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Symbols not figuring in symbols panel after copy-paste


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I am trying to make a pattern using symbols to guide me through: I positioned some elements to form a pattern using symbols and because you don't have a resize page to fit contents 😞 I copied the four symbols to clipboard and pasted them as new image.

Designer 2.3.1 on macOS 14.3.1

Symbols and content made the journey, but I don't see the symbol in the symbols panel. Also not after saving and reopening the file.

However, I see the orange label in the layers panel and editing the content does update the content as expected with symbols.

Oh, and this is just another great argument for my wish 🙂 Not risking lost or modified content in the copy-paste process:

image.png.1d09d8a8a78da848bdc605b5a2019aa3.png

Edited by Aurea Ratio
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11 hours ago, Lee D said:

@Aurea Ratio Could you do a full screen recording showing your workflow. As when copy-pasting a symbol from a document to a new document, it shows in the Symbols panel for me on macOS and Windows using Designer 2.3.1

@Lee D

I have figured out the reason. You probably tested with a single symbol, but I just discovered/remembered that my symbol also consisted of multiple symbols. It was a pattern with many repeating elements, which I keep as a symbol because I am continuously improving the quality.

To reliably recreate what I experience, you simply:

  1. Create square
  2. Create symbol (A)
  3. Copy symbol out into a pattern, for example 4 x 4
  4. Select them and create symbol (B)

Now you have two symbols in the symbols panel

  1. Select an instance of symbol B
  2. Copy
  3. Paste as a new document from clipboard
  4. You now have a document where symbols work, but they (A or B) do not appear in the symbols panel
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It's an interesting one in as much as neither Affinity Publisher nor Photo have Symbols yet the Symbols are recognised and editable in both applications...

While Copy Pasting Symbols A and B to a new document results in both appearing in Designers' Symbols panel, the initially pasted Symbol A is no longer an integrated part of Symbol B, i.e., adjusting the colour of Symbol A no longer adjusts the instances of Symbol A in Symbol B despite both showing a solid synchronised orange line... I would assume the instances of Symbol A that make up Symbol B should show the dotted unsynchronised orange line.

All is fine if dragging the symbols from the Symbols palette in the newly created document but I'm wondering whether the initial copy/paste behaviour in itself is expected or a bug.

Affinity Designer 2.5.5 | Affinity Photo 2.5.5 | Affinity Publisher 2.5.5
MacBook Pro M3 Max, 36 GB Unified Memory, macOS Sonoma 14.6.1, Magic Mouse
HP ENVY x360, 8 GB RAM, AMD Ryzen 5 2500U, Windows 10 Home, Logitech Mouse

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29 minutes ago, Hangman said:

It's an interesting one in as much as neither Affinity Publisher nor Photo have Symbols yet the Symbols are recognised and editable in both applications...

While Copy Pasting Symbols A and B to a new document results in both appearing in Designers' Symbols panel, Symbol A is no longer an integrated part of Symbol B, i.e., adjusting the colour of Symbol A no longer adjusts the instances of Symbol A in Symbol B despite both showing a solid synchronised orange line... I would assume the instances of Symbol A that make up Symbol B should show the dotted unsynchronised orange line.

I'm wondering whether this in itself is expected behaviour or a bug.

I believe that with any Affinity program, you install 95% common code and 5% user interface for the actual program, so it does not surprise me.

I experience it in the same program I created symbols in, they are marked in layers with orange as symbols, so I definitely think it is a bug. It just looks like a scenario that Serif never considered.

At any rate, I can easily think of using symbols in that way. Once you learn to utilize your software to be efficient and avoid unnecessary work, you never look back. 🙂

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