The issue with object grouping in Publisher 2

[Tulimord]

Hi,
For some time now, object grouping hasn't been working correctly for me in Publisher 2.2, 2.3 Previously, I could group objects using Ctrl+G, and they would stay grouped until I ungrouped them. Currently, grouping only lasts until I click or change the tool. This is quite inconvenient when dealing with a large number of objects (text and images) that need to be operated on in groups. Is there a hidden button that changes this behavior, which I might not be noticing? Certainly, this behavior wasn't there before (V.1). Regards.

[GarryP]

The software doesn’t, as far as I know, in most usual circumstances, ungroup layers by itself without user action.

Are you sure that you are grouping them properly? (E.g. Are you sure that Ctrl+G is actually grouping the layers – check the Keyboard Shortcuts – and not doing something else?)

Can you record a video of this happening?
If not, can you supply full-screen screenshots – which include the Layers Panel – of both before the grouping and after the ungrouping?

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, GarryP said:

Are you sure that you are grouping them properly? (E.g. Are you sure that Ctrl+G is actually grouping the layers – check the Keyboard Shortcuts – and not doing something else?)

Or that some other application isn't intercepting the Ctrl+G key combination? I've had that happen before. 

So it's good to also check the Layers panel to confirm whether it worked.

[lepr]

3 hours ago, Tulimord said:

Previously, I could group objects using Ctrl+G, and they would stay grouped until I ungrouped them. Currently, grouping only lasts until I click or change the tool.

I think what's happening is the objects are staying grouped, but you have enabled the option which makes the individual objects be directly selectable as if ungrouped.

In the Context Toolbar of Move Tool (and many other tools) is an Auto-select control; in its drop-down list, select "Default" instead of "Objects" to get the selection behaviour to which you are accustomed.

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, lepr said:

I think what's happening is the objects are staying grouped, but you have enabled the option which makes the individual objects be directly selectable as if ungrouped.

I think you are right about that. This new in V2 option seems to confuse quite a few users. More about it can be found for example in this Move Tool help topic.

[Tulimord]

Quote

@lepr

In the Context Toolbar of Move Tool (and many other tools) is an Auto-select control; in its drop-down list, select "Default" instead of "Objects" to get the selection behaviour to which you are accustomed

You were right @lepr. So, there is indeed a secret button... And it's actually quite small It wasn't so obvious. To retain grouping, Auto-select and Default options must be enabled. Thank you for the quick and accurate response, and thanks to everyone for the willingness to help. Regards.

[wizox]

I had a similar issue with Publisher 2.3. Then I discovered there is NO shortcut assigned to the group command in the Layer menu. Using the menu worked, but CTRL+G, of course, didn't. Publisher allows customization of shortcuts, so I put in CTRL+G and now it works like a champ! If you keep an eye on the Layer palette you can see which objects are selected (they turn color) and when you group them they collapse into a single entry. When you ungroup they go back to their original state. At least that's been my experience (after wasting half a day) messing around with grouping. Good luck -- hope this helps!

[Tulimord]

5 hours ago, wizox said:

I had a similar issue with Publisher 2.3. Then I discovered there is NO shortcut assigned to the group command in the Layer menu. Using the menu worked, but CTRL+G, of course, didn't. Publisher allows customization of shortcuts, so I put in CTRL+G and now it works like a champ! If you keep an eye on the Layer palette you can see which objects are selected (they turn color) and when you group them they collapse into a single entry. When you ungroup they go back to their original state. At least that's been my experience (after wasting half a day) messing around with grouping. Good luck -- hope this helps!

A small problem, but it can be frustrating when working routinely and suddenly something doesn't work. So, it was worth asking. Thanks to the kindness of the forum members, the issue has been explained as above. I think we can close the thread now. Regards.

[MikeTO]

9 hours ago, wizox said:

I had a similar issue with Publisher 2.3. Then I discovered there is NO shortcut assigned to the group command in the Layer menu. Using the menu worked, but CTRL+G, of course, didn't. Publisher allows customization of shortcuts, so I put in CTRL+G and now it works like a champ!

I just checked and clicking Serif Defaults does assign Cmd/Ctrl+G to Group, at least on macOS. Perhaps you removed it or it got messed up at some point in the past?

The full list of default shortcuts is available from here:

https://affinity.help/publisher2/English.lproj/index.html?page=pages/Workspace/shortcuts.html?title=Keyboard shortcuts