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I purchased Affinity Photo after having the Beta version. In spite of making the tools as large as possible, they are so dim that I can't see them. I am 72 years old and still an active graphic designer. I don't like a black background and when I adjust it to a pale gray in the preferences, the tools on the left side are practically invisible. If I can't see the tools, I can't use the program. I thought this would be a good alternative to Photoshop. I have Creative Suite 6, but I thought I'd start trying to use something less expensive so that I don't have to eventually subscribe to Adobe's Creative Cloud service.

 

Is there any way to make the tools on the left be a dark color on a light background, or bright white against a dark background. I am so frustrated I could just spit. And, even the largest size tools are not very large on the left side.

 

:angry:

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I have tried all the preferences for making the tools and fonts larger. I can't tell any difference at all even with the tools set at "Largest". Along with the illegibility of the tools, this makes these programs useless for me.

 

Unless Affinity is willing to provide an interface that is adaptable and accessible for people who need larger, high contrast tools, I don't see Designer or Photo ever being an acceptable alternative to Adobe.

 

I guess when Publisher comes out, it will have the same type of interface, designed for people with perfect eyesight who need no vision correction and who are capable of seeing tiny tools that are nearly the same shade as the background they appear on. I am totally disenchanted, disgruntled, and going back to Adobe. These program were a waste of money for me. I am not a happy camper.

 

I supplement my Social Security income by doing corporate graphic design, which I have been doing for nearly 40 years with an extensive background in commercial printing and graphics. I learned how to do everything the old-fashioned way before computers came along. I've used just about all the graphic design software on the market, from the earliest versions of Quark Xpress, PageMaker, CorelDraw, Freehand, etc. through the last version of CS that wasn't a subscription. The Affinity products have the worst GUI I have ever experienced. Zounds! Doesn't anyone take us oldtimers into consideration anymore?

 

 

 

 

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> I've only been on this forum for a day, but there seems to be a persistent thread of non-response by Affinity to questions asked in this forum.

 

That is just not true. I've never seen a company more involved in a forum.

 

Also, see https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/10410-common-feature-requests-index-> Interface

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Before complaing about response time, I think you need to take into account that:

 

1. Affinity/Serif are probably in a completely different timezone than you are,

 

2. They are dealing with a HUGE amount of support calls and messages during the launch period of Affinity Photo.

 

I've only been on here for a week or so, but I have been VERY impressed at not only the speed with which somebody from Affinity or one of the Mods will respond, but also the fact that several of those who DO respond are the actual developer team. So you're talking directly to the programmers/coders.

 

For a $50 piece of software, that is as sophisticated and powerful as Affinity Photo is, and considering that this is the initial release, I am amazed at what the app will do.

 

Sure, there are some teething bugs to get sorted out - there always are. Things like tweaking the UI such as your concerns, or things like getting some of the Photoshop plugins to work in Affinity Photo - still to be fixed.

 

But given that the programmers are trying to divide their time between actually coding the tweaks, responding on here, and getting some sleep, I think you're being unnecessarily harsh and too quick to jump to criticism. I'd put money on you getting a response from Affinity within the next few hours. The initial post on this thread was still only 5 hoours ago - and you're accusing them of not responding?  Holy mackerel - this isn't a Skype call or a real-time chat...!

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You are correct. It is a huge undertaking and I am sure they are stretched pretty thin and are overwhelmed to respond to their customer and potential customer needs. I will be patient and wait for a response to my query of yesterday.

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One thing just occurred to me, regarding the original post: those tool icons are only grey when there is no picture loaded. Once you have a picture on the workspace and active, then all those tool icons are in glorious bright colour. And certainly not hard to see - even for these aging eyes...!

 

Maybe you are just looking at the bare interface with no picture loaded?

 

Perhaps Affinity could/should consider making those icons remain in full colour even when there is no picture up?  Just a thought....  In fact, I can't actually think of a valid reason for greying them out at all - they simply won't do anything anyway if there is nothing there to do it on - if you see what I mean.  Just leave the tool icons in full colour all the time.

 

Hope that helps.

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  • Staff
@donnaoverall, @chetko and all

We are aware of the UI issues. We already acknowledged them a few months ago in the original thread but as some of you recognised it's not a trivial task.

It's not just a question of providing a few icons bigger. They also affect the layout and size/balance of other UI elements and panels, which in turn implies to review/balance all the interface (not to mention colors). I don't think that rushing this just to provide a quick solution will benefit anyone.

 

We will be looking at the UI and will try to address those issues taking in account all user's feedback. But we want to do it properly with time, without disregarding our commitment to our roadmaps or affect fixing the issues / providing the support necessary for Affinity Photo's launch.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience this is causing, we are already doing the best we can to address all users reports and concerns.

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My understanding is that this company is based primarily in the UK.  It looks as though the original post was made at around 6pm (UK time).  It is currently about 5am there so it's not surprising they haven't responded yet.

 

...and while I was typing this message they responded.  MEB, isn't it 5am where you are?  Are you just getting up or haven't you been to bed yet!

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After the comment from Pentaxian (good call!) about having a picture loaded to see the icons in color, I did so. I can see them now, but they are still too small for these old eyes. Putting them in two columns made it a bit better, but it would be very nice if it was possible to make them larger. I have a 27" iMac, non-retina screen, but it is very high resolution.

 

In setting preferences in Adobe products like InDesign, in order to maintain the preferences you set, i.e. always CMYK instead of RGB, you open the program without opening a document. The tools remain dark against a light background. Since 99% of the work I do is for Print rather than Web, I always set certain preference to be maintained so I don't have to do this every time I start a new job. 

 

This is what I was doing in trying to set up my preferences in Photo. So, I was getting the grayed out symbols against the dark background, which made it almost impossible for me to see them. Thus my frustration because I want so much to like this product and not be dependent on Adobe, which has priced itself beyond ridiculous, especially for small users like this cantankerous and semi-crazed old woman.

 

I didn't realize the time difference, and apologize for venting my frustration. However, I do think the GUI could be made more user-friendly to us older users by making an interface that allow significant enlargement of the tools AND not graying them out when the program is opened without opening an image.

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  • 1 year later...

 

@donnaoverall, @chetko and all
We are aware of the UI issues. We already acknowledged them a few months ago in the original thread but as some of you recognised it's not a trivial task.
It's not just a question of providing a few icons bigger. They also affect the layout and size/balance of other UI elements and panels, which in turn implies to review/balance all the interface (not to mention colors). I don't think that rushing this just to provide a quick solution will benefit anyone.
 
We will be looking at the UI and will try to address those issues taking in account all user's feedback. But we want to do it properly with time, without disregarding our commitment to our roadmaps or affect fixing the issues / providing the support necessary for Affinity Photo's launch.
I'm sorry for the inconvenience this is causing, we are already doing the best we can to address all users reports and concerns.

 

 

 

 

I think one of the earliest requests for this was around 2014. So I really don't think most of us expect this to be rushed just to give a quick fix. There seems to be a lot of patience being shown even when there is not a lot of info being given about a time frame. 

 

Having said that, I will say that, for the most part, I like the idea of Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo. I especially love the price point.

 

I really want to replace my Adobe software with Affinity and scream from the rooftops while others should do the same.  I'm very excited about creating content about Affinity Designer that targets my audience.

 

But the problem for me is that my audience consists of mostly female bloggers who have been sold the "Adobe is the only way to go" mantra. With this audience it's form and function equally. They want something that can compete with Adobe in performance and aesthetics.

 

I can not bring Affinity products to that audience with a dark interface as the only option. For those who work in other areas targeting other groups, you may find this incredulous. But I assure you that my audience wants something light and cheerful and yes, they want it from a pro app (and not just Canva, etc.)

 

It could be a real game changer to not only let us change the UI from the current dark to light but to have skins as well. Hopefully make something that is a real game changer. But at the very least we should have the choice to lighten things up. 

 

I wish Affinity could make this more of a priority and at the very least give us a glimmer into what the plan is to improve this and the time frame. 

 

Right now, I use Adobe in my work, but I'm learning Affinity Designer and Affinity Photo. When you guys lighten up that workspace, I will start letting my audience know that your tools are worth the switch from Adobe.

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