Publisher: What does the orange line in Layer Panel mean?

[Kona]

Working exclusively in Publisher, I copied an object a couple of times, and now when I edit one, all copies are edited at the same time. That seems like a very useful feature, but I can't figure out how to turn it off so I can edit them individually.

What does the orange line mean? How did it turn on, and how can I turn it off again?

Edited September 10, 2024 by Kona
Left out software being used

[Hangman]

Hi @Kona and welcome to the forums,

The Orange line indicates the object is a Symbol...

You can read about how Symbols work and how to isolate individual symbol instances here...

https://affinity.help/designer2/English.lproj/pages/SymbolsAssets/symbols.html

[Kona]

9 hours ago, Hangman said:

Hi @Kona and welcome to the forums,

The Orange line indicates the object is a Symbol...

You can read about how Symbols work and how to isolate individual symbol instances here...

https://affinity.help/designer2/English.lproj/pages/SymbolsAssets/symbols.html

That makes sense, except that I'm working exclusively in Affinity Publisher, not in Designer at all. While it makes sense that symbols are supported across both, what puzzles me is how I managed to create a symbol from inside Publisher, and without intending to do so. Any ideas?

I edited the topic to make that more clear, since initially I didn't mention what software I was using.

Edited September 10, 2024 by Kona

[Hangman]

2 minutes ago, Kona said:

That makes sense, except that I'm working exclusively in Affinity Publisher, not in Designer at all. While it makes sense that symbols are supported across both, what puzzles me is how I managed to create a symbol from inside Publisher.

Hi @Kona,

Do you own all three apps, i.e., can you switch to the Designer Persona within Publisher? That is realistically the only possible way Symbols could have been added to your Publisher document other than switching directly to Designer using File > Edit In Designer from Publisher...

[Kona]

6 hours ago, Hangman said:

Hi @Kona,

Do you own all three apps, i.e., can you switch to the Designer Persona within Publisher? That is realistically the only possible way Symbols could have been added to your Publisher document other than switching directly to Designer using File > Edit In Designer from Publisher...

I can switch between them, but I have not been doing that.

From experimentation, it seems like it may have to do with copying a Master Page and pasting it into a document that doesn't have that Master. It seems that automatically creates a "Master Page" symbol, which is then visible by switching into the Designer Persona and opening the Symbols Pane.

Not the behavior I was expecting (I would expect it to either copy disconnected from the Master or create a copy of the Master in the document I'm working in), but good to know it works that way, I guess. Does this still happen if Designer is not installed? If so, is there just no way to detatch Symbols that end up in your Publisher document?

[Hangman]

Hi @Kona,

12 hours ago, Kona said:

I can switch between them, but I have not been doing that

AFAIK, the only way to create a symbol is to select the object on page/canvas in the Designer Persona then click 'Create' in the Symbols panel or select 'Create Symbol' from the Layer menu so you would have to physically do this...

Edit: See @carl123's post below

12 hours ago, Kona said:

From experimentation, it seems like it may have to do with copying a Master Page and pasting it into a document that doesn't have that Master. It seems that automatically creates a "Master Page" symbol, which is then visible by switching into the Designer Persona and opening the Symbols Pane.

I don't think that is possible as in, it's not possible to physically copy a Master page in Publisher, with a Master page selected the option to Copy is greyed out. You can duplicate a Master Page but not copy one and you can copy the contents of a Master page by selecting them in the Layers panel...

The screenshot in your first post doesn't show any Master page items which would be denoted by a green vertical line to the left of the Layer...

Could you perhaps briefly detail the steps you took with your experimentation in case we're missing something...

[carl123]

18 minutes ago, Hangman said:

Could you perhaps briefly detail the steps

Create Publisher document with a Master page
Add some text to the Master page (both sides, if applicable)
In Layers panel copy Master page

Create new document with no Master page
Paste Master page (previously copied)

Results:

Expand that Master page to see the text layer(s)
Each will have an orange stripe

Enter Designer persona
Master page is now showing in Symbols Panel

[Hangman]

@carl123,

With you, I'd been trying to directly copy the Master Page rather than the Master Page items from a Document Page...

Interesting outcome, I'm trying to understand the logic and what purpose it actually serves...

[walt.farrell]

53 minutes ago, Hangman said:

@carl123,

With you, I'd been trying to directly copy the Master Page rather than the Master Page items from a Document Page...

Interesting outcome, I'm trying to understand the logic and what purpose it actually serves...

I think it's a bug.

[Hangman]

Just now, walt.farrell said:

I think it's a bug.

I admit, it makes little practical sense more so since Symbols are not a direct part of Publisher...

Also, if you drag the newly created Symbol from the Symbols Panel to the document page in the Designer Persona of Publisher it shows Green vertical Master Page lines, not Orange as you'd expect from a true symbol...

[Kona]

Just to confirm, these steps are more or less what I did initially. Thanks, @carl123 for reproducing.

On 9/11/2024 at 5:32 AM, carl123 said:

Create Publisher document with a Master page
Add some text to the Master page (both sides, if applicable)
In Layers panel copy Master page

Create new document with no Master page
Paste Master page (previously copied)

Results:

Expand that Master page to see the text layer(s)
Each will have an orange stripe

Enter Designer persona
Master page is now showing in Symbols Panel

 

[Lee D]

@Kona I just wanted to say that in 2.6 this process is a little different. When pasting Master page contents to a new doc you'll no longer get a symbol, just a group.