Layers inside layers in Affinity (AP and AD)

[Fernan]

I just wanna share some thoughts about what Photoshop names "Cliping Masks".

I've been using Affinity software for some months now, and I'm still kind of confused about them. I think the method to create them (dragging a layer "inside" another) and even the way they are displayed in the Layers panel could be changed to be less confusing.

This is how Clipping Masks look in AP 1.8.4:

It is nothing too bad, but I think Photoshop's way of displaying them is just better in several aspects:

 

In Photoshop is just easier to quickly see where each Clipping Mask is and what exactly is doing. The Clipping Layer is directly above the base layer and have a unique icon (the little arrow) pointing below. When you see this little arrow, you just know there is some Clipping action going on there 😀

While in AP, when you start to have tens of groups and layers, things start to get a little more difficult to "read":

I think this is like that because Clipping Masks and groups look almost the same (same arrow icon, same collapsive structure). IMO this should not be this way. You should not be able to expand and collapse a Clipping Mask just like you do with groups (in Photoshop you can't do that BTW).

Sure, in AP when you have a layer with a bunch of "clipped" layers inside you can just collapse it, and this makes some "space" in your Layer panel instantly. I guess this is a little advantage. But at the same time, this makes harder to read and understand the Layer panel itself (when compared to Photoshop), because groups and Clipping Masks (layer with layers inside) look just the same.

In Photoshop, if you have a layer with tens of clipped layers and you want to have more space in your Layer panel, you just group all those layers:

After all, that's the purpose of groups, isn't it? 😃

While in AP, when you start to group layers with layers inside, and those layers have also layers inside, all the madness begins:

I really think that getting the "inspiration" from Adobe Photoshop once again 😉 will be the best for Affinity in this case. I propose something like this:

IMO if the approach above was implemented, it would be a lot easier to understand what is going on in the Layer panel. Just to be able to tell apart groups and Clipping Masks in a blink, will make a big change.

I hope this help. Sorry for my english 🥴

[Ron P.]

Trying to understand what you're asking.

It's easier to see in a blink those little arrows in PS, which also has the layer off-set to the right, than just the layers in Affinity Photo being off-set to the right. Both seem to represent Groups the same, a triangle to the left of the Grouped Layer.

Sorry I just don't see where adding a little arrow to the left that points down in Affinity Photo would be that beneficial. This just seems like yet another call for Serif to duplicate PS.

[fde101]

You are adding child layers, not masks.

A mask in the Affinity products has its thumbnail displayed to the right of the thumbnail of the layer it is masking when the layers are collapsed, and a crop icon displayed on its thumbnail on its own layer when expanded:

 

A child layer of a "normal" (object) layer is cropped by its parent, but a mask crops its parent: the roles are reversed.

You add a mask by dragging it onto the thumbnail of the layer it should be a mask for.