Keyboard shortcut for Frame properties

[the5andmany]

I can't seem to find any of the frame properties options in the keyboard shortcut menus?

I'm looking for the "Scale to max fit, Scale to min fit and the Size frame to content" as I want to bind them to a keyboard shortcut.

[walt.farrell]

Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums.

There are no shortcuts possible for those settings.

Shortcuts are available, I believe, only for tools, studio panels, items on the Toolbar, and items on the Menu.

[etsiot]

Is there an update on keyboard shortcuts for picture frame fit properties? 

I find myself having to use this all the time, as I am creating photo books and placing content from Capture One to Publisher requires re-fitting the content in all cases.

So having to use the mouse right-click menu is really time consuming...

 

 

[walt.farrell]

Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums, @etsiot.

No, nothing new in that area. Would it help to create a Picture Frame with the settings you need and save it as an Asset?

[etsiot]

Thanks for the quick feedback; not sure if my use case would really benefit from re-using Assets? 

This is what I am experiencing:

- I have a fairly large set of page designs that contain pre-set picture frames in various arrangements, like the one attached here.

- When I create a new page in a document I copy and paste one of these designs and then I drag and drop pictures, 1-by-1,  from Capture One Pro in Publisher. 

- The picture I am dropping is displaying in full resolution, which means really zoomed in at the frame level, so I have to select each time "max fit" at the frame properties before doing anything else.

Coming from InDesign, all frames would make fit  the content inside them as default, is this possible in Publisher as well?

Thanks!

[walt.farrell]

7 minutes ago, etsiot said:

When I create a new page in a document I copy and paste one of these designs

Thanks for the added details.

Where do you copy/paste that design from? Couldn't you simply adjust the fit properties there before you copy/paste?

[etsiot]

I have two documents open in Publisher, 1) the photo book I am working on and 2) a file with all the design pages I have created through time. 

So once a find a suitable design page in (2) -> I copy all the elements of this page into a new page in (1) and then -> drop the pictures in this page

[walt.farrell]

1 minute ago, etsiot said:

So once a find a suitable design page in (2) -> I copy all the elements of this page into a new page in (1)

So update the settings once, before you do the copy. 

[etsiot]

6 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

So update the settings once, before you do the copy. 

I guess I can do that, I will give it a try...

[etsiot]

Is there a way to update the properties for all frames in a document?

[etsiot]

2 minutes ago, Hens said:

Select all and change the properties are per page only
Hence my suggestion to use assets.

I am thinking converting all page designs to assets would have the disadvantage of showing small thumbnails per design, thus making the design selection process more cumbersome

 

[the5andmany]

These are all useful solutions/workarounds/features, and I appreciate the help. But I would still like to have a keyboard shortcut. It's just so much faster than clicking and dragging. 

[etsiot]

The issue is I work with page designs that contain frames, such as the one below. So I don't have to redo the design each time. Putting the whole page into asset wouldn't be convenient...

 

[walt.farrell]

10 minutes ago, etsiot said:

Putting the whole page into asset wouldn't be convenient...

Master Pages? (Possibly in a Template, as @Hens suggested?)

[etsiot]

17 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Master Pages? (Possibly in a Template, as @Hens suggested?)

It's more like a matter of personal preference, really; I had tried Master Pages when I first started with InDesign many years ago, but found the small thumbnail sizes limiting. Today, you can work with dual 4K screens so it's much easier to have your designs in a side window and choose between suitable designs...

[thomaso]

52 minutes ago, etsiot said:

I had tried Master Pages when I first started with InDesign many years ago, but found the small thumbnail sizes limiting.

Did you notice that you can choose between 3 sizes for the Pages Panel thumbnails? In large your custom grids of the empty picture frames could be sufficiently visible.

Although I personally don't like the need to detach master objects Master Pages offer an option which might interest you, in particular if you work with fixed layouts and object numbers and sizes: Master Pages can affect your document pages in a smart way if applied to an existing page, especially with individual images in their empty master frames. Instead of possibly deleting / replacing objects you could make use of the Apply + Migrate feature and toggle this way easily between different layouts. For instance:

[MikeTO]

On 5/29/2020 at 5:49 AM, the5andmany said:

I can't seem to find any of the frame properties options in the keyboard shortcut menus?

I'm looking for the "Scale to max fit, Scale to min fit and the Size frame to content" as I want to bind them to a keyboard shortcut.

Back to the original topic, I do think it would be beneficial to re-think the Properties popup. I've often wished this was a panel instead of a popup.

On my MacBook Pro 14" screen at default resolution, this popup obscures about 20% of my document workspace so it often appears on top of the image I'm modifying. Fortunately I can drag the document with the trackpad without closing the popup but that means taking my hand off my mouse. For laptop users, this would be so much more convenient as a panel.

[Intuos5]

I agree, it doesn't help that you have to select the frame and can't have the image selected. In case you group images with a descriptive text in Publisher, there's no quick way to select the frame to get to its properties.

[MikeTO]

2 hours ago, Intuos5 said:

I agree, it doesn't help that you have to select the frame and can't have the image selected. In case you group images with a descriptive text in Publisher, there's no quick way to select the frame to get to its properties.

I'm not entirely sure I understand but:

If a picture frame is grouped and you want to access the frame's properties, double-click the frame and then click Properties.

If the image inside a picture frame is selected and you want to access the frame's properties, right-click the image and choose Select Parent. This command is hidden in a context menu so most users think they have to use the Layers panel or deselect the image by clicking on the page and then clicking again on the frame to select it. But the context menu provides an easy way to select the frame.

You can also right-click a frame to access Scale to Max Fit, Min Fit, Stretch, and None, as well as Anchor to Centre without opening the Properties popup, but since you can't anchor to any of the corners or side mid-points with the context menu, I find it insufficient for my needs.

[Intuos5]

Ctrl clicking always works to get the image, but double clicking goes through the entire hierarchy, so with a nested group, you'd have to double click twice. With Ctrl clicking, you don't (but you can't get the frame properties straight away).

[MikeTO]

17 minutes ago, Intuos5 said:

Ctrl clicking always works to get the image, but double clicking goes through the entire hierarchy, so with a nested group, you'd have to double click twice. With Ctrl clicking, you don't (but you can't get the frame properties straight away).

True, for a nested picture frame, you'd have to Ctrl+click (Cmd+click for macOS) and then choose Select Parent before you could get to frame properties.

For Mac users reading this, while you can Ctrl+click a picture frame to select the image, it's better to Cmd+click because Ctrl will also open the context menu which isn't what you want.