Affinity Designer 2.3.0 warping for pixel objects not working but warping of vector does

[TrUzApalOOza]

test warp from Photo and Designer.zipI've already upgraded both my PCs to 2.3.0, so don't have a machine to compare the older version but I know this was working.  I am on Windows 2.3.0

A. If I select a curve/vector object, and then pick Warp Group, it works as designed. I see the live warping on screen.

B. If I select a pixel object, and then pick Warp Group, then tool moves into Warp mode, I can add node and grid points and drag things but not warping occurs.  I have tried this in Designer and Pixel modes.

C, If I go back to Affinity Photo, and setup a warp group (live), it works. If I open this .afphoto file up in Designer the warp mode is working.  [my existing workaround]

D. If I create a [failed] warped image in Designer, save it, and open it in Photo I see the Mesh Warp attached to the pixel object, but the Warp Group created does not work in photo.

 

Attached are my sample Affinity source files, and the screenshot below  you can see me trying to warp something (list item B) with handles moved, but no warping occurs.

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by TrUzApalOOza
trying to get .afphone/.afdesigner files attached

[Old Bruce]

There is the a Mesh Warp Tool for the Pixel layers in Photo and a separate Warp Group for Vector layers in Designer. They are not the same thing despite having Warp in their names.

Different tools for different layer types.

[TrUzApalOOza]

Right, I may have to try and video record this, but as I stated.   It worked for me on old version, just noticed not working on 2.3.0.     And oddly it will save a file from Designer with a warp group attached, but if I open that file in Photo it doesn't work.    While creating in Photo warp behaves, then opening that saved file DOES work in Designer to also allows further warping.  It seems like the initial creation of pixel warp is broken on Designer side.  Here is a better screenshot, where you can see my warp in action, but not being applied.

 

[Old Bruce]

The Warp Group from Designer works on Vector layers. It does not work on Pixel Layers. The Warp Tool in Photo does not work with Vectors, you would have to rasterize them first.

22 minutes ago, TrUzApalOOza said:

 It worked for me on old version,

Is it at all possible you may be misremembering what tools were used on what objects?

[TrUzApalOOza]

I am fairly confident it worked in older Designer, but I won't bet any money on it.    But the fact that I can bring an Affinity Photo created warp pixel/object into Designer by loading the .afphoto, and Warping editor mode continues to work in Designer seems odd.   When I try the opposite direction by starting with Affinity Designer created warp pixel/object, the GUI onscreen elements imply I am in warp editing mode (but it's not warping my target), it lets me save the file, and then if I open that one in Photo, the Warp item is in the layers panel is but not able to be modified.

If Affinity Designer was not supposed to warp pixel objects, it shouldn't let me start up the process and get into a non-working warp editor screen.

Edited December 7, 2023 by TrUzApalOOza

[NotMyFault]

9 hours ago, TrUzApalOOza said:

If Affinity Designer was not supposed to warp pixel objects, it shouldn't let me start up the process and get into a non-working warp editor screen.

Affinity Designer has both functions, but as separate functions:

Pixel Layer Mesh Warp Live Filter (or any content below, it will warp vector objects, too):

https://affinity.help/designer2/en-US.lproj/pages/Filters/filter_meshWarp.html

Vector objects Warp Group only (all pixel content, including bitmap fills will stay unchanged):

https://affinity.help/designer2/en-US.lproj/pages/ObjectControl/warp.html

[NotMyFault]

11 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

The Warp Tool in Photo does not work with Vectors, you would have to rasterize them first.

While your other post in this thread are correct, this detail is not. The (pixel) live Warp Filter works on all layer types, including pixel layers. No need to rasterize.

Only the non-live destructive version will rasterize (depending on assistant settings)

[TrUzApalOOza]

7 hours ago, NotMyFault said:

Affinity Designer has both functions, but as separate functions:

Pixel Layer Mesh Warp Live Filter (or any content below, it will warp vector objects, too):

https://affinity.help/designer2/en-US.lproj/pages/Filters/filter_meshWarp.html

Vector objects Warp Group only (all pixel content, including bitmap fills will stay unchanged):

https://affinity.help/designer2/en-US.lproj/pages/ObjectControl/warp.html

Thanks, following this guidance I can make the Pixel layer warp in Designer Persona mode -- I swear I trying that earlier but apparently not.   My mental disconnect is the Designer mode LETS me try warping, but gives me no indication it won't work.   Almost seems like it should be disabled when you try to choose a pixel object in Designer mode to warp, or at minimum throw a pop-up with warning.

 

There are still some technical quirks to this behavior from my view, especially Designer created warp saved to file, that acts weird when opened in Photo -- just to further prove warping of Pixels in Designer mode is not working (as you pointed out in the documentation)

[Dan C]

21 hours ago, TrUzApalOOza said:

It worked for me on old version, just noticed not working on 2.3.0. 

It's possible that you were previously working with an Image Layer in Affinity Designer, which is essentially a Pixel layer within a Vector container.

This is the Layer type added when using File > Place to introduce an image to your canvas. Provided the layer is not Rasterised from an Image layer to a Pixel Layer, you can use the Vector Warp Groups as required:

 Note once the layer has been Rasterised to Pixel, you cannot revert it to an Image layer and you will now need to use the Filters in the Pixel Persona to affect the layer.

1 hour ago, TrUzApalOOza said:

 Almost seems like it should be disabled when you try to choose a pixel object in Designer mode to warp, or at minimum throw a pop-up with warning.

However I do agree that this could be made clearer to the user when adding a Vector Warp Group, so I'll be sure to log this as an improvement with our development team now!

[gregorym]

On 12/8/2023 at 8:08 AM, Dan C said:

It's possible that you were previously working with an Image Layer in Affinity Designer, which is essentially a Pixel layer within a Vector container.

This is the Layer type added when using File > Place to introduce an image to your canvas. Provided the layer is not Rasterised from an Image layer to a Pixel Layer, you can use the Vector Warp Groups as required:

 Note once the layer has been Rasterised to Pixel, you cannot revert it to an Image layer and you will now need to use the Filters in the Pixel Persona to affect the layer.

However I do agree that this could be made clearer to the user when adding a Vector Warp Group, so I'll be sure to log this as an improvement with our development team now!

I think this was workijng because I did successfully make a warp group on an imported image a few weeks ago but now trying it again, even important the image fresh, I cant get it to affect the image itself. 

[gregorym]

of course the moment i decide to actually post about it i found a pseduo workaround for my very specific scenario needing only the perspective to change: open the isometric settings, choose an iso grid and play with the axes, then apply it, choose a side, and click Fit to Plane