Artboards and Color Mismatch Bug

[Jordan JD Peterson]

I FOUND A SERIOUS COLOR MISMATCHING ISSUE WITH AFFINITY DESIGNER 1.9.2.1035 UTILIZING ARTBOARDS

I discovered the craziest color mismatching in Affinity Designer v1.9.2.1035 today that really had me stumped.

I have 3 or more files that essentially contain the same elements, colors, etc, other than some text and image variants using artboards. I noticed that one of my project files contained a much lighter orange background compared to the others.

So I drew a square as a test and set the color to a picked color from the good project file (in a sister tab), and noticed that the square filled with the orange was much lighter than the deep orange in the color palette. Please see first screenshot.

I then checked to make sure there was no effects, transparencies, or other modifiers changing the appearance and found none.

I also checked if there were any artboard effects or modifiers and couldn't find any.

I also checked the document settings under color and found no difference between this project and it's sisters.

I then created a new artboard and instantly the background colors in the other artboards updated with the correct color.

 

IT IS REPRODUCABLE RIGHT NOW WITHIN THE UNDO/REDO STACK

What I find ironic is that I can actually undo the creation of the artboard and the color mismatching appears again. If I recreate the artboard the colors restore.

The second screenshot shows a created artboard next to the SAME SQUARE. As you can see the orange changed to the correct color after creating the artboard next to it. The colors in the other content filled artboards were then restored to match the palette color tool.

If I delete the newly created artboard that fixed the colors, then delete it, the colors remain fixed. I'm thinking there may be corruption in the project file, but haven't investigated.

 

COLOR MISMATCHING CARRIES OUT THROUGH PDF EXPORT

When exporting to PDF the mismatch colors carry into the PDF export document.

 

WORKAROUND

Create another artboard and then delete it. After saving, closing, and reloading, colors are ok.

 

COLOR OK FOR PDF EXPORT AFTER WORKAROUND

I just confirmed that after the workaround, saving, closing, then reloading document, that I was able to export to PDF and the colors were consistent this time.

 

POSSIBLE CAUSES OR LINKS?

Well there seems to be a setting in the Preferences where you can choose the gamma or color of the background when using artboards and I believe that somehow background setting is being applied to the contents within the artboards or even objects rooted outside any artboard tree which cause the mismatch.

 

Let me know what you think guys. This is the first time to experience this, and I think it will be very unlikely to see this bug surface again.

Thanks for looking this bug over.

 

[walt.farrell]

Can you provide the .afdesign file that demonstrates this?

[Old Bruce]

Just a guess but I think the Brightness Contrast adjustment layer may be causing this.

[Jordan JD Peterson]

33 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Just a guess but I think the Brightness Contrast adjustment layer may be causing this.

Thanks for the reply, but there's only one brightness contrast modifier I know of in the Layer menu, and when adjusted, adds a line under the object to which it attributes. However as noted in my observations, there were no modifiers on the layers affected as would be clearly shown in the layer tree. Secondly, if a contrast/brightness layer was there, why would creating another empty artboard modify or remove modifiers in two other artboards simultaneously? They are theoretically contained within the artboard trees. Yes, creating a new artboard was the only tweak that resolved the mismatched colors in the previous artboards. I've never seen this before nor do I think I'll be able to reproduce the bug.

If I'm misunderstanding you and there is yet another Brightness/Contrast setting as some sort of global for all artboards, I'm ears to hear how to control it. I still don't think it's likely though as creating a new artboard shouldn't change non-existent modifiers for two other artboards.

The problem vanished after creating and deleting a new artboard, saving, and re-opening. 

Thanks for your input.

Sincerely,

Jordan

[walt.farrell]

It would really help to have your .afdesign document, or a similar one that exhibits the problem.

[Jordan JD Peterson]

On 6/20/2021 at 7:28 PM, walt.farrell said:

Can you provide the .afdesign file that demonstrates this?

I apologize, but I need to pass on the request.. I don't feel comfortable sharing my customer's personal info. Others will grab the file and put it all over the place here like it's the new sample on the block to play with. Since I cannot reproduce the bug as this is the first time it's occurred, it's also very unlikely I can create a test file to replicate it. As noted my workaround was to create another artboard and delete it. I've already saved the changes and the bug is out of view again. If someone chimes in or I somehow manage to replicate the behavior, by all means I'll post a sample afdesign file containing the flaw.

Thanks for getting back nonetheless!

[walt.farrell]

You're welcome.

I'll also mention that if you get something recreatable but not shareable again, the moderators can provide a private upload link in Dropbox that only they can see.

[Jordan JD Peterson]

8 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

You're welcome.

I'll also mention that if you get something recreatable but not shareable again, the moderators can provide a private upload link in Dropbox that only they can see.

Thanks Walt.