MaryLou Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 Several of us were discussing the fact that you have to click a button to accept the changes when using the Alignment panel in Affinity Designer. This is sooooo annoying! Why is that button there? Most times, I forget to click it because just about everything else is automatically applied. For example, if I apply any of the effects, I don't have to click a button to apply them. If I select a style, I don't have to click a button to apply it. Right off, I can't think of anywhere that I have to click a button to apply something other than this darn alignment panel. Any chance you could eliminate that? If one doesn't like the effect, we can always use an Undo. LCamachoDesign, only7yb, davemac2015 and 1 other 4 Quote Windows 10 Home Affinity Designer 1.6.4.104 Affinity Photo 1.6.4.104 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisldo Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 please do consider fixing this annoyance.... MaryLou 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue-honstain Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 I have the very same issue as MaryLou stated in her post above. I would appreciate it if you would consider fixing this annoyance to me and others! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teejay2011 Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 yes please me too. i would like no ok button.. I end up having to redo the align because everything else is automatic... I am not in the habit of clicking the OK. it would also make the workflow....flow. only7yb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue-honstain Posted April 5, 2017 Share Posted April 5, 2017 I have the same issue on my Affinity Designer as you Marylou! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SherylC Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 I would like to see the OK button removed please as it's easy to forget to click on it especially as other tasks are automatically applied. Thanks. only7yb 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marko Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 yes this would be amazing everytime i align click away then i go align again and click again away xD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff Ben Posted April 6, 2017 Staff Share Posted April 6, 2017 The reason there are "Cancel" and "Done" buttons are that while the panel is open you are only previewing what the command will do. Only when you click away or press "Done" does it add a command to the history and apply the real change. This allows you to tweak the other options before doing the final change, or to hit "Cancel" and revert it all. If every change to the options created a command in the history, you'd lose the relative positioning of all the items when you first opened the panel. If you change the options, what would you expect the next change to do? Align to the current positions for which there is a command in the history, or align to the positions when you first opened the panel? So, for the avoidance of confusion on this, we only do the final change and make the command in the history when you apply the changes - either by pressing "Done" or clicking away from the panel. The analogy with other things, such as Styles, doesn't really hold - they apply a defined change. Changes to effects, also, are done with a fixed context of what you can currently see - you don't need to know what the state was a few changes ago. The alignment panel, on the other hand, provides options which can be configured before applying the result, and the context of what is aligned and how is dependant on the position of things when you opened the panel. So, for example, the options to space out evenly, or align to the bounds of the selection, will depend on the initial positions of all the items you are aligning. If you just want simple alignment options, you can also add the short-cut alignment buttons to your button bar. thisldo, carl123 and only7yb 2 1 Quote SerifLabs team - Affinity Developer Software engineer - Photographer - Guitarist - Philosopher iMac 27" Retina 5K (Late 2015), 4.0GHz i7, AMD Radeon R9 M395 MacBook (Early 2015), 1.3GHz Core M, Intel HD 5300 iPad Pro 10.5", 256GB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon1 Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 actually I don't get it if you don't click apply (which actually reads "done") but just clock elsewhere, the settings are applied automatically before clicking elsewhere, the changes are visible, live, so there is actually no room for improvement as I see it click once to open the panel, click on the option, continue clicking whatever you like next so .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisldo Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 OK Ben, after reading your answer I think I understand now the developer's reasoning. For my particular use however, I think I need to research how to add the short cut alignment button to my button bar. 'Preciate the quick response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon1 Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 you right click the top toolbar and select "customize toolbar" and then you can drag the desired alignment option into your toolbar :) thisldo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff Ben Posted April 6, 2017 Staff Share Posted April 6, 2017 actually I don't get it if you don't click apply (which actually reads "done") but just clock elsewhere, the settings are applied automatically before clicking elsewhere, the changes are visible, live, so there is actually no room for improvement as I see it click once to open the panel, click on the option, continue clicking whatever you like next so .... That's pretty much how I saw it. The "Done" button is really only there to complement the "Cancel" button, and because other users would freak at only having a "cancel" option. The "Cancel" button is the only one that actually needs to be pressed to cause a different result to what is currently visible. So, does anything really need to change? Quote SerifLabs team - Affinity Developer Software engineer - Photographer - Guitarist - Philosopher iMac 27" Retina 5K (Late 2015), 4.0GHz i7, AMD Radeon R9 M395 MacBook (Early 2015), 1.3GHz Core M, Intel HD 5300 iPad Pro 10.5", 256GB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thisldo Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Thanks MBd....got it. That pretty much fixed my issue . Very simple and quick ....for my needs. My cuss jar however, will be noticeably lighter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryLou Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 actually I don't get it if you don't click apply (which actually reads "done") but just clock elsewhere, the settings are applied automatically before clicking elsewhere, the changes are visible, live, so there is actually no room for improvement as I see it click once to open the panel, click on the option, continue clicking whatever you like next so .... I just went back and tried what you said but it does not work. Try it yourself. Draw 3 circles and arrange them at different heights. Then, align them at the top and instead of clicking "Done", click elsewhere on the workspace. The 3 circles will revert to their original position. If you do NOT click Done, the effect does not "stick". That's what we're all complaining about. You can spend a bit of time playing around with your alignment, then when you get it perfect and forget to click "done", you have to start over again. I should think it would work the same way as the Effects. When you like the results, you just close the window. The alignment is about the only place where you have to "finalize' an action and being as such, it is not consistent with the other tools in the program. Quote Windows 10 Home Affinity Designer 1.6.4.104 Affinity Photo 1.6.4.104 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon1 Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Then this is a bug, works fine on my side macOS What is your operating system? Most recent AD version? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryLou Posted April 6, 2017 Author Share Posted April 6, 2017 My Operating system is Windows 10 and my latest version of AD is 1/5/2/58. I recognize the names of others who have posted about this and I am pretty sure we are using the same version. This was a topic of discussion on my forum which encouraged me to post about it here. Quote Windows 10 Home Affinity Designer 1.6.4.104 Affinity Photo 1.6.4.104 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfred Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 The behaviour on Windows seems a little inconsistent, as discussed here. Quote Alfred Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carl123 Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 It's sounding like there are further inconsistencies between the Windows and Mac versions of the alignment dialogue box. On Windows you definitely have to click "OK" to make the changes stick, (in most cases) Whereas it sounds like Mac users do not have to apply the corresponding "OK" action to make their changes stick. Quote To save time I am currently using an automated AI to reply to some posts on this forum. If any of "my" posts are wrong or appear to be total b*ll*cks they are the ones generated by the AI. If correct they were probably mine. I apologise for any mistakes made by my AI - I'm sure it will improve with time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryLou Posted April 7, 2017 Author Share Posted April 7, 2017 That's very possible. the Mac version has been out for well over a year before the PC version. They are supposed to be identical but I think there are some things that simply aren't! When using the alignment tools from the pop-up menu (via right click), you don't have to click anything... it's automatic but when doing the same thing via the "arrange" on the menu, you DO have to click "Done" or the changes will not stick. Quote Windows 10 Home Affinity Designer 1.6.4.104 Affinity Photo 1.6.4.104 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fixx Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 How do you access Alignment panel? I have those controls only in Context Toolbar and as menu commands. Mac version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue-honstain Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 I access the Alignment panel via the Context Toolbar and as menu commands. Windows 10 version. That way works for me and the commands do NOT need to be accepted. I just click and it happens without an OK or Cancel. In fact there is no OK or Cancel doing it that way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fixx Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Seems there is no Align panel in Mac version. I just click Context bar icon or apply menu command and align happens. No panel, no OK button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryLou Posted April 7, 2017 Author Share Posted April 7, 2017 Maybe we need to clarify a few things. There are three different ways to access the alignment tools in Windows. First is from the Menu bar (Layer\Alignment). Second is a right-click on the selected objects Third, click the mis-named Arrange icon on the toolbar Using either of the first two methods, you do not have to click "OK" because you have only ONE option and that is the one you selected. When using the Arrange icon, you have multiple choices and can change them several times over until you like what you have, then hit the "OK" button. Teejay has discovered you can also click on the selection and it will have the same effect as "OK". Each of the three methods have different options on the menus. First, the Menu bar options are: Align left, Align Center, Align Right Align Top, Align Middle, Align Bottom Space Horizontally, Space Vertically Distribute Horizontally Distribute Vertically Second, the Right-click options are: Align left, Align Center, Align Right Align Top, Align Middle, Align Bottom Third, the Arrange Icon drop-down: All of the options mentioned above You can specify how many pixels apart to distribute your objects There are three options that you can align to, and a few more .. Again, with this option, you can make multiple choices before hitting the "OK" button. With the first and second methods, you have one choice only and do not have to OK it. I can kind of see the purpose of the OK now that I have a better view of all the options. I do think it's very confusing when there are so many different ways to access an action, especially when they don't have the same options. Quote Windows 10 Home Affinity Designer 1.6.4.104 Affinity Photo 1.6.4.104 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryLou Posted April 7, 2017 Author Share Posted April 7, 2017 I am attaching an image showing what we have on the PC Version. Quote Windows 10 Home Affinity Designer 1.6.4.104 Affinity Photo 1.6.4.104 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfred Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 PNG generally works better than JPEG for screenshots, especially for things like program interface elements with text and other sharp boundaries between areas of solid colour. As you can see from the screenshot attached to this post, the lossless compression offered by the PNG format results in a clear image with a small file size. Quote Alfred Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for Windows • Windows 10 Home/Pro Affinity Designer/Photo/Publisher 2 for iPad • iPadOS 17.4.1 (iPad 7th gen) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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