Linked layers do not work on the Windows AP.

[Bruno Henrique]

Linked layers do not work on the Windows AP.

Instead of dragging the layer to link, you could check the link option.

[lepr]

I don't think your video shows anything broken.

At the beginning, you were trying to link a layer to itself, which of course did not work.

Later, after you did make a linked duplicate, both of the linked objects' thumbnails were updating as you edited one object, but one object was exactly on top of the other.

 

[Frozen Death Knight]

@Bruno Henrique You are supposed to select one and then drag the other layer into that panel. What you showed at the start of the video is you trying to link the layer to, well, itself. 

[Frozen Death Knight]

[loukash]

44 minutes ago, Frozen Death Knight said:

select one and then drag the other layer into that panel

Frankly, the Links panel UI is… awkward, to put it very mildly. Not necessarily the brightest hour of Serif's UI division. (If any… )

[Frozen Death Knight]

32 minutes ago, loukash said:

Frankly, the Links panel UI is… awkward, to put it very mildly. Not necessarily the brightest hour of Serif's UI division. (If any… )

I can agree that it wasn't very obvious how to use it when I first saw it. Not until I saw a video demonstration did it click for me. To be fair to the devs, the feature is pretty new. Don't really know many photo editing programs that have this functionality. It's probably my most used feature in 1.9 because of how powerful it is.

[Frozen Death Knight]

@loukashOne way I think they could improve this is by adding a "Link Layers" operator in the R click menu while selecting multiple layers. It would simplify the basics of linking, but the Links panel would then allow for more advanced settings.

[Bruno Henrique]

 it's like my mouse was too sensitive. I drag and loose however it will not, apart from the pointer that is as if it were locked. when I step the mouse over until the mouse pointer changes but it is very fast to switch to the lock.

 

..

[Frozen Death Knight]

1 minute ago, Bruno Henrique said:

 it's like my mouse was too sensitive. I drag and loose however it will not, apart from the pointer that is as if it were locked. when I step the mouse over until the mouse pointer changes but it is very fast to switch to the lock.

 

 

..

You are still doing the same mistake. Drag the layer above the one you tried to drag instead. It will work then.

[Bruno Henrique]

at the end I also try to drag the top layer still continues with the problem.

[Frozen Death Knight]

7 minutes ago, Bruno Henrique said:

at the end I also try to drag the top layer still continues with the problem.

You selected it just before dragging it. If your layer is highlighted with a blue colour then it is selected. You have to drag the layer that is not highlighted blue or it will not work (remember to hold down the mouse button the entire time when dragging the non-highlighted layer).

[Bruno Henrique]

Ok now understood, tried and worked, use translator is still not so efficient. But the way to do this is not so intuitive, until you understand that the layer should not be selected, it is quite frustrating. Thank you for your help.

[Frozen Death Knight]

7 minutes ago, Bruno Henrique said:

Ok now understood, tried and worked, use translator is still not so efficient. But the way to do this is not so intuitive, until you understand that the layer should not be selected, it is quite frustrating. Thank you for your help.

You're welcome! Glad it worked out!

[R C-R]

21 hours ago, Bruno Henrique said:

But the way to do this is not so intuitive...

True, but if you give each layer a unique name (something in addition to the "(Curve)" layer type identifier) it is easier to tell if you are trying to link a layer to itself.

[R C-R]

Other 'not so intuitive' things about the panel:

It is not obvious the little dotted square Link Drop icon 'targets' are the only place where the layers can be dropped, or really even that they are drop targets. It would be more intuitive & easier to use if the layer could be dropped anywhere on the names of the attributes, eliminating the need for those tiny little targets.

On Macs, you don't even get the prohibited icon when trying to link a layer to itself. Instead, when you release the mouse button the dragged layer flies back into the Layer panel.

[Frozen Death Knight]

17 hours ago, R C-R said:

Other 'not so intuitive' things about the panel:

It is not obvious the little dotted square Link Drop icon 'targets' are the only place where the layers can be dropped, or really even that they are drop targets. It would be more intuitive & easier to use if the layer could be dropped anywhere on the names of the attributes, eliminating the need for those tiny little targets.

On Macs, you don't even get the prohibited icon when trying to link a layer to itself. Instead, when you release the mouse button the dragged layer flies back into the Layer panel.

You also can't link multiple layers at the same time. I think the feature would be more intuitive if you could copy the attributes of a single layer to the Links panel. Afterwards you would select all layers you want to link and then you are given the option to toggle on and off links for the attributes copied from the first layer. I think that would solve a lot of the unintuitive problems by removing the need to drag layers.

Also, creating an R click menu operator that would link layers together would be nice.

[loukash]

4 hours ago, Frozen Death Knight said:

You also can't link multiple layers at the same time.

That's why there's Layer > Duplicate Linked.
That's your quick way to multilink. Just keep on pressing the keyboard shortcut you've assigned to it.
Then you can disable linking for specific attributes where needed.

4 hours ago, Frozen Death Knight said:

I think the feature would be more intuitive if you could copy the attributes of a single layer to the Links panel. Afterwards you would select all layers you want to link

That sounds like a good idea.

4 hours ago, Frozen Death Knight said:

then you are given the option to toggle on and off links for the attributes copied from the first layer.

That's what it already does now.

4 hours ago, Frozen Death Knight said:

creating an R click menu operator that would link layers together would be nice

Yes, something like selecting multiple layers and choosing "Link Selected Layers" could work.
The problem:
Which one is the master?

That's likely why Serif opted for the current method: the one you select inherits the attributes of the one you drop onto the panel.

[R C-R]

24 minutes ago, loukash said:

Which one is the master?

Is there really a "master" in this implementation? I'm probably missing something but it seems more freeform than that ... which may be part of why it seems so non-intuitive.

[loukash]

2 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Is there really a "master" in this implementation?

Whatever you call it, this is what it currently does:

29 minutes ago, loukash said:

the one you select inherits the attributes of the one you drop onto the panel

Which is, frankly, exactly the opposite I'd expect.

[loukash]

Also, why the requirement to drop a layer from the Layers panel?
Why not dropping objects directly from the canvas to link them?

This all feels just like a "draft" of a function UI.
And don't let me even start on the display issues with the Light UI:

 

Edited May 15, 2021 by loukash
see right below

[loukash]

Just now, loukash said:

Also, why the requirement to drop a layer from the Layers panel?
Why not dropping objects directly from the canvas to link them?

On a second thought, I think I know why:

• you can drag and drop items from the Layers panel regardless which tool is selected
• dragging items from canvas would modify the content "on the fly" which would be definitely a Bad Idea.

So to work around those issues, it would need a dedicated Link tool.
I don't think I'd really want that.
So strike that…

[Frozen Death Knight]

1 hour ago, loukash said:

That's why there's Layer > Duplicate Linked.
That's your quick way to multilink. Just keep on pressing the keyboard shortcut you've assigned to it.
Then you can disable linking for specific attributes where needed.

Okay, so what is your solution then when a link breaks? There are several things you can do to break a link and there is no way to quickly re-link them. Having to redo the duplication every time this happens is a lot of extra unnecessary work.

1 hour ago, loukash said:

That's what it already does now.

I know, but I mentioned it because it helps get a better idea of how a reworked panel would work in practice.

1 hour ago, loukash said:

Yes, something like selecting multiple layers and choosing "Link Selected Layers" could work.
The problem:
Which one is the master?

That's likely why Serif opted for the current method: the one you select inherits the attributes of the one you drop onto the panel.

That's where the copying of a layer's attributes comes in. You can't link unless you have a source, so simply make the Links panel remember the source by simply selecting one layer, have a copy attributes button that you click in the Links panel, and then you simply click the link icons in the Links panel to start linking. To quickly link you just add the operator in the R click menu as well which links all attributes for the sake of simplicity. If you want more advanced settings you use the Links panel as usual. If you haven't specified a source then the operator is simply greyed out until it is done.

[R C-R]

1 minute ago, Frozen Death Knight said:

Okay, so what is your solution when a link breaks? There are several things you can do to break a link and there is no way to quickly re-link them.

What are the things you can do to break a link, other than clicking on the unlink icon in the Links panel?

Relinking works the same way linking does -- drag a layer onto one of the Link Drop icons in the Links panel. (Refer to the last item in the Linking help topic.)

[loukash]

7 minutes ago, Frozen Death Knight said:

Having to redo the duplication every time this happens is a lot of extra unnecessary work.

Of course.

8 minutes ago, Frozen Death Knight said:

make the Links panel remember the source by simply selecting one layer, have a copy attributes button that you click in the Links panel, and then you simply click the link icons in the Links panel to start linking.

Sounds good to me.

[loukash]

1 minute ago, R C-R said:

Relinking works the same way linking does

Except that it doesn't always work as expected.
While experimenting in the past weeks, there were sometimes issues that I would rather start all over, giving up any relinking attempts.