Feature request: "Current later and below" sticky in Photo

[carlseibert]

Hi,

 

I'm teaching myself Affinity after 30 years with Photoshop. Meaning I may have just missed something. If so, somebody please speak up.

If we accept that best non-destructive practice with any of the cloning or healing tools is to work on a blank pixel layer, that means using "Current layer and below" 99% of the time with those tools. Yet for each new file, I have to re-select this option in the context bar. 

It would be a time-saver if that option was either sticky or was simply the default.

Please.

-Carl

[RNKLN]

… and then also automatically create the blank pixel layer when you choose these options and one isn't available?

[walt.farrell]

2 hours ago, RNKLN said:

… and then also automatically create the blank pixel layer when you choose these options and one isn't available?

That would be tricky, I think.

How many new empty pixel layers would you expect, when you switch between tools with that option enabled? One for every tool switch?

Once you've added the first pixel to the empty layer, it isn't empty any more. So how should the application decide when to create another one?

[RNKLN]

On 8/22/2024 at 10:44 PM, walt.farrell said:

That would be tricky, I think.

I totally agree, Walt. I was thinking of what the next request would be after Affinity has decided it makes sense to have Current Layer and Below selected by default.

I also use this way of working 99% of the times, so I like the OP's idea.

[carl123]

On 8/21/2024 at 10:22 PM, carlseibert said:

It would be a time-saver if that option was either sticky or was simply the default.

Strange, that option is sticky for me even if I restart APhoto

I wonder why is it not for you guys?

Also, if I set the Clone Brush to "Current layer and below" the "Healing brush" does so as well.

In effect the Clone Brush and the Healing brush, mimic the setting no matter which one I change it in

Windows 11

[NotMyFault]

55 minutes ago, carl123 said:

Strange, that option is sticky for me even if I restart APhoto

I wonder why is it not for you guys?

Also, if I set the Clone Brush to "Current layer and below" the "Healing brush" does so as well.

In effect the Clone Brush and the Healing brush, mimic the setting no matter which one I change it in

Windows 11

Only within a document, never for newly created or opened documents.

 

[carl123]

Just now, NotMyFault said:

Only within a document, never for newly created or opened documents.

Thanks, I'll wait to see if this is one of those Mac versus Windows anomalies before investigating further

[NotMyFault]

This has been requested over and over again. So simple to implement, but Affinity devs play blind and deaf and cause endless frustration in user base. I cannot understand that this simple request for the most basic UI customization gets still ignored. It makes me angry again every single time I use clone/patch/healing brushes.

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/search/&q=Current and below&type=forums_topic&quick=1&nodes=122,56,53,54,55,44,65,6&search_and_or=and&sortby=relevancy

[NotMyFault]

I find feedback all back to 2015, maybe earlier.

9 years and counting. 

 

[carl123]

This post seems to suggest it was added in a beta around March 2023

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/182097-feature-requestsuggestion-make-clone-brush-default-to-current-layer-and-below/#comment-1055297

Then I found this here...  https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/photo/full-feature-list/

 

[NotMyFault]

Don’t know,but it doesn’t work for me on all 3 platforms. I switch to current and below every single time, and it always defaults back to current layer only in new documents. 

 

[carlseibert]

On 8/24/2024 at 5:47 AM, carl123 said:

 

Also, if I set the Clone Brush to "Current layer and below" the "Healing brush" does so as well.

In effect the Clone Brush and the Healing brush, mimic the setting no matter which one I change it in

 

As it should. Except for me, it doesn't. If I see "Current Layer and Below" when I pick up the Inpainting brush in a newly opened document, that's how I know that I have accidentally incremented the brushes and have the Healing brush selected. The setting for the Healing brush is apparently sticky; for Inpainting, it reverts to default. (I'm on 2.5.3 om Win11)

Very strange. I do have to say that V2.5 Affinity isn't as stable as V25 Photoshop. That's not exactly a shock. But two users, presumably on the same version, seeing consistent, opposite, behavior is odd. [Cue the Billy Bob Thornton joke from Fargo.]

[Komatös]

@NotMyFault @carlseibert

Try as follows:

Open a new document. Select one of the tools that offers the source selection. Set Curent Layer & Below there. Now go to Edit -> Defaults and select Save. When creating a new document, Curent Layer & Below is now preset for all tools.

[NotMyFault]

I tried on Mac, does not work for inpainting brush or patch tool.

But it seems default is memorised @carl123 for clone and healing tool - unrelated to edit->save defaults. I almost never use those tools.

I need the sticky setting specifically for

• Inpainting brush
• Patch tool

 

Help says it saves styles for vector objects, not edit settings.

https://affinity.help/photo2/English.lproj/pages/DesignAids/objectDefaults.html

Edited August 26, 2024 by NotMyFault

[carlseibert]

I just tried Defaults > Save Defaults on the Rectangle tool (which is vector) and the Inpainting and paint brush tools (which aren't). Didn't work with any of them.

Drat!

The cited Help page is under the Photo hierarchy, so it doesn't appear to only apply to Designer.