Center Align - is it a bug ?

[DidierS]

Hi

I don't think it's very serious, but I seem to have found a small bug in Affinity Photo.

By mistake I wanted to do a centered alignment between two layers. But I didn't pay attention to the fact that one of them was empty.

I then observed the disappearance of the image located in the first layer.

Have you observed the same thing on your side?

 

Best reguards

[Hangman]

Hi @DidierS,

That does indeed look very much like a bug, once selecting both layers and aligning centre, the X coordinate for the layer containing an object changes to:

-89884656743115785407263711865852178399035283762922498299458738401578630390014269380294779316383439085770229476757191232117160663444732091384233773351768758493024955288275641038122745045194664472037934254227566971152291618451611474082904279666061674137398913102072361584369088590459649940625202013092062429184 px

while maintaining its Y coordinate...

So, in answer to your question, 'yes' I am certainly observing the same thing...  

[NotMyFault]

Can you please provide a test document with those layers, and screenshots before/after?

please include the layer panel (showing both layers in the layer stack).
I never observed something like this.

However, alignment does not work when the layers are nested as child layers to different parent layers.

[NotMyFault]

Aha this happens in case of an empty group layer.

you can edit the x position in transform panel to get it back on the visible canvas.

[Hangman]

2 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

you can edit the x position in transform panel to get it back on the visible canvas.

You can though obviously the ridiculous negative X offset shouldn't happen in the first place...

[DidierS]

Thank you for all your answers.
Here is an example document as expected.

1. Select the two layers
2. Press align center

Center-Align-Test-File.afphoto

[thomaso]

With an empty Group layer it happens in APub V1, too.

Interestingly, if I just select this extreme, negative X value in the Transform Panel + copy + click with Move Tool on the page then the objects get repositioned on the page, without having me entered any value.

[Hangman]

8 minutes ago, thomaso said:

Interestingly, if I just select this extreme, negative X value in the Transform Panel + copy + click with Move Tool on the page then the objects get repositioned on the page, without having me entered any value.

So it does, how weird, almost like it's on a long piece of elastic... 😀

[debraspicher]

4 hours ago, DidierS said:

Thank you for all your answers.
Here is an example document as expected.

1. Select the two layers
2. Press align center

Center-Align-Test-File.afphoto 11.11 kB · 3 downloads

Fun bug.

[NotMyFault]

Another fun observation.

i managed to get a group with zero y size.

all objects moved into group vanish from canvas visually, until removed again. 

[Dan C]

Welcome to the Affinity Forums @DidierS & thanks for your report!

Apologies for the delayed response during the holiday period - I can confirm that I've been able to replicate this issue here and I'm getting it logged with our development team now.

I believe that these options should still remain enabled when your selection contains an 'empty' layer type and instead the object should be aligned to the canvas - or to other visible objects within the active selection.

I hope this helps

On 12/30/2023 at 6:00 PM, NotMyFault said:

i managed to get a group with zero y size.

In my testing, I was able to replicate this issue with any '0' size object, including empty Pixel layers, empty groups, empty Layer containers, Adjustment layers & Live Filter layers.

However all of the above transformed the object to the large negative X/Y value, and I'm unable to create a '0' size group with objects within. Are you able to share your workflow which trigged this please?

[NotMyFault]

[Hangman]

@NotMyFault, very odd behaviour indeed, especially at 1m 12s when you add the line to the group...

[NotMyFault]

The group layer size/position got damaged by the alignment. Once a layer h or w gets to 0, this is irrevocable and the layer is doomed, e.g. you cannot change the x position any more. Those zombie layer may corrupt all other edits.

Affinity should 

1. fix the app so this never happens again (issue dates back to V1)
2. allow to change a zero height/width to any integer number to rectify this (why the heck is this not possible)?
3. if former is impossible: provide a check and repair tool within Affinity apps for files containing such damaged layers to minimise data loss (save all undamaged layers into new file)
4. if former is impossible: remove the "professional" adjective from advertising.

[Hangman]

18 minutes ago, NotMyFault said:

if former is impossible: remove the "professional" adjective from advertising.

With absolutely no disrespect, a little harsh, this is a bug, bugs happen and when reported they are 'generally' fixed, you only have to read the Adobe bugs forum to see the plethora of bug reports but I wouldn't expect Adobe to remove the "professional" from their advertising...

This is also an extremely rare scenario in as much as the bug has always existed yet has only just been discovered by @DidierS, i.e., it exists in v1.7.3 but how often does anyone seriously attempt to 'align centre' an object (or Group) on one layer with an empty pixel layer, this is a random set of circumstances that have been discovered by complete accident and I'm sure will now be fixed in a forthcoming release now that it's logged...

[NotMyFault]

You are right that my comment maybe too harsh.

I'm disappointed that affinity never fixes the root of an issue (e.g. layers become doomed if a coordinate gets to 0) e.g. by allowing to un-zero the coordinates again.

Instead, it tries to fix the symptoms: change uncountable UI forms where you could enter zero intentionally or by accident. Or create zero by alignment. This strategy will never lead to a 100% fix.

Affinity happily destroys documents by those corrupted layers, and keeps to complaint about proprietary file formats of Adobe and Camera vendors (RAW files). But it does not discloses its own file formats, does not provide tools to check consistency and repair damaged files, intentionally breaks compatibility of file formats to any older release.

[Bit Disappointed]

Sigh, it's such an obvious scenario that Serif needs to handle correctly, user-friendly and professionally. The empty layer should be ignored during alignment - not send the other layers out into cyberspace as if it were a prototype. 

Surprise, this is exactly how the scenario is handled in Adobe Photoshop and others. Correct and as expected.

There's not much to discuss. It's just amazing how many posts and time it takes to emphasise the necessity of thoroughness - and perhaps all in vain.

[DidierS]

8 hours ago, Dan C said:

Welcome to the Affinity Forums @DidierS & thanks for your report!

Apologies for the delayed response during the holiday period - I can confirm that I've been able to replicate this issue here and I'm getting it logged with our development team now.

I believe that these options should still remain enabled when your selection contains an 'empty' layer type and instead the object should be aligned to the canvas - or to other visible objects within the active selection.

I hope this helps

In my testing, I was able to replicate this issue with any '0' size object, including empty Pixel layers, empty groups, empty Layer containers, Adjustment layers & Live Filter layers.

However all of the above transformed the object to the large negative X/Y value, and I'm unable to create a '0' size group with objects within. Are you able to share your workflow which trigged this please?

Thank you for your response. It helps.

 

[Dan C]

19 hours ago, NotMyFault said:

Screen Recording 2024-01-03 at 19.50.39.mov

Thanks for providing this for me - I've updated the development log to include this workflow