Is there a way to make 'warp group' affect pixel layers as well?

[Mandu]

Right now, the main new feature of Designer V2 is Warp (Mesh, Quad, Perspective, etc...). But it only affects vector layers. In Photo, live filters affect both vector and pixel layers, which is exactly what I want. However, I can't find a way to 'apply' or 'bake' the live filter without converting the entire group into a single pixel layer.  Is there a way this could be done?

Photo has both Liquify and Mesh Warp live filters which are very powerful, but they are only semi-useful to me because of like I said, inability to convert them to editable vector layer again.

[Ron P.]

Short answer, No.

About vector warps

You can warp shapes, straight lines, curves and text by applying a warp preset directly to selected objects. All warp presets apply a mesh to the objects which can be manipulated.

Warping Objects

[NotMyFault]

You can use the Photo live filters, stored in a Affinity document, and use them in Designer. No need to bake in. As long as you keep the live versions, you can adjust your vector objects, add more etc. of course, if you export the result, it will be rasterized.

[v_kyr]

6 hours ago, Mandu said:

In Photo, live filters affect both vector and pixel layers, which is exactly what I want. However, I can't find a way to 'apply' or 'bake' the live filter without converting the entire group into a single pixel layer.  Is there a way this could be done?

No, not yet there is no vectorization stage build in.

6 hours ago, Mandu said:

Photo has both Liquify and Mesh Warp live filters which are very powerful, but they are only semi-useful to me because of like I said, inability to convert them to editable vector layer again.

As you've already seen, there is no way yet to convert pixel data distortions into vector data, since there is no build in bitmap to vectorization functionality inside the Affinity apps.

[loukash]

Simply combine both effects.
For example:

File > Edit in Photo, add the live mesh warp to the pixel object(s) only, and back to Designer the same route.
In Designer, you can then fine tune both.
The only minor annoyance is the lack of snapping with the vector Warp Group nodes – which I'd expect is yet to be added in a subsequent update next year. So you'll have to align both warps manually.