Previously saved .afphoto files are unexpectedly flattend when launching a new editing session.

[jmcsys]

When I wrap up a session I usually make sure that I have saved the .afphoto file and then proceed to export any associated .jpeg. Then I Quit. Everthing works as it should when next I choose to edit the the saved .afphoto file. Well most times. Occasionally when I launch Photo and open my .afphoto file, I find that it has been flattened. Only the primary pixel layer shows up. No other layers. No history. Just a single pixel layer. 

Am I doing something to trigger the flattening? Is it something in my workflow? Or is it a "feature" of the software? Any ideas?

[R C-R]

On reopening a saved Affinity format file history will only show up if you enable the File > Save History with document item before saving it.

But no, AFAIK there is no 'feature' built into the app to automatically flatten an Affinity format file to a single pixel layer when you save it.

[jmcsys]

I went back and reopened a "flattened" file. Guess what I saw - all my layers were back. It appears that this is some kind of display glitch. Sometimes I see it, sometimes I don't. While in reality, the layers are always there, I just cant see them at times. I'm not sure if I am "doing" something to precipitate this behavior or not. But make no mistake, when they don't show, there is no working with them for it is indeed as if the file were flattened.

[NathanC]

Hi @jmcsys,

If you do encounter this again with a file it would be great if you could provide us with a file you're certain wasn't flattened prior to saving so we can investigate further.

[carl123]

You say that once you close and save the .afphoto file you export a jpg file.

Could it be possible that you are opening the jpg file by mistake? This could be misinterpreted as a "flattened" file

If you have file manager set to not show extensions of file names then this is something that can easily happen