Tool Icon Size—Need to Enlarge

[R C-R]

4 hours ago, MEB said:

There's also two new controls/sliders there (Text contrast and UI Brightness) that let you fine tune the contrast a bit.

On my Mac, the Text Contrast Brightness slider does not affect the default Layer names like Curve or Pixel but does affect any custom layer names I add. Is this normal or expected?

[lforbes]

I have an iPad Pro 12.9" and I have changed the "larger text" to the largest size and Affinity V1 makes NO DIFFERENCE. The icons are still too tiny to be visible and the text definitely is maybe 8point if that?  It is too small to be visible without eye strain even with 20-20 vision, forget those with reading glasses.

All other software on the iPad and for Windows accommodate Accessibility functions like vision? Why doesn't Affinity?  

Affinity definitely had years of reports on V1 so V2 should have accommodated it. It isn't that difficult to code especially if you are using C# or C++ to code it.

You simply add a Preference to increase Icon Size and font size?  If your coders are having issues with it, I am sure I can find you some code on github to help them.

[MEB]

Hi @lforbes,
Regarding the text size on iPad I believe you changed the Text Size option in the Display & Brightness section. This does nothing because Affinity apps do not support Dynamic Type. The setting I was talking above is located in the Display Zoom section (the last control on bottom) - see screenshot below for reference:

Setting it to Larger Text will increase the whole interface size including icons and text. See comparison shot below for reference (left side uses Standard option/right side uses Larger Text option):

 

[lforbes]

That is not 'large text'. That is ZOOMED.  That makes it past the point of functionality in all my other apps.

I cannot do that. That drastically reduces my iPad screen usability size. So I then cannot use Shapr3D, procreate or ANY of my other apps because it makes my 12.9 ipad a 9" one.

All other iPad Apps have properly sized Icons. Also that won't help my Laptop where the icons are too tiny on it too.

Affinity needs to update their code to use LoadImage and not LoadIcon  Eg. HICON hIcon = (HICON)LoadImage(AfxGetInstanceHandle()

LoadIcon has been superseded in all versions of C including C+ because it is limited in size.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/winuser/nf-winuser-loadiconw

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/winuser/nf-winuser-loadimagea

[Normando]

I BEG Affinity to fix the "tiny tools" problem. It does no good to continue to say "Sorry, it can't be done," to every question. You are developers, are you not? You need to be cognizant of UI and the effect on your clients. IF you have backed yourselves into a corner by using a design code that makes this issue less compatible with your clients needs then you have chopped off a large section of users who want to use your product, but become frustrated by an inability to respond to them. Please reexamine this issue.

[Greg Spinks]

Whats new with this request? 

[walt.farrell]

2 minutes ago, btmgreg said:

Whats new with this request? 

Nothing.

[Normando]

I thought I had replied to this thread a long time ago. I found that by making the tool palette black and white it made the tools much easier to see. At this point I'll be darned if I can remember how I did it however. Maybe someone more familiar with the program (shouldn't be hard to find someone who fits that description) can enlighten everyone.

[walt.farrell]

7 minutes ago, Normando said:

I found that by making the tool palette black and white it made the tools much easier to see. At this point I'll be darned if I can remember how I did it however.

Probably Settings, User Interface, Icon Style: Mono

[R C-R]

9 minutes ago, Normando said:

At this point I'll be darned if I can remember how I did it however.

In Preferences  (or Settings) User Interface there is an option to use Color or Mono icon style.

Ha! Walt beat me to it by a few seconds.

[Normando]

Yep! You fellas are fast! Don't know why somebody couldn't have told me that a year ago.

Keep havin' fun.

[Pšenda]

15 hours ago, btmgreg said:

Whats new with this request? 

What should be new? - it has been said many times that OS resources should be used to adjust the UI size of the application (generally all applications), i.e. the Scale setting depending on the resolution and size of the used monitor and the preferences and needs of the user.
I have no problem with the size of the icons - I just choose the size that suits me, across all the applications I use.

   

[Feestenpateen]

AffinityV2 on Mac.

Would also like to reply on this matter. Same as locking the User Interface Design. Now please explain me if i got this wrong. But it seems to me Publisher is like the "upper layer" software, since you can easily switch between the different programs. Now i have set my preferences to my likings as a studio preset. Now it already kinda annoyed me that i had to do this 3 times over (publisher, designer and photo) to actually get the same presets switching from one to the other (as well as the same size with left and right studio. Making it sort of *flicker* while changing different programs). But then i take notice, when i actually load a file to only one specific program, all the presets don't seem to be there (probably cause i have only set them up in Publisher, but still...). I expect when i switch from one program to the other (within publisher), that it would have the same presets (and it does now, after making a lot of changes). But i also expect, while setting those presets, that actually loading other software (designer/photo) separately would still give me the same studio presets. Maybe someone can explain to me what the benefit would be of using the three software separately or as one. Would love to hear it!

Other thing i came to notice, and this actually happened every time i use the program. I accidentally click somewhere and then i make changes to the UI. As en example, sometimes i want to make a bit more room and make the left (or right) studio a bit less wider. However, cause the UI is really thin i sometimes mis click and then i already unload a part of the left or right studio making it float. Which i didn't want. I'm a pen tablet user with the setting set to quite sensitive. But every time, on and on, i just float some part of the studio. But then putting it back again, it loads up next to the others again, not going back to the studio preset i wanted and which i never wanted to change. On top of that, when i do want them to restore them in my preferred order, they change back to some sort of default shape in which i don't like them. Again trying to adjust height or size, with again making the window float by mis clicking it. Etc.

Since i saved the studio presets the way i want to work with them, could you please add a option to lock them, so you can actually not make them float, but are able to change them in size. and while we are at it, when i dock the tools, they are at the most left of the screen. But since the UI can be a bit small sometimes, or the line width in between a 'bit narrow', could it also be made possible i lock the Tools on the right side of the left studio (or visa versa)? That would be a huge + as well. But for now a lock on the UI would be off huge preferences. Pretty please!

One more; when you open up a adjustment, the pop-up screen always seems to load on the bottom off the screen. That shouldn't be a problem when you want tot change the Blend Mode, but mostly, the menu that pops up actually goes down and you need to 'scroll' to see all of them. But when it's really really low, the menu pops up. Making it visible and clear just by one click. Maybe when the screen isn't really low, but still low, it would be able to make the Blend Modes pop-up already, instead of still down (and making you need to scroll).

Now i don't want to be all negative and such, and i really like the software to work with, but there are just several UI preferences that i also see other people ask for. And which, in my opinion, would make sense to actually add or change to the software itself. 

Quote

By creatives, for creatives

Anyway, thank you for even making this (V1 and V2) and making it able to not get this really expensive subscription to some software i don't even want. *cough* A...E *cough*. I really do appreciate your work!

Thanks for all in advance! Have a nice day as well!

[Greg Spinks]

13 hours ago, Pšenda said:

What should be new? - it has been said many times that OS resources should be used to adjust the UI size of the application (generally all applications), i.e. the Scale setting depending on the resolution and size of the used monitor and the preferences and needs of the user.
I have no problem with the size of the icons - I just choose the size that suits me, across all the applications I use.

   

Independent control of the UI in settings like other popular and expensive programs. I'd guess as there are countless threads and posts with the same request - your view is in the minority rather than majority. Windows 11, at least for me doesn't seem to work intuitively to adjust scale per app/program and instead, adjusts all apps at once which - unlike this one, doesn't seem to be in the same scale as others by default.

Your illustration above also shows that the bigger the image gets - the less clear/sharp the buttons and icons are.

That's what should be new

[Pšenda]

8 hours ago, btmgreg said:

Your illustration above also shows that the bigger the image gets - the less clear/sharp the buttons and icons are.

Less clear? - I personally don't notice anything like that.

Less sharp? - Of course, because it is an illustrative use of the scale and its display on an inappropriate/incorrect monitor (its resolution). If you use the correct Scale factor on an adequate monitor, i.e. on an adequate resolution and size, the difference in sharpness will not be noticeable/visable. It is the same as viewing a 1x1m banner from a distance of 1cm.

 

8 hours ago, btmgreg said:

unlike this one, doesn't seem to be in the same scale as others by default.

If you have found any bugs and deviations from the display standards defined by the OS, then they should be reported in the Bug section. Correcting these bugs and deviations is then the correct solution, not non-standard local adjustment and setting the size of the UI.

 

8 hours ago, btmgreg said:

Independent control of the UI in settings like other popular and expensive programs

I will not comment on the popularity of the programs, but I also use very expensive programs (compared to Affinity), and it has none. For example, even Office, which definitely cannot be considered a cheap program, and which I take as a certain standard of how applications for Windows should look (fortunately, the Ribbon did not take too much :-), does not have local resizing.

 

8 hours ago, btmgreg said:

I'd guess as there are countless threads and posts with the same request - your view is in the minority rather than majority.

Interesting math. So all the other users (as far as I know, there are thousands of them) who didn't even log in to the forum, or logged in but didn't comment on the topic because they don't see it as a problem, you understand and count as dissatisfied and demanding local UI resizing? Fortunately, Serif doesn't use similar incorrect math and follows common sense, and invests its valuable development capacities in improvements that will be appreciated by the real "majority".

[Feestenpateen]

13 hours ago, btmgreg said:

Independent control of the UI in settings like other popular and expensive programs. I'd guess as there are countless threads and posts with the same request - your view is in the minority rather than majority. Windows 11, at least for me doesn't seem to work intuitively to adjust scale per app/program and instead, adjusts all apps at once which - unlike this one, doesn't seem to be in the same scale as others by default.

Your illustration above also shows that the bigger the image gets - the less clear/sharp the buttons and icons are.

That's what should be new

I do want to reply on this one. Since i have been working with Blender for a pretty decent time. And i actually love the way it can be adjusted there to your own preferences. Maybe that's a good example of free software on which the UI scale can be adjusted (while staying sharp). Also, maybe it's a good example overall. Note: The image i use as a example is scaled down, so it looks rather pixelated.

 

Edited September 30, 2023 by Feestenpateen
grammer