How do I make a document open at previous size/position in Separated Mode?

[DashingDave]

When using AD in Separated Mode, I can't get a previously saved document's window--that I've sized and positioned on the screen in the exact position I want it located relative to the Studio panels--to reopen in either the same position relative to the panels it was previously or at the same size that it was. Only the panels reappear in their former position (as I'm guessing their location information is attached to the application rather than a particular document).

 

The first image below is what I want the screen setup to look like; the second shows what happens after quitting and reopening the document:

 

 

 

 

How can I maintain the document window's identical position and size in the Separated view each time I reopen it?

[Callum]

Hi Dashing Dave,

 

Unfortunately its not possible to change a documents default settings for things such as Zoom,Position and Separated Mode however we have had a few feature requests for the ability to do this in the past and so this feature may be considered for future updates :)

 

C

[Explorer84]

Hi I'll also ad my name to this request, it was a feature in FreeHand that I really appreciated,

I'm on a Mac too and I would love to see this feature included in future versions

Thank you

[Lucian]

On 9/23/2016 at 11:17 AM, Callum said:

Hi Dashing Dave,

 

Unfortunately its not possible to change a documents default settings for things such as Zoom,Position and Separated Mode however we have had a few feature requests for the ability to do this in the past and so this feature may be considered for future updates

 

C

It is already 2021 and there has been no change!

[PaoloT]

I was asking for this, but I see it was asked before a few years ago. At least on the Mac, reopening a document at the same size and position is standard behavior. It's also a great timesaver, because if you work with several windows open at the same time, you have your documents already set up on the desk. It's a fundamental of the Mac conception: simulate a real desk, where you find everything as you have left it (unless someone has come and scrambled everything!).

Paolo

 

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, PaoloT said:

At least on the Mac, reopening a document at the same size and position is standard behavior.

That isn't entirely true. For example, in Apple's Preview.app defaults to opening documents at 100% scale. Also, for images there is a preference that allows your choise of opening all files in one window, open groups of files in the same window, or open each file in its own window. There are also separate options for PDFs that change the window size when opening those files.

Similarly, the venerable Graphic Converter app has a bunch of different options in Preferences > General > Display Content that control the size & position of both windows & documents when documents are opened.

[PaoloT]

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

That isn't entirely true. For example, in Apple's Preview.app defaults to opening documents at 100% scale.

Preview is not exactly an editor, even if it can do some editing. It's mainly a viewer. And PDF files can also store ciew mode options themselves. (Incidentally, I hate Preview, and other readers from Apple, like Music and Books, behave in the opposite way).

But all creation software reopens at the point where you left. The same similarity I did above: imagine returning st your office, and having to put all the documents in the desk again, and look for the point where you left. Sum all the wasted time for each working session.

Paolo

 

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, PaoloT said:

Preview is not exactly an editor...

But Graphic Converter is. It includes a large set of graphics editing tools, a bunch of effects & filters, scaling & cropping options, & much more. As of version 11, there are a number of what I assume to be machine learning driven options in the People menu to do things like finding & anonymizing faces & making eyes bulge.

It also supports creating & saving batch jobs capable of automatically doing dozens if not hundreds of edits, saving/exporting the results to predefined locations in several dozen different formats, including support for conditionals & macros. It even includes extensive support for around 50 AppleScript 'verbs' making it one of the most powerful graphics editors available for Macs.

[PaoloT]

8 hours ago, R C-R said:

But Graphic Converter is.

So, I'll extend my critique to GC. I've not used it for decades, but I remember it was already non-standard at the time.

Paolo

 

[Fixx]

Separate mode is seriously buggy and non-standard behaviour. Its habit of opening images in small windows and repeatedly losing toolbars is annoying.

[smadell]

Although I don't use Separated Mode anymore (for different reasons), I had the same issue. I was able to solve it using an app from the Mac App Store called "BetterSnapTool." I believe it's free, and it installs at startup, with an icon in the main menu. One can define application-specific areas that will resize a window to an exact size and location when the title bar is dragged into that area.

I defined the size of my desired Separated Mode window, and attached this to an area near the top of the screen. That area only shows up if (i) I am using Affinity Photo or Designer; and (ii) I am actively dragging one of its windows.

I also tended to use the "Merge All Windows" command first, if I had opened multiple documents. In that way, they would all exist within the same resized window as separate tabs.

[R C-R]

9 hours ago, PaoloT said:

So, I'll extend my critique to GC. I've not used it for decades, but I remember it was already non-standard at the time.

There never has been a single standard for all apps, at least for those that support multiple document windows, tabs, user configurable workspaces, docked & floating window choices, & so on.

That said, there are some things in the Affinity apps that do not follow any of the existing standards.

[PaoloT]

21 hours ago, smadell said:

I was able to solve it using an app from the Mac App Store called "BetterSnapTool." I believe it's free, and it installs at startup, with an icon in the main menu. One can define application-specific areas that will resize a window to an exact size and location when the title bar is dragged into that area.

I use Tiles, but only when I need fixed size windows. But this is a rare case, as far I can see, when dealing with drawings of varying size. It's not the same, for example, if I have to work with two big objects, or if I want to retouch a small detail while continuing to look at the effect in the layout. Or when I am editing text in a text editor, while opening different chapters of a long project.

Paolo

 

[jweitzel]

I do want to support the request of the first post: I'm working with AFPub on a 27" monitor (and Mac), but every (hundred) times I open a document(s), they are shown as if I'm using a 13" PowerBook; and *every* time I have to go and draw the window to full size of the screen before I can start with work. This is very annoying and time consuming.

I admit, that it will be difficult to respect all different user wishes. BUT at least, the Affinity Apps should open any document with "full sized" windows within the borders of the studio palettes.

 

Thanks to the Affinity team for their great work,

Johannes

 

[jweitzel]

To my regret, theres is nobody at the moment to answer/follow.

I've done a lot of searching and reading about apps, who do some snappig and resizing windows (see above: BetterSnapTool and the like). I do not want to buy all of them, install and test. The difficulty seems to be: The windows should *not* snap at left or upper screen *border*, but should be aligned along with the tools palette at the left side and the right studio palettes at the right on the screen (coordinates not 0/0 or 0/n).

Here is an other possible solution: Using a short Apple Automator script! Link.

But this needs someone, who is skilled in that coding, because the script has to detect, how many documents I just opened, which window is the front most etc.

All in all – the discussion and refutations above aside – Serif should implement that solution (as it is done in "other" publishing softwares...
To start absolut *every* editing of any or multiple documents with at first resizing and arranging the document windows is *very* anoying and time consuming.

Johannes

[PaoloT]

I'm doing a lot of editing on parallel documents, these days, and having to reposition and resize all the windows, and then zoom the content – and then do it again for the following batchs of document – is really stressful. I really hope to see the windows and content fixed to the original position and size implemented soon.

Paolo

 

[Holy Popery]

Couldn't agree more. Window size in separated view: having to manually resize and zoom each doc every time I open them is the only weakness I've come across in this excellent software.

[thomaso]

On 9/23/2016 at 11:17 AM, Callum said:

Unfortunately its not possible to change a documents default settings for things such as Zoom,Position and Separated Mode however we have had a few feature requests for the ability to do this in the past and so this feature may be considered for future updates

It feels strange that it would require a feature request and improvement, instead of a fix. Consider, the current behaviour demands to move + scale the app's main window every time you start the app, especially weird if you use Separated Mode for two monitors, where this mode appears to be made for. Since the custom, savable UI panel + bar presets it's less work but more odd that the main window appears to be forgotten or just ignored.

Perhaps, as with other apps, Separated Mode would again need one or more main frames combining panels and bars and make it work this way in macOS to be able to include document windows in the custom presets.

+1