How-to: Override layer visibility?

[joe_l]

I watched the What's new-tutorial for APu 2, but I can't get it to work.

1. Placed a file (.afdesign, PSD, PDF no matter) linked.

2. Looking for the Layers dropdown, but there is NONE!

Something I did wrong? Affinity 2 installed on Win 10 Enterprise keeping the 1.10 version.

As a sidenote: I have mixed feelings about Affinity 2. I like the new features, but for now I will keep using 1.10. as my daily driver due to many crashes on Affinity 2. And I am a bit disappointed that PDF forms are not supported in this version as a last step from making me independent from ID CS6.

[firstdefence]

8 minutes ago, joe_l said:

2. Looking for the Layers dropdown, but there is NONE!

What do you mean by this?

That the linked file has no layers within it and shows as a single layer? if so, double clicking on the files layer will open it up in a separate tab/window to show that files content. Edit as you wish then close to go back to the document you placed the file into.

[joe_l]

34 minutes ago, firstdefence said:

What do you mean by this?

Oh dear. I will never get used to this, that layers are not always layers. Means elements in the Layers panel are NOT necessarily layers. I made some REAL layers in AD and it worked. But still wondering, that PSD still do not work for me, although it should as I read somewhere. Maybe the usual misunderstanding on my side as my English lessons are ages ago.

Thanks for your assistance!

[Ldina]

I was struggling with Layer Visibility Override in Publisher when placing a Designer v2.03 document. I'm working with a Mac and OSX Monterrey. 

If I create my Designer document using an Artboard, and place that document into Publisher, I get a choice of visibility options between Artboard or Document and nothing else...no ability to turn visibility of different layers on or off. I usually DO use Artboards when creating documents in Designer.

As an experiment, I created a separate Designer document without an Artboard and created two separate Layers (not Groups)...one for the main image (with lots of elements) and one for the Background. I saved it with a separate name to highlight the fact that it had NO Artboard. When I placed this "No Artboard" document into Publisher, Publisher allowed me to toggle the visibility of both layers on and off. This ought to work with an Artboard, but on my system it doesn't. In this Designer document, I had a single Artboard with multiple layers. 

I tried placing a multi-layer afphoto image into Publisher, but couldn't get it to even display the layer visibility menu.

[Ldina]

By the way, at least on my Mac setup, removing the ArtBoard in Designer documents is not enough to allow Layer Visibility Override to work in Publisher. After deleting the Artboard, I had to specifically create a New Layer and move the appropriate elements into that Layer. That needed to be done for each layer I wanted to be able to toggle ON and OFF in the Publisher visibility override. I renamed all my Designer layers so things would be clear, and resaved the Designer document. 

Once there was No Art Board, and all elements were placed inside "official" Layers, the visibility override worked. That's with Designer afdesign documents. I haven't had any success with afphoto, nor have I tried any other document formats. 

[walt.farrell]

33 minutes ago, Ldina said:

If I create my Designer document using an Artboard, and place that document into Publisher, I get a choice of visibility options between Artboard or Document and nothing else...no ability to turn visibility of different layers on or off. I usually DO use Artboards when creating documents in Designer.

It would probably help to have some screenshots of the .afdesign document, and of the Publisher window. But for my first guess: do you actually have any Layer (with a capital L) layers in the document? I think they're required for the function you're trying to use.

[Ldina]

Thanks, Walt...no screenshots for now, but your comment prompted me to try something else...

My original Designer v2.0.3 document used an Art Board. I edited it to made sure that document had two "official" Layers (with a capital "L"). One Layer contains the the main design, the other layer is a colored background. I wanted to be able to turn the background on and off when placing it into Publisher. When placed in Publisher, I still get the choice of either "Artboard" or "Document", but no layers. This time, I selected Document. Once "Document" was selected, the context toolbar showed the Layers box, and allowed me to view or hide both the main layer and/or the background layer. So, a Designer document DID work with an Art Board, but it appears you need to use "official" Layer Containers for this to work. And then, you need to select "Document" and wait for the contextual toolbar to display the "Layers" dropdown box. I don't think it will work with Groups or independent elements (i.e., layers with a small "l"). 

Clearer, more complete Help menus with examples would have addressed this and saved many people countless hours and frustration. It wasn't at all clear to me that it was a two step process. 

Thanks again.

[walt.farrell]

31 minutes ago, Ldina said:

Clearer, more complete Help menus with examples would have addressed this and saved many people countless hours and frustration. It wasn't at all clear to me that it was a two step process. 

I didn't expect it to be a two-step process, either, and I would have expected it to work with Artboard as long as the Artboard contains Layers. But it's good you've got it working now.

(On the other hand, Layer Visibility controls for Placed files are only documented as working for "Placed PDF, DWG or DXF files containing layers" so it's a bit surprising that it works for Placed .afdesign files at all  )

[Ldina]

@NPM...you are correct—my error. I reopened my document and confirmed what you shared.

You have to select Artboard rather than Document. THEN, the layers dropdown appears and you can select the layers you want to be visible in Publisher. With the testing I have done, the Layers you can toggle on and off have to be true Layers, with a capital L. Groups, individual elements, etc, don't seem to work. 

[Ldina]

@NPM...

I placed an afphoto document in an afpub document to try it out. The afphoto document had a pixel layer, with a bunch of adjustments...curves, HSL, sharpening, etc. I also had a B&W adjustment layer that I wanted to be able to toggle on and off inside of Publisher. I just used this as an example for experimentation.

When I placed the original afphoto document in Publisher, no dropdown box was available to toggle layer visibility. So, I selected my placed photo from within the Publisher document, clicked "Edit Document" on the toolbar, and edited the afphoto using Publisher as follows:

1. I created New Layers in the afphoto document by clicking the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel.

2. I dragged the image pixel layers and all adjustment layers and filters (except B&W layer adjustment) into that New Layer and renamed the layer "Color Image".

3. I created a 2nd new layer and named the layer "B&W", then dragged my B&W Adjustment layer (originally created in AfPhoto) into this layer. 

4. I didn't want to overwrite my original file in case it bombed, so I saved the file as a new image with a new name.

5. Once back in the Publisher document, I replaced the old afphoto image with the above edited document, using Resource Manager.

Now, I was able to toggle both layers in the placed photo ON and OFF from within Publisher. This allowed me to verify if it was working, which it was. You can add New Vector Layers using either Designer or Publisher, and I guess Publisher looks for a vector layer for layer visibility override. I'm not sure if you can do this within AfPhoto or not, but if so, I haven't found it yet. 

Serif needs to do a much better job with their Help files. I couldn't find anything helpful in their help files even when doing a search. If it's there, I couldn't find it. Just wanted to share what I have managed to learn...so far.