Switching from Mac App Store Version to Affinity Store Version - saving prefs

[nwhit]

I'm switching from the MAS APhoto to one I'm buying from the Affinity store in order to avoid issues with sandboxing in Mojave. Does anyone know for sure how to preserve my layout, prefs, brushes, etc.? In other words, does the Affinity version use the same prefs/settings folder/files as the MAS version? Or am I going to have to start from scratch?

Thanks.

[walt.farrell]

Take a look at the following FAQ article, which tells you where the files are stored, and which files are relevant for what setting. You may be able to simply copy the files from one installation to the other:

 

Suggestion: If you haven't, it might be a good idea to install the Trial version before buying, to make sure it resolves your problem. But in any case, remember that Serif gives you a 14-day return period after purchase where you can request a refund if you want.

[nwhit]

Thanks, Walt. I just need to work around the issue of already having the MAS version installed, then adding the Affinity store version. Once I get the settings/prefs set up as before, then I can delete the MAS version (although it's still available to me from the MAS should I ever want to go back).

Working through all the many betas this last couple years, APhoto release versions from the MAS simply won't allow Eye Candy plugin to open due to the macOS sandboxing security used in the later versions of Mojave and then newer Catalina. But in every iteration of the many betas, it works fine because the betas don't have the sandboxing required for versions from the MAS. I use EC quite a bit for my clients, so really need it to be working without having to resort to using my ancient Adobe CS5 apps, which I am now relegating to a virtual parallels volume running with the old Sierra OS, which I use for a few other older critical apps. Spending the extra $50 is nothing compared to the time EC saves me producing things for clients. 

Hoping I can simply download and open the Serif Store version and have my much-refined settings ready to use. One way or the other, still needs to be done, but hoping that it might be easy. I'll read that info to see if it has any answers. Thanks.

AND OF COURSE, the real question is, are the pref/settings files the same for both versions so that they can simply be moved???  Hopefully they don't have different formats, items, etc. 😉

[nwhit]

Of course, the other question might be if I can just move my APhoto prefs/settings from my betas to the Affinity Store version?!?! That might be the easiest, assuming they don't have anything strange in them! 

[nwhit]

Hmmmm. Not looking too encouraging. Looks like the MAS version (prefs/settings in Library/Containers) has a very different setup as compared to the Affinity Store versions such as my Publisher and Photo beta (in Library/Application Support). 

Unless someone knows better, looks like my only route might be to use the prefs/settings from my Photo beta version. 

[walt.farrell]

Interesting. Perhaps better to wait for a response from Serif, then.

In the worst case, there are functions such as Assets, Brushes, Swatches, Macros and perhaps more where you can Export them from their respective studio panels into a format that can be imported later.

[nwhit]

I think you're right! I am also reviewing a thread you contributed to from 2019 on moving prefs from a beta to a release version that has some interesting things. It doesn't, unfortunately, have any comments from Affinity team that I've spotted yet. But it may help.

Makes me a bit worried that if I just go ahead and download 1.84 Affinity Store version, then try to work out getting things moved, if that might screw up my actual working MAS version and be out of business until I can sort it out! Not sure how things would go running MAS 1.83 plus Affinity Store 1.84 on the same machine! If that didn't break anything, would be a possible way to take time to work on the problem. 😩

[lepr]

11 hours ago, nwhit said:

Makes me a bit worried that if I just go ahead and download 1.84 Affinity Store version, then try to work out getting things moved, if that might screw up my actual working MAS version

 

You won't screw up the MAS version if you copy, not move, its user settings files to a new location.

Also, you didn't go deep enough into the folder hierarchy when searching for the MAS user settings files.

 

 

 

 

[jmwellborn]

@nwhit  Ah ha!  Here is the whiz I wrote to you about!  @anon2 has offered what I hadn’t a clue about, except that I knew that there IS a way, if I HAD a clue!   Best wishes!

[nwhit]

1 hour ago, jmwellborn said:

@nwhit  Ah ha!  Here is the whiz I wrote to you about!  @anon2 has offered what I hadn’t a clue about, except that I knew that there IS a way, if I HAD a clue!   Best wishes!

Thanks, yes, I have been doing just that as a backstop in case things need reconstructing. Thanks for the help!

[nwhit]

8 hours ago, anon2 said:

 

You won't screw up the MAS version if you copy, not move, its user settings files to a new location.

Also, you didn't go deep enough into the folder hierarchy when searching for the MAS user settings files.

 

 

 

 

Aha! Now the fog is lifting! I simply had not bothered looking at what appeared initially to look like simple aliases. Didn't make sense what they were doing in the containers directory, but now I see what they've done. Looks like the same folder/file structure as the Affinity Store prefs are in the Application Support directory from Containers.

Question: Do you know if any directory other than the "user" directory needs to be copied into the newly purchased Affinity Store prefs? I'm not seeing any content in any of the other non-alias directories there, so guessing everything is within the user directory. 

Thanks for the assist! 

[lepr]

52 minutes ago, nwhit said:

Question: Do you know if any directory other than the "user" directory needs to be copied into the newly purchased Affinity Store prefs? I'm not seeing any content in any of the other non-alias directories there, so guessing everything is within the user directory. 

No, sorry, I've never copied one Affinity setup to another. Hopefully someone who has done that on a Mac will help soon.

[nwhit]

In light of the above info and looking at this some more, I'm almost thinking that I could also simply copy my APhoto beta Application Support folders/files and copy those to a new APhoto app support directory, perhaps before installing the new Affinity Store copy. Perhaps if it sees those in ~/Library/Application Support/Affinity Photo, it may just use those (the beta was the 1.8.4GM). 

[nwhit]

UPDATE

I pulled the trigger.

1. I created a new Affinity Photo folder in the Library/Application Support directory. 
2. I then copied the all the pref folders from the beta prefs EXCEPT the user folder. That I copied from the 1.8.3 MAS Containers pref folder. 
3. I then opened the new 1.8.4 from Affinity Store, entered my key, etc. 
4. The Workspace was NOT retained (sadly!).
5. On the other hand, the Brushes, Styles, keyboard shortcuts, color palettes were retained.
6. The macros had to be re-imported. And when trying to add the Assets Studio Panel, it  caused continuous crashes. Thus I had to delete that pref and create a new, blank Asset panel. 
7. My several Tone Mapping presets didn't come over, so needed to export from 1.8.3 and re-import.

All in all, it seems to have worked, although I've not really tried very much in the new setup. Took about an hour to get it straightened out. But in the end, it did fix my main issue -- getting Eye Candy plugin to work in a release version!!! 

[jmwellborn]

@nwhit . Good job!   I am so glad that you are up and running. 

[nwhit]

6 minutes ago, jmwellborn said:

@nwhit . Good job!   I am so glad that you are up and running. 

Thanks for your encouragement. Based on your PM, I did the screenshots for virtually everything just in case some things didn't transfer. Was a bit of a pain, but for my needs with Eye Candy, it was well worth it. Was simply getting a little nervous about having to rely on using betas, especially with my intent to soon upgrade from Mojave to Catalina, thus requiring me to use my CS5 PS within a Parallels Sierra virtual volume. That works, but it is slower and has a couple minor bugs that don't help everyday productivity. 

[jmwellborn]

@nwhit   You are welcome.  Used to live in Southern California myself.  Gotta stick together! 😎

[thomaso]

1 hour ago, nwhit said:

The Workspace was NOT retained (sadly!).

As far I remember in the Serif Store version the workspace (panel arrangement) isn't a file in the Application Support folder but is saved in the file ~/Library/Preferences/com.seriflabs.affinitypublisher.plist

 

[nwhit]

30 minutes ago, thomaso said:

As far I remember in the Serif Store version the workspace (panel arrangement) isn't a file in the Application Support folder but is saved in the file ~/Library/Preferences/com.seriflabs.affinitypublisher.plist

 

DANG!!!!!  I had looked at the "normal/old" preferences and saw those, but totally forgot to copy/paste one from either the beta or MAS 1.8.3! But in looking at it right now, and referencing a Time Machine backup of the Prefs folder from before my migration, I do wonder if the workspace is actually stored in that plist file since I already had that file in the Preferences folder that was there from the MAS version. Even with it there, it did not bring in the workspace. I had to create from scratch (one more time, again, and again, and again. 😣). Where it is actually stored seems to still remain a mystery! 

The workspace thing has always been a real pain and has been a Feature Request for a looooong time. I think there are sooooo many people who want the ability to set up multiple workspaces, plus be able to easily restore a workspace if things get disrupted. And without a clear pref file that can be backed up and restored, to me it remains a very bad "mystery"! 

[walt.farrell]

27 minutes ago, nwhit said:

The workspace thing has always been a real pain and has been a Feature Request for a looooong time. I think there are sooooo many people who want the ability to set up multiple workspaces, plus be able to easily restore a workspace if things get disrupted.

Serif has said that 1.9 should have something new in that area, so watch for the beta.

[nwhit]

6 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

Serif has said that 1.9 should have something new in that area, so watch for the beta.

That would be VERY welcome, and I'm sure by many, many pro users. Been spoiled with so many media production apps that have had that, I think many were surprised when the Affinity suite didn't have it. Let's hope you're right.

I'm suspecting that it might be awhile before we see the next betas due to the ongoing situation, especially in the UK. But keep our fingers crossed. It's one of the reasons I didn't feel badly at all about paying an extra $50 for a new copy of Photo to solve my needs, especially given how generous/wise Serif have been about the multiple upgrades this last few years.