Edward Goodwin Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 When copying objects in Affinity Designer (on a mac), I'm finding that snaps don't work to the object copied from. I'll explain: Let's say I have drawn a rectangle. I alt-click & drag to copy the object. I now want this newly created copy to snap to the object that I've copied it from (the original rectangle). It doesn't snap. If I click off the copy, select the original rectangle and then re-select/drag the copy, it will now snap to the original. This is a frustrating work flow as it requires 2-3 extra clicks. Do I have something incorrectly set-up in the snapping preferences that stops this from working? Or does this functionality not exist in Affinity Designer? Seems quite a basic function to me... All guidance gratefully received! Edward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h_d Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 (edited) Alt-drag (option-drag on my Mac) ignores snapping. If I option-drag to duplicate and then remove my finger from the option key while still dragging with my trackpad, the duplicated object snaps to the original. Add - if you're on a Mac, cmd-drag 'Clones' selected objects and the clone will snap immediately. Might be worth trying with ctrl-drag on Windows. Edited April 6, 2022 by h_d Edward Goodwin and Old Bruce 1 1 Quote Affinity Photo 2.0.3, Affinity Designer 2.0.3, Affinity Publisher 2.0.3, Mac OSX 13, 2018 MacBook Pro 15" Intel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edward Goodwin Posted April 6, 2022 Author Share Posted April 6, 2022 h_d - this is great! I am on a mac... alt (on my keyboard, option on others) + click/drag doesn't do the snapping *unless* you release the alt key before unclicking. It's a step I'd not though to try but it works. So that's super. cmd-drag also works. Out of interest, what's the difference between the alt/option and the cmd versions? Is that a difference between copy and clone? If yes, what is clone vs. copy? Thanks for your help! E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h_d Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 56 minutes ago, Edward Goodwin said: Out of interest, what's the difference between the alt/option and the cmd versions? Is that a difference between copy and clone? If yes, what is clone vs. copy? As far as I can see, cmd-drag gives an immediate snapping effect. But if you release the cmd key before you stop dragging, the cloning effect stops and it becomes an ordinary drag-to-move. I don't think there's any difference at all between the final results of 'clone' (with cmd) and 'copy' (with alt/option). Both methods give you a duplicate object on a new layer, both methods can be followed by cmd-j to step and repeat. The 'official' way seems to be cmd-drag: Alt-drag may be more of a macOS-wide shortcut that 'just happens' to work in Designer. Quote Affinity Photo 2.0.3, Affinity Designer 2.0.3, Affinity Publisher 2.0.3, Mac OSX 13, 2018 MacBook Pro 15" Intel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff Dan C Posted April 6, 2022 Staff Share Posted April 6, 2022 27 minutes ago, h_d said: The 'official' way seems to be cmd-drag: Alt-drag may be more of a macOS-wide shortcut that 'just happens' to work in Designer. As I understand it, CMD + drag was the original shortcut, but certain firms we work closely with had expressed an interest in making this shortcut ALT + drag to match other creative applications they were used to - as to not change the process for our pre-existing customers, our developers decided to allow both CMD or ALT + drag to perform the clone action. In terms of differences, the objects created using either key will be the same - the only difference is as you've found, the app ignores snapping when holding the ALT key, including when cloning with the ALT key. I hope this clears things up h_d 1 Quote Please note - I am currently out of the office for a short while whilst recovering from surgery (nothing serious!), therefore will not be available on the Forums during this time. Should you require a response from the team in a thread I have previously replied in - please Create a New Thread and our team will be sure to reply as soon as possible. Many thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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