Set selection box

[randomvectorstudio]

Is there anyway that I can revert back to the older version? At the moment I cant use Affinity Designer as my workflow is very dependent on setting/moving origin point of lines and objects. Sadly with the new update the origin point just keeps on jumping to random co-ordinates the moment I make any transformation to the line/objects....

[Alfred]

1 hour ago, randomvectorstudio said:

Is there anyway that I can revert back to the older version?

Welcome to the Serif Affinity Forums, @randomvectorstudio.

Doesn’t the ‘Cycle selection box’ option work for you?

On 1/3/2024 at 9:05 AM, Ash said:

From the select menu there are two options:

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

 

 

 

[randomvectorstudio]

1 hour ago, Alfred said:

Welcome to the Serif Affinity Forums, @randomvectorstudio.

Doesn’t the ‘Cycle selection box’ option work for you?

 

 

 

Thanks! It works in a weird way. Let me explain. If I select that option, the origin point goes to the default mid point of the object. But after that (if I deselect the object or make some change) the origin point again goes to some random co-coordinate. So I can keep on resetting it using the 'cycle selection' but it is an unnecessary step in the workflow....I just want my origin point to stay where I told it to be 🙂 

[Alfred]

30 minutes ago, randomvectorstudio said:

Thanks! It works in a weird way. Let me explain. If I select that option, the origin point goes to the default mid point of the object. But after that (if I deselect the object or make some change) the origin point again goes to some random co-coordinate. So I can keep on resetting it using the 'cycle selection' but it is an unnecessary step in the workflow....I just want my origin point to stay where I told it to be 🙂 

When I read your description of the effect, I thought “Hang on a minute, that sounds familiar!” And then I found my way back to the following thread:

If you purchased the app from the Affinity Store you can easily revert to the previous version. Change macos to windows and/or designer to photo or publisher in the following URL if you need a download link for the previous version of a different Affinity app.

https://store.serif.com/update/macos/designer/2

I don’t know of a way to revert if you purchased from the Microsoft Store or the Mac App Store, unless you’re using a backup system such as Time Machine.

[randomvectorstudio]

37 minutes ago, Alfred said:

When I read your description of the effect, I thought “Hang on a minute, that sounds familiar!” And then I found my way back to the following thread:

If you purchased the app from the Affinity Store you can easily revert to the previous version. Change macos to windows and/or designer to photo or publisher in the following URL if you need a download link for the previous version of a different Affinity app.

https://store.serif.com/update/macos/designer/2

I don’t know of a way to revert if you purchased from the Microsoft Store or the Mac App Store, unless you’re using a backup system such as Time Machine.

Thank you so much! I am going to reinstall the older version till this get fixed.

Yes I did post that in this thread but it got moved to a different section 🙂 Thanks again for your help!

[awakenedbyowls]

On 2/29/2024 at 11:20 AM, MEB said:

Hi @awakenedbyowls,
You're probably doing it without moving the mouse. I've noticed it does fail to switch if there's no mouse movement. If you move the cursor a bit before switching does it work for you?

I just tried it with the iPad if I rest my hand and double tap really quick it works so maybe just some settings that need tweeked

[MEB]

Hi @awakenedbyowls,
I've not forgotten this. Seems we need to make some adjustments both to desktop and iPad versions then.
Will have this logged very soon. Just want to check a couple more things. Out of interest, are you using your fingers or an Apple Pencil to work?

[JET_Affinity]

Having just downloaded the 2.4.0.2301 update, the first thing I've done is rush to check again the behavior of this feature, which—to me—is the most important of all in the new beta. I'm still somewhat disappointed:

Unless I'm missing something, if I…

• Select multiple objects, one of which is a diagonally-oriented (relative to the page) simple, straight path drawn with the Pen.
• Set that straight path as the Key Object.
• Select_Set Selection Box.

…then the bounding boxes of the objects other than the straight path do not re-orient to that of the straight path. Instead, they seem to either re-orient to one of the selected but non-key objects, or sometimes even become skewed bounding boxes.

First off, there is nothing intuitive about this behavior. Moreover, it wrecks what is, for my purposes, the greatest potential of a feature that (at long last) enables us to re-orient the scale handles independently of the current orientation of the content of the bounding box.

Set Selection Box should work the same way when the Key Object is an open straight path created with the Pen, as when any other object is the Key Object.

One of the first things mentioned in the initial announcement of this feature is isometric drawing. Well, a very basic principle of axonometric drawing (not just isometric) is that the minor diameter of any ellipse (that is a projection of a tilted circle) is always parallel to its 'thrust line' (the 'axis' that the ellipse 'orbits'). Failure to do that is the 'dead giveaway' of one of the most common errors in technical illustration. It instantly 'jumps off the page' and 'hurts the eyes' of an experienced technical illustrator.

But here's the thing: That principle of circles always being foreshortened in the direction parallel to their 'thrust lines' does not just apply to circles. It applies to literally any planar shape(s). Whole labels. Whole floorplans. Everything.

We need to be able to do this:

• Draw something 'in-the-flat', no matter how simple or elaborate.
• Draw a simple, single-segment, straight path in any diagonal direction (the 'thrust line' that is perpendicular to the plane of the object(s) about to be scaled). (We should not have to use a box or anything other than a straight path, just to serve as a scale direction).
• Rotate the bounding box(es) of the objects to be scaled without rotating their contents, thereby snapping the scale handles into parallel with the 'thrust line'.
• Deselect the 'thrust line'.
• Scale the other selected objects in the direction parallel to the 'thrust line'.

It should be obvious that the need to simply draw a simple straight path in any required direction and have it serve as the 'thrust line' is essential (and intuitive).

That feature, if implemented as described, would be something that to my knowledge does not exist in competing mainstream 2D general-purpose vector drawing programs.

But here's the other thing: I don't see why the interface for this can't be more intuitive and more elegant:

Simply provide a momentary keyboard shortcut that, when dragging the 'lollypop' bounding box rotation handle, causes the bounding box to rotate without rotating its content. And make that rotation aware of active Snap settings. Seems to me, that would be more direct and intuitively discoverable than the menu selections, and on-page tactile instead of just tucked away in a menu.

Lest anyone think this is only about mechanically-correct tech drawing…it's not. Example:

Suppose I'm not just a tech illustrator, but also a caricaturist. Everyone knows that every time Pinocchijoe opens his mouth, his nose grows. So suppose I've drawn a series of cartoon frames in which Pinocchijoe is looking up at the sky, down at his feet, for the nearest stage exit, etc. I need to increasingly stretch his nose in the corresponding direction in which he's looking in each subsequent frame. So I simply:

• Select the object(s) that comprise his nose
• Set the transform anchor at the base of his nose
• mousedown on the lollypop, press the keyboard modifier, and rotate the bounding box around its content
• mousedown on the now correctly-oriented scale handle and drag it to scale the selection in the needed direction

What am I missing here?

JET

[Maxdanger]

Not sure if best to post here or create a new bug report on the release forum, but I've noticed two issues with the set selection command:

1. The shortcut "CMD + ." exits full screen mode when nothing is selected (or when the set selection option is not available on a selected group/layer).
2. I am unable to set selection on a group of grouped curves. In the video, I have already set the child groups' default selection box, but I've also tested without having set their selection boxes, and the behaviour is still the same.

Below video shows both issues in action on release build 2.4.0 on MacOS. Not been able to test on Windows or iPad yet.

 

 

[Cristian Dragos]

On 3/10/2024 at 5:59 PM, Maxdanger said:

Not sure if best to post here or create a new bug report on the release forum, but I've noticed two issues with the set selection command:

1. The shortcut "CMD + ." exits full screen mode when nothing is selected (or when the set selection option is not available on a selected group/layer).
2. I am unable to set selection on a group of grouped curves. In the video, I have already set the child groups' default selection box, but I've also tested without having set their selection boxes, and the behaviour is still the same.

Below video shows both issues in action on release build 2.4.0 on MacOS. Not been able to test on Windows or iPad yet.

 

 

I can confirm the same behavior on Windows as well. Weirdly, we cannot set the Selection Box to groups since we can cycle through the Selection Box.

Is this an intended behavior or a bug? It would be great if this is a bug indeed because this means it can be fixed since I've been waiting for this feature for a long time and I mostly need it for groups and not specific objects.

[Maxdanger]

And just to confirm, the same behaviour is present on iPad - I can't set selection for groups of groups

[DarkClown]

On 2/12/2024 at 2:44 PM, Pauls said:

That will get logged

So it seems "logging" does not mean "gets fixed" .... updates come and go but no focus on this bug within an already implemented (mal) function ...

Sad to see ...

[fearville]

I'm also having a major issue with this 

I have a circular object for which the bounding/selection box is too big. I want to resize the selection box so it fits the object exactly. It seems like the issue is that one of the elements in the object has been rotated. I've just had a go at ungrouping the entire thing and then rotating the rotated elements a tiny bit and it allows me to set the right size selection box. however when I regroup all the elements the selection box goes back to the original wrong size. Anyone know why this is? It is going to be quite inconvenient if the only way I can have the right size selection box is by not having the elements grouped.

Does anyone know of a workaround? I really need this logo to have a selection box that is the right size and I don't understand why this is so complicated 😞 

Thanks in advance 🤞

[GarryP]

Welcome to the forums @fearville

The thread you have posted in was created for an old beta version of the software which is no longer available, and the thread is now in an archive.

Are you having a problem with the current beta software (V2.5.x) or the current commercial release (V2.4.2)?

Also, which application are you using and on which OS?

Once we know which software you are using a moderator may move this posting to the correct place for you.

[fearville]

Hi thanks for your reply! I'm using Designer v2.4.2 on Mac OS Sonoma 14.4.1.

Edited May 20 by fearville

[GarryP]

Thanks for the extra information.

I’m not sure if this is expected behaviour or not – a quick search for bounding box group tells me that there are various outstanding issues to do with bounding boxes – but a moderator will probably move your post (and maybe the replies after it) to a more appropriate section.

[carl123]

8 hours ago, fearville said:

Does anyone know of a workaround? I really need this logo to have a selection box that is the right size and I don't understand why this is so complicated

If you can upload/attach the Affinity document to the forum on your next post, someone will be able to tell you what is going on.

[fearville]

thanks, both of you. i'll repost my query in a more appropriate place

the term 'bounding box' makes more sense to me as 'selection box' just reminds me of those boxes of chocolate bars that you get at christmas 😆

Edited May 21 by fearville

[carl123]

4 hours ago, fearville said:

thanks, both of you. i'll repost my query in a more appropriate place

Replied in your new thread here...

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/203013-unsure-term-to-reset-bounding-box/&do=findComment&comment=1218168

 

[Maxdanger]

On 3/15/2024 at 11:43 PM, Maxdanger said:

And just to confirm, the same behaviour is present on iPad - I can't set selection for groups of groups

Just following on from this, I've found you can set selection for groups of groups, but only when the parent group has been rotated:

 

Would be great to get an acknowledgement that this is a known/logged issue. It really hampers my experience as my workflow involves numerous groups of groups.

[MEB]

Hi @Maxdanger,
I confirm there's still issues with groups and setting the Selection Box which do not appear to be logged.
I've reproduced these issues here and will fill a report accordingly. Thanks for your feedback.

[Maxdanger]

Hi @MEB

Thanks for your reply (on a weekend!). I think I see what you mean. Below is an example of my use case where it would be great to be able to set the default selection box:

I am drawing a step-by-step diagram for an origami design which involves loads of grouped groups. Some of these groups may be rotated but not always. When I select the parent group the selection box is a fair bit larger than it needs to be. Does this tally with the already logged bug where the bounding box doesn't match the regular bounds?

If not, I think it would make sense to enable the set selection box command at any time you get a different selection box when cycling the selection, if that makes sense? This would then really benefit with the export personal and creating slices based on a correctly sized selection box.

Set Selection example.afdesign

[MEB]

Hi @Maxdanger,
I was editing my previous post while you were replying.
The issue where the group bounding box is larger than the regular bounds of its content is logged as a bug (as shown in your video).
But I've also noticed a few issues with setting the selection box for groups in your previous video which I'm checking and logging.
Thanks for your support/feedback. Much appreciated.

[Pawwwle]

Hello,

I also have bug AF-1761.

Unwanted margins when grouping rotated objects in Designer

I can't wait for it to be fixed.

[MEB]

Hi @Pawwwle,
Thank you for your feedback. This is already logged with dev to be checked.