Templates not working (at first)

[Bad_Wolf]

Hi,

I created a Designer file which should be my template for a particular project. Like the help file explained, I created a folder called "Template" on my hard disk. Then I added the layout, colors and text styles to my normal document. then when that was  done I choosed "Export as template". The file got a nice ".aftemplate" extension.

I am using Affinity Designer 1.8 on a Windows 7 computer.

Then I wanted to use the newly created template by using "New" inside the "File" menu. Selected "Templates" and to my surprise I saw the folder "Templates" I created but with no "Templates" inside. Also double clicking on this folder had no results. But continue reading on.

I checked on my hard disk and I could see the file with the extension ".aftemplate" inside my "Templates" folder.

I closed the original document so the Designer window was completely empty. Then I choosed "New" again, selected "Template" on the left, clicked on my folder "Templates" and again nothing. Still continue please.

Then I selected "Presets" again and selected "Template" again without doing anything inside the "Presets". Bingo... there was my template.

To make sure it was not a first time success, I closed and opened Affinity Designer again and everything worked as expected.

Can somebody tell me if this is a bug or just bad luck from my side? Thank you very much for your  reply.

This template feature alone makes the 1.8 update great! Thank you Serif for your nice work.

Chris

 

 

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, Bad_Wolf said:

Can somebody tell me if this is a bug or just bad luck from my side?

I don't know if it is a bug but I had a somewhat similar thing happen when I added an .aftemplate file to an empty Template folder I created in either AD or AP (I forget which) & then tried to access it from the other Affinity app. It was necessary to quit & restart the second app for it to show that template file.

[Bad_Wolf]

Thank you for your reply. It is exactly the same strange behaviour as here. I experienced this in Designer.

Have a great day!

Chris

 

[Cecil]

8 hours ago, Bad_Wolf said:

if this is a bug or just bad luck from my side

I actually thought once you saved a Template in a folder, it’s a Preset.  I could be 100% wrong, 99% I am, ask R C-R.

[walt.farrell]

1 minute ago, Cecil said:

I actually thought once you saved a Template in a folder, it a Preset.  I could be 100% wrong, 99% I am, ask R C-R.

No. Templates and Presets are different.

Presets just give you things like document size, DPI, color format, margins, and bleed. Templates give you content, too.

[Cecil]

3 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

No. Templates and Presets are different.

Presets just give you things like document size, DPI, color format, margins, and bleed. Templates give you content, too.

Walt, updated 99% to 99.1%. I was thinking saving your preset (file) becomes a Preset in Template folder.  Not as the two options Presets and Templates. Thank you, it’s a process.

[Cecil]

BTW, when I click Templates>Show in Finder, nothing.  

[walt.farrell]

54 minutes ago, Cecil said:

BTW, when I click Templates>Show in Finder, nothing.  

Have you created a directory for your templates and told your Affinity application where it is?

Do you have a directory or template selected in the Templates window?

[Murfee]

1 minute ago, walt.farrell said:

Have you created a directory for your templates and told your Affinity application where it is?

Do you have a directory or template selected in the Templates window?

The button doesn’t work, if you double click on the file path or right click on the template thumbnail it works.🤔

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, Cecil said:

BTW, when I click Templates>Show in Finder, nothing.  

For me that works only if there is more than one Template folder listed & never on the top or only one.

[Cecil]

On 3/1/2020 at 2:12 PM, walt.farrell said:

Have you created a directory for your templates and told your Affinity application where it is?

Do you have a directory or template selected in the Templates window?

Yes I do, but as R C-R stated above, more than one folder.  I have all mine stored in one folder.  

[Bad_Wolf]

I also have one template folder and it is working now. If you get stuck, follow the procedure I described in my post. It worked for me, it can also work for other people.

Chris

 

[Wosven]

Did the extension "aftemplate" was automatically added when saving in a "Templates" folder?

 

If so, it would be better to have it as an option, and to be able to select "af_app_extention" or "aftemplate", since this would only be helpfull with simple ways to organize folders.
But there's more complexe ways to organize depending of, for example: server/type of work/specific work name/[template file, links, others specifics documents or files or folders for this work, etc.]

Seconde, it would be nice if the file get at least part of the original name, or the full name, to not have to type all the name again when saving it for the first time (nomenclatures can be complexe and a pain to type!). If by default the app save with its own extension by default, no chances to override the template file by error.

Doing this would break the new document panel "Templates", since it's supposed to display them, but it's not a feature usefull for me, working with a lot of documents archived in different places. It's easier to have one folder containing all usefull documents/files for a specific work than managing a lot of documents with only a Templates folder.

[Old Bruce]

The procedure for saving a template is to use File > Export as Template... . I doubt that simply changing a file extension to .aftemplete would work.

[Move Along People]

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[Wosven]

11 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

I doubt that simply changing a file extension to .aftemplete would work.

It seems to do the job.

I did it with 2 files — a blank A4 and another with different coloured rings — with AD, and if I show the Templates folder to APub, it's able to display the files and to open them.

When using "Save as", the "Type" option display 2 extensions: afpub and aftemplate. That's where a real list where you can select your option using the usual arrow keys, as with other apps would be usefull.

I didn't notice the "Export as template" option since I don't understand why it's in the menu when all the other export format are accessed using  the classical Export option (that I do using the shortcut, not via the menu). And I manually typed the extension since it was in the "type" option using "save as".

Edited March 3, 2020 by Wosven
Edited for precisions

[Move Along People]

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[walt.farrell]

One can even use File > Open to open a .aftemplate file, and make changes, and then File > Save it.

But if one uses File > New from Template one gets a new untitled document, and Saving it will prompt for a filename.

[Move Along People]

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[R C-R]

12 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

One can even use File > Open to open a .aftemplate file, and make changes, and then File > Save it.

You can also do this in the File > New > Template window by right-clicking on a template thumbnail in the center section of that window & choosing "Open Template for Edit" from the popup menu. It then opens like any other Affinity native format document (& the .aftemplate extension is shown in the document title) & is otherwise treated just like any other native format document. So if you edit it & try to close it without saving you get the usual warning about unmodified changes with a choice of saving, not saving, or cancelling.

This is handy if you keep all your aftemplate files organized in one or more designated template folders, particularly if you have more than one Affinity app & set them all up to use the same designated template folder(s) because you can then edit a template directly in any of your Affinity apps. You can also use the File > Edit in <other app> menu item for that but it is nice to have a choice.

However, when I do this the thumbnail preview in the New > Template window is not updated in any of the apps (retail or current Mac beta) until & quit & restart them, so that needs to be fixed. This may be related to the issue @Bad_Wolf reported about template files not showing up at first, or to the one I mentioned about the "Show in Finder" button not working when there is only one designated Template folder, or totally unrelated.

But regardless, even in its current quirky, unpolished state, it is a useful addition the Affinity suite. Yay! 👏

[R C-R]

12 hours ago, haakoo said:

12 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

But if one uses File > New from Template one gets a new untitled document, and Saving it will prompt for a filename.

Well,it should but also should warn that a template is about to be overwritten.

If it creates a new untitled document, which would be saved as an .afphoto, .afdesign, or .afpub document depending on the app it was opened in, how could it overwrite any .aftemplate file? The only way I can think of that would do that is to manually change the file extension to .aftemplate in the Save dialog, & try to save it into some folder with a same-named .aftemplate file already in it, but that I think would cause the usual OS provided warning about overwriting an existing file.

[R C-R]

13 hours ago, Wosven said:

I didn't notice the "Export as template" option since I don't understand why it's in the menu when all the other export format are accessed using  the classical Export option (that I do using the shortcut, not via the menu).

I think it gets its own File menu item because the regular Export one gives you a choice of exporting to non-native file formats other apps can use, & also provides a bunch of export options plus the ability to create export presets. In comparison, the .aftemplate format is a native file format which only the Affinity apps can use, & it provides no export or preset options. So it would be kind of pointless to include it as a tabbed item in the regular Export window because there is nothing you could do in that tab that would have any effect on the .aftemplate file. It would just be a useless extra step that giving it its own menu item avoids.

13 hours ago, Wosven said:

And I manually typed the extension since it was in the "type" option using "save as".

If I understand what you mean correctly, this must work differently than on Macs because on them there is no list of type options when using "Save As..." for a native format document.

But regardless, if you use the "Export as template" option you don't have to do anything other than choose a location to save the file in, & optionally to give it a name if it does not already have one or you want to change it.

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

I think it gets its own File menu item because ...

Yes, but why is it Export As Template rather than Save As Template, since it's an Affinity native format?

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, walt.farrell said:

Yes, but why is it Export As Template rather than Save As Template, since it's an Affinity native format?

I have no idea why, other than maybe they thought it would be clear what it creates regardless of which word they used?

[Wosven]

7 hours ago, R C-R said:

If I understand what you mean correctly, this must work differently than on Macs because on them there is no list of type options when using "Save As..." for a native format document.

But regardless, if you use the "Export as template" option you don't have to do anything other than choose a location to save the file in, & optionally to give it a name if it does not already have one or you want to change it.

On Windows you have this (using "save as", or "save" for a new/untitled file):

What I hope we'll get:

 

It's better that having to add a new shortcut assigned for this new "Export as template" option (a better name would be "Save as  template", like said @haakoo).