Merging Layers with FX

[ChristiduToit]

This is a bit tricky to explain, so please bare with me. 😅
I've noticed that when you have a few layers in a group, and the group itself has FX applied, when you merge layers within the group Affinity auto commits the FX, and because the layers are still in the group with FX applied, they get a second instance of the FX. 
 

Here's a quick example.
I have a layer group with three layers. The group itself has an "Outer Shadow" effect applied, but the individual layers don't have any FX applied to themselves - see attachment.

As such, the layers within the group are effected by the FX applied to the group itself, but when you remove them from the group the FX are no longer applied.
With that in mind, I merged one of the layers in the group with the layer below it (also in the group) and now the Outer Shadow effect is automatically baked into the merged layers while still being applied to the group as a whole. 

I definitely don't think this is intentional/by design, as the layers within the group should surely remain untouched by the FX until the entire group is merged/rasterised.

Let me know if you need more clarity - I can try and take a screen recording if that will help to explain. 
 

[MEB]

Hi ChristiduToit,
This is a known issue that's already logged to be looked at. I've bumped the existing report to bring it up to devs attention. Thanks for reporting it.

[ChristiduToit]

@MEB
Excellent, thank you!
Not a big issue by any means, and not really affecting my workflow or anything, but I thought I'd mention it.