Smudge and mixer tool over alpha

[Pluscuamperfecto]

Hello, I have a question about the smudge and mixer tools, for which I can already imagine the answer, but I wanted to make sure. How can I use any of those tools, to blur the paint, like I do in any other painting program, if I want to do it on a layer that is above the rest of the drawing. I have noticed and researched that depending on the brush, texture and spacing, the effect of these tools varies between acceptable and horrible, when these are used over paint. But when I try it in the situation I mentioned, it is impossible to get anything useful. The mixer brush directly paints and also can only be used from within the painting to blur towards the alpha, not the other way around. The smudge tool works reasonably for the first two or three strokes, then it starts creating other colors or darkening the one it's smudging. Are these brushes directly unusable when trying to blur paint over the alpha? And if so, as I can imagine, are there plans for the future that they can be used as in the rest of the programs? I use the blur considerably often, and it seems unthinkable to me to be able to use affinity photo without being able to paint on a layer higher than the drawing and blur that painting, having to paint on an already colored layer to be able to blur seems to me a delay. Thank you for your attention and best regards.

[Lee D]

In terms of your workflow and layer structure, have you considered merging the visible layers to create a new single pixel layer for you to then use the tools on? You'll still have the original layers intact, just in case and can revert back to them if needed.

We do have a couple of issues logged against these tools, so changes may be made in the future to how they operate.

[Pluscuamperfecto]

Yes, sometimes I do, but I like to keep the layers separate as long as possible, in case I make adjustments later on one of them in particular. I'm glad to hear that there are plans to improve these tools, I love affinity photo and wish I could use it more often. Thank you very much for your reply and greetings.