after having tried them, and ones that people who need precision would be very happy about. They strenghten the core of what a vector design program is. The people who need precision are not just the few who cannot live without CAD support within Affinity Designer, but also anyone who e.g. designs a precise icon or logo, customises type for a large poster or mural, or just isn't sure where the object they want lies on the scale from squircle to circle to diamond, and doesn't have 4 hours to set up an elaborate grid and move the BCPS one by one, through one iteration by another.
The reason I think Affinity Designer is uniquely suited for these features is because though they make life much easier, they can introduce a lot of visual clutter, which Designer already has a way of dealing with; the Personas. Dedicating one entirely to much stronger vector functionality seems to me like a good place for features that are sorely missing from the entire space, one only this particular program could provide effectively as it stands (which is why I elected to put this proposal here rather than e.g. sending it to Adobe, whatever that could have accomplished.) I am also admittedly a bit sick of creating a new font file whenever I want to edit an SVG with a modicum of speed and accuracy, despite having access to both Designer and Adobe Illustrator.
To end my million-word bézier novella, I want to clarify that it doesn't matter to me how the issues I brought up are addressed if only they are. The methods used by font software are of course tried and working well; everyone I know with experience using font tools tends to edit paths within them, even if that means having to paste them from and back into other software, not to mention reposition them. If nothing changes about Affinity Designer, then that is just what I will keep on doing, but I think it would be neat if this functionality was more accessible. To anyone yet unconvinced, I urge you to download a free trial of FontLab (mac/win) or Glyphs (mac only) and spend a few hours editing paths within them, then see how you feel after returning to Designer. A testimony on the Glyphs website says: "After using Glyphs, the pen tool in Illustrator feels like carving a chicken with a chainsaw." That it does, and I'm afraid Designer currently feels quite the same, but it has the potential to make Illustrator feel like that in comparison.

I note that you’re using iPadOS 17, which is still in beta. Serif hasn’t yet issued compatibility updates for the Affinity apps, and there are known issues with font selection.
 

Or rather, they’re Greek characters for the English language text!
Αρτβοαρδ1 = Artboard1
ΥΠΠΕΡ = UPPER
ΡΙΓΗΤ = RIGHT
ΧΟΡΝΕΡ = CORNER
 

The "characters" are from the Windows symbol.ttf font.
They are symbols which look like Greek text, but they are not actually text.
This is where is gets really weird...
When I open that font in FontCreator and type the preview text
"Artboard1 UPPER RIGHT CORNER",
you can see the Greek symbols/text which matches the screenshots.

This makes absolutely no sense - it should not happen with this font.
All of the Unicode code points are up in the PUA, not normal text code points.
So this transliterated "Greek" should not appear.
It should be displaying the .notdef boxes for missing characters.
FontLab shows nothing - as it should.
So how is the inputted preview text being connected to the outputted symbols?
It appears to be using the glyph ID numbers.
I opened the font I assume Affinity is using for the UI on Windows, Segoe UI,
and compared the glyph ID numbers - and they match.
The Segoe UI input A is glyph ID 36.
The Symbol output of glyph ID 36 is Α (symbol for Alpha-grek character).
The Segoe UI input r is glyph ID 85.
The Symbol output of glyph ID 85 is ρ (symbol for the rho-grek character).
The Segoe UI input t is glyph ID 87.
The Symbol output of glyph ID 87 is τ (symbol for the tau-grek character).
The Segoe UI input b is glyph ID 69.
The Symbol output of glyph ID 69 is β (symbol for the beta-grek character).
Etc., etc., etc.
So the user interface text is being represented using the symbol font,
and the glyphs are being replaced based on the glyph ID (not Unicode code-point).
This makes no sense.
But, since it is also happening in FontCreator - this may be a Windows issue.
So maybe something changed with a Windows update.
In old fonts before Unicode, like old Type 1 fonts, the characters were mapped using the glyph ID and the glyph name.
And the characters had to be in a very specific order.
Many modern fonts still use this glyph order for those legacy characters.
It is as if the user interface is being glyph-mapped to this old order, in the symbol font.
Dunno what is happening here as it just makes no sense.
But at least we now know what is happening.
Now need to know why.
 
Note: this thread should probably be in the Windows bugs forum.
 

There’s no need to share the document. Your screenshot shows that you’ve hidden that layer, presumably by accident. Tap on the visibility control to unhide it.