Multiple files opened UI "order" is odd...

[CartoonMike]

... At least to me. 

 

Here's the situation, I'm resizing the canvases of a comic I've scanned in. It's going to be about 50 pages. So to save time with open-change-save-close-open next file  routine, I'm just opening 10 files at once. So far Both Affinity Photo & Design handles this very well. No real slowdowns or odd behavior (using the current MAS versions, not the betas for this).

 

The oddness begins after AP opens files. I have the files named in a sequence: QS no 1 pg 01, QS no 1 pg 02 ... QS no 1 pg 50. So the first ten files are opened. And the order that the files are in the Tabs are not in any sequence I can determine. Maybe it's the size of the file as I haven't checked that yet. But it's discerning to say the least. I'm used to seeing the files in the alpha/numeric order when I open a group of them. Now if I want to see a specific page, I have to hunt for it, rather than scanning the titles. Am I missing something or just the first one to whinge about this?

 

Secondly, after dragging the tabs to have the files be in order, I start working on the lower numbers first. I have the tabs ordered so that the page numbers go up the further right one goes (i.e. page 1, page 2, page 3...and so on). I finish work on the left most file, save it and close it. Now the "active" tab is the rightmost one. This has made me really confused many times. Now after closing the file, I have to click on the actual file I want to work on.

 

Is there some well hidden preference or option I may have missed? 

 

What I'm expecting is that when I open a sequence of files, for them to open in tabs arranged in that sequence; from left to right. Also I expect to close the leftmost tab and have the newly leftmost tab to be active. 

 

While not a bug (I ... think...) this is a slowdown as I have to re-learn NOT to go left-right as I've been doing from birth, but right to left. This is an annoyance that kind of tarnishes an otherwise shiny UI experience. 

 

Is this newly opened tab (files) behavior intentional or is is just "the way things are." Is there any way to either change it or allow the user to determine the order the tabs are displayed? Even if it takes a few seconds, it'll be faster than my re-ordering by hand. Also, can it be an option to keep the active tab on the left  instead of the right when closing an file? Or is this an insidious conservative plot ... ? 

 

Thanks for any answers. 

[CartoonMike]

Just opened another batch and this time I checked the size and date created for the files. No match. It seems that the order of the files are totes random. 

[markw]

Hello Mike
Just thought I would let you know that you are not alone in being baffled by the behavior of tabs in the Affinity products!
Indeed, why can it not be that multiple files open in alpha numeric order left to right?

And closing a tab makes the next tab to the right active? Just like a web browser dose and, well, pretty much any other program that uses tabs that I can think of.

[CartoonMike]

Just bumping this up so this thread doesn't get lost in the newer questions. 

 

This is a (albeit) minor to some issue, but for my workflow where I sometimes have to deal with up to 50+files, some are double page spreads and such, being able to open files in alpha-numeric order is a big time-saver. Especially when going from page to page to ensure things like character continuity and such. Then, the "subtle" color difference of opened file tabs and active file tabs don't really make things easier. I'm resorting to just dumbing down my work flow and just working on one page at a time. It makes things more of a drudge, but at least I don't spend time working on page "X" thinking I'm working on page "Z". 

 

I would love to use A-Photo for more than just panorama (i.e. multiple scans) stitching, but this ordering problem is just making me dread opening up Affinity Photo and doing work on the pages. Thankfully I have alternatives I can use once I export the images... and thank goodness A-Design has great Artboards. It's easier to deal with just 2 or 3 files (containing about 8 Pages of lettered comics in each file) than just 1 page per file, like in AP.

[C-F]

After reading your post, I checked and opened 5 images at once and can verify the 'disorder' in the tabs. I agree they should be in the order the user intents them to be...

[CartoonMike]

thanks everyone who confirmed that this is a real issue and not just existing on my machine or a product of some kind of fever-dream. :P

 

It would be nice if this issue would get some kind of acknowledgment or something rather this deafening silence. :(

 

It's not like I'm saying "fix this or else..." Just want some kind of feedback. If this issue can't be fixed, then I can work out some kind of re-learning/re-doing stuff on my end. If it's going to be addressed "at some later time." then I have some small solace of hope to cling to. But not a word... distressing.

 

I should note that the pages/files I'm referring to are penciled pages and all I'm trying to do is get them in order for preparation for inking. There's no dialog or text on these pages and the written page number is not visible at "fit to view" zoom.

[MEB]

Hi CartoonMike,

Sorry the delay getting back to you.

Regarding your first issue (numbered files/opening sequence), i've filled an improvement request for this. 

The second issue (closing leftmost document tab jumps to the last one) was already logged as an improvement request too.

Hopefully this will be looked at/reviewed when possible.

[CartoonMike]

thanks for the info, MEB, I do appreciate it a lot. 

[FoundBldg]

I also have noticed this issue and was searching for a possible solution when I found this topic, which is right on.  I frequently open about 10 files at once and they open in random fashion as described in the above post(s).  I like to work in sequence and it is an inefficient workflow.  Glad to see the topic discussed and that the problem will (hopefully) be addressed.  In the meantime, I will need continue to manually sort the photos in to correct order.  While annoying, it is still quicker than opening each individually.  Looking forward to a fix to this opening file / UI flaw.  Thank you.