Alignment Panel options apply to Alignment buttons?

[Davideo]

Hey, everyone.

Just started the process of switching over to Affinity Designer after 10+ years in Adobe, and had a question. I've looked through the forums and read the Affinity Help sections on alignment, but couldn't find an answer one way or the other.

Basically, is there a way to have my selected options in the Alignment Panel apply to the row of Alignment buttons? If I use the Alignment Panel, then it works like I'm expecting: select the circle first, and the square moves into alignment. But when I select the circle first, and click the same alignment button without first going into the alignment panel, then the circle moves to align to the object furthest to the left (see attached video for a demonstration).

 

Is there any way to make the setting I've chosen in the Alignment Panel ('align to first selected') apply to the rest of the alignment buttons, or does that chosen setting only work from within the panel?

Cheers.

 

Edited December 17, 2019 by Davideo
Image not uploading, so deleted references to it. The video should do the trick.

[MEB]

Hi Davideo,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
That setting only works/is only available from within the Alignment panel. The Align group buttons only care about the whole selection box no matter the order of chosen objects.

[Davideo]

Thanks, MEB!

Is the Alignment panel the only way to be more specific with the alignment process? I've seen a lot of requests from the past regarding a feature similar to Adobe Illustrator's 'Align to key object,' and must agree it's an incredibly useful option that feels missing from Affinity Designer's otherwise impressive offerings. Is the Alignment panel Affinity's final answer, or are there other options possibly headed down the pipeline?