File>Open only offers .txt as an option

[Clare M]

One of the things I found irritating in Affinity Designer was that, quite frequently, when I clicked File>Open I was only offered .txt files and not all the files I knew to be in a folder (a mixture of .afdesign, JPEGs and PSDs usually). Sometimes closing the box and trying again worked but sometimes I had to open File Explorer and drag and drop. I had hoped that this wouldn't be the case in Affinity Designer 2 but it's happened on the first file I've tried to open. 

Is this a glitch or am I doing something wrong please?

[GarryP]

This sort of thing used to happen regularly when placing files but I can’t remember seeing it for opening files.

The “File → Place” problem is something which has been around for ages (at least 1.6.5, maybe before).
I’ve read that it happens because the application is making an assumption that the user will want to import text under certain circumstances but it often gets the assumption wrong.
In this case you just need to manually change the file type to something else.

However, I can’t remember reading about it happening for “File → Open” so that’s a new one to me.

[markw]

As Garry says I don’t see this happening with File > Open… on my Mac.
But it will happen with File > Place, if you have a Text layer selected in the Layers panel when you invoke the Place command.

[Clare M]

Thank you both for the quick replies. My mistake, I did mean File>Place. That will teach me to post a question when I should be asleep! I'm not a designer so don't create anything myself. I use designs created by other people to make and print cards and for sublimation. I nearly always have a text layer within layers when I'm placing images so this is a right pain as it happens so often. I'll need to remember to deselect the text layer or use drag and drop from File Manager instead. Not too big a problem, I just need to remember. Thanks for the tips, it's been bugging me for a while.

[GarryP]

You’re welcome, and thanks for the clarification.

The “File → Place … only see .txt files” issue was a problem in all of the V1 versions of the software since at least 1.6.5 and sometimes happened when no text layers had been created/edited since launching the software – it just assumed you wanted text for some reason.

I don’t know if the problem persists in V2 but it’s worth keeping in mind.

[R C-R]

7 hours ago, markw said:

As Garry says I don’t see this happening with File > Open… on my Mac.
But it will happen with File > Place, if you have a Text layer selected in the Layers panel when you invoke the Place command.

FWIW, this happens in both V1 & V2 of all 3 of the Mac Affinity apps, & apparently also for the Windows versions. It's obviously a bug, but at least it is a minor one with an easy workaround.

[Dan C]

Thanks for your post and our sincerest apologies for the delayed response here. We are exceptionally busy following the release of V2 and we thank you for your continued patience and understanding here.

On 12/30/2022 at 5:30 PM, R C-R said:

FWIW, this happens in both V1 & V2 of all 3 of the Mac Affinity apps, & apparently also for the Windows versions. It's obviously a bug,

Apologies as I think I'm missing something here, but this sounds like expected behaviour.

File > Open should never be restricted to certain file types such as .txt, however File > Place is contextual and if you have a text object selected, this will be restricted to placing .txt files, which is by design.

[Clare M]

Dan, it's interesting that it's expected behaviour. Unfortunately for me there is never a situation where I would want to place a .txt file as I don't use them at all.  I don't know if that's unusual but it does mean that it's not helpful for me.

[Dan C]

No problem at all, I certainly understand. If you simply deselect the text object before using File > Place you should be able to select any other supported file formats, as expected