AD Changes my saved artwork upon opening it

[0SG0]

Hi,

A few days ago I tried to open a previously saved design that I've made with Affinity Designer on iPad. Upon opening it, it looked completely different (see pictures).

I thought that there might be something wrong with the copy in the iPad app, so I imported the same file from a backup copy I have, but the same thing happened. So I moved to desktop and opened my backup copy there, but the same thing happened. The design looks completely different.

This is what the design should look like, and how it looks when I preview the file on Mac:

 

This is what it looks like when I open the same file:

 

This happens to other files as well. Here is a booklet cover I made, which I duplicated and then opened on the iPad:

 

I'm so sad because at this point it feels as though I've lost my artwork. Please help me. If I can't trust that the designs I make looks the same next time I open them, I can't use the software to design anything.

[MEB]

Hi @0SG0,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
I'm shooting in the dark here but please check if the Blend mode of the groups layers in the desktop version match the ones you see on your iPad. If not, set the desktop version correctly so they match the iPad. Any chance you could provide the original afdesign file to be checked please? I can provide an upload link if you wish to keep the file private - just let me know.

[0SG0]

4 hours ago, MEB said:

Hi @0SG0,
Welcome to Affinity Forums

Hi!

Thank you, and thanks for trying to help out! I apologize in advance if something isn’t clear, English isn’t my first language.
 

4 hours ago, MEB said:

I'm shooting in the dark here but please check if the Blend mode of the groups layers in the desktop version match the ones you see on your iPad. If not, set the desktop version correctly so they match the iPad.

The problem is the same on both desktop and iPad. Anywhere I open the files, the appearance of the design changes and they become unusable. So there isn’t any “working copy” that I can check against. This is why the problem is so serious, I would have to do a lot of the work all over again, and still be afraid that the next time I open AD it would change again.

Let me show you again, with more details:

This is what the design should look like. This is what it looked like last time I had it open in AD, and when I made backup copies. This is what it still looks like in Finder on a Mac, both the miniatures and the preview (pressing space, with the file selected, in Finder on a Mac)

 

This is what the file looks like when I open it in AD for desktop, on a Mac

 

This what the file looks like when I open it in AD on my iPad Pro

 

I swear to god that it isn’t me who have made changes to the file and then forgotten about it, because 1) It has happened to at least three files that I’ve found so far, not just one. 2) I can see on the backup copies that they haven’t been edited since backup. 3) Finder on Mac still previews the files correctly, and the miniatures in AD on iPad looks correct until i open them.

4 hours ago, MEB said:

I'm shooting in the dark here but please check if the Blend mode of the groups layers in the desktop version match the ones you see on your iPad. If not, set the desktop version correctly so they match the iPad.

I’ve done some digging around in the file, and you’re on the right about the blend modes being part of the problem, but not all of it. Even if I don’t have a working copy of the file, I can see that some layers that obviously should be set to Multiply, has been changed to Screen.

However, I’m not here to get help to fix this single file. I’m here because AD is changing some of my designs upon opening them, this and at least two other files, and that is the real problem.

If I can’t trust my designs to look the same when I open them in the future, I can’t use the software at all. If I have to dig through dozens of layers, checking blend modes, opacities and other settings when I open a file, to find what makes it look different from last time I opened it, that’s just as bad. I don’t mean to sound rude, I just want to tell you what I’m afraid of here and why I’m concerned about this problem.

4 hours ago, MEB said:

Any chance you could provide the original afdesign file to be checked please? I can provide an upload link if you wish to keep the file private - just let me know.

Absolutely, no problems! Please provide me with a link and I can send you a couple of files that have been affected by this problem.

Thank you so much for your help!

 

[MEB]

Hi @0SG0,
Your English is fine. Actually it was me to misread/misunderstood your first post, my apologies. I understand now that both the iPad and desktop versions do match between them but are different from what you were expecting (from previous work on the file) and from what the thumbnail/preview shows.

Regarding the issue at hand, Affinity shouldn't ever change the files between working sessions obviously - if it's happening something is wrong or get broken in some update.
Do you remember if these files were initially created in an older version of Affinity Designer on iPad?

Here's the upload link as requested. Thank you.
 

[0SG0]

5 hours ago, MEB said:

Do you remember if these files were initially created in an older version of Affinity Designer on iPad?

Yes. The files are from around a year ago, about January 2021, and I think AD have been updated since then. I’ve been looking through a few more old files and most of them open correctly. It seems like the ones that have this problem were created around the same time.

5 hours ago, MEB said:

Here's the upload link as requested. Thank you.

Thanks! I uploaded four files with the problem, and two images to show what the designs should look like. I really appreciate your help