External HDMI Monitor

[pat100]

I have a “workstation” of wired mouse and keyboard and HDMI 23” screen. I plug my iPad Air 4 (2020) into that lot and use it as a “desktop” computer. 
I bought Pixelmator Photo but found that it didn’t provide much more than the native iOS “Photos” app. So, being fond of Serif from 20+ years ago (PagePlus!) I bought Affinity Photo. 
But I can’t see the toolbars on my monitor. Everything else seems to work and it’s similar to Paintshop Pro which I regularly used (minimally!) on Windows. 
Can I fix this? I’ve spent time trying and researching but can anyone give me a definite answer? 
Have I made an expensive mistake?
Alternatively, can Affinity Designer (or Procreate) do such actions such as selecting photos' areas to change, copy & paste , heal etc?

[stokerg]

Hi @pat100and Welcome to the Forums,

When you say you can't see the toolbars, is the toolbar you'd see when using a brush or another tool, the one that would appear along the bottom of the iPad if just using the iPad?

While i don't have an external monitor i can hook my iPad up to, there is an option in Preferences>General which should be enabled by default to 'Present To External Display' so make sure that's enabled.   Once i know which toolbars are not displaying i'll get someone on the team who has got a display they can connect an iPad to, to check this out  

[pat100]

Arragh! After a few hours/days of trying stuff, trying to get a refund for the app (luckily refused!), buying “Procreate” etc, etc, (and seething a bit!) it finally dawned on me … !

*** Turn OFF the “Present on external displays” setting which is on available via the first screen which you see ***

I had turned this ON before I started using the app because, well, I was USING an external display … !

What it MEANS is: “Hide the app” - which iPadOS would normally,  helpfully show  in all its toolbar-ed glory - and, instead, “Show ONLY the current artwork”

If I had not been proactive in opening Settings and had just started using the app I would never have experienced a problem as the app works correctly on an external monitor “out-of-the-box”!

So, I’d suggest to Serif renaming or explaining that setting!

And while we’re at it, ask them to put  zooming + and -  buttons on top toolbar as I cant easily “pinch” with mouse (or implement Ctrl+Mousewheel zooming for the artwork only i.e. not on the controls.)

Thanks for your help which eventually pointed my few remaining brain cells in the right direction!
(Now, I just have to unlearn the Procreate app … !)

[pat100]

OP here!

Just reading stokerg’s post more carefully:

If that setting is on by default, (I cant remember the sequence of my initial actions) that seems to be a Bad Idea …