Vector brushes randomly searchable, pixel brushes not at all in V.2

[jmwellborn]

This new feature is not working at all in Photo.  I have tried many different pixel brush categories (some default categories and other custom categories), but never succeed.  In Designer it does work with some vector brush categories (either default or custom)  but not with others.  In the pixel persona it does not work at all with pixel brush categories.

 

 

[Ldina]

10 minutes ago, jmwellborn said:

In the pixel persona it does not work at all with pixel brush categories.

Hmmmm...works for me in Photo with Pixel brushes. I'm on a MacBook Pro, M4, Sequoia 15.3.1. I didn't try all of my MANY categories, but I tried half a dozen and they all worked fine. Not sure why it's not for you. 

[Hangman]

1 hour ago, jmwellborn said:

This new feature is not working at all in Photo.  I have tried many different pixel brush categories (some default categories and other custom categories), but never succeed.  In Designer it does work with some vector brush categories (either default or custom)  but not with others.  In the pixel persona it does not work at all with pixel brush categories.

It's working for me in Photo and Designer's Designer and Pixel Persona with all brushes... @jmwellborn, what are you actually seeing when searching for a brush?

[jmwellborn]

Thank you @Ldina and @Hangman.  I am seeing as much of the category as the Brush panel can show without scrolling, when I should just see the one brush.  I still have to scroll down for the brush I wanted.  I will make a video tomorrow and post it here.

[jmwellborn]

@Ldina and @Hangman.  Here it is.  I have used the same Brush categories in both Photo and in the Pixel persona in Designer to show that the problem is the same in both apps.  I also used the Designer persona to show that the problem is not limited to pixel brushes.  I used both default brushes and brush packs (including DAUB Pastello 2 purposely because I know that Paolo is scrupulously careful about his brushes).  The reason I jumped between Photo and Designer pixel persona during the pixel brush tests was to show that the same category responds the same way in both apps.   When I switched to the Designer persona I purposely used one default category and two others from separate brush packs.

It looks to me as though the issue includes how the apps read the search line. For example, if several individual brushes in a category start with the same word (i.e. in the Big Box - Bamboo pack — which I didn't use here — all brushes start with "Japan" followed immediately by a series of numbers such as "Japan00067 2,"  "Japan00065-8" etc. it looks as though the app doesn't go deeply enough into the wording to distinguish between the two.

I might add that some default categories worked perfectly.  Others did not. Please excuse all of the typos that needed to be corrected, and any errors that may have inadvertently hopped into this video.  On reviewing it I see that I entered the wrong name in Designer Pixel persona for the DAUB Pastello 2 example.  Drat!  All that jumping back and forth was a pain in the neck.

 

[Ldina]

Jennifer,

For whatever reason, the brush search function always seems to work fine for me, in both Photo and the Designer Pixel Persona (at least the 10-15 categories I tried). I'm on a MacBook Pro (M4, Sequoia). I noticed you have a TON of brush categories. I'm just wondering out loud here...maybe all those categories and brushes present some search limitation? Probably not. Maybe some installed utility or background app is doing something? Have you tried restarting your computer? Another totally off the wall thought...I use the dark interface and you're using the light interface. Again, probably not. 

I did notice one interesting thing...I needed to type in at least two characters in the search field for it to work. For example, searching in the Pencils category, if I simply type "2", it doesn't work, but if I type "2B" it does. Same if I have a bunch of presets I've saved, like Grunge 01, Grunge 02...Grunge 10, Spatter 01, Spatter 02, etc. If I type in "0", I get nothing...I need to enter two characters for a search to take place.

[jmwellborn]

@Ldina  I do have a ton of brushes, but since the seach field only applies to the current brush category I don’t see how that should make any difference. I don’t have any installed utility that doesn’t pertain to MAC or Affinity, and I didn’t have anything running except MESSAGES  and SAFARI. In all but one of the examples I typed in the entire name of the brush.  When the search worked it popped up quite quickly. When the brush doesn’t show up, it always needs the little x to be pressed to ostensibly show the brush, which it doesn’t. Since both Photo 2.6 and Designer 2.6 act the same way with the same pixel brushes I don’t think that both need to be restarted, but I will try that tomorrow and see what happens.  I’ll also try the dark UI so I don’t leave anything out. I still think that because it is random the issue is with the search line, but who am I to say?

Thank you so much for looking at this!

[Ldina]

I doubt any of my suggestions are the real reason, but I guess it's worth trying just to be sure! Have you tried turning OFF Hardware Acceleration? Mine's ON and it works fine. 

Hope you find the answer. 

[jmwellborn]

@Ldina  I have had Hardware Acceleration off ever since I acquired my M1 Mac.  I presume the update (which I made from the update prompt from V 2.5.5) maintained my system settings.  I’ll check tomorrow. On my M1 laptop I did turn it off, also from Metal to Open GL, and it didn’t make any difference.  I’ll check that too tomorrow.

[jmwellborn]

@Ldina.  Dark UI doesn't make any difference.  I had Hardware Acceleration turned off in both Photo and Designer and — checking — they are both turned off.  In both, Metal was changed to Open GL.  CTRL + Open didn't make any difference.  I shut down my computer every day after working on it, so that when I start it, it is a Restart.  Made no difference.

I have had an exceptional record with my iMAC as far as Affinity "bugs" are concerned, and since nothing has changed on it re new (or deleted apps), or upgrades to more recent OS (i.e. Sonoma or Sequoia), I cannot see how that could be the problem.  

[Hangman]

@jmwellborn,

There is a Reset Brushes option in the Clear User Data window when running a Factory Reset. The only problem is, doing a factory reset will remove all your installed brushes meaning you'd have to reinstall them all again and there is no guarantee it will make any difference but it's the only thing I can think of...

Search is working perfectly here, typing a single letter in the search window works correctly which I appreciate is of little comfort. Maybe someone from Serif will have some ideas for other things you could try...

[jmwellborn]

10 minutes ago, Hangman said:

@jmwellborn,

There is a Reset Brushes option in the Clear User Data window when running a Factory Reset. The only problem is, doing a factory reset will remove all your installed brushes meaning you'd have to reinstall them all again and there is no guarantee it will make any difference but it's the only thing I can think of...

Search is working perfectly here, typing a single letter in the search window works correctly which I appreciate is of little comfort. Maybe someone from Serif will have some ideas for other things you could try...

Not a chance that I am going to Clear User Data!  I don't think I would live long enough to import all those brushes again, although I do have them all backed up in FINDER. 🥴I can live without the handy-dandy Search line, which is apparently Plan B in my case.  Perhaps my video may help Serif to figure this thing out, although I am sure they have many more important things to do.

Thank you for looking at it, anyway! 

[NathanC]

Hi @jmwellborn,

Can confirm I've replicated and logged this. For me, this only affects certain brush categories, such as those provided in the DAUB Caligo brush pack (DAUB Caligo- Inks) available on the Affinity store, searching mostly returned unexpected results, such as smudge only brushes or nothing at all.