Is there a way to scroll while selecting?

[alecksjaycubs]

I feel like this should be basic, but in Designer, when I use the move tool to drag a selection I can select anything other than what is shown on my screen. The window doesn't scroll to let me select more when I get to the edge. Is this just an Affinity thing?

[firstdefence]

I assume the reason for wanting to scroll is because you are trying to make an accurate selection so you are zoomed in?

What are you trying to select, which selection tool are you using and have you seen the Mode options for the selection tools such as Add, which will allow you to add to a selection, in this way you can make a selection, move the screen with the Hand tool and then go back to the selection tool and add more area to the selection you are making.

[thomaso]

6 hours ago, alecksjaycubs said:

Is this just an Affinity thing?

It seems so. It is even a very special thing because it does scroll with Text Tool (where it even exceeds/leaves the text frame quite useless) but does not with Move Tool. So I assume a bug rather than a missing feature. (while it  does  scroll when moving objects)

[GarryP]

This was mentioned a few years ago (V1.8) but the staff member never get back to us as to whether it was expected behaviour or not:
https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/109804-select-and-scroll-with-mouse-wheel-or-auto-affinity-designer/
(The thread title is a bit confusing but it’s about this issue.)

I’ve just checked and, on Windows, dragging with the Move Tool to marquee-select layers on the canvas does not auto-scroll the canvas when the mouse pointer moves off the canvas in any of the V2.3.1 Affinity applications.

I vaguely remember reading something written by a staff member that this was deliberate, or that the situation had deliberately changed at some point to be this way for some reason, but there’s no guarantee that my memory is correct.

[thomaso]

8 minutes ago, GarryP said:

I vaguely remember reading something written by a staff member that this was deliberate, or that the situation had deliberately changed at some point to be this way for some reason,

Nevertheless the auto-scroll feature within a text selection appears strange / buggy. It could be useful in linked text frames but it doesn't work for that: then it scrolls only – but without selecting text. (V1)

[loukash]

1 hour ago, thomaso said:

Nevertheless the auto-scroll feature within a text selection appears strange / buggy. It could be useful in linked text frames but it doesn't work for that: then it scrolls only – but without selecting text. (V1)

Fixed in v2.

[loukash]

7 hours ago, alecksjaycubs said:

The window doesn't scroll to let me select more when I get to the edge.

On MacBook trackpad, it is at least possible to use the two-finger-pinch gesture to zoom in/out while dragging a selection. The trick is to keep both fingers (i.e. usually thumb and index) you're using to make the selection on the trackpad, while pinching with the other hand at the same time.

[loukash]

2 minutes ago, loukash said:

to zoom in/out while dragging a selection

In fact, using keyboard shortcuts to zoom works as well while dragging.