Set selection box

[Ash]

Apps: All
Platforms: macOS, Windows and iPad

Previously when you cycled your selection box this was only a temporary operation. You can now make this permanent...

From the select menu there are two options:

- Cycle selection box (this was the existing option)
- Set selection box (the new option)

Also note the shortcut for these - [Full Stop] to cycle and [CMD + Full Stop] to set on macOS and iPad or [Ctrl + Full Stop] to set on Windows.

The new feature is that after cycling to the selection box you want you can now permanently set that for your current selection by using the Set Selection Box command.

In the example below, I have two shapes which are rotated by the same amount. Therefore when they are selected by default the selection box is oriented to match the shape's rotation. Now if I want to permanently make those shapes have a selection box which is oriented to my page I can cycle to regular bounds and then Set Selection Box, which will now make that persist every time I select those items in future.

 

A couple of other notes on this feature:

• As well as cycling to the base box and regular bounds of an object, if you have a grid set which has a different rotation to your page (or, are working on an isometric plane for example) you will additionally get the option to cycle and set the selection box to be aligned with the the current planar bounds of the selection.
• If you have a multiple selection which includes objects rotated by different amounts, if you wish to set your selection box for all objects in your selection to match the orientation of one of them you can set the one you want to match to be your key object. Then when you cycle your selection box the "base box" option will match that object's rotation.

 

 

[Affinity Info Bot]

Known Issues in this feature
A list of unresolved issues for this feature, reported by users

• AF-1761 - Set Selection Box - Lines should use regular bounds rather than base box when grouped ?
• AF-1822 - Cannot Set Selection Box for Objects Rotated by 90°, 180° or -90°
• AF-2011 - Cycle selection - Insert artboard uses a base bounding box rather than the current cycled selection box

Released Fixes
A list of issues for this feature, available in the current beta build

• AF-1723 - Set Selection Box - Does not create a selection box label if object not rotated [Fixed]
• AF-1705 - Cycle Selection Box - start from regular rather than base [By Design]
• AF-1729 - Transform Origin moves when setting new selection box [Fixed]
• AF-1713 - Set/cycle Selection box - offset using pixel layer selection [Fixed]

Upcoming Fixes
A list of issues for this feature, which will be available in a forthcoming build

[Maxdanger]

Can't tell you how happy this change makes me - it's so integral to my workflow and absolutely thrilled that it's being implemented.

Thanks very much!

[NotMyFault]

Does this apply for pixel layers, too?
If yes, can you reset the box again to unrotated to avoid blurriness (imagine You used it only temporary for some alignment with other layers)

[Ash]

Just now, NotMyFault said:

Does this apply for pixel layers, too?
If yes, can you reset the box again to unrotated to avoid blurriness (imagine You used it only temporary for some alignment with other layers)

Yes this does apply to pixel layers and you can always cycle back to any objects original "Base Box" - nothing destructive is done to any layers you do this to.

[ronnyb]

15 minutes ago, Ash said:

Yes this does apply to pixel layers and you can always cycle back to any objects original "Base Box" - nothing destructive is done to any layers you do this to.

That's great you can cycle back and forth and set either as permanent —best of both worlds!

[Hangman]

Hi @Ash,

This is a really welcome addition that I think will make a lot of users very happy... thank you... 🙃

Is it intended behaviour after an initial rotation of selected objects that you have to select 'Cycle Selection Box' or use the 'Full Stop' shortcut twice to reorient the selection box to Regular bounds?

In 2.3.0 this only takes one click of the menu option or shortcut key, because the bounding box self-orientates on rotation, in the 2.4.0 Beta it takes two clicks because rotating the selection doesn't self-orientate the bounding box for the selection, i.e., the first click sets the Base Box, the second click sets the Regular bounds...

Is this by design?

[bbrother]

Does the ability to undo rotate will be lost after the "set selection box" or will it be maintained?

[Pauls]

The setting of the selection box is non destructive  so yes you can undo all previous operations

[Ash]

The setting of a selection box is a command that has an undo step itself. So if you were to rotate and then set selection box the first undo will undo the setting of the selection box, the next undo will undo the rotate.

[Pauls]

@Hangman It may be better to change the order we cycle through. With this feature we also have another state after you have set a bounding box (base, regular and selection)

[Hangman]

5 minutes ago, Pauls said:

It may be better to change the order we cycle through. With this feature we also have another state after you have set a bounding box (base, regular and selection)

@Pauls, The 2.3 behaviour feels more natural to me, i.e., Regular followed by Base rather than the new 2.4 behaviour which has switched this to Base followed by Regular so personally I'd agree with reverting the order back to the 2.3 behaviour...

[Ash]

Interesting - actually what we have done in 2.4 is made the behaviour consistent between a multiple selection and single object selection. i.e. the bounding box you have cycled to remains sticky until you change your selection.

If you were to try your example in 2.3 with a single object then I believe you would see the same thing - you set your object to Regular bounds, and when you rotate it it is still set to Regular bounds (meaning the next cycle goes back to base and you have to hit again to get to a page oriented regular bounds). However in 2.3 with a multi-selection if you cycled to regular bounds and then moved the selection it would reset itself to base (and so in indeed the next cycle would go back to regular bounds reset to page orientation).

We felt the new behaviour was probably desirable, or at least should be consistent whether you only have a single object or multiple objects selected? 

[Hangman]

47 minutes ago, Ash said:

If you were to try your example in 2.3 with a single object then I believe you would see the same thing - you set your object to Regular bounds, and when you rotate it it is still set to Regular bounds (meaning the next cycle goes back to base and you have to hit again to get to a page oriented regular bounds). However in 2.3 with a multi-selection if you cycled to regular bounds and then moved the selection it would reset itself to base (and so in indeed the next cycle would go back to regular bounds reset to page orientation).

This is indeed the case...

47 minutes ago, Ash said:

We felt the new behaviour was probably desirable, or at least should be consistent whether you only have a single object or multiple objects selected?

I would perhaps say the reverse is true, i.e., for both single and multi-object selection, rotating the object should auto-select the Base box so that 'Cycle Selection Box' always then sets the bounding box for both single and multi-object selections to Regular bounds when first selected and then sets it to Base box on a second click...

So yes, starting from 'Regular bounds' rather than 'Base box' for all selections and keeping the automatic Base box from 2.3 then results in consistent behaviour for all object selections.

As it currently stands in 2.4 'Cycle Selection Box' is effectively acting as a toggle for multiple selections so the first time it's chosen you get 'Regular bounds', the second time it's selected you get 'Base box', the third time it's back to 'Regular bounds' and so on...

Reversing the start order and keeping the initial automatic Base box selection as seen for multiple object selection in 2.3 for both single and multi-object selections would mean that 'Cycle Selection Box' would always give you 'Regular bounds' on the first click and 'Base box' on the second click...

[Pest]

This is an immense help for my illustrations. Easier to use. Thanks!

[NotMyFault]

I quickly broke the new function with heavy mis-usage:

1. create a pixel layer with e.g. checkered box
2. rotate layer by about 45°
3. use selection brush to select area
4. move selection with move tool
5. now cycle through selection box. The selection box is located far away from the actual layer content.

I don't know if this intentional or a bug, but the combination of the new selection box with pixel selections, rotation, and moving pixel content can get quite confusing.

 

[albertkinng]

I was determined to obtain this feature, and now it's finally here! This update is truly amazing!

[R.I.P. Affinity 26.03.2024]

Poor update again . And numbers going too fast. Almost 4 versions in a year.

However I was looking for this feature. Even asked how to get this a year or two ago.

[walt.farrell]

13 minutes ago, darwinwasright said:

Poor update again

You haven't provided any details, so it probably won't get any better for you.

[R.I.P. Affinity 26.03.2024]

16 minutes ago, walt.farrell said:

You haven't provided any details, so it probably won't get any better for you.

I mean, it's getting better each update, but extremely slow and no BANGER! feature/tool 2nd or even 3rd update in a raw. By "BANGER!" I mean something like "blend tool" or "vector tracing", or "vector eraser". Any way I've been visiting forum and testing each beta build. And I was asking about this feature in 2021:

So, I did something to make it better.

[MmmMaarten]

Thanks a lot for this one! This one I'll use all the time for sure

[bbrother]

14 hours ago, Ash said:

The setting of a selection box is a command that has an undo step itself. So if you were to rotate and then set selection box the first undo will undo the setting of the selection box, the next undo will undo the rotate.

Once again i should make myself more clearly. Description says that this is permanent , so if my assumptions are correct, there would be no chance to revert the rotation in Transform panel because it will be reset to 0°. Not talking about first undo , but case when going back to object after additional edits in the whole document.

For mee it's a very limited function ,for limited case specific use, that i I would be rarely using if not at all. From my point this was a waste of time and resourceas at this time. There are many more desirable features that users have been waiting for for many years, e.g blend tool, vector patterns, true vector brushes, gradient mesh, GREP in APub, span text columns, Tables across pages etc. There would be more gain for Serif if those would be implemented first.

P.S I have the impression, maybe wrongly, that you are holding back the more advanced features that users are waiting for until the next paid version?

[Patrick Connor]

9 hours ago, walt.farrell said:

You haven't provided any details, so it probably won't get any better for you.

Walt, Please try not to derail threads in this forum. These threads must be encouraged to stay on topic

@darwinwasright

Thanks, we may consider that for the future but further discussion on this can be held in that thread you linked to.

[Pauls]

@NotMyFault  - I'll get that pixel layer issue logged

[aleale1]

On 1/3/2024 at 11:05 AM, Ash said:

Also note the shortcut for these - [Full Stop] to cycle and [CMD + Full Stop] to set on macOS and iPad or [Ctrl + Full Stop] to set on Windows.

On Windows, this shortcut is missing in menu bar