Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Remove "okay" button on Alignment Panel


Recommended Posts

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.

Windows 10 Home
Affinity Designer 1.6.4.104
Affinity Photo 1.6.4.104

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

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.

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

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 ....

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

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?

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

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.

Windows 10 Home
Affinity Designer 1.6.4.104
Affinity Photo 1.6.4.104

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Windows 10 Home
Affinity Designer 1.6.4.104
Affinity Photo 1.6.4.104

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

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

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.

Windows 10 Home
Affinity Designer 1.6.4.104
Affinity Photo 1.6.4.104

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Windows 10 Home
Affinity Designer 1.6.4.104
Affinity Photo 1.6.4.104

Link to comment
Share on other sites

tip.gif 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.

 

post-8358-0-59766700-1491606566_thumb.png

Alfred spacer.png
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

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.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.