[Why won't Serif listen to customer needs and create a Lightroom alternative for us?]

In Serif's original roadmap for the Affinity suite a Lightroom alternative was listed as something they wanted to do as the fourth program of the suite. That roadmap also mentions both Publisher and the IPad apps which at the time didn't yet exist. You can see this in the forward to the Affinity Designer workbook. 

My theory is that when developing Publisher and the IPad apps that both Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo took real hits to their development of new features. It's likely Serif felt that those programs had lost a lot of momentum that they originally had as they just weren't being developed fast enough for its user's needs and so they decided to refocus on their main three products for the time being until they are more feature complete. 

I have no doubt a lightroom alternative is coming eventually. But it does seem to have been delayed for the moment. 

[Brush Engine]

8 minutes ago, 2ddpainter said:

Just out of curiosity, why would you expect features of a Paint program from an,
as the name already suggests "Affinity Photo" photo editing / image editing program ?

Why dont use a paint program that already exist ?

 

I can't speak for the original poster but many digital painting workflows make use of photobashing which most art programs aren't very good at. It's Photoshop's main advantage over more dedicated art programs. For those people a better brush engine in the Affinity programs would free them from Adobe's high prices. 

I have no idea what Serif's future plans are, but I am encouraged by their recent improvements to the brush panel, the addition of the recent brushes history on a layer, the improvements to the brush creation panel, and improvements to the color mixing brush. Maybe it's an indication of more improvements to come?

[AD & AP: Brush size panel]

4 hours ago, Pšenda said:

Although setting the size of the brush is probably the most common, depending on the type of work (what the brush is used for) it is also necessary to change the Hardness of the brush and its Opacity (or Flow) often. In my opinion, a panel where all these "operating" parameters of the brush, not only its size, can be conveniently and quickly set would be useful. Something like here:

Of course, it would be optimal if the user could set the individual items and their number according to his needs and the type of work he does.
 

P.S. Unfortunately, I did not understand this - maybe a problem with the translation.

That this is "my own opinion" is probably obvious from the nature of the discussion forum, where own/personal opinions are always represented.
And that it is possible to replace the brush size enter panel with pre-prepared brush definitions, where other important parameters will be entered (which can be an advantage in many cases), is simply a "fact" - it is possible. Of course, it is up to each user whether he will wait a few years for the implementation of a specific panel, or whether he will use some solution to facilitate and speed up his work processes - that is also a fact 🙂

That's a really useful version of what I'm talking about. I like the idea as long as in the options for that panel you can pick which of the three you wish to display. Having all three in one panel like that is a really nice option to have. Is that from a specific program or did you mock that up?

[AD & AP: Brush size panel]

On 12/6/2023 at 10:58 AM, Pšenda said:

Thanks for the explanation. However, this should also be done with the existing Brush panel - it is a bit laborious, but it is not a problem to create a sample of your own brushes and their sizes for reasons of consistency.

That really doesn't solve the problem because it assumes the user always uses the same brush sizes in every project and does so with the same exact brushes every time. If those two conditions are not true, then to use your workaround is to create a huge amount of what are essentially duplicate brushes that clog up the brush panel. You suggest this should just be done in the brush panel but even you admit that your workaround is "a bit laborious." 

It's true this wouldn't be a major feature, but it IS a nice quality-of-life feature for some users. It takes the "a bit laborious" out of the equation and just makes the experience of using the brushes flow naturally and feel better to use. And a nice bonus on top of that is this is unlikely to require much of Serif's resources to implement. 

[AD & AP: Brush size panel]

On 12/6/2023 at 11:35 AM, debraspicher said:

You're stating your own opinion as fact, when in fact, it is not. This is a standard panel that exists in other programs and it's a fantastic feature. Having different widths available to switch between makes experimenting on the fly much easier for trying to find the "perfect" width for an ink job. Having to create different brushes for different widths (for the same brush) is unneeded bloat to the Brush presets.

Anyway, +1 to OP's suggestion (if this is in fact what they are suggesting they would like?)

You are correct. That is indeed what I am suggesting. I should have provided an image I suppose. Sorry for any confusion. 

[AD & AP: Brush size panel]

I know many might not think this is a very sexy feature, but I'd like to suggest adding a brush size panel to the interface in both Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer. Yes, there are keyboard shortcuts, the width dropbox, and even the dial on my drawing tablet. But somehow, I just find the ability to get the exact size of brush I want with a single click much nicer than scrolling or scrubbing up and down each size increment. It feels faster and less intrusive.

I hope you'll consider this, thanks for reading!

 

[AD Pixel Persona- Show Pixel Selection/Hide Pixel Selection]

It'd be great if in Affinity Designer's Pixel Persona we could have the option to hide the pixel selection like we have in Affinity Photo. I know there are workarounds, but nonetheless it'd be very convenient to have this quality-of-life feature ported over. At one point years ago, there was a dev working on this (yes I have a very long memory) but it seems to have been forgotten about so I thought I'd post a little reminder and hopefully someone will pick it up again. 

Thanks for reading! 

 

 

[Displaying brush names in the brush panel]

I just wanted to take a quick moment and say thank you to Serif for adding this feature in the upcoming 2.1 release. I started this thread two years ago and it seems only fitting to close it out with a big 'ol thank you! Showing the brush names as well as keeping the brush highlighted even after changing the size is going to make the whole brush experience feel so much smoother. 

It's greatly appreciated.

[When will the next beta version be released?]

On 5/13/2022 at 4:10 AM, Aongus Collins said:

I can't understand the negativity in some of the posts on this thread.

The Affinity suite is very much under active development, with six updates in 2021 alone, and a patch in March this year. The focus seems to be on refining the details for a professional workflow rather than on feature parity with other platforms. Serif has made it clear elsewhere that a major upgrade is in the works for 2022, and it will be a paid upgrade.

Affinity's value is outstanding, for software which (for me) delivers fully professional results in both newspaper and magazine illustration and greeting cards. 

For comparison, the Creative Cloud multi-app plan that most professionals use costs $600 or €737 annually -- more than 4 times the once-off cost of licensing all 3 Affinity apps. 

Even plugins for Adobe Illustrator are now adopting the subscription model. Phantasm now costs $140 a year plus tax (23% where I live). Again more than all three Affinity apps combined. Another plugin, EXDF-Pro (for importing DXF files) is $99 a year plus tax.

So I'll be happy to support a paid once-off upgrade given the alternative!

No inside information, but I wouldn't be surprised if Serif made some announcement next month to coincide with the Apple developer conference.

I agree that the Affinity programs are a huge value for the money and anyone who says they haven't gotten their monies worth is just being hyperbolic. I do think the negativity is somewhat understandable though. I don't at all think that it has been made clear by Serif that a major upgrade is in the works for 2022. Where would I get that info? A random and still very vague and cryptic Twitter post? A blog I've never heard of before meant for publishers? I had no idea that 2.0 was happening until I read it on a post in this thread. To be made clear by Serif it would have to be on a sticky post in these forums if they only want the hardcore users to know, or on the Affinity Spotlight blog if they wanted it to be more commonly known. The last patch with new features was 1.9 and that was more than a year ago with no public beta available for the next one. The betas themselves often take a couple of months. So if you don't know that the next patch is a really big 2.0 patch, it seems like we're waiting a little long for a more standard 1.11 patch. 

I think part of the cause of this is that it has seemed that Affinity Designer and Photo have seemed to had their development slowed since they began working on Affinity Publisher. It does feel a bit like Serif is stretched to their limit and it's been unclear if they can develop 3 apps +3 Ipad versions of those apps at more than a glacial pace. 

I think there wouldn't be any negativity here if it had been made clear by Serif that 2.0 was coming this year. The problem is that wasn't made clear. And of course it's up to Serif when the best time to start marketing that is. But I think a quick "Hey this is happening" earlier would reassure the most dedicated users. I'd bet most users are aware that the 2.0 patch is a big deal and should take longer than the usual patches and are perfectly fine with that. 

What it really comes down to is that people don't really need this or that specific feature. They want reassurance that the Affinity Suite has a bright future and they are right to stick with it. Honestly when I found out yesterday that 2.0 is coming this year I felt a lot of reassurance. 

In any case I think you're probably right about the announcement next month and I'm guessing there will be a lot more positivity then. 

 

[Displaying brush names in the brush panel]

On 2/5/2022 at 2:04 PM, thomasmoulson said:

Currently the Affinity brush interaction system forces artists to be a bit random, unless you happen to have some neurological photographical memory. It can be kind of interesting but would like to see an improvement in brush usability for sure ✍️ Basically just keep the blue outline on selected brush always.. I can’t see why anyone would complain if it remained on the brush selected.. I see comments that it is not the same brush anymore if you change the size (or other variables) as besides the point - I mean just changing the size, it’s still the same brush really.. when I work on large scale documents most brushes all look the same small thin line until I increase the size significantly. 

I agree, when changing the size of a brush it's still the same brush, at least for the user, no matter what the app is thinking. And every other design and art app out there presents it in the same way.

Speaking of changing brush sizes, another of those low hanging fruits would be a brush size panel. Sometimes that just seems faster than using the size adjuster already in the app or using the dial on my pen tablet. It's an easy feature and it's pretty standard in competing software. 

Also adding the brush name in the history panel. Instead of "Paint Brush Tool" it would be something like "Paint Brush Tool: Chalky Brush 1" or something. Clip Studio Paint has that feature and it's great for remembering what brush you just tested out 3 brushes ago and want to go back to.

Just those 4 really easy features to add would enhance my experience with the program so much. Displaying the brush names in the brush panel on desktop, keeping the selected brush highlighted even when changing sizes, a brush size panel with different brush sizes already all laid out, and the brush name in the history panel. Super easy to add, super standard in design and art programs. And such a huge improvement to the brush experience. All without even touching the underlying brush engine. They're quick additions that add a ton of value. 

[Displaying brush names in the brush panel]

10 hours ago, Albo said:

What I would find really usefull is being able to see what brush was used for a stroke.
 Can we allready see this?

I am trying to find which brush was used on a stroke in AFD.
I can select the stroke in the layers but it won't tell me which brush.
I know I should have noted it but there...

 

I would love to see that too. I feel like there's a lot of low hanging fruit that Serif could pluck that would make the overall brush experience a lot more enjoyable without them even touching the bush engine. The lack of a few simple features is really making using brushes in Affinity a painful and annoying experience for me. 

[Perspective grid]

+1, and sooner rather than later if at all possible. There's two main purposes to the pixel persona, sketching and adding textures to vector objects. If I have to sketch in a competing product to get perspective guides then the pixel persona is 50% less useful. And having such a strong raster mode in a vector program is supposed to be one of AD's strengths. 

[Hide Selection in Designer]

On 9/13/2021 at 3:36 AM, MEB said:

Hi @DragonWhimsy,
Thanks for your feedback. I've just done it.

Thank you so much!

[Hide Selection in Designer]

On 11/16/2018 at 1:51 AM, MEB said:

Hi TLeyva,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
I've filled an improvement request for this some time ago and it was already assigned to a developer however due to the teams being very busy it wasn't implemented yet. I've bumped the original request and added a link to this thread for reference to bring it to dev teams attention. Please bear with us.

It's been three years. Any chance we can get you to bump the request again? 

[Free Transform, Perspective & Warp Tools]

+1 for vector free transform, perspective, and warp tools. 

[A Growing Lack of Confidence]

On 8/29/2021 at 9:07 PM, wtrmlnjuc said:

A lack of a roadmap (before anyone asks, I know why it was removed) or a priority list (what I’d prefer) does not give clear communication to anyone on the outside looking in. There’s no reasoning as to why certain features are/aren’t made, what milestones to get to certain features, why development seems slow, etc. There’s a lot of “We’re listening!” but not a lot of “Here’s what we’re up to/no longer up to and why.” So much of communication is just about being transparent.

I don’t care if they veto some popular request so long as we’re not left guessing as to why. And without a central place to discuss this (like a roadmap of sorts – you don’t even need to give out dates!) the same requests are going to keep popping up. 

I have to agree with this. For example let's take a super simple feature. Some really low hanging fruit. Just showing brush names in the brush panel. This functionality is already in the IPad versions. It should be really easy for them to add it to the desktop versions. But nothing. Is it because they intend to do a major revamp of the brush panel and so don't want to bother fixing the old one? Is it because they think it will look cluttered? Some other reason? We don't know. They could probably fix this super annoying thing over the course of an afternoon but instead it's just left the way it's always been and using brushes in affinity software kinda sucks as a result. And what's worse we have no dialog as to why it's that way.

You can take that example and use it for every other feature or quality of life addition. 

I think tackling the IPad apps and Affinity Publisher have really reduced the momentum Affinity had when it was just Designer and Photo on desktop. I'm guessing they know that too and have delayed the DAM app to work on 2.0. At least I hope so. 

It'd be nice if they told us though. And maybe started previewing some features. 

My theory is everything is quiet because they want to go big with Affinity 2.0 and so until we get close to it's release we can expect a quiet time. 

 

[Quality of Life Request: Rename multiple layers at once]

I'm making heavy use out of the new "Select Same" feature and I'm really loving it! One little touch that would make it even better is if we got the ability to shift-select multiple layers and then could click on a single name box of a single layer and rename all of them at once. That would be incredible. 

As an example of how I would use that to improve my workflow: 

Let's say I'm making some vector trees for an illustration. It might be made up of vector brushstrokes for the trunk and branches, shapes for the leafy bits, and more vector brushstrokes clipped to the shapes to add texture. I'm currently naming each layer something like this "bt4-l" for "bushy tree 4- lines" or "bt4-s" for "bushy tree 4- shapes." It would go a lot faster if I could just quickly rename a bunch all at once. 

I do use color tags for some things (see my request for more color tags in another post) but especially when creating assets dedicating a color tag to something forevermore just isn't appropriate. 

[Feature Enhancement: More colors for layer color tags]

Yeah I want to make sure I don't grab anything that has the same colors, especially if I'm working from a limited color palette. Also sometimes the trees might be different colors anyway and I'm changing the vector brush or stroke size I used for the branches or something like that. It depends on the tree type. 

Even when just changing colors, global colors only work in a specific document. They're not application wide.  But if I'm just dragging trees in I've already made from my assets panel, then global colors aren't useful. 

I don't even think they have to put much development time into it. They don't need to do anything fancy to give the color tags a significant upgrade. Right now they have the primary colors, secondary colors, and grey. Just add in the tertiary colors, brown, and white. At that point you've doubled the available colors and that all by itself would be great. 

[Feature Enhancement: More colors for layer color tags]

18 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

I'm curious what you do with the layers once you've tagged them with a color and then selected them based on the tag color. You're the second user today who has asked for more tag colors.

 

A couple of examples just from earlier this morning would be I made several different pine trees using a vector brush, and I color coded the branches green and the trunks grey. So anytime I want to make any changes to either I just select those same tag colors. Of course you could have the same effect by naming each branch "pine tree branch" and choosing "select same name" but that's a lot of time naming layers I'd rather not have to do if I don't have to. If all the trees were the same I could make them symbols, but they're all different. 

I do a lot of things like that, I'm a little bit of a color tag-aholic. 

It's the ability to do that sort of thing that makes vector illustrations so valuable to me over raster drawing. It feels like magic.

[Feature Enhancement: More colors for layer color tags]

The new Select Same/Select Object feature is wonderful, I'm making heavy use out of it. But one thing it has me wishing is that there were more color tags to assign to a layer because "select same color" is something I like using quite a bit. I'd love to see more color tags available. Or even the option to select any color from the color wheel and make that into a layer color tag.

Just something I think would make a wonderful feature even more useful. 

[Feature Request: Brush Size Panel]

I'd love to see Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo get a brush size panel. Yes, it's easy enough to use the width slider or to use the dial on my graphics tablet, but sometimes it's just faster to pick the exact brush size you want instantly from a full sized panel. I know it's not the sexiest feature ever, but sometimes it's the simple things that help keep you in your creative flow.

[Recently Used Brushes - 3 Requests]

Another option might be to have the history panel include the name of the brush you just used like they do in Clip Studio Paint. 

And yes, please keep the brush you're currently using highlighted even when  you switch sizes or do any of the other random things that seem to make the highlight disappear. Although weirdly it DOES keep it highlighted with vector brushes. Only raster brushes seem to have the problem with de-selection.

 

[Feature Request: Hide Pixel Selection]

I'd really like the option to hide the pixel selection in Affinity Designer too. I know Serif probably doesn't want to add too many raster quality-of-life features to Designer so as to encourage people to buy Photo, but hiding a pixel selection is basic functionality that would help with the Pixel Persona's primary purpose: adding texture or paint to vector linework. The Pixel Persona just feels incomplete without it. 

 

[Feature Request: Sub Categories for the Brush Panel]

It'd be neat if we could organize our brushes in the brushes panel a little more with sub categories much like we have already in the assets panel.

 

[Vector brush names]

+1. The brushes panel is the weakest panel in the suite right now. It needs an overhaul badly. I can never remember what brush I've used on something, even when I'm still in the middle of using it. I try to get around that by naming each layer after the brush I use in it but that is highly cumbersome and annoying.

And I know I sound like a broken record but I'd also love to be able to see the brush names without hovering the cursor over it.