Affinity Designer V2 for iPad - Unable to rename document

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, Svetoslav said:

that I am dum and my my work doesn't worth saving,

Also, no one in this thread has said anything to you, until Paul's recent reply. 

Yes, your work is worth saving. And the methods of saving have changed in V2 to help ensure that your work is saved properly.

[WeronikaSalach]

Hello  Respectfully, as the author of this thread I wanted to say we’re losing the focus a bit - it’s about being able to RENAME documents directly in the app. Saving our files is another thing. Of course saving our work is important, anyone would agree. Ideally, you allow me to do both - save and rename  

I wanted to give Serif an honest feedback that removing the rename option directly in the app has made my work harder by making it more messy. I get the same feedback from my followers, I’m not an isolated case. I want my Designer homepage to be tidy, not my Files up to be tidy. I’d expect that any next versions of software will be an improvement for my work, not a step back. I’d love to be able to rename my files directly in Affinity without creating heavy duplicates, just like in Procreate, Fresco or Vectornator. Ideally I can SAVE my file and rename it, and any rename actions will sync automatically.

So how to solve it? Currently I need to select “Save as” and then assign a new name. Next I need to go to my Files/Dropbox or wherever I saved this new file, and manually delete that old-name file. And if I neglect this, my storage will explode because each of my documents is about 20MB heavy. Every stupid spelling mistake I need to go and tidy up the mess in my files.

I’d love to hear more success stories from other users - how do you overcome those extra steps? How do you find ways to save time? How do you make your work in organizing your files in accordance with your naming conventions and strategies more smooth and efficient?

Thank you

[Paul Mudditt]

7 minutes ago, WeronikaSalach said:

Hello  Respectfully, as the author of this thread 

Actually this thread was started by GillyB, perhaps this is where confusion began.

[walt.farrell]

10 minutes ago, WeronikaSalach said:

So how to solve it? Currently I need to select “Save as” and then assign a new name. Next I need to go to my Files/Dropbox or wherever I saved this new file, and manually delete that old-name file. And if I neglect this, my storage will explode because each of my documents is about 20MB heavy. Every stupid spelling mistake I need to go and tidy up the mess in my files.

I think that you may not have understood how Rename worked in V1, and the complexities of that are perhaps why it has been changed in V2.

In V1, I just did the following sequence:

1. Created a new file in Photo.
2. Put some data in it.
3. From the Document menu, Save a Copy. I saved it under "Name 1", in a folder "on my iPad".
4. Returned to Photo Home Screen.
5. Renamed the document to "Rename 1" using the menu in Photo.
6. Opened the renamed document.
7. Made more changes. Wanted to Save it, but within the document, only Save a Copy was available. Did not do that.
8. Returned to Home Screen. Did a Save.

At that point:

• The folder from step 3 had a file named "Name 1" with the old content.
• Another folder in iCloud had a file named "Rename 1", with the old and new content.

This demonstrates that

1. The Rename did not change the name of the file on disk; only in the sandbox.
2. I ended up with 2 files, thus more disk space used. I had the original file, with its original name, in one directory. And the renamed file, with different data, in another directory.

I was also a bit confused at that point over where, exactly, the Save in step 8 above had really saved the file, and had to go looking for it.

With the new approach in V2, you will know (a) what your files are named and (b) where they are located and (c) what data they contain. Fewer surprises. No additional storage used over what was used in V1.

[VivekRad]

+ 1 on this issue, renaming a live doc is desperately needed and shouldn't be complicated to implement. 

[WeronikaSalach]

1 hour ago, Paul Mudditt said:

Actually this thread was started by GillyB, perhaps this is where confusion began.

Aaaa my sincere apologies! Oh I was pretty sure I started the same thread. I’ll have to double check in my laptop. Sorry again and thanks for pointing it out.

[WeronikaSalach]

1 hour ago, walt.farrell said:

I think that you may not have understood how Rename worked in V1, and the complexities of that are perhaps why it has been changed in V2.

Thank you for taking the time to explain your process. The thing is, I never ever hit the SAVE button in V1. I finished my pattern and then saved it on my external 5TB drive, plus on my Google Drive.

So essentially I kept on working in it, renaming it, till I was happy and then I saved it outside of my iPad, mainly relying on my external storage.

I never had any problems with crashing, missing data etc etc. So I’ve never lost anything. But I admit - if I worked on something much more serious, I’d make use of the current Save function.

The reason why I’m unhappy right now is that I had a very good workflow, in particular for my pattern design before. Oftentimes I worked on creating lots of crazy pattern versions, before deciding which ones will go to my official portfolio and then I was renaming it to the proper portfolio naming convention: year-collection number-pattern number-my name.

Ah also: when I swipe to create a duplicate it doesn’t offer me to rename it. And I always work by creating a copy of my master file with my pattern preview. So I end up with endless documents named: “half-drop_MASTER_4000px copy copy copy”. You get the idea  

[walt.farrell]

5 minutes ago, WeronikaSalach said:

So essentially I kept on working in it, renaming it,

Thanks for the clarification.

I am curious, though, why you were renaming it if you weren't saving it. What purpose did that have? You would just have 1 item with the latest name, but I would think you wanted multiple items, representing different versions.

So I must still not understand your workflow

(Not that it matters whether I understand it, of course. But it may help Serif understand when they review this topic.)

[WeronikaSalach]

12 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

I am curious, though, why you were renaming it if you weren't saving it. What purpose did that have? You would just have 1 item with the latest name, but I would think you wanted multiple items, representing different versions.

On page 1 I have attached 2 screenshots as an example - one from V1 and one from V2.

There are many scenarios when you need to rename: you decided on a different collection name, you need to add in a special attribute to the name (like “masterfile”, “clean”), you have a misspelling you need to fix, I need to add on the catalog number. And most importantly I need order. Plus, I always work on creating A COPY of my pattern master file.

Raise your hand if you name your file from the start perfectly and you never need to change its name  

Let’s do a real example: I first duplicate my pattern master file - I need to rename it. Then I name it as “autumn” - I create an autumn pattern. Next out if it I create a copy that will be cleaned up = some layers will be merged so that it’s easier for the client to change the color. I need to rename the original file to “autumn-original” and the clean file to “autumn-clean”. Next I come up with the collection idea and I want to catalogue it - I need to rename it, to say “22-01-01_autumn florals_WeronikaSalach”. Then I make copy out of it in order to create a different color version of the same pattern, and I need to rename it to the next catalog number: “22-01-02_autumn florals_WeronikaSalach”.

The screenshots that I attached on page 1 show my very tidy and organized V1 Home Screen versus the chaotic V2 Home Screen.

But the basic necessary rename is also being able to immediately rename duplicates. I think people often work with templates, and instead of repeated work, they create one master file and work on its duplicates.

Thanks for your input! And indeed - where are the Serif people in this thread? 😆

[Svetoslav]

On 12/12/2022 at 3:35 PM, walt.farrell said:

No one from Serif has responded in this topic. We're all just users, so far. 

And we're all just trying to be helpful, and point out the pitfalls of some workflows that you may not have recognized yet.

My apologies... I guess. And as I said on other thread - thank you for your help. Probably it is worth to say that for all these years of using Serif's product, this is the first time I am signing in this forum looking for help - I am that desperate. But no help. I have no idea how this is working. I was honestly thinking that the moderators here are professionally connected with Serif Ltd., hence my frustrated comments.

I understand now that we are in the same boat.
Thank you one more time. I've been moderator in other forums, I understand the how I made you feel.

[Svetoslav]

On 12/12/2022 at 4:23 PM, WeronikaSalach said:

Hello  Respectfully, as the author of this thread I wanted to say we’re losing the focus a bit - it’s about being able to RENAME documents directly in the app. Saving our files is another thing. Of course saving our work is important, anyone would agree. Ideally, you allow me to do both - save and rename  

I wanted to give Serif an honest feedback that removing the rename option directly in the app has made my work harder by making it more messy. I get the same feedback from my followers, I’m not an isolated case. I want my Designer homepage to be tidy, not my Files up to be tidy. I’d expect that any next versions of software will be an improvement for my work, not a step back. I’d love to be able to rename my files directly in Affinity without creating heavy duplicates, just like in Procreate, Fresco or Vectornator. Ideally I can SAVE my file and rename it, and any rename actions will sync automatically.

So how to solve it? Currently I need to select “Save as” and then assign a new name. Next I need to go to my Files/Dropbox or wherever I saved this new file, and manually delete that old-name file. And if I neglect this, my storage will explode because each of my documents is about 20MB heavy. Every stupid spelling mistake I need to go and tidy up the mess in my files.

I’d love to hear more success stories from other users - how do you overcome those extra steps? How do you find ways to save time? How do you make your work in organizing your files in accordance with your naming conventions and strategies more smooth and efficient?

Thank you

My apologies.
For all these time of using Affinity products, this is the first time I am looking for help in the forum. I guess I got frustrated about the situation and it took the best of me.
I am sorry.

[Svetoslav]

I am sorry Paul.
As it turns, I owe you an apology. Thank you for your efforts in this forum. I was honestly thinking that the moderators here are from Serif.
Please excuse me pouring my frustration on you.

[walt.farrell]

49 minutes ago, Svetoslav said:

. I was honestly thinking that the moderators here are from Serif.

The Moderators are from Serif, and are identified as such. They have Staff badges and markings, and the word Moderator in one or two places in their posts.

[DM1]

On 12/13/2022 at 1:23 AM, WeronikaSalach said:

it’s about being able to RENAME documents directly in the app. 

I understand why Affinity removed renaming of ‘saved’ files (the sandbox/file name mismatch issue), but an unsaved document such as a “duplicate” copy of a previously saved live doc file, has no associated xx.afdesign file. In this case there is no possibility of mismatch as the document exists only in sandbox.

Solution seems easy: Allow naming of a copy of a live document in Home Screen. After saving, no renaming.