Affinity Designer Windows Customer Beta - 1.9.0.891

[Mark Ingram]

Click here to download the latest beta

Status: Customer Beta
Purpose: Features, Improvements, Fixes
Requirements: A valid product key (for Affinity Store purchases), or an installation of the full retail version from the Microsoft Store

As this is a beta it is considered to be not suitable for production use. This means that you should not attempt to use it for commercial purposes or for any other activity that may be adversely affected by the application failing, including the total loss of any documents. We hope you enjoy the latest build, and as always, if you've got any problems, please don't hesitate to post a new thread in this forum and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Thanks once again for your continued feedback. 

If you have a general question about the software, please head over to the Questions Forum, or if you have any suggestions, please head over to the Feature Requests forum.

Changes

• Added Mitre Limit to Contour Tool
• Added Export as Timelapse
• Fixed BoolOps on contoured curves
• Improved PDF import of alpha-only images
• Removed Export Preview (it will come back later, with improvements)
• Added OpenAsset integration (requires existing OpenAsset account)
• Fixed crashes relating to expanded groups in Layers panel
• Fixed BMP loading for files with offset data
• Enable PDF Passthrough
• Fixed crash after clicking Texture panel in Brush Editor 

1.9.0.885 release notes

[GRAFKOM]

• Added Mitre Limit to Contour Tool

I praised Serif for repairing the Contour Tool. It really works well in this beta. Although I still miss the option scale with object. Please add this button and it will be really fun. This option is also missing from the Corner Tool.

[Jowday]

6 hours ago, Mark Ingram said:

• Removed Export Preview (it will come back later, with improvements)

Well, I still see it in 891 now that Designer works via Mark's little hack inside the publisher folder.

It just needs a cool interface - otherwise is seems to update quite fast when I make export setting adjustments. 

[Jowday]

I think the splash screen is too detailed with too much cramped into a small frame - looks almost washed out on a high res screen. Remember "Get close, then get even closer! "🙂

The strokes are almost invisible.

The Photo splash screen is spot on, though. Elegant.

[Dazmondo77]

1 hour ago, Jowday said:

I think the splash screen is too detailed with too much cramped into a small frame - looks almost washed out on a high res screen. Remember "Get close, then get even closer! "🙂

The Photo splash screen is spot on.

I agree - Designer splash would look cool 2 meters long in an art gallery but for a splash screen it's just headache fodder - way too busy for my eyes at that size

[Frozen Death Knight]

2 hours ago, Jowday said:

I think the splash screen is too detailed with too much cramped into a small frame - looks almost washed out on a high res screen. Remember "Get close, then get even closer! "🙂

The Photo splash screen is spot on.

I agree. The artwork is not bad per say, but it is certainly too "busy", especially for such a small image. Kind of hard to for the eye to rest its focus on the canvas with so many details and saturated colours grabbing your attention all over the place. I think it would look a lot better if the image was cropped after zooming in on one detailed area, i.e. around the eyes of the face on the far right.

[telencephalon]

I really liked the first splash screen! When I saw the new splash screen a little disappointed. Why the numbers were removed, which version I'm using now I don't understand.
Decided to make my own variation of the splash screen, pictures can be different by itself. :))

P.S. Pictures ( shuttle and plane ) taken from the site Affinity.

 

[Petar Petrenko]

13 hours ago, awado said:

Why the numbers were removed, which version I'm using now I don't understand.

Also, it would be nice if we can see the version number when hovering icons on the task bar.

[PPPeter]

First of all; nice work with all the improvements and functions.

Still I found that a few (for me) key functions are missing:

Export persona still has no general suffix or prefix options for all slices, no version label or the possibility to save a project file path.

Palettised png export is still totally worthless, in both quality and file size, and you are much better off taking the trip around pngquant/TinyPng with your 24-bit version. (TL; DR: a 350x500 px image: 24-bit: 78 kb, jagged, ugly, 256 colours: 36 kb, jagged, ugly, 128 colours: 31 kb, pngquant 128 colours, indistinguishable from 24-bit: 22 kb.)

Envelope/mesh distortion, or any kind of free distortion, of vector objects. You can find threads about this being in the roadmap since 2016 but still no word about implementation from dev. Funny thing; they use a distorted text in the promo for 1.8: 

 

[chessboard]

Quote

Funny thing; they use a distorted text in the promo for 1.8: 

You're right! Hm, maybe it's hand-crafted after distorting in Affintiy Photo? (Or by using an different software 🤨? Just guessing...)

[Mithferion]

15 hours ago, awado said:

Why the numbers were removed, which version I'm using now I don't understand.

The version number appears later, when I start the program. This only happens when launching Designer.

Best regards!

[walt.farrell]

17 hours ago, awado said:

Why the numbers were removed, which version I'm using now I don't understand.

The numbers are still there for me.

[AdamRatai]

To add some diversity, I like this splash much better, than this in Affinity Photo. Personal taste, I think.

[Uncle Mez]

On 1/13/2021 at 5:13 PM, Jowday said:

I think the splash screen is too detailed with too much cramped into a small frame - looks almost washed out on a high res screen. Remember "Get close, then get even closer! "🙂

The Photo splash screen is spot on.

it's too bright, some areas should be darkened to make it pops more

[Max N]

I don't even know how to describe it. But I think it's understandable without comments.

[Joachim_L]

Hardware acceleration on or off? 

[Max N]

8 minutes ago, Joachim_L said:

Hardware acceleration on or off? 

OpenCL ON.

[Sam Neil]

On 1/13/2021 at 4:13 PM, Jowday said:

I think the splash screen is too detailed with too much cramped into a small frame - looks almost washed out on a high res screen. Remember "Get close, then get even closer! "🙂

The Photo splash screen is spot on.

Why not make it so it loads random images from the library.... Same applies to the other two apps.

[telencephalon]

40 minutes ago, Sam Neil said:

Why not make it so it loads random images from the library.... Same applies to the other two apps.

  As for me, this is not so important. Better to make a unique one picture ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Dazmondo77]

6 hours ago, PPPeter said:

Envelope/mesh distortion, or any kind of free distortion, of vector objects. You can find threads about this being in the roadmap since 2016 but still no word about implementation from dev. Funny thing; they use a distorted text in the promo for 1.8: 

It was probably in from the start, but might need 6 years of work to get it to play nice - why would you release a pro vector app that can't do vector distortions, as it's been a taken for granted standard requirement for 25 + years - the featured distorted artwork was probably created in an early, unstable, dev version or maybe Drawplus? we can only guess as this is a taboo subject with affinity staff by the look of it. if I've got it all wrong I'm sure we'll get some kind of staff response? 🤐

[nezumi]

16 hours ago, Dazmondo77 said:

It was probably in from the start, but might need 6 years of work to get it to play nice - why would you release a pro vector app that can't do vector distortions, as it's been a taken for granted standard requirement for 25 + years - the featured distorted artwork was probably created in an early, unstable, dev version or maybe Drawplus? we can only guess as this is a taboo subject with affinity staff by the look of it. if I've got it all wrong I'm sure we'll get some kind of staff response? 🤐

I dont think its as much "taboo" as a horse beaten to its death long time ago. New stuff is being added every release and just because its not there yet doesn't mean will never be. Common sense - they cant add EVERYTHING we would like. I have some features I am hoping to be added too, some of them were just added ("select same..." - finally here). But what good does it make of repeating the same questions over and over and over again? Yeah, its not there, yeah its somewhere else... When its going to be? When they get to it. Its not like devs are just doing nothing, is it? Just because you consider it very important doesnt mean this has to be added as priority. You think they dont know that its not there? You think they just avoid subject because there is some conspiracy going on? They are busy working, making new Betas all the time, sharing, adding new stuff... Your favorite feature will surely be added at some point. You have to just deal with not knowing when exactly.

[walt.farrell]

18 hours ago, Dazmondo77 said:

we can only guess as this is a taboo subject with affinity staff by the look of it. 

Not at all taboo, but that discussion is more appropriate for the Feature Request forum.

Here in the beta forum we're supposed to discuss new functions that were added in the beta, or new problems the beta has introduced.

[Gunny]

On 1/13/2021 at 10:27 AM, Mark Ingram said:

Added Export as Timelapse

I suppose YouTube will get flooded with timelapse videos. This could be nice promotion. 😃

Are there any limitations of this? Does the app really remember the whole session? Or does it even remember the whole history of the document? And what about "undid" steps?

[Powerhorse]

Gunny, yes it is bound to the history

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, Gunny said:

Does the app really remember the whole session? Or does it even remember the whole history of the document?

It is based on the document's history, and uses as much of the history as is available. So, if you have done editing in multiple sessions, but did not save the history with the document, the timelapse will contain only the steps from the latest session.

Sorry; I don't know how "undo" factors into it; I haven't played with the function enough yet. If you try it, let us know