Can we get transparent page background key shortcut, please

[redlik]

I know I can change it in Document panel but constant change back and forth is not an optimal when you working fast. A nice key shortcut will be ideal, to switch between white an transparent background, I mean.

Please, and thank you!

[GarryP]

How often do you need to switch between a transparent and non-transparent background and what kind of workflow requires that you do so quickly?

[redlik]

I do it all the time when working on logo designs, checking positive and negative versions. Or any designs with white text, like signage etc.

In Illustrator you just hit Shift/Cmd D and check the artwork on transparent, hit again back to white. I'd love to have that in Designer

[GarryP]

I don’t do logo design work very often and don’t know what you mean by “positive and negative versions”.
Would you be able to give a visual example showing where the switch would be useful?

I can understand how it could help with working on designs with a lot of white, up to a point, but maybe there’s a better way of doing what you want.

I’m not asking these questions just to be awkward, I’m trying to understand what the processes are so I can ponder whether there’s a better way, rather than simply having a shortcut to something which only gets you part-way to what might actually be a better solution, both for you and others.

[redlik]

Sure, let's say I'm working on the logo at the top, all looks good and then I need to get the same updated logo in negative version, meaning it will go on a dark background (website footer for example). 

I'd drag it down, hit the shortcut (if there was), make the colour changes, export. Job done. Switch back to white.

I know there are many ways to do it, add some colour underneath, then remove before export or some other ways folks do it but this is how I work. The option is already there in the application, it would be nice to have a shortcut to switch back and forth faster. That's all.

 

[GarryP]

Thanks for the extra information and example.
That sample makes things much more clear.

As an alternative to a shortcut for switching between a transparent and non-transparent background, how about this…
1. User creates a Document Palette (an Application Palette or Global Palette, in this case, might be too awkward to control);
2. User adds colours to that palette;
3. User selects that palette as ‘the temporary background palette’;
4. There’s a new function which the user can select via a button, menu or shortcut which tells the software to cycle through the colours in ‘the temporary background palette’ where the current temporary background colour is displayed under all of the layers of the current artboard/spread (including a default colour of “None”), or maybe all artboards/spreads;
5. The ‘temporary background colour’ would not be exported or printed, it’s just a ‘temporary visual thing’, like the transparency chequerboard is.

By doing this you can easily create a set of colours which the design can be quickly checked against while not needing to add layers to the document and then hide them individually.

(I thought about images and gradients as backgrounds but there would probably be too many awkward issues with repeating/resizing etc.)

I haven’t thought this through very far, it’s just the germ of an idea, but it’s maybe something to think about.
Maybe now that you have seen my suggestion you might have your own idea which is far better than mine.

I realise that it may not be how you would currently like it to work, but maybe it’s a better way that you could get used to?

Obviously it’s more complicated than a simply shortcut toggle, but it’s your request so why not request the thing which does exactly what you want rather than something which only gets you part-way there?

If we don’t ask we may never get.

P.S. I think Photo has a way to link certain things (colours, etc.) together making it easy to switch between versions of designs (negative/positive?) but I’ve never taken the software that far. I think it’s called “Links”; might be worth a look.

[RNKLN]

I could have missed something completely in my reasoning, but why not create a template with some 'fill layers' which you can easily switch on/off? Like the one attached. No shortcut keys, but easy to switch, is my opinion.

 

4K 16x9 White BG.aftemplate

[redlik]

Another option would be to marked whole layer(s) as non-exportable (or non-printable) so one does not have to switch on off anything.  

As I said, there are multiple ways to do but as someone who'd spent over 20 years working in Adobe, I miss some things I've trained myself.

This is one of those things 🙂

[carl123]

For now...

If using artboards...

You can switch the artboard colour to transparent or white with just a click in the swatches panel (other colours are avilable)

Just make sure Transparent Background is set (at some point) in Document Setup

[redlik]

4 hours ago, carl123 said:

For now...

If using artboards...

You can switch the artboard colour to transparent or white with just a click in the swatches panel (other colours are avilable)

Just make sure Transparent Background is set (at some point) in Document Setup

Didn't know about this, handy ...but the colour gets exported with the artwork so still not perfect.
I'm picky, I know 🙂