Everything is being saved as a Designer file...

[Austruck]

Since I upgraded Publisher to 2.6 last week (from 2.57), Affinity seems to saving all my photos and Publisher files as Designer files (I'm using Designer 2.5.5 at the moment). I can still open a file properly from within Publisher by using the Open... menu item and it seems to open just fine. But if I double-click on an image/photo that used to be properly labeled as a photo, now it tries to open in Designer. (Doesn't matter if I EVER opened it in Photo first.)

 

What can I do about this? Been using the Affinity suite almost since the beginning, so this is definitely NEW, since I upgraded last week. Has never happened before then. 

 

I'm on a Windows 10, 64-bit machine. The only one of the three I've upgraded to 2.6 so far is Publisher. The other two are 2.5.5. 

[R C-R]

All three apps have the same native file format, so the only thing the extension does is set the default app that opens it if you double-click it.

[Austruck]

19 hours ago, R C-R said:

All three apps have the same native file format, so the only thing the extension does is set the default app that opens it if you double-click it.

Are you saying that, if I double-click a file currently listed as a Publisher file but which is really a Designer file, Publisher will try to open it instead of Designer? I know I can go into Windows settings and change default apps for extensions, but I shouldn't have to do that simply because Affinity's update changed something. No?

 

Perhaps I am missing what you're saying. 

[R C-R]

1 minute ago, Austruck said:

Are you saying that, if I double-click a file currently listed as a Publisher file but which is really a Designer file, Publisher will try to open it instead of Designer?

I am saying that there is no such thing as a separate Publisher or Designer (or Photo) file. They have exactly the same file structure; it is only the file extension that determines which of the apps it will open if you double-click it. You can change the extension manually in Explorer & the only thing that will change is which app it will default to opening if you double-click it. You can still open the file in any of the Affinity apps.

I am not a Windows user so I cannot tell you the exact steps you need to reset the defaults for each of the 3 but I am sure a Windows user can help with that.

[Iltirtar]

On 3/11/2025 at 11:07 PM, Austruck said:

What can I do about this?

It might be that when updating Publisher, Windows messed up the default applications associated to each file extension. To fix this, try right clicking on the file you want to open, select Open with > Choose another app. A dialog will open. Select de app you want (Photo, Designer, Publisher) and click the button Always. See if that fixes your problem.

 

On 3/11/2025 at 11:07 PM, Austruck said:

The only one of the three I've upgraded to 2.6 so far is Publisher. The other two are 2.5.5. 

That might be a problem, especially if you share documents between Publisher, Designer and Photo. Version 2.6.0 has changed the document format (without warning the user, thanks Affinity!). Therefore, beware that anything you create or edit in Publisher 2.6 will be only opened by 2.6 applications. In other words, you will not be able to open any 2.6 document in your 2.5 applications. (I don't know if this might be indirectly related to the issue you are experiencing).

[Austruck]

4 hours ago, R C-R said:

I am saying that there is no such thing as a separate Publisher or Designer (or Photo) file. They have exactly the same file structure; it is only the file extension that determines which of the apps it will open if you double-click it. You can change the extension manually in Explorer & the only thing that will change is which app it will default to opening if you double-click it. You can still open the file in any of the Affinity apps.

I am not a Windows user so I cannot tell you the exact steps you need to reset the defaults for each of the 3 but I am sure a Windows user can help with that.

I hear what you're saying, but these were always listed appropriately as Designer, Photo, or Publisher files (with the proper icon attached) until this latest update. See below for my solution.

I knew I could change the extensions manually, or find other ways to open the files properly...but clearly most people would expect an app to be properly associated with its files so that the file can simply be double-clicked to open with the right program. I wasn't interested in workarounds (of which there are many). I realize you're not a Windows user, and that's fine. I've been a Windows user since January 1991, so I'm familiar with its (many) quirks.

[Austruck]

4 hours ago, Iltirtar said:

It might be that when updating Publisher, Windows messed up the default applications associated to each file extension. To fix this, try right clicking on the file you want to open, select Open with > Choose another app. A dialog will open. Select de app you want (Photo, Designer, Publisher) and click the button Always. See if that fixes your problem.

 

That might be a problem, especially if you share documents between Publisher, Designer and Photo. Version 2.6.0 has changed the document format (without warning the user, thanks Affinity!). Therefore, beware that anything you create or edit in Publisher 2.6 will be only opened by 2.6 applications. In other words, you will not be able to open any 2.6 document in your 2.5 applications. (I don't know if this might be indirectly related to the issue you are experiencing).

It wasn't a Windows problem after all. (I know how to choose default apps but was assuming that was not the right solution.

 

You did, though, nail it with your second paragraph. I took your hint and upgraded the other two apps (Designer and Photo) to their respective 2.6 versions. Then I restarted my computer (which needed the restart anyway for a Windows Update). Bingo! The icons are all properly associated with the proper file types in Explorer, and I can simply double-click a file now and the right app will open the file immediately. 

 

So, thanks for that suggestion that all three apps needed to be upgraded to the same version of 2.6. That was the problem!