Designer do not properly displays an object

[Petar Petrenko]

Why Designer does not properly displays an object that spans on 2 or more artboards?

The object is shown at the top of all layers only if I move it on the top of the Artboard3 layer, but when I want to reposition it -- only a part of it is shown. Am I doing something wrong, or is it a bug?

over 3 arts.afdesign

[GarryP]

Your yellow rectangle is a child layer of the Artboard3 layer and so you cannot see the bits of the yellow rectangle which are outside of the boundaries of the Artboard3 layer. The yellow rectangle is clipped by Artboard3.

This is expected behaviour.

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[Petar Petrenko]

33 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Your yellow rectangle is a child layer of the Artboard3 layer and so you cannot see the bits of the yellow rectangle which are outside of the boundaries of the Artboard3 layer. The yellow rectangle is clipped by Artboard3.

Thank you for the answer, but can you offer me a solution? I can't make it parent layer.

[GarryP]

You could make the existing Artboards child layers of a new, larger, Artboard and then put the yellow rectangle into that parent Artboard as the top layer above the other Artboards.

I’m not saying that it’s the best way to do it (because I don’t know your intentions), it’s just one possibility.

[Petar Petrenko]

This is just for testing purposes. I thought it would work as easy as you put an object over 3 page spread in Publisher, but obviously, it didn't. And then, there is

21 minutes ago, GarryP said:

... make the existing Artboards child layers of a new, larger, Artboard and then put the yellow rectangle into that parent Artboard as the top layer above the other Artboards.

another confusion with Artboards. They deserve their own panel. They are not layers, but objects (something like pages in Publisher) that can have their own layers.

[GarryP]

I’d prefer not to get into a discussion about the ‘metaphysical nature’ of Artboard and layers. (There are plenty of other discussions about that sort of thing elsewhere in the forums.)

If doing what I said works then that’s fine with me.

[thomaso]

5 hours ago, Petar Petrenko said:

The object is shown at the top of all layers only if I move it on the top of the Artboard3 layer, but when I want to reposition it -- only a part of it is shown. Am I doing something wrong, or is it a bug?

There is no bug, that's how it was coded "by design". – Your goal requires a certain workflow & setup, for instance:

• In the Layers Panel deselect the option "Edit all Layers" + move all layout contents (e.g. your yellow rectangle) to the top of the layer hierarchy / above all Artboard layers.

• Draw an extra Artboard as parent layer for the three existing Artboards + the yellow rectangle. (as mentioned by @GarryP)
Note: the 3 green artboards do overlap for more bleed but don't contain layout content. They are just used to define the output page dimensions and positions.

[R C-R]

8 hours ago, Petar Petrenko said:

another confusion with Artboards. They deserve their own panel. They are not layers, but objects (something like pages in Publisher) that can have their own layers.

Assuming you mean a Studio panel, what would you want this to show? What functions would you want it to support that are not already supported for artboards via the Artboard Tool?

As for as it being something like APub pages, note that document pages can not contain other document pages, so you can't have pages as children of other pages. Of course, APub has Master pages which in a sense could be considered the parents of document pages, but it isn't really the same thing (& pages & artboards cannot coexist in the same document).

Please understand I am not saying that there should not be AD Artboards Studio, I just do not understand what function it would serve.

[Petar Petrenko]

14 hours ago, thomaso said:

There is no bug, that's how it was coded "by design". – Your goal requires a certain workflow & setup

Thanks Thomaso, but this is too complicated. Some features in the apps are not so easy to understand how to use them.

[Petar Petrenko]

9 hours ago, R C-R said:

Assuming you mean a Studio panel, what would you want this to show?

List of Artboards, as the list of the pages in Publisher. And, when you click on certain artboard you can see its content in the Layers panel.

[wintermute]

why do you need one object on 3 artboards? If the reason is you want made for 3 pieces from one continuous design (e.g. large format prints), using slices from export persona will be a proper solution. there is even bleed option. 

[thomaso]

2 hours ago, wintermute said:

using slices from export persona will be a proper solution. there is even bleed option. 

"Proper" in what way? – Imagine you want to create 3 banners for print, each 1 x 2 m, showing 1 common image + headline spread across the 3 banners while each banner needs bleed + crop marks, … how do you achieve a print PDF using slices in a "proper" way?

Unless V2 got massively improved, the Export Persona + Slices are quite limited and more cumbersome than layout objects in the Design Persona:

• For slices the Transform Panel shows the unit 'pixel' only (not useful for print projects).
• Slices can not get duplicated but every slice needs to get created individually.
• The Export Persona has no alignment / distribute feature.
• Slices don't snap to layout objects or bleed but to slices and artboard only.
• A slice of a layout object (e.g. a Rectangle) exports this object only, not the objects below or above within its dimensions and thus can't be used as slice.

• The Export Persona doesn't export layout content in the bleed area of the document edges but between slices only.
• Also it doesn't export multiple slices into 1 common PDF but creates a separate file for every exported slice.

[R C-R]

4 hours ago, Petar Petrenko said:

List of Artboards, as the list of the pages in Publisher. And, when you click on certain artboard you can see its content in the Layers panel.

Can't you already see the artboards & what is in each of them in the Layers panel? There is also the autoscroll option so if you select something in an artboard in the document window the Layers panel will scroll to it.

[thomaso]

14 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Can't you already see the artboards & what is in each of them in the Layers panel? There is also the autoscroll option so if you select something in an artboard in the document window the Layers panel will scroll to it.

True, but with many artboards AD's Layers Panel may appear overcrowded and confuse or get cumbersome if multiple artboard layers are unfolded.

The OP may have a reduced content of the Layers panel in mind. Just imagine APub would permanently display all objects from all pages of a brochure or book in its Layers panel. AD has advantages over APub for layout process + overview, for instance when developing a corporate design with examples of elements of different sizes and content based on common style elements or Symbol layers (e.g. logo -> business card -> letter -> envelope -> shopping bag, advertisement, banner, fair boot, car design, web, etc. …).

@Petar Petrenko, this reminds me to an earlier feature request, obviously not quite popular:

[wintermute]

1 hour ago, thomaso said:

"Proper" in what way? – Imagine you want to create 3 banners for print, each 1 x 2 m, showing 1 common image + headline spread across the 3 banners while each banner needs bleed + crop marks, … how do you achieve a print PDF using slices in a "proper" way?

exacly this way.

 

For slices the Transform Panel shows the unit 'pixel' only (not useful for print projects).

I know that export persona use only pixel units but (suprise!) you can input values in mm (for example) and it wok properly. I did something like this. 

Slices can not get duplicated but every slice needs to get created individually.

yes but there is something like snapping witch help made same size slices. It is not ideal btw  

The Export Persona has no distribute feature.

yes but it is realy need of it? 

Slices don't snap to layout objects or bleed but to slices and artboard only.

if you only want cut big design for print? You only need a few same size slices.

A slice of a layout object (e.g. a Rectangle) exports this object only, not the objects below or above within its dimensions and thus can't be used as slice.

 The Export Persona doesn't export layout content in the bleed area of the document edges but between slices only.

Now its work. I check it today

• Also it doesn't export multiple slices into 1 common PDF but creates a separate file for every exported slice.

true. But for me it is not a issue. Of course if you need some sophistiated funcionality you are right. But if you want cut big design for print  you can do.  

[thomaso]

8 minutes ago, wintermute said:

Of course if you need some sophistiated funcionality you are right. But if you want cut big design for print  you can do.  

You can "Export Persona + Slices", but due to the limitations listed, this doesn't really seem to be a "proper" solution, more suitable for web design or animation elements than for print production. Compared to the layout options in the Designer Persona + Export menu dialog, the Export Persona may seem more strange or unfinished than proper due to its various (unnecessary) limitations.

While some limits may appear to you too "sophisticated" for the Export Persona (consider: the functions do exist /got coded already), especially the disability to use a layout object as slice for all content within its area deos not appear proper at all, while it can be used via menu Export -> Area -> Selection Area quite easily.

[wintermute]

4 minutes ago, thomaso said:

 Compared to the layout options in the Designer Persona + Export menu dialog, the Export Persona may seem more strange or unfinished than proper due to its various (unnecessary) limitations.

 

You are right. But we are talking about affinity software which look this way generally… 

but on the other hand i like AD and prefer much more than illustrator instead of this…

 

[Old Bruce]

7 hours ago, Petar Petrenko said:

List of Artboards, as the list of the pages in Publisher. And, when you click on certain artboard you can see its content in the Layers panel.

While this would not really impact me or my work I can see that a great many people would benefit from this addition. Have no selection made in the Artboards panel and all the artboards would be listed in the Layers panel.

[R C-R]

5 hours ago, Old Bruce said:

While this would not really impact me or my work I can see that a great many people would benefit from this addition. Have no selection made in the Artboards panel and all the artboards would be listed in the Layers panel.

So if I understand this correctly, if an artboard is selected in this new Artboards studio, all other artboards in the document would not be visible in the Layers panel?  Would this also hide all the others in the document window or would they still be visible there? Either way, would selecting an artboard in this studio automatically zoom the document view to that artboard, maybe as an option?

I guess this might be useful, but I can also see that it could cause confusion, particularly if this Studio was hidden or in a Studio tabbed panel & not the frontmost one.

[Old Bruce]

17 minutes ago, R C-R said:

So if I understand this correctly, if an artboard is selected in this new Artboards studio, all other artboards in the document would not be visible in the Layers panel?  Would this also hide all the others in the document window or would they still be visible there? Either way, would selecting an artboard in this studio automatically zoom the document view to that artboard, maybe as an option?

That is what I was thinking. With the exception of hiding in the document window, maybe hide / show window as a preference setting.

Think of publisher's pages panel with the document window zoomed out so it is showing a couple of dozen spreads. Double click on a page/spread in the pages panel and I get the selected page/spread zoomed to fit the document window.

[R C-R]

39 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

Think of publisher's pages panel with the document window zoomed out so it is showing a couple of dozen spreads. Double click on a page/spread in the pages panel and I get the selected page/spread zoomed to fit the document window.

As far as the zoom to fit function, with multiple artboards showing in the document view, clicking on or near one of their names in the document view with the Move tool, View > Zoom > Zoom to selection does that, but of course if the artboards overlap or are very near each other, it can be hard to select them.

So I can see how this new Artboard Studio could be useful, particularly in documents with many artboards, but I think it could still cause confusion if it affected what is visible in the Layers panel.

[Petar Petrenko]

10 hours ago, R C-R said:

1. So if I understand this correctly, if an artboard is selected in this new Artboards studio, all other artboards in the document would not be visible in the Layers panel?

2. Would this also hide all the others in the document window or would they still be visible there?

1. Of course, because they will exist in the Artboard panel only.

2. They would be visible as the pages are visible in Publisher.

[R C-R]

6 hours ago, Petar Petrenko said:

1. Of course, because they will exist in the Artboard panel only.

??? You mean they will continue to exist (& still be visible in the document window), just not be visible in the Layers panel, right?

If so, what happens if in the document window, a user selects something in one of the other artboards, or that artboard itself?

[Petar Petrenko]

15 hours ago, R C-R said:

??? You mean they will continue to exist (& still be visible in the document window), just not be visible in the Layers panel, right?

If so, what happens if in the document window, a user selects something in one of the other artboards, or that artboard itself?

Comparing to Publisher where you have facing pages or multiple pages in a spread:

If you select one page, the other page(s) are still visible and you see everything on these pages in the document window but only layer(s) of the selected page in the layers panel.

[R C-R]

8 hours ago, Petar Petrenko said:

Comparing to Publisher where you have facing pages or multiple pages in a spread:

If you select one page, the other page(s) are still visible and you see everything on these pages in the document window but only layer(s) of the selected page in the layers panel.

So are you saying for artboards you would want something in another artboard not to be selectable in the document window if in this Artboards panel it was not the selected one, or would you want it to be more like APub's pages & if that was done, this Artboard panel would automatically change the selection to that artboard, & the Layers panel would then show only that other artboard's layers?