What's the point of the 'Edit All Layers' function being automatically activated when you use 'New from Clipboard'

[stingray]

When you use 'New from Clipboard' the 'Edit All Layers' function is automatically activated. Personally I want this to be OFF every time I use 'New from Clipboard'. It's frustrating to have to reset this each and every time.

Anyone know why this function is automatically activated in the above circumstances?

[walt.farrell]

What problem do you have when it's active?

[stingray]

Thanks for your reply @walt.farrell

With an image layer, when 'Edit All Layers' is active, using the Colour picker tool automatically immediately updates the colour scheme of the image after picking a colour. De-activating 'Edit All Layers' stops this happening. TBH this may also be a colour picker tool issue. I don't really understand how I can use the colour picker tool and flood fill tool with an image layer... the tools behave as expected with a pixel layer but the behaviour is different with an image layer.

[walt.farrell]

Thanks.

I'm surprised that Edit All Layers has any effect on that. What's supposed to control that is the Apply to Selection option on the Context Toolbar.

And the reason it happens is that Image Layers are a kind of vector layer that support changing the Fill (unlike Pixel layers).

[stingray]

Thanks Walt. Yes, I'd been attempting to change the behaviour by de-activating 'Apply to Selection' but when that is not active the colour doesn't get activated properly in the colour tab... it's just activated in the small colour circle next to the colour picker symbol. And so the workflow of returning to the Flood Fill tool and attempting to fill a zone doesn't work. Basically, I'd be hoping that I could use the colour picker and flood fill tool with an Image layer in more or less the same way as I can with a pixel layer - but I'm guessing this must be not possible and not the way the software is intended to function.

[loukash]

16 minutes ago, stingray said:

using the Colour picker tool automatically immediately updates the colour scheme of the image after picking a colour.

An "Image" type of layer is by definition essentially a vector object with a bitmap fill.
And this is the intended behavior of any vector object that is selected. 
To avoid this, unselect the Image layer first.

[loukash]

Just now, loukash said:

unselect the Image layer first

That said though, "Deselect" and the corresponding shortcut in Photo applies to marquee selections.
Whereas in Designer and Publisher it applies to layer selections.

The latter is available in Photo, too, titled "Deselect Layers". But it requires a different keyboard shortcut. 
Frankly, I find this rather confusing.

[stingray]

Thanks loukash. Great advice. You have really clarified the design philosophy behind Affinity Photo in this regard. I'll check out 'Deselect Layers'.

[stingray]

17 minutes ago, loukash said:

The latter is available in Photo, too, titled "Deselect Layers".

I don't see that. There seems to be no 'Deselect Layers' function in Photo. At least, I can't find this here.

[loukash]

1 minute ago, stingray said:

There seems to be no 'Deselect Layers' function in Photo. At least, I can't find this here.

Select menu → Deselect Layers

[stingray]

Got it! Thanks for this. I looked everywhere but where I should have looked !

[loukash]

4 minutes ago, stingray said:

I looked everywhere but where I should have looked

Don't know about Windows, but on Mac you can type the menu item name which you're looking for into the Help menu search field. This is a global MacOS feature since at least a decade or more.

[walt.farrell]

14 hours ago, loukash said:

Don't know about Windows, but on Mac you can type the menu item name which you're looking for into the Help menu search field. This is a global MacOS feature since at least a decade or more.

Not possible on Windows. There is a Search box within the Help, but nothing available via the Help menu, and thus nothing that automatically guides you to the right spot in the menu.

[walt.farrell]

14 hours ago, stingray said:

Yes, I'd been attempting to change the behaviour by de-activating 'Apply to Selection' but when that is not active the colour doesn't get activated properly in the colour tab... it's just activated in the small colour circle next to the colour picker symbol.

Yes, that's how the Color Picker Tool operates when Apply to Selection is not active. The color is selected, but to use it you must then click on the smaller color well, by the color sampler in the Color panel (or other panels with color controls). If it was not done that way, the color of selected objects would change immediately.

15 hours ago, stingray said:

With an image layer, when 'Edit All Layers' is active, using the Colour picker tool automatically immediately updates the colour scheme of the image after picking a colour. De-activating 'Edit All Layers' stops this happening.

Just tested, and Edit All Layers has no effect on use of the Color Picker Tool. Apply to Selection is what controls whether the color is applied, or not.

(This is on Windows, but it should behave the same on macOS.)

[fde101]

On 1/20/2024 at 9:54 AM, walt.farrell said:

it should behave the same on macOS

It does, at least for me (macOS 13.6.3, Apple Silicon).