Document won't open (load)

[clancularius]

I recently had to restore my Mac hard drive (OS Montery Version 12.6.4) and reinstall affinity design 2.  I cannot open any files. The top of the design screen says "loading 1 document" but never loads the document. The file I'm opening is on my hard drive instead of a cloud service. The document was originally created in Affinity Design 1. I do get a warning it will be converted/upgraded to work with Affinity Design 2. I've tried opening other documents, and the same thing happens. The document is 11.8 MB.

[Lee D]

Are you able to create a new blank document, add a few shapes, strokes etc and then save. Then close and reopen the app and open that file again?

Can you provide a link to the file so I can test it? If it's something that can't be shared, send me a DM instead.

[clancularius]

It opens with the old version of Affinity. ( I tried that on my laptop. However, I don't have that installed on my iMac) I've attached the file here. Yes, I can create a new document, close it and reopen it.

Zoom Background Solid With Logo.afdesign

[clancularius]

While I'm waiting for Lee's input, I'll uninstall and reinstall.

[clancularius]

Uninstall and reinstall had no impact. I'm going to restart my iMac now, see if that helps.

[clancularius]

reinstalling the program and restarting iMac had no impact. Still can't open file.

[clancularius]

It was in iCloud but I copy and pasted it into my Downloads folder on my drive as opposed to in the cloud.

[clancularius]

Firstly LondonSquirrel, thank you for your time and for taking the additional time to include a screenshot. I'm including a screenshot as well. My Designer 2 shows only "Downloads Folder" checked off. The file is in the downloads folder. I looked to see how to add "Documents Folder" and "Desktop Folder" but the +/- buttons only included the option to "-", not add. I've reached out to a friend who also has version 2 to see if he can open in that version and save it in version 2, send it back and see if I can then open. It's not a fix, but it will address the short-term problem I have. I'll still need to be able to open a ton of other documents that were created in version 1.

[clancularius]

I'll try to restore that folder with the files to my desktop. Might take a while. However, wondering why the file opens in version 1 on my laptop? Didn't you say earlier it opened for you? Was that on version 1 or 2?

[clancularius]

I did move the file from Downloads to Desktop. It didn't impact, still won't open.

[clancularius]

In Security & Privacy/Privacy/Files and Folders on my laptop, neither AD version 1 or 2 make an appearance. I can open the file on my laptop which has version 1 and 2 installed, but it won't open in version 2.

[clancularius]

See attached.

[clancularius]

Your try this file opened in Affinity 2 on my iMac. It doesn't look like anything is missing.

[clancularius]

I was just pondering the same thing - whether it might make a difference. I'll rename it and see what happens.

[clancularius]

"Your try" this file opened in Affinity 2 on my iMac. It doesn't look like anything is missing. I also changed the name to Macintosh HD, it didn't make a difference.

[clancularius]

You are correct. The image had one part removed. My friend also was able to open the document. My new computer will arrive sometime over the next couple of weeks and I can hopefully open my version 1 documents in version 2.

[Andreas Scherer]

I noticed similar misbehaviour today. It might be related to a recent OS update.

I'm running macOS 12.6.5 Monterey and versions 1.10.6, 2.0.4, and 2.1.0.1742 of all three Affinity apps.

All my project files are in the Downloads folder, for technical/backup/transfer reasons.

• Affinity 1.10.6 won't open any of these files by right-clicking on them, either in Finder or from the Dock. However, from inside the app, Cmd-O permits opening the project files.
• Affinity 2.0.4 and 2.1.0.1742 can be coerced to open them via the Open File... panel and acknowledging macOS's question if the app may be granted access to the Downloads folder. They do not open the project files by right-clicking in Finder.

Note that I have granted Affinity 1.10.6 full access to the harddrive in macOS system settings. Affinity 2.0.4 and 2.1.0.1742 currently have extra permission to access the Downloads folder.

If I move the project files to the Desktop, Affinity can open them (but some resources are reported missing).

PS: The situation doesn't change after applying all tips and tricks from https://nicepage.com/doc/84207/access-denied-to-documents-folder-mac-os

PPS: Other applications like LibreOffice, MacVim, Skim, Rawtherapee have absolutely no problem opening files from the Downloads folder (after granting access when macOS asks).

[Andreas Scherer]

17 hours ago, Andreas Scherer said:

I noticed similar misbehaviour today.

Some more observations:

• AD 1.10.6 shows recent files (one) in the Dock, but doesn't open it. Inside the app, the "Recently opened documents" menue is empty and it invokes the beachball-of-death. The project file can be opened via "File/Open...".
• AD 2.0.4 does not add opened projects to the "Aktuellste..." panel in the File/New dialogue.
• AD 2.1.0.1742 does add opened projects to the "Aktuellste..." panel.

Maybe it's Affinity after all and not macOS.

[Andreas Scherer]

On 4/15/2023 at 10:33 AM, Andreas Scherer said:

Maybe it's Affinity after all and not macOS.

At work on more or less identical Mac Mini M1, AD opens all projects as expected from the Dock and from the Finder. There are two major differences:

1. At work, all projects are not in the Downloads directory
2. At home I have Affinity 2.0.4 and 2.1beta installed

[Andreas Scherer]

On 4/18/2023 at 11:04 AM, Andreas Scherer said:

At home I have Affinity 2.0.4 and 2.1beta installed

Uninstalling all nine apps and deleting ''~/Library/Application Support/Affinity*'' and re-installing Affinity 1.10.6 and 2.0.4 changed things only slightly:

• Affinity V1 still doesn't open projects the usual way, only with "File/Open..."
• Affinity V2 adds opened projects to the "Recent..." panel again.

Question: What else must I delete to purge Affinity completely? After the re-installation

• the "Light" theme was on, icon size was large, etc.
• all "Assets" were gone, but APub templates still existed
• V1 did not ask for License credentials (yet)

so I did not restart afresh.

[clancularius]

Update: My new Mac arrived. Running Ventura now. Installed V2. File opened no problem.

[Andreas Scherer]

On 4/22/2023 at 10:19 PM, Andreas Scherer said:

• Affinity V1 still doesn't open projects the usual way, only with "File/Open..."

Minor correction: I still wasn't able to configure this particular Mac Mini with macOS 12.6.5 Monterey so that Affinity V1 opens project files in the "Downloads" directory either from the Dock or from the Finder by double-clicking or via "Open with...".

However, there seems to be some problem in the communication between Affinity and macOS: In the context menue of the AD icon in Dock all recently opened projects are (correctly) listed. Inside AD, only projects outside of "Downloads" (and maybe other system-specific directories) are listed in the "Recently opened..." list. Also, projects outside of "Downloads" can be opened in AD V1 by double-click.

Also AD V2.0.4 adds only those projects in the "Recently opened..." panel that reside outside of "Downloads".