Why the Cmd Key Instead of Option Key?

[JonathanBall]

I'm curious to know why the Command Key is the modifier used for center scaling in place of the Option (Alt) Key.  :huh:

 

This functionality is one of the biggest hurdles for me in using Affinity programs. Having to constantly think about which keys I'm pressing when I switch to Affinity programs in my workflow is a huge hinderance.

 

It seems especially strange considering Affinity is an app that's designed for Mac. This behavior goes not just against every other program I've used (not just design) for years, but against the operating system itself.

 

Two questions:

1. Why is this well established/familiar UX convention changed?
2. Any hope that this modifier is customizable in this or future versions of Affinity?
3.  

I still love Affinity, but I'd marry it if I could use my Option Key as I do everywhere else in my workflow. 

 

Thanks for your help!  :)

 

PS: Totally unrelated, but also quite backward... Why is the default appearance set to a black fill w/white stroke? I feel like you guys are just messing with me at this point. Every time I set a default appearance I also have to swap it. Seems strange.

[Alfred]

PS: Totally unrelated, but also quite backward... Why is the default appearance set to a black fill w/white stroke? I feel like you guys are just messing with me at this point. Every time I set a default appearance I also have to swap it. Seems strange.

 

I'm not seeing that here, Jonathan. My defaults are a grey fill (RGB 235-235-235) and a black stroke.

 

I'm using Affinity Designer on Windows beta 1.5.

[My Strawberry Monkey]

I still love Affinity, but I'd marry it if I could use my Option Key as I do everywhere else in my workflow. 

 

Oi, Jonathan... Hands of my lady :wub:  or things will get messy around 'ere :ph34r: ...

:o  :P  ;)

 

 

Allan

[JonathanBall]

I'm not seeing that here, Jonathan. My defaults are a grey fill (RGB 235-235-235) and a black stroke.

 

I'm using Affinity Designer on Windows beta 1.5.

 

I'm sorry, I should have been more specific. What I was thinking of isn't actually the default. You're correct about the default drawing method having that (gray with black stroke) appearance.

 

I was referring to a setting I found in the Shortcuts menu under Misc. to "Set Fill to Black & White" which I tend to think of as default. This command does indeed set objects to B&W, but with a Black Fill with a White Stroke. This seems odd because it's the opposite of the default drawing method. It's just not what I expected and a little annoying when I want to mask stuff. It's not the end of the world and I'm sure I'll just get used to it.

 

Thanks!

[JonathanBall]

Oi, Jonathan... Hands of my lady :wub:  or things will get messy around 'ere :ph34r: ...

:o  :P  ;)

 

 

Allan

 

B) "Hey AD, is this guy bothering you?"

[VIPStephan]

I'm curious to know why the Command Key is the modifier used for center scaling in place of the Option (Alt) Key.

I was wondering the same thing but didn’t think about asking this. I’m glad you did.

[Callum]

Hi JonathanBall,

 

You can see a thread where this has been discussed previously below. It has some posts from our development team explaining why they chose the keys they did for the app :)

 

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/3248-option-drag-from-center-to-scaletransform/

 

I hope this helps

C

[R C-R]

I'm curious to know why the Command Key is the modifier used for center scaling in place of the Option (Alt) Key.  :huh:

The Option/Alt key is used to temporarily ignore snapping of control handles & nodes, not just with the move tool but also for every other item in the UI with a snapping feature. There are more of them than you might think, including the pen & node tools, the parametric adjustments of the shape tools, the control points on the gradient & transparency tools, & so on. (It is also used to invoke drag-duplication with the Move tool, to click to remove handles with the node tool, & to subtract from the selection with the pixel select tools.)

 

This is consistent throughout the UI's of both Affinity apps. Changing this to the Command key for the Move tool would break this consistency & changing it everywhere would create conflicts where the Command key is already used for something else, for example to temporarily toggle to the Node tool when the Pen tool is in use.