Ruler Origin - moveable?

[sixtdb]

I apologise if this subject has been covered elsewhere, but I could not find it. I am new to Affinity but with 25 years of Adobe experience. Being able to view the 'bleed' in a document before printing is very much desirable but I found mention of it elsewhere as a likely upgrade. My main question is of being able to move the ruler origin in a document so that like in 'Illustrator' you can easily change the origin while you are working to suit different origins within your design that you need to work from. It is very rare, when working, that you don't wish to shift the origin for the purpose of measuring simply from a particular object. Is this already possible, but I've missed it in the help or tutorials or is this something that might be provided in an update? Otherwise, I am enjoying the experience!  

[MEB]

Hi sixtdb,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

Currently this is not possible but it's being considered for a future update.

[Oval]

On 4. Mai 2016 at 1:46 PM, sixtdb said:

I apologise if this subject has been covered elsewhere, 

 

It was asked before and the answer in 2014 of MattP / in 2015 of MEB was “will be added/is coming soon”.

 

The process how basic features are considered for a future update is not transparent. Perhaps it makes sense to start a new feature request.

[Rinocampo]

can move the rulers is a basic function... as have many forms and figures

 

and... as I can link text blocks?

[MEB]

@Oval,

There's a lot of things/features/improvements to be added as you know. Some were already implemented in version 1.5, others will have to come a little later. There's no way to add everything in one go, so they become available as soon as they are finished. This depends a lot on development contraints/priorities. We never disclose timeframes precisely because of this. The process is not as linear as one may think.

There's no point in opening new requests for things that where already acknowledged by the developers.

 

@Hi Rinocampo,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

No, it's not possible to link text frames in Affinity Designer. This is a feature that will come with Affinity Publisher, our desktop publishing solution (available later this year as a Beta if everything goes well).

It may be then eventually ported back to Designer.

[Cavor]

It is very rare, when working, that you don't wish to shift the origin for the purpose of measuring simply from a particular object.

 

I agree. Not being able to change the origin makes the program pretty much useless for me.  Ninety-nine percent of the drawings I do are, to a large extent, symmetrical about the X and/or Y axes.  So being able to use +coords on one side of the origin and -coords on the other is a great advantage.  It was the first thing I looked for and I was really surprised not to find it.

[R C-R]

Ninety-nine percent of the drawings I do are, to a large extent, symmetrical about the X and/or Y axes.  So being able to use +coords on one side of the origin and -coords on the other is a great advantage.  It was the first thing I looked for and I was really surprised not to find it.

As a work around, you might want to consider using guides (& maybe snapping) to make this easier to do. In the Guides Manager, not only can you use expressions to set guide locations, you can also switch to a percentage display.

[Oval]

People use/buy other apps when usual basic features are missing or are not delivered in addition or provide wrong results like “Expand Stroke”. Many purchasers don’t want workarounds when they don’t see improvements but new half-baked features.

 

Not being able to change the origin makes the program pretty much useless for me. 

[Cavor]

As a work around, you might want to consider using guides (& maybe snapping) to make this easier to do. In the Guides Manager, not only can you use expressions to set guide locations, you can also switch to a percentage display.

 

Thanks for the ideas, R C-R.  I do use guides (tried them in both numerical and percentage) but I found, when working on a landscape A4 page for example, trying to work out plus/minus positions either side of the central 148.5mm vertical guide each time just adds frustration.  It would be much easier if I could just put the page origin at the centre so that central guide is at 0. 

 

And as Oval mentioned, people will go back to using other apps or buy different ones.  I'll go back to using my 2005 CoralDraw because even at 12 years old it still has more going for it in this area.

[handshaper]

This is such a fundamental feature that I find it hard to believe it has not been implemented already, why not?

[Oval]

This is such a fundamental feature that I find it hard to believe it has not been implemented already, why not?

 

Yes, but perhaps the new Measure Tool can help a bit and:

 

“There's no way to add everything in one go, so they become available as soon as they are finished. This depends a lot on development contraints/priorities. We never disclose timeframes precisely because of this. The process is not as linear as one may think.”

[MEB]

Hi handshaper,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

Each user has a few fundamental features he finds missing depending on how they work. We can't fulfil all requests at once. The ability to change rulers's origin in particular is taking more time because we implemented artboards later in the development which required quite a few adjustments to the way grids, snapping and other tied/connected features work. This and other grid improvements are coming in a future update.

[mco]

Hello, any update on this ?

[lepr]

.

[Alfred]

1 hour ago, owenr said:

Soon == before the end of the next ice age.

 

I think it’s safe to say that it’s not going to happen at all unless it happens before the beginning of the next ice age!

 

[MEB]

Hi mco,

Welcome to Affinity Forums

This will be available in the next update (1.7).

[Alfred]

The customer betas for version 1.7 can’t be far away....

[R C-R]

37 minutes ago, Alfred said:

The customer betas for version 1.7 can’t be far away....

At least in comparison to the beginning of the next ice age? 

[lepr]

.