Layer Filter Tab

[ASUNDER]

Could you add a pane that is the layers but is just a list instead of a z order.
With this tab (window) you could have it docked beside the layers tab.  Choose this tab and there would be a search box and filters.
You could search with regular expressions, and even a drop down with common words in the project.

It would have filters; you could filter by alphabetical, chronologically, by type (shape, curve etc.) Checkboxes for compound filters.
You wouldn't be able to change the z order with this pane or group or anything, but you could quickly find and select items.
The list would populate by your search results + chosen filters.  You could have checkboxes for groups and colours too, to filter them out or show only them.

[ronnyb]

@ASUNDER Try the States Studio panel...

[ASUNDER]

1 hour ago, ronnyb said:

@ASUNDER Try the States Studio panel...

Ya.  It's somewhat similar, but doesn't have a real time search.
My ideas are coming from the browsers in other programs:

I guess these devs decided on a "States" method of organization for drawing pictures, instead of a file browser "search box" method.
Would love to see a built-in file manager tab too.  We could search for things on our computer right in the program.

Also I think the 'Stock' tab should be a subcategory in the 'Assets' tab.  That's what they are: third party assets.
And a 'Tools' button where we could set it up to edit a layer etc. in another program.  It would boot that program and pass the file to it.

[ronnyb]

16 hours ago, ASUNDER said:

Ya.  It's somewhat similar, but doesn't have a real time search.
My ideas are coming from the browsers in other programs:

I guess these devs decided on a "States" method of organization for drawing pictures, instead of a file browser "search box" method.
Would love to see a built-in file manager tab too.  We could search for things on our computer right in the program.

Also I think the 'Stock' tab should be a subcategory in the 'Assets' tab.  That's what they are: third party assets.
And a 'Tools' button where we could set it up to edit a layer etc. in another program.  It would boot that program and pass the file to it.

States does not exactly match what you're looking for, but with smart layer setup/naming, I think you can do most of the things you'd like to...

[ASUNDER]

9 hours ago, ronnyb said:

States does not exactly match what you're looking for, but with smart layer setup/naming, I think you can do most of the things you'd like to...

I spent some time strategizing how to use the states panel.
Right now my favorite is colour tagging layers and using the 'Select Same > Tag Colour' shortcut.
Also couldn't figure out why my wildcard expression wouldn't work.  Had to study that.  Apparently it's the period dot not the star.
So for every vector filled colour I can name those layers starting with a capital C and space.  So I made a query that is 'Layer Name > C .'
I can click on that query and select or hide all my colours at once.

Thanks for the tip.

[ronnyb]

6 minutes ago, ASUNDER said:

Thanks for the tip.

Nice workflow, and thanks for circling back and sharing your discovery and use case with the community!

[thomaso]

On 8/16/2024 at 12:03 AM, ASUNDER said:

Would love to see a built-in file manager tab too.  We could search for things on our computer right in the program.

Also I think the 'Stock' tab should be a subcategory in the 'Assets' tab.  That's what they are: third party assets.

Workaround: If the "things on our computer" are placed resources, the Resource Manager allows to sort by name at least.

The 'Asset' panel only contains items stored on your computer, whereas the 'Stock' panel does not but only links to online resources. Unless they are downloaded AND added to the 'Asset' panel they aren't assets in terms of Affinity. Also template files on your computer aren't Affinity assets before they got added, even if they are Affinity document resources (and accessible via menu File > New…).