Usability: Holding spacebar allows you to reposition a selection or object?

[dangerman2000]

Hi - This is a simple usability enhancement that the lack of it drives me bonkers in Affinity products...

In most other design products when you are creating a selection (marching ants) or drawing an object (circle, square, etc), you can reposition the selection/object by holding down the space bar and moving your mouse. It is almost as fundamental as copy/paste. 

The mac supports this in screen capture:

1) Press Cmd+Shift+4 to enter screenshot mode....
2) Now drag a selection
3) Now hold down shift and watch it more. 

This interaction is really important when trying to select a circle with a circle. It applies to all affinity products.

Please like or thumbs up if you feel that this should be added to the enhancements list!!!

[loukash]

Frankly, I don't even understand what it is that you're missing.
Can you post a screencast?

[cajhin]

This is a request I've seen before. It's an essential shortcut that Photoshop had forever, and many others copied it.

While you drag a selection, you can press Space to translate the selection origin (move the selection around), then continue resizing the selection without ever releasing the left mouse button.

The Affinity equivalent is, well, nothing. If you want to select the sun, and you didn't click the exact center when you start your ellipse selection, abort, start again, abort, start again, repeat until you start the selection in the exact right position... (if there's a smarter way to do it, I'd love to hear about it. I still try to unlearn the muscle memory 'hit space to move selection').

[loukash]

2 minutes ago, cajhin said:

if there's a smarter way to do it, I'd love to hear about it.

1. draw a vector curve/shape/whatever
2. adjust until you're totally happy with it
3. if it's still a defined shape like an Ellipse, click the Convert To Curves button
4. choose the Pen tool while the object is still selected
5. click the Selection button to convert to marching ants

On other words: Why wasting time chasing an uncontrollable marching ants army…?

8 minutes ago, cajhin said:

I still try to unlearn the muscle memory 'hit space to move selection').

I hear you. It takes time to escape 20+ years of Schmadobe brainwashing and indoctrination.

[cajhin]

Thanks for the instructions - still, I'd disagree. You can't say "use a workaround because this tool isn't very usable", and bash Adobe for having a very usable tool in the next para

I think nowadays that's just one of the basic conventions, like "hit shift while dragging a marquee for square shape". Just get in line and do that, unless you have a better way of doing it. Is anybody happy to *not* have the 'space to move' shortcut?

[loukash]

3 minutes ago, cajhin said:

You can't say "use a workaround because this tool isn't very usable"

And I didn't. Please don't put your words into my virtual mouth.
Al I did was to point out a smarter workflow, as requested.
"Workflow" ≠ "workaround"
Vive la différence…

6 minutes ago, cajhin said:

Is anybody happy to *not* have the 'space to move' shortcut?

Frankly, until right now I never even knew that this shortcut combined with a marching ants selection exists in PS, even though I've been using PS since, I don't know, the mid-1990s.
So I definitely never missed it.
But that's just me.

[cajhin]

Sorry that was poorly written - the 'workaround' thing is just my argument.

I mean, newbie needs to select a circle. Use the 'circle selection tool', right? It only takes 2-3 seconds. Only that tool doesn't work quite right, and a completely different workflow would be smarter.

My core issue is: I also learned Photoshop in the mid 90's. I didn't need it, it was just fun to learn. I still have that version installed, but it's brutally outdated, so I learn Affinity. But, unfortunately, that endeavour is often more frustrating than fun to me, because of design choices I don't agree with. Nothing major, just dozens of needless papercuts.

The case of the missing Space shortcut is a good example for the issues I'm having. It makes my life more difficult, and takes (me) much much longer than 3 seconds, for no reason that I can see (I'm sure it would be trivial to implement). Well, gotta explore the Pen tool, I never liked that much, but maybe that's just lack of skill.

[loukash]

25 minutes ago, cajhin said:

gotta explore the Pen tool, I never liked that much

Fair enough, I never liked it in Adobe apps either! (Coming from Freehand which Adobe has taken away from me and forced me to use Ill-frustrator for so many years…)

But in Affinity, the Pen along with the Node and Move tools are a powerful combo. Also, they behave consistently across all three apps. And if you have all three apps, you can switch seamlessly between them without leaving the document you're working on, regradless its suffix. The document format is universal. That's the true power of Affinity: the combined functionality of the trinity.

25 minutes ago, cajhin said:

that endeavour is often more frustrating than fun to me, because of design choices I don't agree with

I hear you. Been there done that.
Until some time last year when I realized that the true Affinity power actually lies in exploring new workflows. You need to take some time to dive in, read forum threads, watch tutorials; heck, even R.T.F.M.   But eventually it starts to pay off. Now I'm having fun. (Unless I have to deal with unresolved bugs like crappy boolean operations or crappy PDF/X-3 export…)

~~~

That all said, I'm all for having options.
In that sense, +1 to your feature request nonetheless.

Edited April 6, 2021 by loukash

[Fritz_H]

1 hour ago, cajhin said:

...If you want to select the sun, and you didn't click the exact center when you start your ellipse selection, abort, start again, abort, start again, repeat until you start the selection in the exact right position..

In Photo: the drag-around-feature is already there - no extra key required..
I do not understand your issue.

[loukash]

1 minute ago, Fritz_H said:

the drag-around-feature is already there

That's not what's being requested here.

2 minutes ago, Fritz_H said:

I do not understand your issue.

Obviously.
Read again:

11 hours ago, dangerman2000 said:

when you are creating a selection (marching ants) or drawing an object (circle, square, etc), you can reposition the selection/object by holding down the space bar and moving your mouse.

^ emphasis mine.

As noted, I never used it in PS, but often in AI when drawing with the Pen tool.
In fact, the Affinity Pen tool has this very feature as well:
affinity.help/photo/English.lproj/pages/CurvesShapes/draw_linesAndShapes.html

 

Quote

 

Modifier keys

When using the Pen Tool, the following modifier s can be used to speed up the workflow as you draw:

• […]
• The Spacebar lets you reposition the last drawn node without affecting control handle position.

 

 

[loukash]

12 hours ago, dangerman2000 said:

drawing an object (circle, square, etc), you can reposition the selection/object by holding down the space bar and moving your mouse

^ This actually does work in Affinity. Never noticed that until now!
So it's just the marquee selection that's lacking this option.

[jaedee]

Create a selection on a blank layer (above the image your working on) and use the move tool to transform the selection. 

Then select the layer your working with to apply the selection or mask the selection. 

[dangerman2000]

@jaedee - Thanks for that, I've never thought to move/transform a selection, other than with a nudge. That gets close, it's definitely not as elegant or seamless, but does get the job done in a few extra steps.

There are a few of these seemingly minor things that Affinity products have which prevent me from fully making a switch. Great products though. Ex. the lack of a trim feature comes to mind, (I'm sure there is a 5 step workaround), and being able to crop a canvas on Aff.Designer. Grrr.

Thanks. 

[loukash]

5 minutes ago, dangerman2000 said:

lack of a trim feature

Example?

5 minutes ago, dangerman2000 said:

being able to crop a canvas on Aff.Designer

You're looking waaaaay too far…

 

[prophet]

5 hours ago, loukash said:

Al I did was to point out a smarter workflow, as requested.

I'd argue a five step workflow is not really "smarter" than the single step of holding down the space bar.

This lack is greatly felt when attempting to use the circular marquee. Super frustrating to try and select an almost circular object to find you're off by just a few pixels and have to start over.

[NotMyFault]

6 hours ago, cajhin said:

This is a request I've seen before. It's an essential shortcut that Photoshop had forever, and many others copied it.

While you drag a selection, you can press Space to translate the selection origin (move the selection around), then continue resizing the selection without ever releasing the left mouse button.

The Affinity equivalent is, well, nothing. If you want to select the sun, and you didn't click the exact center when you start your ellipse selection, abort, start again, abort, start again, repeat until you start the selection in the exact right position... (if there's a smarter way to do it, I'd love to hear about it. I still try to unlearn the muscle memory 'hit space to move selection').

I know this is no replacement for your request (which i fully second), as the example with the sun requiring a circle selection, and this lacking feature drove me nuts.

In the past, a switched to the alternative solution explained by @loukash - but for this special case the is a even better alternative using Quick Mask (poorly named, as it is more a "Quick Selection" than mask)

• Use "quick mask" mode, by typing Q or hitting the symbol.
• Select brush tool, color white, and set your brush size and hardness to taste using ctl+alt+mouse left/right // up/down.
• Position the brush and maybe re-adjust

This workflow gives you even more control (including hardness == feathering) especially for circle shaped masks.

For rectangular shapes, you can use the rectangular selection tool to limit where you paint the selection.

 

[dangerman2000]

@loukash - Thanks for those links - it looks like Crop is a hot button and there is awareness of it.

For trim, in Photoshop, there is a menu item where when selected it trims the canvas to fit your image (it uses the top left pixel color, or bottom right color as a basis). For me, this is super handy in managing images for the web where you trim, compress and save it off. You can do it all without touching the mouse. I may be an old dog and need to dive deeper into the use of artboards, but they seem like an additional canvas to define when you just want to quickly optimize an image. 

 

@NotMyFault - That is a great trick using Quick Mask! Clever.... Proof that there is more than one way to skin a cat! Thanks!

 

 

 

 

[loukash]

1 hour ago, dangerman2000 said:

For trim, in Photoshop, there is a menu item where when selected it trims the canvas to fit your image (it uses the top left pixel color, or bottom right color as a basis)

Um… Document > Clip/Unclip Canvas …?

Or:

1. group layers you want to crop to
2. cmd-click the group layer thumbnail to marquee-select all its content
3. make sure snapping is active > Snap to pixel selection bounds
4. Crop tool
5. snap to selection & crop

For some reason, the Panorama persona Crop tool even has a "Crop To Opaque" option that is not available elsewhere. Go figure…

[prophet]

@loukash has always got a workaround or new workflow, which I very much appreciate. Seriously, I almost always learn something new when reading a thread where they are involved. An innovative Affinity user.

However, once again, a five step workflow for something which could be done with a dedicated menu item or button in the competition. Clip Canvas only works for white or transparent images. The "top left or bottom right pixel color" is a great time saver when working with images with a solid color background.

[loukash]

3 minutes ago, prophet said:

they

It's a "he".

4 minutes ago, prophet said:

a five step workflow

I'd assume that anyone who appreciates effective workflows as much as I do will add a keyboard shortcut to any command they use more than once a week. So a "five step workflow" may appear "complex" at first sight but is usually accomplished within a second or two, once memorized.

26 minutes ago, prophet said:

The "top left or bottom right pixel color" is a great time saver when working with images with a solid color background.

Ah, now I see what you guys mean! (Bild > Zuschneiden in my German PS)
Frankly, I haven't ever used this function in PS. So I've never missed it, haha…
But now that I'm looking at it, yeah, it's an interesting advanced option, indeed.