ADesigner2 - No Guides outside of canvas\work-area?

[boberto]

I can *not* get Guide lines to show up outside of the document workspace/canvas no matter how many ways I try. This is the case with all of my files, even new ones.

Is there a setting I accidentally changed?

See attached image for how the horizontal Guide pulled from the ruler is only as wide as the work-area & the vertical guides don't extend to the top.

• Yes I have "View > Show Guides" checked
• Yes I have "View > View Mode >  Clip To Canvas" unchecked.
• No, I am not using any Artboards.
• I am running Affinity Designer 2.3.0 on Mac Sonoma 14.2.1

(Somewhat related because I can't see: I can change the color of Guides, but Is it possible to make the Guide lines thicker than 1px on the screen?)

[v_kyr]

AFAI recall ruler guides are like that, 1px and sticking to the doc canvas. - See also ...

• Ruler and column guides
• Rulers
• ...

What you can also do instead is, to use your own drawn horiz/vert lines ordered in groups, which you can then adjust the way you want (in thickness & color) and so just show/hide them as needed on demand (clipped to canvas etc.).

[firstdefence]

Just out of curiosity, why do you need guides off the canvas, effectively infinite?

[thomaso]

On 1/8/2024 at 2:07 AM, v_kyr said:

your own drawn horiz/vert lines

Additionally, – while objects in the pasteboard area alternatively can get aligned with the Alignment options (Toolbar) – layer objects as "guides" allow non-rectangular orientation of lines and shapes (e.g. rectangles, squares, circles) as column guides or grid in the pasteboard. Of course, for those guides in the pasteboard with activated "Clip canvas" some snapping options may sound misleading.

[Lee_T]

Hi boberto,

Though by design, it may be worth a suggestion for a toggle to enable visibility outside of the canvas.

Lee

[boberto]

On 1/8/2024 at 4:46 AM, firstdefence said:

Just out of curiosity, why do you need guides off the canvas, effectively infinite?

Very busy document. Unfortunately, the design I've been given is fairly fluid and can't be [sensibly] fit to a grid. It would be easier to grab and move guides from off to the side.
 

 

[boberto]

On 1/7/2024 at 8:07 PM, v_kyr said:

What you can also do instead is, to use your own drawn horiz/vert lines ordered in groups, which you can then adjust the way you want (in thickness & color) and so just show/hide them as needed on demand (clipped to canvas etc.).

Not the craziest idea, though if you move the line or box off of the canvas, while still existing as a curve, it effectively visually disappears which is a bit annoying. Also you have to worry about its layer order so you don't accidentally grab it instead of the edge you were aiming for. 

 

Thanks for the idea! 🙏

[walt.farrell]

3 minutes ago, boberto said:

Not the craziest idea, though if you move the line or box off of the canvas, while still existing as a curve, it effectively visually disappears

It shouldn't disappear unless you have View > View Mode > Clip to Canvas enabled.

[v_kyr]

3 minutes ago, boberto said:

Not the craziest idea, though ...

It's just a workaround, so if urgrently needed in certain situations where the common ruler guides won't do it.

[Old Bruce]

50 minutes ago, boberto said:

It would be easier to grab and move guides from off to the side.

Have the ruler showing and drag guides from there.

[firstdefence]

1 hour ago, boberto said:

Very busy document. Unfortunately, the design I've been given is fairly fluid and can't be [sensibly] fit to a grid. It would be easier to grab and move guides from off to the side.
 

 

Yeah I have to agree, if the guide is in a spaghetti of curves, it would be so much easier to grab the guide from outside of the canvas, where likely there is less or no clutter.

"Thinking out loud" I wonder if guides could have a psuedo bleed setting where you can input a distance that the guide extends to, say 500px beyond the canvas.

The other issue with self made guides occurs when you zoom in and the stroke of the curve-guide gets bigger, unlike a guide that maintains it's diminutive stroke regardless of the zoom level.

[lacerto]

Not just allowing extended visibility of guides, but also ability to place guides off the page/canvas. Both requests are kinds of no-brainers in context of professional graphic design. Not having these features places Affinity apps in the same class of graphic design apps as Microsoft Publisher. Pretty much every other app supporting guides has them (not just ID, AI, QXP, CorelDRAW since forever, but also Inkscape, Xara, VectorStyler, even PS and Corel Photo-Paint (with less obvious off-page/canvas positioning/sizing needs) -- even obnoxiously minimalist Pages where vertical ruler is an option and where there is no pasteboard allows placing guides off the page.