Affinity Designer 2.2 not applying strokes to rasterized images...

[UltraDev]

I'm pretty sure they should be (and used to) but this error is 100% reproducible 100% of the time. NB

1. Place or paste an image to a an Affinity Designer 2.2 file
2. Apply an outline stroke. Works great (see export image attached)
3. Rasterize the same image and then attempt any UI method to add a stroke (or copy across styles the un-rasterized image);and
4. the results is no stroke showing*

Note: I have noticed a lot more rendering errors in 2.0 versions of Affinity Designer compared to previous versions which frequently requires a close of Affinity Designer and a fresh re-open to see if the missing effect/attribute is a rendering (memory?) related or something else. In the case of the missing stroke on  rasterized images it does appear to be 'something else' - but what?

Sample image here showing the 5pt red solid red stroke applied to an image (copied from the larger jpeg behind it)...

Whereas the second, rasterized image will not show the same stroke settings, come hell or high water. Happens every time.

Windows 11 PC here with plenty of graphics RAM I would have thought.. (GeForce GTX 1660 Super 4GB).

If anyone could confirm this, especially if there is a simple workaround/setting that might be causing this.

Many thanks - in advance.

 

 

[Hangman]

Hi @UltraDev and welcome to the forums,

I'm pretty sure it has never been possible to apply a stroke in the true sense (via the stroke panel) directly to a rasterised image in Affinity Designer, it certainly doesn't work in any versions I've tried.

The only way to achieve a stroke 'effect' as far as I know, is to Cmd Click the rasterised image using the Pixel Persona in AD to select it and then choose Select > Outline and set a pixel radius and fill the selection with a colour.

[Return]

There is a way through the assets panel for a framelike stroke.
For outlining pixels the outline fx is the only option.

 

 

[UltraDev]

Many thanks hangman/return.. it must have been the Outline tool I'd used before 2.0 then ... thanks @Return and thanks again @Hangman althoug  I did notice that the Outline option wasn't/isn't available in the pixel persona mode..

But seems to work great when applied through the FX menu when applied using the 'Inside' alignment mode (for square corners)... so thanks so much for the tip/reminder. Much appreciated.

[UltraDev]

Although this does seem a strange omission (Affinity) baring in mind it's perfectly possible to apply strokes to any other kind imported bitmaps. Just as a minor follow-up guys.

[Hangman]

1 hour ago, UltraDev said:

I did notice that the Outline option wasn't/isn't available in the pixel persona mode..

The key is to Ctrl (Cmd) Click the rasterised layer in the Layers panel (not on the canvas) so you then see the marching ants around the selection and then the Outline option will be available from the Select menu which you can use to set a pixel radius and specify whether the outline is centred, inside or outside the image.

Once you have your selection you can then simply fill it accordingly...

[UltraDev]

That's brilliant thanks so much @Hangman. I can't believe I've never played with that before. I possibly always gave thinking there must be an easier way to do it - where the FX Outline tool is quicker/simpler what I had in mind... but this is great and can see how/where that option on more complex selections would be great. PS This reminds me, just in case you happen to know if it's possible... is before using Affinity Designer (since it very first came out) I use Fireworks and one select tool/option I used all the time on that was to use the select area tool to create an object outline (marching-ants style) and then turn that selection into a 'curves' (a vector object). I'm only asking because it seems a similar exercise but would love to know if that has become possible since 2.0... A similar function/tool exists in the free Inkscape drawing tool which is extended into a proper 'trace bitmap' tool that I also use all the time to create new vector objects from traced bitmap outlines. In short does Affinity Designer now cater for that somehow? PS I'll happily post that up a separate post in case anyone else also knows if converting outline selects into curves is now possible - but thanks so much for your earlier replies/demo. much appreciated.

[Return]

2 minutes ago, UltraDev said:

object outline (marching-ants style) and then turn that selection into a 'curves' (a vector object).

No.

[UltraDev]

I'm really surprised there's not more demand for that... but thanks @Return

[Return]

1 minute ago, UltraDev said:

I'm really surprised there's not more demand for that... but thanks @Return

Of course there is but it simply isn't a priority I guess as is with so many things still not there.
The wheel needs to be reinvented at Serif towers.

[Dan C]

Welcome to the Affinity Forums @UltraDev 

2 hours ago, UltraDev said:

• Place or paste an image to a an Affinity Designer 2.2 file
• Apply an outline stroke. Works great (see export image attached)
• Rasterize the same image and then attempt any UI method to add a stroke (or copy across styles the un-rasterized image);and
• the results is no stroke showing*

46 minutes ago, UltraDev said:

Although this does seem a strange omission (Affinity) baring in mind it's perfectly possible to apply strokes to any other kind imported bitmaps

I can confirm that this is expected behaviour - a placed 'Image' or 'Document' layer is rendered within a vector container, therefore can have Stroke settings applied.

Once you rasterise the layer to a 'Pixel' object, it is no longer contained within a vector container and therefore the Stoke attributes simply aren't' compatible with this layer type.

52 minutes ago, UltraDev said:

I did notice that the Outline option wasn't/isn't available in the pixel persona mode..

But seems to work great when applied through the FX menu

As mentioned above, the Select menu options are related to an active Pixel Selection ('marching ants') on your canvas and are completely separate from the FX options, which do not require an active selection.

8 minutes ago, UltraDev said:

one select tool/option I used all the time on that was to use the select area tool to create an object outline (marching-ants style) and then turn that selection into a 'curves' (a vector object). I'm only asking because it seems a similar exercise but would love to know if that has become possible since 2.0.

Unfortunately as confirmed by Return, there is currently no 'trace' tool within Affinity apps - though this is a highly requested feature and one our team hope to implement in a future update.

You may be interested in the following list of third party alternatives for 'tracing' bitmaps/selections to vector objects:  

2 hours ago, UltraDev said:

Note: I have noticed a lot more rendering errors in 2.0 versions of Affinity Designer compared to previous versions which frequently requires a close of Affinity Designer and a fresh re-open to see if the missing effect/attribute is a rendering (memory?) related or something else.

Sorry to hear you're experiencing rendering errors in Affinity, this isn't something we're seeing reported from other users consistently, therefore it may be related your system, Affinity document etc.

Firstly, if you experience rendering errors then please try zooming in and out of the document - this will force the canvas to redraw & refresh and should hopefully mean you no longer need to close and reopen the app.

Secondly, please ensure that your GPU driver is fully up to date, directly from the manufacturers website, as outdated GPU drivers can cause rendering issues within Affinity apps.

I hope this helps!

[GarryP]

Another simple alternative is to put the Pixel layer inside a Rectangle layer (with the same size and position as the Pixel Layer) and give the rectangle a stroke as required – see attached image. (The Rectangle layer then becomes the vector container, as mentioned by Dan C above, which the initially placed image had.)

[UltraDev]

👍 HeHe. That's true @GaryP - thanks.