Designer Bug on Windows 10 UI and Text

[meksONE]

Hi, latest Designer 1.8.3 on Windows 10 platform (version to 1909 and 2024 tested) has a serious bug regarding User Interface (UI).

After the program loads, the Windows interface become buggy and not readable (see attached screenshots). I've also checked another thread on this forum that advice to do a SFC check on windows components, but that isn't a solution ( neither a workaround too) and in any case the situation revert to normal after a simple reboot.

On my system there are other graphic software that run smootly (Rebelle 3, PS 2019, Krita, AI 2019); I've checked know incompatible programs and I don't use any of the listed apps.

Side note: I've tested 2 beta version to see if the problem persist, and this is what I've found:

Designer Beta 1.8.4.647 - the problem persists;
Designer Beta 1.8.4.650 - the problem is NOT present.

It's interesting, because in the release notes there's nothing regarding the UI bug, so It's worth to analyze it further to understand what's causing this bug.
Hope that you find out!

Thanks!

The system is a Mac Mini Late 2012 with BootCamp running Windows 10 latest build 2004, in Italian Language (tested also on previous build 1909); graphic card is integrated Intel HD4000 with latest drivers from Intel (Version10.18.10.5129,  Date 21/01/2020). 

[SoftZoom]

Hi meksONE,

This appears to be an issue more related to video memory/RAM or display driver than Affinity Designer. You are also running a very recently released version of Windows 10 (build 2004, I'm assuming you mean).

As you are running Windows 10 on a Mac, I would suggest reporting this issue to Apple. However, considering the age of the Mac they may not provide support any longer.

[meksONE]

Hi SoftZoom,

Googling around this issue, I've found other users suffering the same bug on different/most recent computers;

Anyway, the latest Beta version is not affected, so I think is a bug on Affinity Side.

[Sean P]

Hi meksONE,

We've had a few reports on this issue, but never been able to replicate it ourselves. However from what I've seen investigating this, I believe it's a Windows fault, rather than just us. On load we do a series of a font loading, which is what might be triggering this issue in Windows. I do know there were some changes made to font loading in 1.8.4.650, so it does appear some of these may have made the issue go away which is good news! Thanks for letting us know.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/text-disappeared-from-everywhere-menus-and-folders/ba4dd47f-20b5-417c-aed8-34f514f7e974
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-fonts-explorer-text-have-disappeared/40f4ed56-5dec-4581-97a5-36704e6528ee
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-files/no-text-in-file-explorer-other-programs-or-in/9013c908-3d04-4caf-b85f-815fbe0caa8b
https://www.tenforums.com/general-support/89595-icons-fonts-have-disappeared-win-10-everything-blank.html
https://www.tenforums.com/general-support/93832-text-randomly-disappears-most-programs.html

[MrGraphics]

Hi,

I just bought Affinity Designer and am also experiencing the above issue: Starting the Designer causes texts getting messed up on Windows desktop, in several other applications (I could guess that in those that let Windows to render the text they display), and even in the Designer itself (e.g., the artboard names and the open/save file common dialogs that the Designer is using). I have to reboot the computer to get the normal situation restored. Consequently, the current stable version of the application is completely unusable for me. However, I can also confirm that the issue seems to disappear with the 1.8.4.650 beta that I downloaded from this forum. When is the stable release to be expected?

HP ZBook, 16 Gt RAM, Windows 10, and the Windows Store version of the Designer

[MrGraphics]

In addition to my above post: I have been having Designer running for long times, so I didn't notice at first, but it seems that the problem in question does not appear only on the first time the application is launched. On the second launch, as soon as the application is loaded (or, I suspect, as soon as the fonts are loaded), the problem is in full effect again, and I cannot do much else than to boot my computer. I just downloaded the newest beta (1.8.4.665), and the problem exists with that as well in the same way. On the first launch, everything works; on the second, some or all text in various applications, including Windows desktop and both the user interface of the Designer and the document being open in it, do not appear or are unreadable.

My Windows 10 is 64-bit, version 1909 (UI build: 18363.900). Graphics card: NVIDIA Quadro K2100M.

Edited July 1, 2020 by MrGraphics