Preserving linked resources in images for the web

[PaoloT]

Hi,

Here is what I would like to do:

1. Grab bitmap images from the computer screen.

2. Link them into a new document, so that I can only cut part of the image by resizing the document or artboard, while the original image remaining linked.

3. Add a layer of text and connecting lines.

4. Save it in a high-quality web-compatible file format (that is, SVG or PNG).

5. When the original image has to be updated, just replace it, and it will be automatically updated in the image files where it is placed as linked.

Is there a file format that can do all the above? Unfortunately, it really looks like when a Designer file is exported to SVG, it loses all the links, and if you need to make an object linked again you have to find the original source in the drives.

To sweeten the problem, is that you can just choose the containing folder, without having to select the file itself. This may be good enough to choose SVG as the format to use. But, still, automatic update is not done, unless you explicitly make the placed objects linked again.

I also discovered that after relinking, a "_1.TIFF" image is created in the same directory of the SVG file I'm editing in Designer. This is a copy of the original placed object (that had however been imported as a PNG file from the current directory). The file is not deleted when closing Designer.

I'm using the current version of Designer for Mac.

Paolo

 

 

[Callum]

Hi Paolo,

In the apps preferences under general you should be able to enable update linked resources automatically when edited externally. Most files wont export with linked images as you would then need to send all of those images along with the file to other computers if you need to save all of your images with your file you should be able to use File > Save As Package.

Thanks
C

[PaoloT]

Dear Callum, thank you very much for your answer!

10 hours ago, Callum said:

Most files wont export with linked images as you would then need to send all of those images along with the file to other computers

In my particular case, all the images are delivered together with all the other files of the project, using a File > Package feature or not.

- In case I could work only with Affinity apps, this would not be an issues, since everything would be in the native format.

- In most cases, I have to comply with file formats standard in the web development. So, images files have to be PNG or SVG.

What I can do, in the current state of things, is to save the master Affinity files, and then export the corresponding web-compliant files. This means having to deal with twice the files. It is feasible, but it would be handy to have an option to use the web-savvy formats include all the Affinity features they can support (including linking objects).

Releasing projects as a web site is no longer a secondary option, but it is many times the primary one. Affinity Photo and Designer are great tools to make the needed images, but I feel a further degree of integration would be really welcome.

Paolo