Affinity Designer Snapping Feature

[P_Nog]

Hello,

Is it just me or since the last update of Affinity Designer, the snapping functions have become more reluctant to work?
What I used to do on the fly, now I have to keep moving objects up and down until it works.

Thank you.

[Alfred]

How many snapping options do you have enabled? They’ve always tended to compete with each other in an unpredictable way if you have too many switched on at the same time.

[P_Nog]

1 hour ago, Alfred said:

How many snapping options do you have enabled? They’ve always tended to compete with each other in an unpredictable way if you have too many switched on at the same time.

Hi Alfred,

I didn't change anything, so I assume I have the same as it was in the previous version, but I could be wrong. The truth is that since I updated, I've had a lot more difficulty getting snapping options to work.
Thanks.

[P_Nog]

1 hour ago, Alfred said:

How many snapping options do you have enabled? They’ve always tended to compete with each other in an unpredictable way if you have too many switched on at the same time.

I've tried with various options on and off, but for the same objects, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Snapping has taken on a mind of its own since the last update At least, here on my computer. (macOS Sequoia 15.4.1) (Affinity Designer 2.6.2)

[Alfred]

I mostly use the iPad version of AD2 these days, but my laptop runs Windows 10 and I’ve never used a Mac, so I’ll leave it to others to offer further suggestions.

Go here if you would like to add your system specs to your forum signature.

[RE4LLY]

As discussed in a previous post today, there seems to be a bug with the snapping where instead of to the object affinity tries to snap to the bounding box of the layer this object is in. This issue is confirmed not present in v2.4.2 but shows up in 2.6.2 and also in the current beta version 2.6.3.

Until this is getting fixed it can help to switch the candidate list to Immediate Layers  in the snapping options.

See this related thread:

 

[P_Nog]

13 minutes ago, RE4LLY said:

As discussed in a previous post today, there seems to be a bug with the snapping where instead of to the object affinity tries to snap to the bounding box of the layer this object is in. This issue is confirmed not present in v2.4.2 but shows up in 2.6.2 and also in the current beta version 2.6.3.

Until this is getting fixed it can help to switch the candidate list to Immediate Layers  in the snapping options.

See this related thread:

 

Well, at least now I know the problem isn't on my side. I found it strange because it started happening immediately after the last update.
Thank you so much.

[stek]

On 5/3/2025 at 4:48 PM, P_Nog said:

Hello,

Is it just me or since the last update of Affinity Designer, the snapping functions have become more reluctant to work?
What I used to do on the fly, now I have to keep moving objects up and down until it works.

Thank you.

Same here in 2.6.2 and 2.6.3 on Windows 11 (latest version) in Designer and Publisher. Snapping is completely broken.

It's now random whether a dragged object will snap. Often I can only snap to an object if I 'touch' that object first. This did not happen in earlier releases.

Example: 

Draw 2 text boxes.

Then drag box 2 and it will not snap to box 1 at all - doesn't even attempt and doesn't show any possible snaps (ie. no part of box 1 turns red to show a snap).

Deselect box 2 and select box 1, then immediately deselect box 1 without moving or editing it in any way.

now drag box 2 and it will snap to box 1 as expected. all possible snapping options now appear on screen.

 

That's just a text box example. I have to do this with EVERY object I try to snap.  I always have to first 'touch' the object i want to snap to.

This also affects guides. sometimes i drag a guide from the ruler and it shows snapping and snaps correctly to objects. sometimes it fails to show any possible snaps and will not snap to anything.

This is happening in multiple docs.

This did not happen in earlier releases.

What did you change! The software is becoming completely unusable.

[GarryP]

5 minutes ago, stek said:

Often I can only snap to an object if I 'touch' that object first.

Do you have your snapping Candidates set to Candidate List – see attached image? If so, change it.

[stek]

4 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Do you have your snapping Candidates set to Candidate List – see attached image? If so, change it.

Thanks for suggestion.

I've tried every option in that dropdown (and the rest of the panel) and issue remains.

Objects tested are not in any Layer or Group.

Also noticed that SHIFT key does not constrain movement any more. I hold down SHIFT when dragging and the object simply floats freely in any direction (and often fails to snap to anything).  This is making aligning objects a nightmare. It is slowing my work dramatically.

Can a Staff member join this thread please and respond.

[P_Nog]

44 minutes ago, stek said:

Same here in 2.6.2 and 2.6.3 on Windows 11 (latest version) in Designer and Publisher. Snapping is completely broken.

It's now random whether a dragged object will snap. Often I can only snap to an object if I 'touch' that object first. This did not happen in earlier releases.

Example: 

Draw 2 text boxes.

Then drag box 2 and it will not snap to box 1 at all - doesn't even attempt and doesn't show any possible snaps (ie. no part of box 1 turns red to show a snap).

Deselect box 2 and select box 1, then immediately deselect box 1 without moving or editing it in any way.

now drag box 2 and it will snap to box 1 as expected. all possible snapping options now appear on screen.

 

That's just a text box example. I have to do this with EVERY object I try to snap.  I always have to first 'touch' the object i want to snap to.

This also affects guides. sometimes i drag a guide from the ruler and it shows snapping and snaps correctly to objects. sometimes it fails to show any possible snaps and will not snap to anything.

This is happening in multiple docs.

This did not happen in earlier releases.

What did you change! The software is becoming completely unusable.

I still thought the last update would solve the problem, but it didn't solve anything. It's like you say. It works randomly. It's definitely a bug. It used to work flawlessly and now it's c##p.

[matisso]

24 minutes ago, stek said:

Can a Staff member join this thread please and respond.

Good luck with that request. All the people responding on this forum are really doing Serif’s support, for free… It seems to be working for Serif so except for new announcements or very occasional “will pass that to the development” there’s hardly any involvement from them at this point. 😠

[NathanC]

Hi @stek,

2 hours ago, stek said:

Example: 

Draw 2 text boxes.

Then drag box 2 and it will not snap to box 1 at all - doesn't even attempt and doesn't show any possible snaps (ie. no part of box 1 turns red to show a snap).

Deselect box 2 and select box 1, then immediately deselect box 1 without moving or editing it in any way.

now drag box 2 and it will snap to box 1 as expected. all possible snapping options now appear on screen.

I've not yet successfully re-produced this issue on MacOS or Windows so far, provided I have the Bounding box snapping options enabled and the Candidates Set to Immediate or All layers the text layers snap to Vertical and Horizontal targets as expected.

If you're able to re-produce the issue, can you provide a screen recording demonstrating this, and also showing your current snapping options?

Thanks

[P_Nog]

2 hours ago, NathanC said:

Hi @stek,

I've not yet successfully re-produced this issue on MacOS or Windows so far, provided I have the Bounding box snapping options enabled and the Candidates Set to Immediate or All layers the text layers snap to Vertical and Horizontal targets as expected.

If you're able to re-produce the issue, can you provide a screen recording demonstrating this, and also showing your current snapping options?

Thanks

In my case, it doesn't matter whether 'Immediate' or 'All layers' is selected. It only works when it feel like it. I noticed the problem right from the first minute I did the update.