Control/Switch for keeping Move Tool and not changing it to Node Tool after 'Convert to curves'

[bagmetv]

Hi dear Affinity Developer Team,

Now in Designer v2 when you do 'Convert to Curves', Move Tool is being changed to Node Tool automatically.
Earlier in v1 there was no such behaviour.

I do a huge amount of 'Converting to Curves' daily (without further purpose of editing nodes) and this constant switching to Node Tool hurts me workflow significantly. 

Is it possible to bring keeping selected Move Tool after 'Convert to Curves' back?
Or at least can you please make an according control/switch in Settings for turning off this 'changing to Node Tool' behaviour after 'Convert to Curves'?

Sincerely
Vitalii

[loukash]

I have the feeling that the change was "by design". Seems logical to me.
Also, I find this change actually for the better: For example with a plain rectangle in v1 you wouldn't even notice that you have converted anything because the bounding box would hide the nodes. In v2 the displayed result matches the previous action.

[bagmetv]

Thanks for your reply, loukash.
Yes, I saw it's documented in Help section.
Of course I understand and accept this logic but I convert to curves huge amounts of text and there's no need for me in Node selection after every time. I will be happy to have a specific switch in Settings for turning this off.

[Ash]

Yeah it was something we had a fair amount of feedback on - that switching to node would be best after a convert to curves (as well as various other logic we have implemented around the node tool). We could give some thought as to whether a preference might make sense.

Worth saying that hitting cmd-return and then V doesn't seem too terrible to quickly convert something to curves and go back to move tool, with a bit of muscle memory is pretty quick? Also to say it if you are not using short cuts then after a convert to curves double clicking outside of the object you've just converted (assuming on the background or something) should also put you back to move tool.

[bagmetv]

Good evening, Ash.

Many thanks for your time and detailed reply.

The thing is my production requires doing this curving one text after another hundred and even more times every day so extra click (not talking about two clicks) each time unfortunately does makes a difference (and fatigue) in my workflow. Curving all text elements at once is not a way as I have to keep editable copy in one file too. 

So if it'd be possible, I will be happy to have a small dedicated switch/control/preference with the according 'No switching to Node Tool after' logic in Settings.
 

 

[loukash]

2 hours ago, bagmetv said:

my production requires doing this curving one text after another hundred and even more times every day

You're aware that you can convert hundreds of text objects objects with just one keyboard shortcut?
No clicks necessary.

2 hours ago, bagmetv said:

Curving all text elements at once is not a way as I have to keep editable copy in one file too. 

1. Select all text objects in the document (Select > Select Object > Art/Frame Text)
2. Hide them
3. Duplicate all, keep duplicates selected
4. Unhide the duplicates
5. Convert the duplicates to curves

All these commands are accessible in menus, customizable via keyboard shortcuts.
No click necessary.

Additionally you may want to make use of named objects or layer tags for quick selection of specific objects.

2 hours ago, bagmetv said:

hundred and even more times every day so extra click (not talking about two clicks) each time unfortunately does makes a difference (and fatigue) in my workflow.

You should definitely get a 3rd party macro utility.  
On Mac, I'm using Keyboard Maestro.
While Affinity apps aren't officially scriptable (yet), some script support is available out of the box via MacOS UI scripting. That involves all keyboard shortcuts or selecting menu commands, to a certain limited degree even clicking UI elements in the window.

For instance, I'm often using a Keyboard Maestro macro via keyboard shortcut that will click the layer name input field for me, based on my canvas object selection, so that I can type in a name right away, without having to click anything:

 

Similar macros can speed up your repetitive workflows.
Make use of such helpers!  

[bagmetv]

Hi loukash,

Wow, thanks a lot for your detailed reply!
Sure, I'll give a Keyboard Maestro a try.

[Mr. Doodlezz]

@loukash referred to this thread in my last post regarding the Corner Tool.

On 1/24/2023 at 3:56 PM, Ash said:

We could give some thought as to whether a preference might make sense.

@Ash, I would very, very much appreciate this to be toggleable somewhere in the preferences! 👏
Especially when I'm working with the Corner Tool and need precision because I want/need to try different radii, it is very irritating for me and stops me in my tracks because I have to actively work against the automatic tool selection. I have become so used to the way it worked in previous versions that I currently see no advantage in automatically switching to the Node Tool. Maybe the option to exclude this mechanic from certain tools would be a solution?

Cheers!

[Affitoom]

On 1/23/2023 at 3:24 PM, bagmetv said:

Hi dear Affinity Developer Team,

Now in Designer v2 when you do 'Convert to Curves', Move Tool is being changed to Node Tool automatically.
Earlier in v1 there was no such behaviour.

I do a huge amount of 'Converting to Curves' daily (without further purpose of editing nodes) and this constant switching to Node Tool hurts me workflow significantly. 

Is it possible to bring keeping selected Move Tool after 'Convert to Curves' back?
Or at least can you please make an according control/switch in Settings for turning off this 'changing to Node Tool' behaviour after 'Convert to Curves'?

Sincerely
Vitalii

I also have this same concern, and I think it would also be good if they gave the option to choose between moving to the node tool or keeping it as before (V1) in the move tool.

Please consider it.

Thank you

[Makaii]

Bumping with the wish for toggling the corner tool to V1 behavior. It's just distruptive fighting against the automatic tool change when you regularly make designs with varied radius. I'm at the point in my workflow where I'm rounding corners, so let me just stay in the tool that lets me round corners. Thanks.

[Cpt. Tom]

Same for me. Working with it for several months now and this is still the most annoying change with V2. This really disrupts my workflow and I would assume that this is an easy fix by adding a toggle. There should also be no quarrel with the UI team, since the toolbar for the corner tool is relatively empty and you have toggles in the same bar for other tools. @Ash Please change this. Also this is unintuitive and not consistent, since the corner tool is - as far as I can tell - the only tool that does this.