Rotating Document?

[MaryLou]

I was sort of poking around in AD and somehow, I rotated my entire document window.  So, I closed that document and went looking for what I did to cause that.  It turn out that a right-click anywhere on the screen and selecting "Rotate Left (or right) moves the entire document instead of just the active image.

 

Is it supposed to do that?  If so, what is the purpose?  Why would one want to rotate their entire document like that?  I'm attaching an image just in case I didn't make myself clear.

[R C-R]

You were using the Rotate Canvas (not document) command. Open AD help & search for the "rotate canvas" page.

 

In part it says:

Being able to rotate the canvas is beneficial for a number of applications:
• Brush and fine detail work
• Product design (e.g., product box/packaging layouts with content at 90/180 degree angles)
• Tablet-assisted design (drawing at angles)

[bbd10]

Yes, it is supposed to that.

 

You sometimes want to see the whole View rotated which is helpful with perspective drawings, drawing with tablets or simply designs where you want to see some elements horizontally although they are placed diagonally. You do not change your design this way - you only rotate "virtual monitor". Exported image will do not have any rotations applied this way. (Menu -> View -> Reset Rotation, to clear accidental rotation. Or right mouse click outside canvas area.)

 

To rotate real design elements - layers, groups, rectangles etc. you have to use move tool (V) and rotation handle. You can also use transform panel or Layer Transform menu.

 

:)  

[MaryLou]

I think the terminology is a bit confusing.  When I go to Open\New, I get a screen that defines my "document" but now you're calling it a "canvas"?   Perhaps one or the other needs to be changed to be consistent.  Most of the tutorials I've seen say to open a new "document".

 

Thanks for explaining that the document/canvas is supposed to rotate like that. I've never seen that feature before.  It would be most helpful if the popup menu said what you are rotating though.  Since we usually work with objects, I would assume, if I had an object selected, that is what would be rotated.  Just adding a better description to that popup menu, it would make life easier for beginners.  :)

[Alfred]

Thanks for explaining that the document/canvas is supposed to rotate like that. I've never seen that feature before.  It would be most helpful if the popup menu said what you are rotating though.  Since we usually work with objects, I would assume, if I had an object selected, that is what would be rotated.  Just adding a better description to that popup menu, it would make life easier for beginners.  :)

 

Since I'm aware that you're a longtime DrawPlus user, MaryLou, I'm a little surprised that you've never stumbled across the Rotate Canvas Tool. It's at the bottom of the application window, between the Pan Tool and the zoom controls.

 

I know I'm not the only one who agrees with you about the wording on the context menu in Affinity Designer, as this was discussed recently in another thread.

[MaryLou]

Albert, we were just in the learning stages with DrawPlus. We started using it in my forum a year ago in May. We were slowly working our way through the various aspects of the program and hadn't gotten that far.  It was a huge change for us since we were all PhotoImpact users.  However, if we had spotted that rotate thing, we would have known immediately what it was because it refers to the canvas.  I do hope they will clarify that on the AD menu.

 

They have that Rotate left/right on two different menus, once on the popup and again on the View menu. It's a bit overkill to have it in two places so maybe they could remove it from the pop-up and put Duplicate there! :wacko:

[R C-R]

The command is in the View menu because it is a view option & because most keyboard shortcuts involve menu commands. It is in the popup because Affinity supports multiple document windows & multiple monitors, so for those that use it, it is nice to have the command easily accessible in the popup in the window, regardless of where it it.

 

The easiest way to duplicate something is with the keyboard shortcut.

[MaryLou]

It would also be nice to have the Duplicate command in the popup for those of who do not use shortcut keys. It might be easier for you to duplicate something using the keyboard shortcut but it's not that easy for those of us who are not keyboard shortcut people.  If you read my other comments, you will know that I cannot use CTRL+J with one hand which means I have to take my hand off the mouse and look for the keys in order to duplicate an image.

[Alfred]

Albert, we were just in the learning stages with DrawPlus. We started using it in my forum a year ago in May.

 

Was it really just over a year ago, MaryLou? My apologies: I had the distinct impression that it was somewhat longer than that!

 

By the way, you're not the only one who has ever addressed me as Albert (or Arthur, or various other names beginning with 'A').

[MaryLou]

OH my gosh!  How could I get your name wrong when my uncle's name is Alfred!  My bad, and my apologies.

 

My forum has been on-line since 2000 or 2001 - and we were all PhotoImpact users. Some of the original members are still there which is a testament to the forum. When Ulead sold PhotoImpact to Jace, they in turn sold it to Corel who decided to discontinue it. So, we spent a lot of time searching for something we felt was comparable.  That's when we found DrawPlus.  We all liked it a lot.  On May 27, 2015 I switched the forum and my web pages to DrawPlus and we  started learning it.  Needless to say, we were disappointed when we learned that Serif is dropping support for DrawPlus but then, they gave us Affinity Designer.  It's like starting over for some of us, but it will be worth it.  I do not like the dark interface because I can't tell if I have a tool selected or not. Too bad it's not a choice.

[R C-R]

If you read my other comments, you will know that I cannot use CTRL+J with one hand which means I have to take my hand off the mouse and look for the keys in order to duplicate an image.

You can change the keyboard shortcut in Affinity preferences to something easier for you to type one handed. If you would like the Duplicate command in the document window contextual popup, you can add it to the feature request list. Note that it already appears on the Layers panel contextual popup menu, which is convenient for duplicating a layer when you are going to drag the dup to some other place in the layers stack.

[MaryLou]

Honestly, I don't want to have to remember even more keyboard shortcuts, especially when it would be so easy to pop it on a menu.  I know I can duplicate a layer but... when there are a lot of layers and you have many objects, it can take a little searching to find the right object.  I feel that if a program can be made easier to use, it should be done.

 

I have added it to the feature request list.