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Various feature requests and bug reports…


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I use Affinity Photo for painting digitally with a Wacom mostly.
I like it, but there are some things that make certain workflows a bit slow or clumsy.

Feature requests:

* An option to turn off tool toggling when pressing the same keystroke twice and no second
  tool is available. I want to press B for brush, and when pressing B for brush I mean brush
  and not something else. If the brush just happens to be selected already, I don't care,
  I still want a brush. The current auto-switching behaviour is VERY annoying, especially
  when the UI is deactivated (tab key), because then you may not remember which tool is
  currently active.

* An option to NOT automatically switch foreground and background colours when switching from
  brush to fill tool. This switching is most probably an intended feature, but it feels very
  much like a bug and is VERY annoying.

* Palette windows should open on keypress even when the UI is deactivated (tab key).
  I like working with the UI deactivated to have the whole screen for painting.
  To pick a colour, for instance, I want to hit C, pick one, hit C again and continue
  painting. Currently, I have to hit TAB, then C, pick a colour, hit C and TAB again.
  Or dock the colour palette and use TAB, but that's not the point, because the
  docked UI is already crowded with other palettes such as the layers, etc.

* Palette windows should always open under the mouse on keypress, regardless if they're already docked. Don't undock, though!

* Modifier keys are inconsistent when resizing an area, depending on whether you're
  resizing at a corner or at the edge. In my opinion, SHIFT should always preserve aspect
  ratio (even when resizing at the edge), while not pressing SHIFT should allow me to
  freely resize (even when resizing at the corner). Or at least make this an option.

* Throughout the UI, the settings should always be persisted and stay intact across documents.
  For instance, the last filter can be applied with CMD+F, but unfortunately AP forgets this
  as soon as I close the document and open another one. I have to open the filter again and
  make all the necessary settings a second time. Another example is the crop tool:
  I usually want a fixed aspect ratio of 16:9, but AP forgets this as soon as I apply
  the cropping, so I need to enter the same numbers over and over again...

* Make all non-destructive manipulation layers (brightness-contrast, etc.) available as filters,
  for a faster workflow. While these layers are very handy at times, it's just an unnecessary
  extra step to when doing speed paintings.

* A polygon lasso. I know I can make straight line with the freehand lasso by using the SHIFT key, but a simple
  polygon lasso would make the workflow faster, esp. when painting over polygons.

* A pixel spray tool, for creating retro-style dither effects.

* See the file's location folders when right-clicking the document title. (This is standard on macOS.)

Bugs or misbehaviours:

* Keyboard shortcuts don't work when the focus is within a tool window. This is very annoying
  and can slow down an otherwise fairly efficient workflow. At least allow me to hit the ESC
  key to bring the focus back to the canvas.

* Auto-scrolling should stop when the end of the canvas has already been reached.
  Indeed, there is no need for any auto-scrolling at all when the whole canvas fits into the window anyway.
  The current behaviour feels very annoying when trying to quickly select an area in a corner of the canvas.

* The UI can be hidden by pressing TAB. That's great, but this state should not be persisted.
  Otherwise you'll end up with a grey window with no UI whatsoever on next re-launch...

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Please see the header of the Feature Requests forum, in particular:

Quote

Please just do one suggestion per thread. If your post title is “Here’s a few ideas to improve Affinity Publisher” you’ll be asked to split them up.

The others that I have not quoted, especially the one about searching first are important, too.

Also, bug reports need to be in the Bug Reports forum, not the Feature Requests forum, and should also be done individually, not grouped.

 

-- 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

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4 hours ago, digorydoo said:

* An option to turn off tool toggling when pressing the same keystroke twice and no second
  tool is available. I want to press B for brush, and when pressing B for brush I mean brush
  and not something else. If the brush just happens to be selected already, I don't care,
  I still want a brush.

That function already exists, via Preferences. Probably in the Tools section, where you can set it to require Shift to switch between tools in the same group.

Edit: Yes, in Tools under Preferences:

image.png.f77a01799ad38f448c13efe5fdec45c2.png

 

4 hours ago, digorydoo said:

* Modifier keys are inconsistent when resizing an area, depending on whether you're
  resizing at a corner or at the edge. In my opinion, SHIFT should always preserve aspect
  ratio (even when resizing at the edge), while not pressing SHIFT should allow me to
  freely resize (even when resizing at the corner). Or at least make this an option.

There is also an option for that in Preferences.

Edit: Also in Tools under Preferences. Pick the option that you want:
image.png.584fce842aeca8a78073edd85dfca93e.png

 

-- 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

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4 hours ago, digorydoo said:

* Make all non-destructive manipulation layers (brightness-contrast, etc.) available as filters,
  for a faster workflow. While these layers are very handy at times, it's just an unnecessary
  extra step to when doing speed paintings.

I don't understand that one. How is adding a Filter any faster than adding an Adjustment?

-- 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

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4 hours ago, digorydoo said:

* A polygon lasso. I know I can make straight line with the freehand lasso by using the SHIFT key, but a simple
  polygon lasso would make the workflow faster, esp. when painting over polygons.

Perhaps I don't quite understand what you want, but the Freehand Selection Tool (the lasso) has a polygon mode that you can enable in the Context Toolbar:

image.png.58e97c7b674713ba608160d89fafdbc3.png

-- 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

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15 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Perhaps I don't quite understand what you want, but the Freehand Selection Tool (the lasso) has a polygon mode that you can enable in the Context Toolbar:

image.png.58e97c7b674713ba608160d89fafdbc3.png

Cool, that's exactly what I want! I totally missed it. Now all I need is a shortcut for this and the freehand one.

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15 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

I don't understand that one. How is adding a Filter any faster than adding an Adjustment?

If you add an adjustment, you have to either merge it with the current layer, or add another layer on top to continue painting. This is an extra step, and it involves fiddling with the Layers UI, which means I have to leave UI-less mode (tab). But I agree it isn't a big issue.

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17 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

That function already exists, via Preferences. Probably in the Tools section, where you can set it to require Shift to switch between tools in the same group.

Edit: Yes, in Tools under Preferences:

 

 

There is also an option for that in Preferences.

Edit: Also in Tools under Preferences. Pick the option that you want:
 

 

That's perfect, thanks a lot!

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17 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

Please see the header of the Feature Requests forum, in particular:

The others that I have not quoted, especially the one about searching first are important, too.

Also, bug reports need to be in the Bug Reports forum, not the Feature Requests forum, and should also be done individually, not grouped.

 

OK, I'll remember next time.

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4 minutes ago, digorydoo said:

If you add an adjustment, you have to either merge it with the current layer, or add another layer on top to continue painting.

All adjustments have a merge button, just hit that after making your adjustment.

Is that what you want?

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.

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At least three of your "feature requests" have been for things that already exist in the software; you just didn’t know how to do them.
In the future, rather than simply assuming that the software doesn’t do what you want and adding a feature request, you could try asking a question about it instead.
By asking a question about one specific thing at a time you can probably get a better answer – more people will probably be more willing to reply to a single question rather than a long list of ‘stuff I don’t know how to do’ – and other people can more-easily find the answer if they have the same question.
You would be helping yourself and others.

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