Blend Options Panel has no x to close

[CaroleG]

I am following tutorials on AD and inadvertently clicked the Blend Ranges cog and a Blend Options panel appeared with the graphs.   Unfortunately there seems to be no way of shutting this.   There is no x to shut and I cannot close it with cmd W.   Even Reset Studio does not get rid and when I quit the app and open again it is still there.   Any way to do it?

[v_kyr]

Are you on an iPad? - If yes, then you should use instead this forum section -> Affinity on iPad Questions.

[Old Bruce]

On Mac there is the 'close window' 'traffic light' section in the upper left so I would think that there should be the X for Windows in the upper right, it may not be drawn there on screen but you could try clicking in the proper space anyway.

Otherwise I guess you have to wait on an update to fix this.

[CaroleG]

Old Bruce.   Thanks for this.   Never investigated the traffic lights.   New to Mac so still getting to grips with it as well as AD.   

 

R C-R.   Thanks for this.  Finding it very useful

On 2/2/2021 at 12:37 AM, R C-R said:

Correct. My point is you can use a short tooltip delay on the desktop version,      

 

On 2/6/2021 at 2:27 PM, Old Bruce said:

On Mac there is the 'close window' 'traffic light' section in the upper left so I would think that there should be the X for Windows in the upper right, it may not be drawn there on screen but you could try clicking in the proper space anyway.

Otherwise I guess you have to wait on an update to fix this.

 

[Old Bruce]

4 hours ago, CaroleG said:

Old Bruce.   Thanks for this.   Never investigated the traffic lights.   New to Mac so still getting to grips with it as well as AD.   

 

Here are a couple of tips. They still catch me out after decades of Mac use. Mine are greyscale because of the choices I have made in the OS System Preferences.

The left X will close it the middle - will minimize the window to the dock and the weird right symbol will fill the screen, or change the size to your previous sized window if you hold down the Option key before clicking it. You can see that change to a + in the movie.

[CaroleG]

Thank you so much !    I feel like an idiot.   After 30 odd years so used to Microsoft I can’t see the wood from the trees.   But getting old and start of cataracts doesn’t help.    But I am a stubborn old goat so won’t give up.   Thanks again - your help is much appreciated!

[Old Bruce]

You are welcome.

[jmwellborn]

5 hours ago, CaroleG said:

Thank you so much !    I feel like an idiot.   After 30 odd years so used to Microsoft I can’t see the wood from the trees.   But getting old and start of cataracts doesn’t help.    But I am a stubborn old goat so won’t give up.   Thanks again - your help is much appreciated!

Hi @CaroleG  glad to see that you have your new Mac!   Don’t feel like an idiot, because there will be several differences as you get used to your new machine.  I switched to Mac in 2013 after decades of Microsoft and also floundered a little for a short time.  And then everything was clear as a bell.  So ask away.  There are so many “old hands” on these Forums who have helped me times out of mind and they will be here to help you too.  So again, welcome aboard!!

 P.S.  If you would like to flag your helper’s attention to a reply from you, you can type the @ symbol immediately followed by the poster’s user name (try it with your own) and you will be shown a little downward heading window with user names.  When you reach the one you want, click on that and it will turn up in your comment section highlighted in blue.  That will then flag the person that they have a response.  😊

[CaroleG]

@jmwellborn     I went for the 27” i5.    Just a little perturbed as I got a couple of Catalina updates and then saw this Big Sur update which I am ignoring.    Bit much when you buy a new iMac and then one of the first updates that comes is for a whole new operating system which I believe has still got bugs.    BTW do I need anti virus for Mac?    I was advised they are quite secure but not sure and will I have to update to Big Sur - I thought that was only for M1 chips?    Not far away from you I believe.

[v_kyr]

I'm not jmwellborn, but I think you took the right decision for your needs. Actually you don't need yet to upgrade from "Catalina" to "Big Sur", since the "Big Sur" OS is still pretty new and as you already thought also still has some bugs.

Though just to clarify here, "Big Sur" isn't just for Macs with M1 chips, it's also for Intel CPUs (chips) as your new iMac has. The difference is here, that this new and latest MacOS Big Sur - in contrast to MacOS Catalina - is build in a universal architecture manner, which means it supports both processor architectures Intel and Apples new ARM based CPU architectures. It does so as it's containing the binary code for executables and all system- and third party libraries for both CPU architectures (thus providing universal binaries and libraries). In the past (in former times) we called this a multi- or fat binary architecture. The only downside is, that apps and libraries got bigger in size (you need more disk space for OS & apps), since they always contain the code for both (the ARM & Intel) architectures here and that app startup times might take a little bit longer.

To sum up, your actually fine with "Catalina" and can wait until "Big Sur" evolved to be also more stable, bug free, and the defacto standard OS. Then you can anytime migrate over to that OS version!

[jmwellborn]

@CaroleG  Good choice!  Although I am not v_kyr  I would definitely follow his advice.  No, you don't have to update from Catalina to Big Sur. @v_kyr is absolutely right!  You are probably getting a little popup update notice about the Big Sur update in the top right of your desktop.  Just click on the LEFT side of that little box, in the little icon at the top left corner, and that will open the Update screen.  Don't be frightened.  Just use your mouse and click on the red dot at the top left of that screen , and it will close.  Periodically you will be pestered by the same notice, but you can repeat the process and hide it until the next time. Repeat.   That same procedure will occur when there are available updates for other apps on your computer, such as Safari, or Photos, or iBooks.  You can always choose to either update something, or ignore it.

If you don't open any web site that your MAC shows as Insecure (you will see that notification where you type in the name of the website if you are using your Safari web browser) you should not need any antivirus software.  If you purchased your new Mac from Apple and ever have a strange problem, you can contact their Tech Support and they will walk you through the solution.  They are very, very helpful.   Just be careful not to open strange websites or those with the "Insecure" notification, and of course -- as you already surely know -- don't open any strange email.  Which has nothing to do with Affinity, or Big Sur, but you will find that your Mac, just like your iPad,  is very good at sorting out Junk mail.😊

 

[v_kyr]

Another weak and urgent point for people, when actually upgrading to "Big Sur" and performing "Big Sur updates" can be the "not having enough free HD space problem", if their HD drives are of low size ...

Quote

The macOS Big Sur upgrade is not checking to make sure enough free HD space is available. The upgrade will start, then run out of space and fail. If FV2 encryption is enabled, you will be locked out of your data!

See for example:

• Big Sur Upgrade not Enough Free Space = Serious Issue & Possible Data Loss!