Issues with Linked File: Layer Visibility Override

[Mr. Doodlezz]

Hey there,

I came across the following question and bug while working on a document today.

Initial situation: I want to link a Designer document with several differently named artboards, each containing between two or three layers that I want to show or hide separately while the document is linked in Publisher. I'd like to use the long awaited and now available "Layer Visibility Override" in Publisher. I was very excited to finally see it!

Question/Possible minor bug:

Why is the order of layers in Publisher reverse compared to the order in Designer? The lowest layer in Designer is shown first in Publisher and vice versa, the first layer in Designer is shown last in Publisher. I can't quite follow this logic and it seems a bit backwards in the most literal sense. (Sorry, the screenshot is meant to be read from right to left, because on the right side is the way I set up the layers first in Designer, before linking them second in Publisher on the left side).

Bug (?):

There is no other way to describe it than that it simply does not work. In my particular case, I'd like to switch between two layers, ticking one off, ticking one on. And it just doesn't work. Instead of switching between these two layers, a third layer is displayed which should remain invisible because I am not even touching it.

Also, I'm not so much interested in workarounds for the problem, I know there are other and cleaner ways to set it up, like I could have opted for additional artboards (as I would eventually do once the client narrows down to one version). However, as there should be Layer Visibility Override in Publisher, I'd want to use it.

Please see the clip attached.

Perhaps someone can confirm this? Or maybe this issue is already known/reported?

Cheers
Dennis

[Mr. Doodlezz]

One thing I forgot to mention, but which is also visible throughout the clip, even from the beginning: The overridden layers with the hidden status change as soon as the document is saved in Designer. However, the Affinity website explicitly mentions that »Even if the source file is changed, your layer visibility settings will be maintained.«

That's not true, and unfortunately it's another issue that comes up when working with the feature. ☹️

[Callum]

Hi Dennis Richter,

We have made some changes to this feature in our latest beta build that might fix these issues please could you try it from the link below?

Thanks
C

[Mr. Doodlezz]

32 minutes ago, Callum said:

Hi Dennis Richter,

We have made some changes to this feature in our latest beta build that might fix these issues please could you try it from the link below?

Thanks
C

Hey @Callum,

first time I tried it didn’t work. Second time it did. Curious. (Sidenote: Changing the user interface icons to mono crashed Publisher almost immediately.)
At first I suspected it wouldn't work because my actual document was set up in Designer 2.0.4, but that works fine too.

So visibility override seems to be working in BETA now, great! 👍

Can you maybe say something about the reversed order in the layer dropdown? Is this by design? It’s still reversed in BETA.

Thanks!

[Callum]

1 hour ago, Mr. Doodlezz said:

Hey @Callum,

first time I tried it didn’t work. Second time it did. Curious. (Sidenote: Changing the user interface icons to mono crashed Publisher almost immediately.)
At first I suspected it wouldn't work because my actual document was set up in Designer 2.0.4, but that works fine too.

So visibility override seems to be working in BETA now, great! 👍

Can you maybe say something about the reversed order in the layer dropdown? Is this by design? It’s still reversed in BETA.

Thanks!

I have asked a member of our QA team about the reversed Z order and they have indicated that this is by design.

Thanks
C

[Mr. Doodlezz]

2 minutes ago, Callum said:

I have asked a member of our QA team about the reversed Z order and they have indicated that this is by design.

Thanks
C

I still find it strange, though, and see no reason why it should be reversed between the different places in the apps. 🤷‍♂️
Just imagine having multiple layers with the same name (maybe colour-coded in the Layers palette so you know which is which), knowing that the bottom one in Designer is the one you want to disable in Publisher.
(Well, in that case I'd say the problem is how the creative behind it manages layer naming in the first place, but I won't deny this happens to me sometimes. 😅)

Anyway, thanks for confirming.

[Mr. Doodlezz]

Hey @Callum,

meanwhile V2.1 was released. So I'm working with my document again today and I'm having almost the same problems as last time. I'm not sure if the linked document is causing the problem or if it's a general bug in Publisher. It just does not work. Sometimes it looks like it's registered my override, but as soon as I save, close and reopen my document it's reset. 😩

Greetings
Dennis

[Mr. Doodlezz]

Hey everyone, hey @Callum,

quick update: I have to retract my earlier statement that it's working now. The second bug, where the wrong layers get set to invisible, is still not resolved. I've been facing this issue since the feature was introduced. It's quite frustrating.