Select Same Stroke Color : Require Non-Zero Weight?

[TrentL]

I am playing with the "Select Same" options in Affinity Designer which are quite powerful.

One option that is a little tricky is the "Select Same : Stroke Color".  The issue is that it will select objects that have a stroke color but the stroke width is 0. While this is following the literal translation of the command, I think it misses the intention of the user. If I am selecting all objects with the same stroke color, I mostly care about objects that actually have a visible stroke. Perhaps an additional command could be added such as "Select Same : Stroke Color (and Non-Zero Stroke weight)". 

[loukash]

3 hours ago, TrentL said:

this is following the literal translation of the command

And it's logical because color and width are separate attributes.
For example, you may want to hide a stroke temporarily by removing its width but keep the color attribute for later usage.
Or, in fact, you may want to "group" or "tag" objects by applying an invisible stroke with a certain color and then select all based on that attribute. When working with lots of objects, this method would be much faster than e.g. wanting to name each object in the Layers panel. 

3 hours ago, TrentL said:

Perhaps an additional command could be added such as "Select Same : Stroke Color (and Non-Zero Stroke weight)". 

Yeah, but… 
Then you also may want to have "Select Same → Stroke Weight (and Non-Zero Stroke Color)", etc. etc. There are so many combinations possible. Too many, perhaps…  
As every so often, having more and more menu commands isn't always adding to actual usability. (Yes, I'm looking at you, GraphicConverter!)

If zero stroke weight objects with a stroke color attribute are a problem, then simply:

1. select an object with 0 pt stroke weight
2. Select Same → Stroke Weight → Equal
3. remove the stroke color from all of them

Problem solved in three ready-to-use little steps.

[TrentL]

1 hour ago, loukash said:

Yeah, but… 
Then you also may want to have "Select Same → Stroke Weight (and Non-Zero Stroke Color)", etc. etc. There are so many combinations possible. Too many, perhaps…  
As every so often, having more and more menu commands isn't always adding to actual usability. (Yes, I'm looking at you, GraphicConverter!)

Agree, it would likely add a lot of bloat. I was just thinking (typing) out loud to find a solution that preserves current behavior. I suppose people are used to the current way it works. But as someone who started using this feature more recently, I would have designed it a little differently to start. 

[Bit Disappointed]

7 hours ago, TrentL said:

Agree, it would likely add a lot of bloat. I was just thinking (typing) out loud to find a solution that preserves current behavior. I suppose people are used to the current way it works. But as someone who started using this feature more recently, I would have designed it a little differently to start. 

The best way to introduce bloat is by not planning or thinking, or not consulting usability specialists.

It's probably best to hear the background from a non-apologist. I remember the story behind select same in Affinity, which was panic before closing time. It happened years ago that customers were unhappy that there were so few new features in Designer release after release that Serif introduced select same at the last minute in a release. In the best of intentions, but in bad and minimalistic style. It was literally thrown into Designer as a last minute filler. Obviously a low-hanging fruit.

Like another beachcomber, the then hastily implemented UI and methodology now drifts with the release stream year after year as technical debt and usability debt. I was naive enough at the time to think that the user interface would get an overhaul after that, I'm not so naive anymore.

So it's good that you point out one of the shortcomings. Thank you for pointing it out.

Just to clarify my own interests. I don't really need select same, I just remember the background. Personally, I miss search by NAME in the layers panel, so I can easily find individual elements. It's hard enough even in structured layers when there are thousands of objects and layers. And when the object I'm looking for is unique...

I should also - to be fair - point out that Designer actually got some of the missing attention later on. I think Designer is by far the most interesting program of the three because it performs so well and because it is clearly different from many other graphic programs, you can utilize it for very specific types of designs in a way I have not seen elsewhere. And with the well thought out architechture, I hardly experience any drop in performance, and if I do, I turn off FX rendering, for example.  I can easily find replacements for Publisher and Photo, though, also affordable, so Designer is definitely worth highlighting and expanding.

[Aammppaa]

Agree with the above.

There was much user input about Select Same with great examples of comprehensive checkbox filter lists, suggested UIs, even fond reminiscence about 30 year old programs that got it right. And then we got a rather limited text menu. 

And sadly (as with a number of other half baked implementations) nothing has been changed since.