Rotating an object with a trackpad

[David Edge]

I select the object in Designer, move the pointer until I get a rotate handle, press the trackpad and - BOOFT! - I have a resize handle. Now I'm old and a bit blind, but can't be the only person for whom this is a problem. I've tried turning down the trackpad gain and it doesn't help. Is there an accessible way of rotating an object?

FWIW I'm using a MacBook Air M1 and the latest versions of Affinity and MacOS.

[v_kyr]

See in the online help:

•  Gestures -> select ["Scroll & Zoom"] -> click on "Rotate"
• Rotate Document view (canvas)

• How to Rotate Images Using the Trackpad on a Mac

• ... etc.

[David Edge]

I think those are instructions for rotating the canvas. I want to rotate an object - square, circle. I know how to do it, it's just that as soon as I click the rotate handle it turns into a resize handle.

[walt.farrell]

40 minutes ago, David Edge said:

I think those are instructions for rotating the canvas. I want to rotate an object - square, circle. I know how to do it, it's just that as soon as I click the rotate handle it turns into a resize handle.

It sounds like you're using one of the corner handles. Perhaps you should try the top handle? It is purely rotation.

[thomaso]

It seems you slightly move the cursor when clicking. The four corner handles have two functions: size & rotate.
It depends on the exact cursor position which function gets activated:

 

Alternatively you could use the outer handle at the top of the bounding box. Also there is a 2nd function, the shearing, just below the handle.

To use the outer handle but still define the rotation point you can click the button "Enable Transform Origin":

… and move its icon from the object's centre to the wanted position, e.g. at the top right handle (where it can snap):

Then using the outer handle will rotate around the upper right corner:

[Old Bruce]

2 hours ago, David Edge said:

Is there an accessible way of rotating an object?

I would use the Transform panel and enter in some numbers for the R spot, just guess at how much you want to rotate it 12, 20 whatever degrees. They can be + or - . You can also choose the centre of the object or one of the corners or side's midpoints.

[David Edge]

Thanks everyone

Yes, the top rotate handle is the answer

d.

[v_kyr]

2 hours ago, David Edge said:

I think those are instructions for rotating the canvas. I want to rotate an object - square, circle.

Not only, it should also work for objects, as far as you see the rotate cursor and then click on the trackpad with one or two fingers, hold and drag to the desired direction (see the above screenshots @thomaso showed). - Or as an alternative, you can do it even more precisely the way as @Old Bruce told, by using the transform panel and it's rotate field input values.