is there a more intuitive way to rotate canvas?

[Asyrel]

So I just purchased this program for digital painting, coming from photoshop and clip studio pro, however one thing stands out straight away which weird there is no rotate tool or an intuitive way to rotate? you have to hold alt and middle mouse button? which is really inconvenient for digital illustration since im not using a mouse i use a pen and tablet.

in every other software you would hold R or press R to rotate, is there a way i can change the keybinds to hold R to rotate?

if this isnt an option i will probably not be using affinity for digital illustration ever because i rotate my canvases alot.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Asyrel

[Asyrel]

never mind ive refunded this garbage software, honestly you guys are better off using Krita and thats free

[MikeTO]

There are two preferences for canvas rotation under Tools

Plus here are two help pages that describe your options for rotating the canvas and document view

https://affinity.help/photo2/English.lproj/index.html?page=pages/SizeTransform/canvasRotateFlip.html?title=Rotate/flip the canvas

https://affinity.help/photo2/English.lproj/index.html?page=pages/DesignAids/rotateCanvas.html?title=Rotate document view

 

[Asyrel]

17 hours ago, Asyrel said:

you have to hold alt and middle mouse button? which is really inconvenient for digital illustration since im not using a mouse i use a pen and tablet.

If you actually took the time to read my post, i explained why alt + scroll wheel doesnt work.

I took the time to asses the program, for digital illustration affinity it just not there, the brush engine is lacking, you cant rotate untuitively, there was alot of lag when i opened the program, brush lag was a huge issue. 

Honestly compared to clip studio paint and photoshop I switch between, I was looking for a program i can own rather than having to pay a subscription, clip studio is switching to a subscription model next year so i was looking at affinity.

Honestly after just using it for an hour I could tell that this software was no where near the standards it should be for digital illustration, maybe its more aimed at graphic designers but in terms of illustrating and doing art it just felt so bad and clunky and unoptimized.

out of all the art software that ive tried: corel painter, krita, clip studio paint, corel painter, PS... this was hands down the worst and most unoptimized software for art and illustration which is very sad, because i was really excited to try it all the videos on affinity all had great reviews, however after looking into it more it seems affinity has been sponsoring creators to make them say positive things only about this software, which is disheartening I really thought i stumbled upon a program that cares about artists and designers.

I have already submitted my refund request, so theres no need to answer my initial question anymore.

[walt.farrell]

The View menu has Rotate Left and Rotate Right. They do not have shortcuts by default, but you can assign your own via Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts.

The rotation is in 15-degree increments, if I remember correctly.

(This is, of course, not useful to you as you've already deleted the programs and asked for the refund. But if you should decide to repurchase in the future you'll know.)

[Asyrel]

1 hour ago, walt.farrell said:

The rotation is in 15-degree increments, if I remember correctly

that is the whole reason i made this forum post, did you really think i was that stupid that i did not check the keybinds first? do you think its intuitive to spam press a button to rotate 15 degree increments? have you never used photoshop, krita, clipstudio, corel painter, autodesk sketchbook pro, procreate.... 

At this point its more fascinating that no one in this community understands how rotating a canvas should work. I always thought it was strange that i cant find any artist content on this software, its clear to me why now.

[Old Bruce]

23 hours ago, Asyrel said:

i use a pen and tablet

Does your tablet have some way of using touch to rotate the Canvas? I use a Wacom and am on Mac so maybe the fact that I can use the wacom's touch feature to smoothly rotate the canvas won't work for you.

[TomM1]

If only there was a 30 free trial…… no wait…

[Patrick B]

I agree that a dedicated Rotate Tool will greatly benefit us illustrators. People who draw with a graphics tablet are kinda being left in the dark there. I've tried the keyboard shortcuts, and mapping rotation to the tablet touch ring, but both options are inferior to a Rotate Tool if you keep one hand on the keyboard while drawing.

[Asyrel]

54 minutes ago, TomM1 said:

If only there was a 30 free trial…… no wait…

i actually did try affinity photo 1, it was alright. so my logic was surely affinity photo 2 would have way more features and run better since its new... oh boy was i wrong. Also i didnt try rotating because i assume its a standard tool like every design/illustration software that exists...  ill wait here till you can name one that doesnt. 

 

1 hour ago, Old Bruce said:

Does your tablet have some way of using touch to rotate the Canvas? I use a Wacom and am on Mac so maybe the fact that I can use the wacom's touch feature to smoothly rotate the canvas won't work for you.

im using a huion kamvas 16 2022, as far as im aware theres no touch support on this tablet

[Stepaan]

I think, it's not necessary for you to wait here. You've shown us your right colors, your point of view, and that's enough and I believe, this thread came to an end.

[loukash]

3 hours ago, Asyrel said:

At this point its more fascinating that no one in this community understands how rotating a canvas should work.

So, by holding the Command key and sweeping my MacBook trackpad with two fingers to rotate the canvas seamlessly around the pointer position axis in any direction and degree I need, I am obviously doing it all wrong. Stupid me, totally! Thank you for opening my eyes!

[TomM1]

10 minutes ago, loukash said:

So, by holding the Command key and sweeping my MacBook trackpad with two fingers to rotate the canvas seamlessly around the pointer position axis in any direction and degree I need, I am obviously doing it all wrong. Stupid me, totally! Thank you for opening my eyes!

Also command>Wacom Touch Ring.

[Amdival]

I've never tried to rotate the canvas because that is not a feature I use a lot.

I don't have a trackpad or a mouse wheel, so the best option for me is to create keyboard short cuts.

This post does highlight that this simple [expected] feature is a little clunky.

[Asyrel]

3 hours ago, Stepaan said:

I think, it's not necessary for you to wait here. You've shown us your right colors, your point of view, and that's enough and I believe, this thread came to an end.

yet i still get an email every 10 mins spam emails because people keep replying after ive already refunded and no longer need anyones input

[loukash]

11 minutes ago, Asyrel said:

yet i still get an email every 10 mins spam emails because people keep replying after ive already refunded and no longer need anyones input

If only there were a button on top of the thread page where one could disable forum notifications and emails…

[Amdival]

27 minutes ago, Asyrel said:

yet i still get an email every 10 mins spam emails because people keep replying after ive already refunded and no longer need anyones input

You have started an interesting conversation

[R C-R]

10 minutes ago, loukash said:

If only there were a button on top of the thread page where one could disable forum notifications and emails…

Rhymes with "hollow"? 😉

[rorque]

Leaving aside the princessing of the author of the topic, indeed, there should be shortcuts to this, and you can even define them, I decided to do it the way it is defined in the krita, that is "[" and "]", it works exactly as it should work. in the mentioned photoshop, it is terribly solved, it should works on the same principle as scrolling under the spacebar, that is, active only after pressing and holding the key, and deactivated after, in photoshop it is a separate tool, equivalent to brushes for example.

[SilverSurfer1221]

Quote

clip studio is switching to a subscription model next year 

Actually, they are not. You have a choice to either subscribe or to simply make a one-time payment to upgrade your version of CSP to the new version when it's released next year. You can read the upgrade options here:

https://www.clipstudio.net/en/news/202210/13_01/

So, there will still be a one-time purchase/perpetual license of CSP next year with the new version.

[R C-R]

14 minutes ago, rorque said:

Leaving aside the princessing of the author of the topic, indeed, there should be shortcuts to this, and you can even define them, I decided to do it the way it is defined in the krita, that is "[" and "]", it works exactly as it should work.

Are you saying there is a way in Affinity to assign keyboard shortcuts for rotating the canvas by an arbitrary amount?

[iconoclast]

12 hours ago, Asyrel said:

... there was alot of lag when i opened the program, brush lag was a huge issue. 
 

I had a brush lag to as I first started my new vs2 Photo, but after I assigned more RAM to Photo, it became better.

For rotating the canvas, I created the short keys ">", "<" for clockwise and against clockwise, and "Strg+Shift+<" for Reset Rotation. That works pretty good for me. But I must confess that I generally prefer the way other apps like GIMP, Krita or Artrage manage it, by holding a modifier key (Alt or Shift) and a mouse key and drag the mouse. Hope that this will be adapted some day, even for Photo and Designer.

[loukash]

10 minutes ago, iconoclast said:

holding a modifier key (Alt or Shift) and a mouse key and drag the mouse. Hope that this will be adapted some day, even for Photo and Designer.

It is: 

3 hours ago, loukash said:

holding the Command key and sweeping my MacBook trackpad with two fingers to rotate the canvas seamlessly around the pointer position axis in any direction and degree I need

Is a Mac only feature?

[debraspicher]

58 minutes ago, SilverSurfer1221 said:

Actually, they are not. You have a choice to either subscribe or to simply make a one-time payment to upgrade your version of CSP to the new version when it's released next year. You can read the upgrade options here:

https://www.clipstudio.net/en/news/202210/13_01/

So, there will still be a one-time purchase/perpetual license of CSP next year with the new version.

So right... Clip Studio v2 feature updates will be paywalled. It's like $10/yr for the base program. $30ish (I think) for the EX version for comic books/multipage and converting images to screens. The program itself isn't subscription. It's weird, but it's what it is and I prefer this model to support developers than the Adobe con job as it's on the condition I pay for those features, not that I'm just paying for the right to use the program. The program is still a one-time fee.

I agree with OP on the premise of this app not really being suitable for the type of art that it sounds like they are doing. I shared very similar feedback when I first tried Photo. Now, I simply use CSP for a large portion of my illustration work. Everything else design related is in Affinity except for maybe Inkscape's Trace Bitmap/Image Trace.

There is a way to illustrate in Photo/Designer, but it's not the kind of workflow or tools usually tailored for highly rendered works. The brush engine can't handle fast movement and strokes, though that really varies heavily by brush. It's better in V2, but I think it can do linework OK. Again, it depends. I don't like how pressure is handled within the engine at all. It reads too digital is the best way I can put it. At fast speeds it tends to lag even on higher spec'ced machines and this is useless for works with a more fluid appearance. It has to be slow and deliberate to look good.

I also notice that Zoom levels DO impact how the brush strokes lays down which is really bizarre. It's less noticeable in V2, but I'd have to test more. So I'd say that it's more suitable for "mark making" or line placement and careful placement of shapes, etc (ie vectors), etc like we see in most examples. So more mixed media. Also, it has pattern layers which is highly useful for asset creation.

I also agree 100% the rotation by keyboard needs to be something like hold R key and rotate like CSP and other programs. This is a time tested combo that works really well for keyboard + tablet users. I tried binding the current keys to my Intuos and the incremental rotation is more of a hindrance than helpful (and quite slow), so I just don't use that particular feature at all in the suite. I never intended to do highly rendered works in Affinity, so it's not a deal breaker as I never really expected Photo to fully replace what I had in my Photoshop workflow. Anyway, it was clear early on there were other priorities, so I dropped Photoshop when I found a replacement in CSP, which is perfect in literally every possible way for what I'm doing on that side of things. There's convenience features I'd like, but for the most part, it feels great to use and it gets the job done so that's what matters. The only other alternative I might consider is Procreate on an iPad.

[Asyrel]

since the npc's in this discussion dont understand what a rotation tool should do i will link a video for you npc's to see what an actual rotation tool is suppose to do 


Photoshop Rotation
Clip Studio Rotation
Krita
Corel paint essentials 
sketchbook pro
GIMP Even the shittiest software has a rotate tool

I dont understand how this is rocket science for you guys, I'm turning off notifications. if this doesn't get you guys to understand what a rotation tool or keybind should do i truly have no hope for the human race. I am now turning off notifications if you don't get it by now please go do something more productive with your life...