Color Picker Tool Broken with 2.1.0 Update - Designer

[TonyO]

Hey guys, I'm not sure if this was intentional, but one of the most useful gestures that has been in AFDesigner on ipad from the day one was broken in 2.1.

The color picker in the left tool panel has always been able to be quickly dragged out to quick select a color, in a usual illustration session I would reach for this function almost every time i draw a shape. Literally every 5th tap of my pencil...

With the introduction of the style picker tool, the color picker and style picker now have a tool  pop out menu... which kills the quick color selector 😬 gesture. I posted a video, like i always do.

I am all for new additions and updates to make the App better, but the essence of iPad is the super convenient gestures like dragging the stroke icon to adjust on the fly, and the color icon to lighten and darken the current color. Affinity's strength over Adobe is the ability to work fast and the super optimal workspace that just keeps you moving! This was one of those incredible gestures that helped keep that speed going!  

I have a suggestion for a compromise that doesn't remove functionality (see my render below the video), while still making the color and style picker prominent and easy to reach/find.

Please consider restoring this function, new muscle memory is hard to form at the age of 41, hahaha. 
Thanks again guys! Keep doing what you do!

Edited July 23, 2024 by TonyO
title clarification

[TonyO]

I also tend to only do limited testing on beta apps, usually it's to see if bugs i found in the current release have been resolved or not. Since you usually cant open beta saved files in the production app, I usually don't test them deep enough to find issues like this until i start daily driving, haha. 

One absolutely amazing thing about the Affinity team, though, is unlike Adobe that just uses Chat.GPT to answer questions with canned responses, the Affinity guys actually read bug reports and product suggestions, and tend to actually fix issues rather than letting them fester for years. (I'm looking at you Illustrator, still not being able to apply a gradient to text after 30 friggin years, haha).  Customer support should be up at the top of the list when it comes to features, but modesty is a virtue, haha. 

[DM1]

8 hours ago, TonyO said:

With the introduction of the style picker tool, the color picker and style picker now have a tool  pop out menu... which kills the quick color selector 😬 gesture. I posted a video, like i always do.

If you tap colour picker on the pop out menu it stays set to colour picker until you set it to Style. Wherever you tap it picks up the colour. Am I missing the issue?

[Bryan Rieger]

Huh, I’ve never used that colour picker before as I always long-press on the artboard/canvas to select a colour, much the way Procreate works.

[TonyO]

1 hour ago, DM1 said:

If you tap colour picker on the pop out menu it stays set to colour picker until you set it to Style. Wherever you tap it picks up the colour. Am I missing the issue?

Yes, you missed the issue entirely, haha.

This is an issue with Designer, not Photo (did photo have this feature, i don't know). 

On every version prior to 2.1, you could tap AND DRAG the eyedropper to get an instant color picker that would float along with your preferred pointing device until you let go, upon letting go, the color you were floating on is instantly applied to your selected objects. 

This was a quick, temporary gesture that would let you pick a color without changing tools, or performing multiple taps. It was an indispensable useful timesaver. 

I took this one last video... just as I finished, my older iPad updated to 2.1, so i would have to download 1.X to show more examples. 

Notice in the video, i have the MOVE TOOL selected, and i recolor each block(s) multiple times by dragging out the EYE DROPPER without ever switching away from the MOVE TOOL. This is one of my most used gestures on iPad, it's a HUGE timesaver. These touch specific gestures are what make iPad an amazing platform to work on. 

 

[TonyO]

44 minutes ago, rgba said:

Huh, I’ve never used that colour picker before as I always long-press on the artboard/canvas to select a colour, much the way Procreate works.

This is an issue with Designer, not Photo.

In designer, a long press gives you a contextual menu. 

[DM1]

17 minutes ago, TonyO said:

This is an issue with Designer, not Photo (did photo have this feature, i don't know). 

Yikes, wrong app, I missed by a mile,😂. Yes, Photo had same tool. Both changed in latest update. I see what you mean about Move tool switching. 

[Bryan Rieger]

12 minutes ago, TonyO said:

This is an issue with Designer, not Photo.

In designer, a long press gives you a contextual menu. 

Ah, I see what you mean when objects are selected. It feels like a press and drag gesture should still do as you describe, and a long-press, and/or double-tap on the toolbar icon should bring up the pop-up menu. This feels like another case of Serif taking the desktop design patterns and simply applying them 'as is' to the iPad, where often they don't make as much sense and feel out of place.

[DWright]

This has been logged with our developers.

[TonyO]

On 5/19/2023 at 8:11 AM, DWright said:

This has been logged with our developers.

@DWright  I found an additional bit to this bug, it appears that the function to drag out the color picker is still there, layered below the pop out menu function. If you activate the popout menu, then retap and hold the original icon while the menu is active, you can still fly out the gesture for color picking. This appears to be an unintentional double function.  I made a video.

It would be ideal to lose the pop out menu, choose COLOR or STYLE from the context menu, and restore the drag out functionality. 

Thanks again for looking into this!

[TonyO]

Is this bug fix planned for a 2.2? I hate to bump and ask, but the lack of the draggable color loupe is a real drag on productivity.

What used to be single swipe for color picking and no tool changes...

Is now Tap to activate color tool, tap or drag to select color, tap previous tool to get back to where you were before. (3 taps)

A single swipe to 3 tap process doesnt sound like alot, but when you are doing it over a thousand times per illustration, it wears you down really quickly.

Thanks so much guys! Keep doing what you do!

[DM1]

On 7/7/2023 at 11:59 PM, TonyO said:

Is this bug fix planned for a 2.2? I hate to bump and ask, but the lack of the draggable color loupe is a real drag on productivity.

Same behaviour currently in the 2.2 beta. (3 taps).

[Barry Newman]

I agree with you, TonyO.

Best

BN

[DM1]

On 7/7/2023 at 11:59 PM, TonyO said:

Is this bug fix planned for a 2.2? I hate to bump and ask, but the lack of the draggable color loupe is a real drag on productivity

Good news. If I have read it correctly, it is planned to revert to original colour picker operation and be available for testing in beta 2.3. 

[TonyO]

Oh cool! Where did you read that? I didn’t see any notes on 2.3 yet. 

[DM1]

23 hours ago, TonyO said:

Oh cool! Where did you read that? I didn’t see any notes on 2.3 yet. 

In the 2.2 beta build 2 (1903) notes.

[TonyO]

I think this was referring to changes to the color picker tool itself and not the color/style picker pop-out interfering with the drag out color picker. Hoping this is the case, but it doesn’t sound like it. 

[TonyO]

Can i bump this UI fix request for V2.3? It's proving to be a productivity killer even after a few months of re-building muscle memory. It's just so much easier to be able to drag the color picker from the left menu than pick colors any other way. 

Thanks so much for everything you guys do, I haven't illustrated on a computer or paper since 2018 haha! 

And Congrats on the 2.2 drop, it's performing great so far!

 

On 5/19/2023 at 8:47 AM, TonyO said:

@DWright  I found an additional bit to this bug, it appears that the function to drag out the color picker is still there, layered below the pop out menu function. If you activate the popout menu, then retap and hold the original icon while the menu is active, you can still fly out the gesture for color picking. This appears to be an unintentional double function.  I made a video.

It would be ideal to drop the pop out menu, choose COLOR or STYLE from the context menu, and restore the drag out functionality OR separate these into 2 tools on the bar so the basic color picker will still allow for the flyout.

Thanks again for looking into this!

 

 

[TonyO]

I was mulling over this issue a bit and wanted to bump this thread in hopes of a fix in 2.3... but bumping without a suggestion of a fix felt lazy, haha, so here's my idea!

What if (like the floating modifier dot that activates ALT, CNTRL, SHIFT, etc.), there was also an optional floating color well for fill and stroke, that could act the way the pre-2.1 left toolbar eye dropper used to work (with a quick drag out color loupe for picking color on the currently selected object, WITHOUT switching tools.)

I don't want to be a bother, or that needy guy who is always asking for stuff (hahaha, I mean, i already am that, but squeaky wheel gets the oil right?)... but of all the features that have changed since i started using ADF daily on iPad in 2018, the loss of the quick drag out loupe from the from the eyedropper on the left tool bar as of version 2.1 has been devastating, i still cant fix my muscle memory on that one, it was just too convenient of a gesture.

Thanks for considering! You guys are always receptive, and it is extremely appreciated!! 

[TonyO]

Congrats on V2.3! Working like a charm and I LOVE the new spiral tool! 

Can I bump this UI fix for possible inclusion in V2.4? Thanks so much for all you guys do!

[Patrick Connor]

20 minutes ago, TonyO said:

Can I bump this UI fix for possible inclusion in V2.4?

Done, and thanks for the thanks.

As a bit of background, a Colour Picker rewrite for 2.2 introduced so many consequences and regressions that the code was shelved until we can find a better way to do it.

[TonyO]

Yikes! I know nothing about development, but i definitely know it's complicated! Thanks for the insight!

I know anything you guys come up with will be stellar!

[TonyO]

Really Loving all of the new updates lately! 2.4 is running great!
Can i bump this fix for 2.5?

Thanks for everything you guys do! 

 

[TonyO]

I just got the new iPad Pro and affinity is even more amazing on a new device! 

Can I bump this feature request for 2.6?

Designer gets better with every release! Thanks again for all you do!