Please fix this unacceptable rasterization problem in Affinity Designer

[tripplejaz]

I'm using Affinity Designer 2.0.4 and have had the suite of products for about 4 years. This issue has not changed.

This is a repeatable behavior. Mask one shape inside another, make sure the shape borders the clipped shape. Add a pixel layer to the shape added inside the shape.

Now there is an ugly pixelized behavior bordering the edge of these shapes. It's almost like Designer is still prioritizing the initial Ellipse instead of overriding it with the pixel layer. I thought this would've been fixed in 2. Here's what it looks like in a non-preview mode.

Here's what it looks like in pixel-preview mode


And this does not change when exported. There is a very obvious, ugly line of pixelation visible to the naked eye when pixel layers are clipped inside shapes. I use Designer for professional character workflows and I find it bothersome and frustrating this behavior occurs. I have not found workarounds to this behavior but it is less noticeable once coloration happens. Still, I'd like this behavior to work properly as it would in other software: the white pixels of the airbrush should override the medium-gray ellipse it's sitting underneath.

NOTE: I also tried this using a Gradient Fill on the Ellipse instead of painting on a pixel layer, and it has the same behavior.

 

[stokerg]

Hi @tripplejaz,

This is anti-aliasing coming into play here, you can get better results if you alter the Coverage Map in the Blend Range options on the Layers Panel.  If you drag the right node of the line to the bottom, so the line is flat, you should get a better edge.

[ronnyb]

54 minutes ago, stokerg said:

Hi @tripplejaz,

This is anti-aliasing coming into play here, you can get better results if you alter the Coverage Map in the Blend Range options on the Layers Panel.  If you drag the right node of the line to the bottom, so the line is flat, you should get a better edge.

Kinda sorta works, but you still get the edge, albeit more pixelated, and you lose anti-aliasing in pixel work, which sucks.... Is there really no way to fix this?

 

As a quick hack —and of course it won't work with every scenario— I tried reverting the Coverage Map to it's default, and instead added a tiny radius Gaussian blur FX with Preserve Alpha checked and this is what I got...

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by ronnyb
Added content

[NotMyFault]

1 hour ago, stokerg said:

Hi @tripplejaz,

This is anti-aliasing coming into play here, you can get better results if you alter the Coverage Map in the Blend Range options on the Layers Panel.  If you drag the right node of the line to the bottom, so the line is flat, you should get a better edge.

For me it is still a bug. When using clipping paths, Affinity blends the clipped edge pixels on color channels and alpha, and it uses black as default color to mix partial transparent edge pixels. This is simply wrong. The color must remain unchanged, and the partial alpha value preserved. The effects get less visual distracting if you copy the child layer several times, then the correct color gets more weight in the blend formula. We need a way to except color channels for edge pixels to get blended with (wrong, default black) colors of fully transparent background pixels.

i know that this behavior is not exclusive to afiinity apps, and (export vector) file formats may even mandate this for compatibility.

Never the less, Affinity could offer better results when exporting to pixel formats without any compatibility issues. Just give users the choice to override the (40 years old) outdated layer blend formula. It is time to cut off some rotten legacy.

[MEB]

Hi @tripplejaz,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
This is indeed caused by antialiasing. To fix it go to Affinity Designer Preferences, Performance section and tick Use precise clipping. It should then render correctly for you (no thin line).

[tripplejaz]

On 5/11/2023 at 2:53 AM, MEB said:

Hi @tripplejaz,
Welcome to Affinity Forums
This is indeed caused by antialiasing. To fix it go to Affinity Designer Preferences, Performance section and tick Use precise clipping. It should then render correctly for you (no thin line).

Thanks for the suggestion. I've attached a before and after of "Use precise clipping" disabled (left attachment) and enabled (right attachment) with Pixel preview mode enabled. It looks noticeably WORSE enabled.

[MEB]

Hi @tripplejaz,
The case you are presenting above is considerably different/more complex than the one you posted in the first post which should be sorted out enabling Use precise clipping. Seems you are using layer effects on this new one which may lead to pixelation in certain cases. Do you mind sharing the original file to be inspected so we can log those issues in case they are not known yet? I can provide an upload link if you wish to keep your file private - just let me know. Thank you.
 

[tripplejaz]

6 hours ago, MEB said:

Hi @tripplejaz,
The case you are presenting above is considerably different/more complex than the one you posted in the first post which should be sorted out enabling Use precise clipping. Seems you are using layer effects on this new one which may lead to pixelation in certain cases. Do you mind sharing the original file to be inspected so we can log those issues in case they are not known yet? I can provide an upload link if you wish to keep your file private - just let me know. Thank you.
 

I've attached an example. It doesn't happen all over the character arms, but certain places this effect is happening and precise clipping simply makes it look worse.

AffinityDesignerForums-ClippingExample.afdesign