Jay Enn Pea Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 In Designer 1.9 I stumbled across linked layers. I thought this was only a Photo feature(?). I can view a Links panel, and link / unlink between layers and change attributes. I only found this by accident when I noticed the 'linked to' icon in one of my adjustment layers. Is this some 'hidden' feature that's not documented? Searching for mention of it in help or on the internet only gives me results for Photo. There is no matching item in the Layers or Studio menus. So how would I explicitly enable the Links panel normally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walt.farrell Posted February 17, 2021 Share Posted February 17, 2021 Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums. I don't have anything about linked layers in Designer 1.9 on Windows, but I see you're on a Mac. Quote -- Walt Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases PC: Desktop: Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Laptop: Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU. iPad: iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard Mac: 2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Enn Pea Posted February 18, 2021 Author Share Posted February 18, 2021 On further investigation, here is how I discovered the Links panel: Draw any object. Create a symbol from the Symbols panel. Apply an Adjustment Layer (it looks like any adjustment will do). Add a copy of the symbol to the document. In the Layers panel an 'is linked' link icon will appear next to the adjustment layer. Click the link icon to show the mystery Links panel. Using the Links panel, the shape and attributes of objects or entire layers can be linked in a similar way to how it is done in Photo. This continues to work if the symbol is deleted, but not if it is detached. However, if the symbol is deleted, then the link icon in the Layers panel disappears, and if the Links panel is closed it cannot be reopened from any menu. I still can't find how this Links panel can be opened without initially creating a symbol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joachim_L Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 Seems to be a Mac specific feature? Your recipe won't work for me on 1.9.0.932 for Windows. Quote ------ Windows 10 | i5-8500 CPU | Intel UHD 630 Graphics | 32 GB RAM | Latest Retail and Beta versions of complete Affinity range installed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl123 Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 On Windows the link icons don't show up in the layers panel when creating a symbol (as above) but they do show when you File > Edit in Photo... Likewise, when you create a link in Photo using File > Duplicate Linked the link icons do not show in Designer I think the link icon should also show in designer so you know it's a linked object Quote To save time I am currently using an automated AI to reply to some posts on this forum. If any of "my" posts are wrong or appear to be total b*ll*cks they are the ones generated by the AI. If correct they were probably mine. I apologise for any mistakes made by my AI - I'm sure it will improve with time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h_d Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 Confirmed on macOS 11.2: Seems like an odd but fairly harmless bug, or an unimplemented feature. As I understand it, the three Affinity apps have a lot in common under the hood, and the Symbol functionality in Designer is very similar to the Layer Link functionality in Photo. Keep it quiet... 🤐 Quote Affinity Photo 2.0.3, Affinity Designer 2.0.3, Affinity Publisher 2.0.3, Mac OSX 13, 2018 MacBook Pro 15" Intel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R C-R Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 8 hours ago, Joachim_L said: Seems to be a Mac specific feature? Your recipe won't work for me on 1.9.0.932 for Windows. It works for me on macOS Catalina 10.15.7. I can even dock the Links panel in the left or right Studio, & it remains there after I close the unsaved document with the symbol copy & adjustment layers. The panel seems to be non-functional in AD -- none of the boxes can be ticked but it does appear for me. Quote All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7 Affinity Photo 1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lepr Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 20 minutes ago, R C-R said: The panel seems to be non-functional in AD -- none of the boxes can be ticked but it does appear for me. The panel is fully functional in AD if you try to use it correctly. The boxes are drop targets, not checkboxes, so they are not supposed to be tickable. R C-R 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R C-R Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 1 hour ago, anon2 said: The panel is fully functional in AD if you try to use it correctly. The boxes are drop targets, not checkboxes, so they are not supposed to be tickable. Thanks. I was not sure how that was supposed to work ... & I have had very little time to test it because we are currently still subject to long weather-related 'rolling blackouts' when we have no power or heat. Quote All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7 Affinity Photo 1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lepr Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 4 minutes ago, R C-R said: we are currently still subject to long weather-related 'rolling blackouts' when we have no power or heat. Sorry to hear that you are badly affected by the upside down weather. Sadly, these events seem to be becoming more frequent. R C-R 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfred Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 3 minutes ago, anon2 said: Sorry to hear that you are badly affected by the upside down weather. What he said! R C-R 1 Quote Alfred Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R C-R Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 3 minutes ago, anon2 said: Sorry to hear that you are badly affected by the upside down weather. Sadly, these events seem to be becoming more frequent. Supposedly, the problem here in Texas is that a lot of our power plants were not properly winterized this year. So when the sustained record setting low temperatures hit the state, many plants shut down & the ones remaining online could not meet the demand. Things are slowly getting better as temps increase & more plants come back online, but it could be Saturday or Sunday before it is warm enough to see what freezing damage our homes may have sustained. Alfred 1 Quote All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7 Affinity Photo 1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h_d Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 Take care and best of luck @R C-R R C-R 1 Quote Affinity Photo 2.0.3, Affinity Designer 2.0.3, Affinity Publisher 2.0.3, Mac OSX 13, 2018 MacBook Pro 15" Intel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.