No Merge Layers

[tonythorne]

I've just purchased Affinity Designer 2 and the first two, very simple operations I've needed to do

I can't, and clearly these were possible in earlier versions. 

In the right click layer menu there are no merge layers options, and there appears to be no keyboard commands either.

These are often used options.

The second operation was to half tone a layer, again in the New Live Filter Layer there is no half tone option.

Is it Affinity's practice to remove functionality with new versions?

 

Usually you get new functions but they could

be buggy.

 

Guess I'm going back to photoshop.

 

 

[Hangman]

Hi @tonythorne and welcome to the forums,

You mention Affinity Designer in your post, did you mean Designer or Affinity Photo...

The features you're referring to are found in Affinity Photo which is Serif's equivalent of Photoshop, Affinity Designer is fundamentally vector software akin to Illustrator in the Adobe world...

[tonythorne]

12 minutes ago, tonythorne said:

I've just purchased Affinity Designer 2 and the first two, very simple operations I've needed to do

I can't, and clearly these were possible in earlier versions. 

In the right click layer menu there are no merge layers options, and there appears to be no keyboard commands either.

These are often used options.

The second operation was to half tone a layer, again in the New Live Filter Layer there is no half tone option.

Is it Affinity's practice to remove functionality with new versions?

 

Usually you get new functions but they could

be buggy.

 

Guess I'm going back to photoshop.

 

 

This should not be in your help guide:

Merging and flattening

Merging layers combines multiple layers together. Pixel, vector, mask, adjustment or image layers can be merged into a new merged layer or into the first available pixel layer beneath it in the layer stack.

The entire document can also be flattened to produce a single-layer document.

Once layers have been merged, they become a single layer and their previous contents are no longer separately editable. There are several ways of merging layers.

 To merge all visible layers:

In the Layers panel:

1. Click Toggle Visibility to set the visibility of layers in the project.
2. -click a layer and select Merge Visible.

A new layer is added one step above the selected layer. This layer is a merged copy of all visible layers.

To merge selected layers:

1. On the Layers panel, select multiple layers using -click or -click.
2. Do one of the following:
   • -click any selected layer and select Merge Selected.
   • From the Layer menu, select the same option.

The selected layers merge down into the lowest layer in the selection.

To merge a layer with a pixel layer below:

• On the Layers panel, -click a layer and select Merge Down.

The selected layer merges with the first available pixel layer beneath it.

Any non-pixel layer existing between the layers to be merged will not be included in the merge.

 To create a copy of all visible layers merged:

1. On the Layers panel, click Toggle Visibility to set the visibility of layers in the project.
2. From the Edit menu, select Copy Merged.

A flattened version of the visible layers is added to the Clipboard.

To flatten all layers:

• From the Document menu, select Flatten.

The document will then contain a single flattened layer.

SEE ALSO:

• Create layers
• Keyboard shortcuts for layer operations

[Hangman]

Hi @tonythorne,

This appears in the Affinity Photo Help Guide, not the Affinity Designer Help guide...

As mentioned above for the two features you've referenced you need Affinity Photo rather than Affinity Designer, e.g., Live Filters have never been a feature of Affinity Designer...

[GarryP]

16 minutes ago, Hangman said:

Live Filters have never been a feature of Affinity Designer

Designer 2 does have two Live Filters but they are only available in the Pixel Persona, and neither is the Halftone Live Filter which is only available in Photo.

[Hangman]

5 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Designer 2 does have two Live Filters but they are only available in the Pixel Persona, and neither is the Halftone Live Filter which is only available in Photo.

It does, oddly named as they don't really feel like 'filters' in the true sense...

The help file uploaded by @tonythorne is from Affinity Photo so there appears to be some confusion over the two apps...

[GarryP]

 

6 minutes ago, Hangman said:

they don't really feel like 'filters' in the true sense

In what way do they not feel like ‘filters’?

I don’t use them much in Designer but they seem to work in pretty much the same way as they do in Photo when I’ve used them.

[Boon456]

Group your layers together then right click to get menu then "rasterize and trim".  Affinity Designer 2 calls it "rasterize and trim" instead of merge.

[BBG3]

On 11/11/2024 at 9:41 AM, Boon456 said:

Group your layers together then right click to get menu then "rasterize and trim".  Affinity Designer 2 calls it "rasterize and trim" instead of merge.

My work became blurry after Rasterize And Trim!  It surprised me another bug: even if I move a pixel layer, it becomes blurry! 

[NotMyFault]

50 minutes ago, BBG3 said:

My work became blurry after Rasterize And Trim!  It surprised me another bug: even if I move a pixel layer, it becomes blurry! 

Do we need another discussion about integer pixel alignment of layers and resampling and anti-aliasing? If yes, it is off topic to this thread. Please search for existing threads or open a new one to keep everything organized.

 

[Progfx]

OK, I found the solution. Select the objects you want to combine into one layer, right-click the selection and under "Geometry" select "Combine." This merges the selected objects into one single layer. I think this only works with vector objects... I tried it with vector objects and text, but it converts the text to vector outlines and changes the fill color to the other objects color. Make sure you are right-clicking on the objects on the artboard, if you right-click the layers pallet you don't get the "Geometry" option.

[Old Bruce]

1 hour ago, Progfx said:

OK, I found the solution. Select the objects you want to combine into one layer, right-click the selection and under "Geometry" select "Combine." This merges the selected objects into one single layer. I think this only works with vector objects... I tried it with vector objects and text, but it converts the text to vector outlines and changes the fill color to the other objects color. Make sure you are right-clicking on the objects on the artboard, if you right-click the layers pallet you don't get the "Geometry" option.

Have you tried using a Group? Select the objects and use the Layer > Group. This will keep the text as text and also keep the text's colour the same as it was, not change it to the colour of the other objects.

[Progfx]

Yes, but grouping simply groups the multiple layers into a group... it's not actually combining the multiple layers into one single layer. 

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, Progfx said:

Yes, but grouping simply groups the multiple layers into a group... it's not actually combining the multiple layers into one single layer. 

It depends on what exactly you mean by "one single layer." In AD you use Geometry > Merge Curves or from the right-click popup either Geometry > Merge Curves or Geometry > Combine, but what you get is a Curves object, which actually consists 2 (or more) curve objects.

[Progfx]

OK, you are micro-analyzing what a layer is. I am calling a layer, anything that is a separate line item in the layers pallet.

So for example, when I open an .ai file and have three or four lines of stylized lettering that has been converted to outlines, and was all on one layer in AI, AD puts a single letter on dozens of individual "layers." Then every time you click on one of the elements on the page, the layer "group" expands so you have to scroll through all these individual "layers" to get to the next item in the layer pallet (or collapse the group over and over). So maybe technically by AD's definition, those aren't layers, but I'm calling them layers. So they are "curve" objects... OK, but each one is on its own layer. There is no need for all this clutter, they are all the same color, and part of the same object. So I was initially looking for a way to combine/merge these layers and couldn't find any reference to this function in the online help. And apparently, many other people were looking for the same answer.

I was simply providing an answer to how to merge all these layers, since nobody in this thread provided an answer.

And IMO, if they can put the merge layers function in Affinity Photo, it should also be in AD. How would anyone know that a "vector curve" is not considered a layer in AD? Since it's displayed as a layer in the Layer Pallet.

And the reason for confusion when looking at the online help is because when you google for example "affinity designer 2: merge layers" google returns a link to an Affinity help page, in the middle of the help section talking about layers... but nowhere on the page do you see which program it's for... the only way you would know you are in the Affinity Photo help, is if you look at the URL. There should be a heading at the top of the left menu that clearly states which program help you are in.

[R C-R]

3 hours ago, Progfx said:

How would anyone know that a "vector curve" is not considered a layer in AD?

What do you mean? A vector curve certainly is a type of layer, & each one gets its own line in the Layers panel.

3 hours ago, Progfx said:

And the reason for confusion when looking at the online help is because when you google for example "affinity designer 2: merge layers" google returns a link to an Affinity help page, in the middle of the help section talking about layers... but nowhere on the page do you see which program it's for... the only way you would know you are in the Affinity Photo help, is if you look at the URL.

Easily avoided if you open help in each app, for instance via Help > Affinity Designer Help. This not only avoids Google's "helpful" inclusion of AP topics but also suggestions from the old V1 version.