Hyperlinks

[monicau]

Hello, 

Would it be possible to add the functionality of creating hyperlinks to images created in Affinity Designer?  It's useful to be able to create clickable images to distribute on social media with the hyperlinks embedded in the image to avoid errors when posting and linking manually, especially if you are creating the images on behalf of a client who will then post the image themselves.  

Thank you.

[walt.farrell]

Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums.

As far as I am aware, image formats (JPG, PNG, TIFF) don't support what you're asking for. If I'm right about that, I don't see how any of the Affinity applications could add that.

The link is provided by whatever the image is contained in, e.g. a PDF file or a web page.

It is certainly feasible to add the hyperlinking capability to PDFs created by Designer, but I have no idea if Serif will do that, or if they'd prefer you to use Publisher for that situation.

[fde101]

It's called an image map, and it is indeed coded in the HTML, not embedded into an image file.

https://www.w3schools.com/html/html_images_imagemap.asp

 

The best you could hope for here would be an option to somehow visually design an image map and export it separately as an HTML file from the Affinity applications.  If this were ever implemented I would expect it to be in Photo rather than Designer.

[fde101]

Actually, there is an exception: it is possible to do this with SVG and embed the links into the SVG code.

That would indeed be more fitting for Designer.

[monicau]

Yes, my ask was about a feature to create image maps.  From a Google search, I thought this feature already existed (see https://affinity.help/publisher/en-US.lproj/pages/Advanced/hyperlinks.html) , but I couldn't find the menus that these instructions refer to.  

In Adobe Illustrator, it is possible to embed links in image maps, and it does solve some problems when passing on images for social media to clients and when posting yourself, as the embedded links make the image into a button, effectively.   I find this very useful.  It can also be done in Canva, even in the free version.

As this can be done for free on Canva, I will keep adding hyperlinks there, but I thought I'd ask Serif, as this is a functionality I appreciate and would like to be able to use in Affinity.  

Ta to everyone who took the time and effort to answer.  Much appreciated, @Walt.farrell, @fde101 

 

Edited December 10, 2020 by monicau

[fde101]

2 hours ago, monicau said:

I thought this feature already existed (see https://affinity.help/publisher/en-US.lproj/pages/Advanced/hyperlinks.html)

That link points to help for Publisher, not for Designer.

[Leaving-Adobe]

For people leaving Adobe (Illustrator) it's absolute crucial to have this image map functionality: saving/exporting an imgae with hyperlinked areas you have the option to export the referring html file aside. With Affinty and by now I have to use another software );

[loukash]

On 5/23/2021 at 8:17 PM, Leaving-Adobe said:

For people leaving Adobe (Illustrator) it's absolute crucial to have this image map functionality

Being one of the "people leaving Adobe (Illustrator)", I can assure you that it "absolutely" isn't crucial.
Affinity Designer is not a HTML editor.

On 5/23/2021 at 8:17 PM, Leaving-Adobe said:

by now I have to use another software

If you have to create image maps often, you would be much better off to actually learn HTML coding:
w3schools.com/html/html_images_imagemap.asp

[Leaving-Adobe]

I prefer to work time-economic. Therefore Adobe's integrated html feature was absolutely senseful because it's often the person who made the graphic who is ought to deliver the whole image map. I see that follower and friends of Affinity are proud and fond on/of these Affinity products. But to tell me or other people should write the html code for image maps themselves is ridiculous. The code itself is not so complicated, I know html basically since 20 years, but any image map (code) creator saves us tons of times.
As long as Affinity doesn't have that feature one can use https://www.image-map.net – eventually there are even better services out there, but it worked for me.