Selection from other layers also selects the layer

[verysame]

When combining selections from across multiple layers by CTRL + left clicking on the layer we want to copy the selection from, the layer also gets selected.

If I want to use that selection to mask the active layer I then need to select the active layer only to de-select the other layer.

1.8.3.641

[verysame]

Can someone confirm?

[verysame]

Any reason why my posts are being ignored?

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, verysame said:

Any reason why my posts are being ignored?

Several possibilities. Among them:

1. Perhaps no one in the user community knows the answer.
2. Perhaps no one may understand your question. A video and/or some screenshots are often helpful
3. As for a Serif response, it can take them awhile to get to bug reports, or questions, depending on how busy they are.

[verysame]

1 hour ago, walt.farrell said:

Several possibilities. Among them:

1. Perhaps no one in the user community knows the answer.
2. Perhaps no one may understand your question. A video and/or some screenshots are often helpful
3. As for a Serif response, it can take them awhile to get to bug reports, or questions, depending on how busy they are.

Thanks, Walt

I'm rather surprised as in this very section of the forum they're actually responding to other posts.

Maybe I'm not welcome anymore 🤨

[walt.farrell]

You need to look at when the posts were made. They (Serif) tend to process things in a queue, handling things in order. But it may also depend on who is available that works in a specific area.

I think they're also still working from home due to Covid-19, which has slowed things down.

[Ron P.]

@verysame, earlier today I've tried to figure out and replicate what it is you're having problems with, but so far I really don't understand. It would be helpful, and I think that Serif staff will also ask, to provide a screenshot or better yet a screen recording so they can see what it is.

[verysame]

Thanks for trying, @Ron P.

Here's a video (not sure it will play OK, it's an MKV — if not, I'll convert it to MP4)

As you can see in the video there are actually two issues occurring.

1. Selection from hidden layers is not possible. This is quite a disadvantage as the user is forced to un-hide all hidden layers to get their selections.
2. The issue I mentioned in this thread is shown towards the end of the clip. When I select the underneath layer transparency the layer itself is also selected in the layer stack, which is inconvenient. In fact, the reason why some layer's selection is needed is to use that on the current layer, mostly for masking reasons. So, with the current Affinity Photo behavior I have to also de-select the layer in the layer stack by clicking on the current layer again.

Hope that makes sense.

 

P.S. I have a screen cast key recorder in the video but there's some lag between the action and the on-screen information.

 

[verysame]

Alright,

I think it's official: the moderators only help some users, not everyone. Not sure why but it's quite disappointing.

 

[walt.farrell]

2 hours ago, verysame said:

I think it's official: the moderators only help some users, not everyone. Not sure why but it's quite disappointing.

I have had it take a week or two depending on their workload, and the number of reports already in the queue before I posted one.

(I will mention that I'm not sure you've properly classified this as a bug. I understand it's not working as you wish, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's not working as they intend. But that's something Serif will have to comment on.)

[verysame]

4 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

I have had it take a week or two depending on their workload, and the number of reports already in the queue before I posted one.

(I will mention that I'm not sure you've properly classified this as a bug. I understand it's not working as you wish, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's not working as they intend. But that's something Serif will have to comment on.)

Thank you for providing your feedback, Walt. I feel at least there's someone to have a conversation with here.

As for the workload if you check this section of the forum other threads are receiving contributions from moderators. So, their silence regarding my posts is a mystery to me.

As for whether the behavior can be considered a bug or not, you're right. It could be something be worth mentioning in the feedback section. That said, it would be logical for some moderator to chime in on this and move the thread to the proper section if they see fit.

But I guess we can agree on the fact that the current behavior has no reasonable purpose and it actually turns out to be counter-productive (unless you see some use of it).

The thing is, with the moderators neglecting my post here the there's no way we can push this forward towards a productive discussion.

Again, thanks for participating.

[MEB]

Hi verysame,
I'm sorry for the delay getting back to you. I can assure you we are not ignoring you or anyone else. As walt mentioned, sometimes, we are a little more busy than usual or may take some more time to reply due to some circumstances (covid-19, working from home, some staff on holidays etc). Thanks for understanding.

Regarding your issues:
1. Selection from hidden layers is not possible - this is indeed a limitation on both OS's. I've passed your feedback to the dev team to see if this can be improved.
2. I confirm that adding multiple selections does select the layers on Windows which shouldn't be happening (works fine on macOS). I've logged this to be looked at as well.

Thanks for your report and support.

[Chris B]

Hi verysame,

I'd just like to quickly chime in here. First of all, I am really sorry you got to a point where you felt like you were being ignored. That is not the case. As MEB and Walt both said, Serif employees are currently working from home and though we are coping well, we still do not have all the available resources we normally would. 

Also, a lot of people are taking holidays to maintain their mental health as well as just wanting some time off and we do not have the luxury of face to face communication. We don't always have the immediate answers and often, we would go and have a chat with other team members or the developers etc. We do have ways of communication now, but it is not quite as good as going up and having a face to face chat.

When reporting a potential bug, we would normally ask for as much information as possible. This includes videos, screenshots, Affinity files, image files etc. and also a written description. For example, what you're doing, what you expect to happen and what is actually happening as outlined here.

We usually work off a ticket system which prevents us from missing posts but I have failed miserably to get back to you in a reasonable time for which I do apologise. Walt (and some other users) kindly assist us a hell of a lot on the forum and if I see he (or they) have replied, I normally follow the thread to keep tabs on it but this time I did not  

MEB has responded and confirmed that both points raised have been passed back to the developers. So thank you for taking the time to let us know. We are always grateful for our customers taking time to report things to us.

Again, sorry for making you feel like you were being ignored—it was not my or our intention. 

[verysame]

Thank you @MEB and @Chris B for providing your feedback and confirming the issues.

I'm glad you were able to confirm the unexpected behavior and that this will be looked into.

Sorry for having insisted. I thought the behavior was odd and thus I was trying to get this noticed. I understand that it might take some time to get feedback and I'll keep that in mind for my future posts.

Thanks and stay safe.