nonresidentalien Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 First of all, I find affinity designer awesome and I cannot wait to be able to completely switch from the bloated, overprice 'mud brick' rental packages. However for this to happen, I would need to have better vector graph alignment tools. In particular, I would need to be able to select a 'key object' that stays put while the other objects are aligned relative to the key object. Also, it would be great if one could select multiple nodes (inkl. a key node) and align them. The snapping function works great but sometimes it is just not enough... Anything like this planned anytime soon? Thanks Lars whcsgo, AErrorbify, esaramago and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted December 16, 2014 Staff Share Posted December 16, 2014 Hello Lars, Welcome to Affinity Forums, We are aware of those limitations. Both were discussed a couple of times here in the Forum, and they should be implemented later. However i can't give you a specific timeframe for this. It may take some time. If you want to know what's planned, check our roadmap. It will give you an idea of what's coming in the short/mid term. Features marked in blue are currently being worked on and should come first. Quote A Guide to Learning Affinity Software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergio Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Just wanted to chime in and confirm that the prospect of alignment with a key object would make AD really awesome. It's one of the features I use the most in Illustrator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandbrilliance Posted March 16, 2016 Share Posted March 16, 2016 Any luck on this feature? Key Object Alignment is "key". Sometimes you already have the main object in the correct place, then you need align a secondary object to the original object's position. In Affinity, both objects will move, without a key object "lock". Quote BRANDbrilliance • Graphics • Websites • Printing • E-marketing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fr43nk Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 I agree this is a key feature for working with objects. As a workaround I thought I can lock one object and align the other to this. But this doesn't work at all. Even the locked item has been moved. Is this by intention? I think a locked item should not be movable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted March 17, 2016 Staff Share Posted March 17, 2016 Hi fr43nk, Welcome to Affinity Forums :) If the locked item(s) was selected trough the Layers panel - indirectly (because it was inside of a group or layer) -, yes, it will move, because you have explicitly selected it even if indirectly through the Layers panel (this is by design). If you try to select a locked item directly on the canvas or in the Layers panel then no, it will not move, because you are not even able to select it in first place in the first case (to avoid accidental moves) and because selected locked objects are locked in the second case (their bounding box handles are represented by crosses in the canvas). Quote A Guide to Learning Affinity Software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fr43nk Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 Thank you for the explanation. Then I will go with a more complicated workaround, when aligning to objects. So this feature would be really helpful in that great application. Is this already planed to be build in? I think this could really be the replacement for my good old Illustrator :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted March 21, 2016 Staff Share Posted March 21, 2016 Although it's not on the roadmap which is what the developers are currently focused on, it may be added at some point eventually. There was already a few requests to add this functionality to the application. Quote A Guide to Learning Affinity Software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergio Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Is this feature still missing in AD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MEB Posted August 16, 2016 Staff Share Posted August 16, 2016 Hi @sergio, Yes, it wasn't implemented yet, sorry. As I said this is not on the roadmap so I don't know when it may become available. Quote A Guide to Learning Affinity Software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sergio Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 OK, hopefully the product/dev team will take notice. Aligning to a key object is essential when you can't afford to guess which object will be picked as a key object. Even a minimal version of this that makes the first or last selected object the key object would already be a big step forward. charleshb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrMax Posted August 16, 2016 Share Posted August 16, 2016 Not to pile on, but I agree. This is a crucial feature needed in order to completely replace "that which shall not be named". So far, other than this issue, I love AD. charleshb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkusM Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 The idea with the Key Object sounds good. I had the idea to use a "locked" object as "Key Object". But the aligment function moves the object wich is locked, too! Bug or feature? Many Thanks to the Affinity Team for the great tools. --- Using AD 1.4.2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsi.studio Posted October 27, 2016 Share Posted October 27, 2016 I design furniture and aligning multiple selected nodes within object or line to whatever I choose is essential. At the moment, afdesigner is limited to > select nodes, check ... shift select object to align to, check .... select align and watch your drawing shift to the edge of the page! Not amusing. I'm aware they can be independently dragged out but that's like drawing a square to measure something (oops, going back 12 years there). The measuring/building guides and snapping functions are great in afdesigner & I love moving objects with your real-time measuring guide. Sadly this is useless when I want to shift 7 alternating nodes 3.5 mm. Lets say I want to straighten a line, isn't it easy to drag over the 2 nodes and press align top? That also somehow brings me to the move dialog ... or lack of. The transform palette is the second limitation here. Please designer designers, forget the funky punk stuff for a minute & lets get these basic pillars of design tools sorted. :wacko: Krustysimplex 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barti Posted November 13, 2016 Share Posted November 13, 2016 First of all, thanks to the Affinity Team for the great tool. However, I also want to stress the point, that aligning to a key object is a basic feature that should be on the roadmap, well before advanced features. Best regards from Germany esaramago 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebfx Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 I have to second this. It's a feature that's quite essential for a power user. I just started using Affinity Designer in the Windows Beta version and it was a no-brainer for me to instantly buy it when it was released, since even this missing feature is not really a showstopper for me. For the moment I am working around it like this: - Copy the object that you consider the key object - Select the copy and all other objects that you need for the alignment operation - Do the alignment - Move the selection so that the copied object aligns with the original - Remove the copy While this resolves the issue for me, it's a bit inconvenient. Right now, for horizontal alignment the object with the lowest x-coordinate is considered the key object. And similarly for vertical alignment the object with the lowest y-coordinate. Here's a proposal: No need to get fancy with an extra 'key object selection tool' or a special key-press. Why not just consider the object that has been selected last as a key object? This way you could simply deselect and reselect an object that you would like as key object. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foot_portrait Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 Good evening from Germany! I bought AD for Windows yesterday and I am already in love with it and the possibilities. I switched from Inkscape which is a great tool, but I am sure that AD can give me a boost in workflow as soon as I am familiar with it. What I appreciate in Inkscape is the "align to" function. As it gives the user the choice what to align to, I only used "last selected" which is good enough as @ebfx already said. Would be pretty cool if you can add this feature soon! :)Best regards and a great weekend! Chris esaramago 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charleshb Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I love Affinity Designer and recommend it to all my colleagues. It would be even better if you could please add the align to key object feature mentioned above. This is one of the features that I miss the most from Illustrator, and would help the workflow very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smpcteixeira Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 The align to key objects feature is essential for me too. There is any prevision when it will be implemented? Wiredframe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petey Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 I also really miss this feature. It just feels like one of those fundamental tools I use all the time. Are there any plans to add this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klokkie Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 We are now in 2017, I hope that this feature get added soon. I feel like many others that its imperative to have a "first selected" or "key object" or better worded a selectable frame of reference to align to. As a new user to affinity, but very familiar with tools like Inscape and the A brand, am surprised that this feature is not there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klokkie Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 With regards to the alignment, there is a snapping tool you can use this will allow you to align an (or group of) object to the key object. That may sort immediate needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonresidentalien Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 Hi guys, Two years, and two pages of people agreeing with me, after the initial post, I was wondering if that feature finally will materialize. Seems to me, that it should be quite easy to implement.... Any news? Thanks, Lars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minimumsix13 Posted April 19, 2017 Share Posted April 19, 2017 Hi guys, Two years, and two pages of people agreeing with me, after the initial post, I was wondering if that feature finally will materialize. Seems to me, that it should be quite easy to implement.... Any news? Thanks, Lars Nothing is as easy as it sounds when it comes to development, trust me. HOWEVER...I do find it unacceptable that key object alignment still isn't in place since this request has been added. While noting is as simple as just adding a line of code, there are other added features in place (all of which have been phenomenal) which are, relative to adding key-object alignment, far more complex and involved. I never realized how much I used it until I didn't have it available and it's quite crippling. It most likely should have been part of an update which included tweaks to the grid system and such. All of the other features on the roadmap are quite nice but this isn't necessarily a "tool" it's part of many, many designers actual workflow. Guys, you can absolutely meet the status quo of Illustrator before adding on things Illustrator can't do because....AD is far more lightweight, efficient, and snappy. You're winning, I promise. It's already a better product. I think people are still looking for some small design "staples" is all, and something tells me that adding those small "staples" are going to boost your user base. People will gently exhale when they realize they're missing out on nothing and gaining everything when they drop Adobe for Affinity. But you gotta give designers their wubbies if you expect them to switch over. Everyone wants everything, we get that, but this isn't really a feature. It's a basic function in many ways. Table stakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffionn Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 Just making this post to support the request for this feature. Switching from CorelDRAW to Affinity would be much less painful with a few basic features present. I feel that this is a key part of workflows of almost all long time Corel users. Also, shortcut key bindings would greatly decrease the time taken to design stuff which involves laying out multiple elements on a page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.