Auto-Distribute Failure in Affinity Designer 1.10.x …

[Dr_No]

’Allo ’allo … Back again with Today’s Dumb Question:

Why Isn't ‘Auto-Distribute’ Activating in AD 1.10?

Please see the attached image of the setup for a proposed document. Simple, really. A few resizable squares which serve as placeholders for text. BUT: they need to be properly distributed.

I've watched the Affinity Tute ( https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/tutorials/designer/desktop/video/301625950/  ) that demos the way AutoDist should work … but doesn't - and isn't. I can access Alignment thru the Layers panel, but that does nothing. It even fails to align all objects’ centre point, both horizontally and vertically. I thought that wasn't possible.

Please advise if you note anything that I'm not doing (or doing incorrectly). Everything is (or appears to be) set up correctly for the objects to be auto-distributed - but the AutoDist does not light up and make the function active. I'm so puzzled. Thanks in advance for your assistance.

[Old Bruce]

Click one of the indicated buttons.

[G13RL]

Hi @Dr_No,

Please see my attached gif.

[Dr_No]

G13RL and Old Bruce … Thanks for your swift replies. What each of you advise is exactly what I'm doing already, but mine does not function as it does in the .gif sent by G13RL. I wish that were not the case, but I group the objects, click a xform function, and … Nada. Nichts. Null. Nyet. 

[Dr_No]

G13RL … Sorry I forgot this, but in your example, I note that after you’ve grouped the items and after you select an alignment mode, the ‘Auto-Distribute’ function - which is what I'm trying to enable - is not activated in your .gif, either. I can access horizontal / vertical alignment - I cannot access or activate ‘Auto-Distribute’, which is what I need.

[walt.farrell]

4 minutes ago, Dr_No said:

G13RL … Sorry I forgot this, but in your example, I note that after you’ve grouped the items and after you select an alignment mode, the ‘Auto-Distribute’ function - which is what I'm trying to enable - is not activated in your .gif, either. I can access horizontal / vertical alignment - I cannot access or activate ‘Auto-Distribute’, which is what I need.

You did not have the horizontal or vertical option chosen in your screenshot. Can you provide one where you have selected it?

[Dr_No]

Thanks to all … I believe the answer (counter-intuitive tho’ it may be) is that, in order to activate ‘Auto-Distribute’, one must first UN-check ‘Auto-Distribute’ whilst the items are active. Only then does the Auto-Distribute field light up and the elements become highlighted so that the slider bar button can be moved left or right or a specific distance plugged in. Sorry to be so thick, but I never anticipated the answer being one that's so counter-intuitive. Thanks again to all.

[G13RL]

13 minutes ago, Dr_No said:

Thanks to all … I believe the answer (counter-intuitive tho’ it may be) is that, in order to activate ‘Auto-Distribute’, one must first UN-check ‘Auto-Distribute’ whilst the items are active. Only then does the Auto-Distribute field light up and the elements become highlighted so that the slider bar button can be moved left or right or a specific distance plugged in. Sorry to be so thick, but I never anticipated the answer being one that's so counter-intuitive. Thanks again to all.

You are right, I think many of us have broken our noses on how these buttons work!

[R C-R]

17 hours ago, Dr_No said:

I believe the answer (counter-intuitive tho’ it may be) is that, in order to activate ‘Auto-Distribute’, one must first UN-check ‘Auto-Distribute’ whilst the items are active.

No, you do not have to do that. How it works is if you do not click Space Horizontally or Space Vertically the Auto Distribute checkbox is greyed out, indicating that it is not available unless one of those spacing modes are active. So it does not matter if it has a checkmark or not.

If you do click on either of those spacing modes then the Auto Distribute option becomes available (no longer greyed out) & its box can either be left checked or unchecked. If unchecked, the numeric field to the right become available, so you can manually set the spacing distance.

Not very intuitive, I agree, but as long as you pay attention to what is & is not greyed out, it should not be too hard to understand how it works.

[Dr_No]

R C-R … Thanks for your clarification. It makes sense even while being counter-intuitive. Most users would likely attempt to (as did I) tic the box first - which is both useless and unfulfilling - rather than one of the spacing modes first. This appears to be one of those tiny yet infuriating ‘How Do I … ?’ queries that lead to many wasted minutes (or, more) until the ‘Secret Sauce’ is applied and the gravy thickens. It's always good to understand the ‘Why’ and ‘How’ about the tools we use on a regular basis. Thanks again.

[R C-R]

1 minute ago, Dr_No said:

Most users would likely attempt to (as did I) tic the box first - which is both useless and unfulfilling - rather than one of the spacing modes first.

As with quite a few other places in the UI, greyed out items cannot be selected. The alternative is to hide them completely, which is likely to confuse & frustrate many users ("It was here last time I used this part of the UI, so why isn't it there now?!!??").

So like I said, the 'secret sauce' (not just for this but for many other things in the UI of both Affinity & other apps) is to pay attention to what is greyed out & what it takes to make them active (not greyed out).