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Convert Shape to Text Frame Loses Stroke and Fill


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Hello. I'm not 100% sure this is a bug. Maybe I'm just confused. But here's what's happening: when I create a shape and then give it a stroke and/or fill and then convert that shape to a text frame, the shape loses the stroke and fill. When I first bought Affinity Publisher in August of last year, I didn't experience that behavior. Back then, when I created a shape and converted it to a text frame, the shape's stroke and fill remained. 

I've attached two screenshots: the first is from a document I made right after I bought Affinity Publisher in August. In the screenshot, you can see that an elliptical call-out and a triangle have both been converted to a text frame and their strokes and fills are visible. The second screenshot is from the same document, but on a different page that I added today. On that page, I put two shapes: an elliptical call-out and a triangle. I converted them both to text frames but they lost their stroke and fill. So it seems that Publisher's ability to retain strokes/fills of shapes converted to text frames has changed since August.

  1. Are you using the latest release version? Yes
    (here's how to check)
  2. Can you reproduce it? Yes
    (if you cannot then we may struggle to also, making it even harder to fix)
  3. Does it happen for a new document? If not do you have a document you can share that shows the problem? It happens for a new document
  4. If you cannot provide a sample document then please give an accurate description of the problem for example it should include most of the following:
  •    What is your operating system and version (Windows 10, OSX Mojave, etc)? macOS Catalina 10.15.4
  •    What happened for you (and what you expected to happen) See above description at very top of this post describing what I did
  •    Provide a recipe for creating the problem (step-by-step what you did). See above description at very top of this post describing what I did
  •    Screenshots (very handy) or a screen capture/video. Attached and described in second paragraph at top of this post
  •    Any unusual hardware (like tablets or external monitors or drives that may affect things) or relevant other applications like font managers or display managers. No
  •    Did this same thing used to work and if so have you changed anything recently? (software or hardware) It used to work as described at top of this post

shapes with text older.png

shapes with text newer.png

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Are you sure you're in Publisher, @skylamar? What you're describing is the expected behavior for Designer.

For me, on Windows, Publisher still keeps the fill and stroke when I convert a shape to a text frame, so if there's an issue is seems like it is Mac-specific.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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Walt, yes I'm sure I'm using Publisher. I first tried in Designer and then read a post in these forums that the stroke and fill are not retained in Designer. So I then tried in Publisher and was surprised that I was experiencing the same issue in Publisher too, especially because I didn't experience that behavior back in August. I have attached a screen recording.

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thomosa, thanks! That's good to know. But it seems like a legitimate bug to me that the stroke/fill is retained one way but not the other. When I created the text frames back in August, I'm pretty sure I right-clicked using the move tool the same way I did it last night. I didn't even realize you could do it your way, by selecting the text frame tool and clicking on the shape.

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On Windows, all 3 methods retain the stroke and fill, so I think you've found a bug in the Mac version.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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1 minute ago, skylamar said:

Do people at Serif read these posts, or do I need to submit the bug to them another way?

You've posted in one of the Bugs forums, which is the proper way to report a bug report. They will get to it, though it might take awhile as they are very busy and working in adverse circumstances.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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Just now, walt.farrell said:

You've posted in one of the Bugs forums, which is the proper way to report a bug report. They will get to it, though it might take awhile as they are very busy and working in adverse circumstances.

Okay, good to know. Thanks.

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> "... adverse circumstances" ... "good to know."  

Honestly I don't dislike this adversity: the different behavior of tools – button vs. menu – as an additional option without being more laborious.

 

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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  • 4 weeks later...
1 hour ago, JanetM said:

I have also seen this bug in Affinity Photo.  It has been driving me crazy as I thought I was doing something wrong.

Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums, Janet.

In Photo you're supposed to lose the stroke and fill, I think. The bug we've been discussing is that there is one method of converting them in Publisher that is also losing the stroke/fill. Publisher is supposed to keep the stroke/fill as it can be adjusted in the Text Frame panel. Designer and Photo don't have studio panel, so they remove the stroke/fill intentionally.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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  • 3 months later...
  • Staff

We have made fixes/improvements to this area (If you convert a shape to a text frame using the right click menu it loses its fill and stroke) of the program in the latest release.

The fixes and how to update are described in these forum posts.

We would appreciate you checking that this issue has now been resolved for you,

Patrick Connor
Serif Europe Ltd

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self."  W. L. Sheldon

 

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  • 4 months later...
5 minutes ago, bures said:

The problem remains in Affinity Publisher 1.8.5.703 for Windows: If I convert a shape to a text frame using the right click menu it loses its fill and stroke.

image.png.cc6a282e48254d6eca62638f3545cdf5.png

Works find in Publisher 1.8.5.703 on Windows for me. Here's a triangle converted to a text frame via the right-click menu:
image.png.7d8d88c50bb3e2474cbc6841e05c5660.png

If you're having issues it's probably better to start your own topic in the Publisher Bugs on Windows forum, rather than bumping this old topic, on the wrong OS.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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Hi Walt,

you are right. But I created shape in Designer Persona as multi-stroke. Then I switched to Publisher Persona and I selectConvert to text frame command. Stroke is gone.

 

If you're having issues it's probably better to start your own topic in the Publisher Bugs on Windows forum

Done. Let's discuss there.

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  • 2 years later...

I am trying to achieve this in Affinity Designer 2.0.3, but can't figure out how to keep the shape visible under the text. It always disappears as soon as I click inside it with the Frame Text tool.

I would like to achieve the behaviour shown in this video:
 

 

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Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums, @dribcot

You need to use Publisher to make a text frame that has Fill or Stroke applied, or you need to duplicate the shape. Then give one a stroke/fill, and convert the other to a text frame. 

The video you're watching is old, and may not show how things work currently.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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7 hours ago, dribcot said:

Thanks. I don't own Publisher however.

I guess I have to fall back to using two shapes then.

Yes, multiple shapes is the intended approach on Photo and Designer.

(Though, if I remember correctly, there is an Affinity bug on macOS that exposes the Text Frame panel on Photo or Designer via a T icon on the Context Toolbar in some circumstances. That might allow you to set the Stroke/Fill after you convert a shape to a Text Frame.)

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

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14 hours ago, dribcot said:

I am trying to achieve this in Affinity Designer 2.0.3, but can't figure out how to keep the shape visible under the text.

14 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

The video you're watching is old, and may not show how things work currently.

I suspect the recent regression in ADe/APh is literally "by design" because officially there's no Text Frame panel where you could change the text frame fill/stroke.

3 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

(Though, if I remember correctly, there is an Affinity bug on macOS that exposes the Text Frame panel on Photo or Designer via a T icon on the Context Toolbar in some circumstances. That might allow you to set the Stroke/Fill after you convert a shape to a Text Frame.)

Good memory, Walt. :) The MacOS "bug" in v1 where you can enable the Text Frame panel even in APh/ADe.
The trick is simple: create a random temporary text on path. The path will disappear as expected, but there on the context toolbar is the "forgotten" button to open the Text Frame panel. Remember to save it as a Studio Preset in case you'd lose it later.
I'm not at my v2 installation right now, so I don't know if this, uh… critical bug has been "fixed" in v2 already.

MacBookAir 15": MacOS Ventura > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // MacBookPro 15" mid-2012: MacOS El Capitan > Affinity v1 / MacOS Catalina > Affinity v1, v2, v2 beta // iPad 8th: iPadOS 16 > Affinity v2

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