Layer behaviour like Illustrator

[TheAnimaster]

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I just got Affinity, and, having a few decades of Illustrator under my belt -- I strongly empathize with the OP. 

Basically it's hard to select an object or line behind an object, if you aren't proactive with grouping your lines. And even when you're proactive with this, creating a new line or shape within your group will automatically expand that group's layers, then it becomes a chore of having to scroll through the layer palette to get to say another group you need to work on. There are workarounds, but frankly, I do not see why there's no option to keep the layers collapsed, so that you don't have the frustration of having to scroll through a hundred layers to get to the top to collapse that group. Sure there are workarounds, but in the end, it just makes sense to be able to select a layer, and have every object or line drawn be stacked within the selected layer. 

I tried this earlier -- adding to a group. I selected the group in the layer menu, and then drew a line. It didn't draw the line and add it to the group. That's counter intuitive -- if I select a layer, I expect to be drawing within that layer -- but this isn't the case. And creating a group appears to be the closest thing to how a layer in Illustrator works. 

Another advantage of automatically keeping objects within a selected layer is that the preview updates with the collective shapes -- on ONE visible layer. In the end you will be able to organize your layers more cleanly, without the frustration of layers automatically expanding to show each object and stroke. I do not see the point in the auto-expansion of layers for each individual line and stroke -- especially when you don't need to see these all the time as separate layers -- you only need to see the collective of all lines and shapes your draw in ONE layer. If you ever have the need or reason to see a hundred different shapes, THEN you could have the option to expand the layer further -- but as it is -- this expansion of all individual layers is automatic and frustrating, when trying to organize collective shapes and groups. 

Perhaps there is a toggle somewhere that I am missing -- one that will disable the auto-layer-expanding-view whenever a new shape or line is drawn? 

 

[Pšenda]

5 hours ago, TheAnimaster said:

hundred layers to get to the top to collapse that group

You mean this?

Or clicking on the appropriate vertical line that represents a certain level in the nesting hierarchy of layers and their groups?

Edited May 26, 2023 by Pšenda

[Pšenda]

5 hours ago, TheAnimaster said:

you only need to see the collective of all lines and shapes your draw in ONE layer

[TheAnimaster]

Hi, thank you for the response -- I actually learned something new with those vertical collapse lines. It is still cumbersome to have the layer "blow up" on every single stroke -- but after a lot of searching, I found the solution for both v1 and v2:

In v1 there's a UI option in the Settings that allows you to disable "auto-scrolling" in the layers palette.

In v2, it's an option in the "hamburger" menu on the layers palette. So now I am able to manage layers more closely to how they functioned in Illustrator. It looks like the Serif team also has on their to-do list the lock layer function acting truly like a lock layer function -- in that you can't draw on locked layers (currently, you can).

[retrograde]

I tend to agree that the make a layer or group workflow isn't as intuitive as it could be and deserves a rethink in how it's currently implemented. 

I deselect "auto scrolling" and use a shortcut to find the active "layer" when I need to see it.

[mutarq]

HI!

 

I was searching for an alternative to Illustrator.. and although Affinity seems to do almost everything I would need, the way Affinity Layers work are a deal-braker.... I saw it both in Affinity Designer with art boards and pages in  Affinity Publisher... Layers are stored individually on each page or art board.. I would suggest that these should be layers applied to all the document. In my case I import a lot of line drawings from either CAD or Rhinoceros3D, and I would need the workflow where layer behavior keeps consistent all through the document, not only in one single page (or art board). Maybe these should have a new name and be an added functionality to existing affinity layers, or maybe existing layers in affinity should be rebranded as "cluster"..

Moreover, the Adobe functionality of layers is much more handy, with that "tally dot" turning on and "meaning" that  that dot is all the selection, and just moving that dot you can assign all the selected objects to a new layer. etc.

It has been nice to play around for two days with Affinity "suite".. but I will need to stay with Adobe.. 😥