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Placed Images are/are not linked to the source file?


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Title sums it up pretty well. 

 

I know from reading the posts in this here forum that a Links palette/panel/page/whatcamacallit is on the Roadmap.

 

My question is once an image is placed, in AD v 1.1, there is no linkage to the actual file that was placed. IOW, when an image file is placed in AD 1.1, what is seen in the layers palette is a copy of the file and there's no link to it at all. 

 

I ask because I have about a dozen files that each have a placed TIFF file of character sketches that I'd like to use AD to ink using AD's vector tools. I jumped the gun on this a bit as the sketches I placed weren't finished. Now there's a number of refined sketches that I've re-exported to the folder where the original exports were. I kept the file names the same. When I open the files in AD, they still have the previous images. They don't update.

 

Is it correct to assume that this is the way the release version works and that updating placed files will be in a future release. Or am I missing something nested within the interface that allows me to update/refresh placed images?

 

Fortunately the placed images are within a layer and only the layer has effects added and opacity changed, so it'll be a simple matter to place the new image within the layer and delete the previous one. Again and again. :O

 

Have to admit that for a first version, AD is very robust and only a few bumps so far -- have not been showstoppers, just speed bumps. 

Mac OS X Catinlina, 2014 iMac, 3.5 Ghz Intel Core i7, Huion Kamvas Pro 22 Graphic Tablet, 16GB RAM, MacOS10.12 || Magic keyboard w/numeric keypad, wireless trackpad, Kengsington Edge Trackball || Flux Capacitor in a secure location

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I encourage kids to go ahead and play on my lawn. I mean, how else can I make sure the death-traps work?

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:)

 

thanks!

Mac OS X Catinlina, 2014 iMac, 3.5 Ghz Intel Core i7, Huion Kamvas Pro 22 Graphic Tablet, 16GB RAM, MacOS10.12 || Magic keyboard w/numeric keypad, wireless trackpad, Kengsington Edge Trackball || Flux Capacitor in a secure location

---

I encourage kids to go ahead and play on my lawn. I mean, how else can I make sure the death-traps work?

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  • 4 months later...

MEB I am not sure the distinction between selecting the image versus the layer.  In the move tool I drew a box around the pixel layer, no Replace Image button.  I've clicked and double clicked in image areas.  Still nothing.  I've tried clicking the image area with all modifier key combinations.  How are you selecting the image not the layer?

 

We are talking about AD not APh right?

iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) with macOS Sierra

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  • Staff

MEB I am not sure the distinction between selecting the image versus the layer.  In the move tool I drew a box around the pixel layer, no Replace Image button.  I've clicked and double clicked in image areas.  Still nothing.  I've tried clicking the image area with all modifier key combinations.  How are you selecting the image not the layer?

 

We are talking about AD not APh right?

 

There's "two ways" to bring an "image" to Affinity.

1) Open an image as a new document:

If you open an image directly through File -> Open or drag it to Affinity without any document previously created, Affinity assumes that you want to work on that image as a whole. So it's opened as a Pixel layer (a container for pixel based editing). There's no way to replace that image other than to open a new one. I think this is what you're doing.

 

2) Place an image inside a document:

If you have a document open and drag an image to it, or if you use the Place Image tool (or go to File-> Place) to insert an image on your document, it will be treated like an object - part of a bigger project/design. Here, you can replace it selecting the image on the canvas or in the layers panel and pressing the Replace Image button on the context toolbar.

 

A generic layer is a just a container for other types of objects. They are identified as (Layer) in front of their names (Layer1, 2, 3, etc by default) on the Layers panel. You can select a layer to edit/transform it - affecting all objects it contains -, or pick just one of the objects contained in that layer to edit/transform it individually. 

Object layers on other side are single entities. They can be shapes, text, images etc

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It worked!  When I did a place it worked.  Usually I either start with opening an image (using open with) or dragging the image from another AD window (which was opened with an open with).  Both of these create layers but no Replace Image.  So it works for an image layer, but not a pixel layer.

 

I always use the "open with" for 2 reasons, I get it opened with the AD beta (instead of AD MAS or PS) and it opens in a document the size of the image.  And any time it's opened that way it's a pixel layer which doesn't get a Replace Image.  Got it.  Phew I thought I was going crazy.

 

Thank you MEB and Markus.

iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) with macOS Sierra

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Just for reference an image "layer" and a pixel layer refer to different things in Affinity although they may look exactly the same on canvas. 

Affinity considers a pixel layer a container for pixel based editing operations.

An Image "layer" is considered an object layer (like shapes, text etc). This is the reason why it can be replaced.You can exchange an image for another, but you can't exchange a container (like a pixel layer or a vector layer) for another. It wouldn't make sense.

 

You can convert an Image object to a pixel layer for further pixel editing going to Layer -> Rasterise.... This is a destructive operation in the sense that you no longer have a replaceable object (the original image) but a container with a bunch of pixels you can edit.

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