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So, so, so many layers & Ugly interface


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Hi. I tried AD when it was in beta, nice software but I didn't like that I couldn't change the size of the fonts/icons (bad eyes) and that the fonts in the interface look like micro mice have been chewing on them. Also, I hated that every shape you draw the program adds another layer. So, today I saw that Affinity has a sale and got a trial and guess what? Still the ugly fonts and the multitude of layers! :( :( :( :angry:

 

My question is, is there a way to fix this, am I missing a second settings menu? I searched the forum and Google but nobody seem to have these issues. Could any pro designer here explain the advantages of having 100 layers open? Take a half hour and organize and rename all of them?

 

Thanks for any help.

 

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In a program like Adobe Illustrator it may seem like you are drawing objects all in one layer, but if you twirl down the triangle for that layer you will see all of the sub layers. Each object you drew will have its own layer.

 

If you want the same behavior in Designer you have to create a layer first and then each object that you draw will be added to it as a sub layer just as in Illustrator. 

 

Also, hate to break it to you, but if you want to create anything of value, something really detailed, you are going to have to learn how to name and organize your layers. There is no getting around that. I have opened other people's files and it is very painful to have nothing named, just Layer 1, Layer 2, all the way to Layer 38, Layer 66, etc. Just laziness. If you are the only one who has to deal with your file, and can function without organization, then great, but it will speed up your workflow to have some organization. You don't have to become obsessive compulsive about it and name every item but even a little bit of housekeeping (organizing) will go a long way. Just my two cents.

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There is a preference in the User Interface section to choose between "Default" & "Large" Font UI size. Unfortunately, on a large screen like my 27" iMac, the large size is not quite enough to make everything easy to read for eyes as old as mine because it doesn't affect all the UI text. It does help but there is still room for improvement.

 

Building slightly on what Scungio said, you might want to take a look at how some of the sample files you can access from the Welcome screen are organized, particularly the larger & more complex ones. This should demonstrate why pros take the time to do this better than can be explained in a few sentences here.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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  • Staff

Hi Fco09,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

The layers you are referring to are not regular layers but mostly object layers (text, image, curves etc). There's different layer types in Designer, mostly objects but also some for very specific purposes (adjustments, masks, pixel layers etc). See Affinity Designer Help ▸ Layers (scroll to bottom ) for more info.

 

The "generic" layer you are looking for (for organisational purposes) can be created pressing the Add Layer button (third icon counting from right) on the bottom of the Layers panel and is identified as a (Layer) after the layer's name in the Layers panel. All other layers can be placed inside it and you can also nest them for more control. Additionally you can customise them setting a specific colour for each one (right-click them in the Layers panel and select Properties). All layers/objects placed inside them will inherit their colour (on their bounding boxes on canvas).

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Thank you all for your kind help.

@Scungio, my needs are simple, I just want to make t-shirts and simple web graphics. Who knows, maybe with the right tool I can get to be a pro :) You're right about Illustrator, I have CS5 but I hardly use it because It's not user/ newbie friendly. I love Inkscape and the way It handles layers but for my needs right now it's just not working out.

@R C-R, I did check the surfers sample, nice organization! My version of AD doesn't have a font UI size option! (1.5.3.69, trial, windows) I hope the devs can fix this whole issue soon, maybe a small, med, large font/icon option? I enclosed (I hope) a screenshot of the moth-eaten UI fonts vs Inkscape's. Not a huge deal but, first impressions.

@MEB, thank you for the welcome and the info!

So, workarounds:

Change the Layers tab to Effects and ignore the thousand layers

Learn to be organized (I bounded New Layer to Shift-A. Saves you time)

Thanks again to all! Expect more noob questions. :)

 

   

 

post-62458-0-90669300-1497755872_thumb.png

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@R C-R, I did check the surfers sample, nice organization! My version of AD doesn't have a font UI size option! (1.5.3.69, trial, windows) I hope the devs can fix this whole issue soon, maybe a small, med, large font/icon option? I enclosed (I hope) a screenshot of the moth-eaten UI fonts vs Inkscape's. Not a huge deal but, first impressions.

Your screenshot shows the Color Profiles section of preferences. There are 7 sections. Click & hold on the downward pointing arrow outlined in blue in your screenshot, & try the "User Interface" section.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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Your screenshot shows the Color Profiles section of preferences. There are 7 sections. Click & hold on the downward pointing arrow outlined in blue in your screenshot, & try the "User Interface" section.

Yeah, I wanted to show the ugly fonts. The screenshot is a little blurry but check the "d" on "rendering" (6th line) and compare it to any "d" on the Inkscape side.

In regards to the screen font button, I don't have it! I've checked on the trial version and now in my brand new copy of Designer B) and nope. Maybe I got a used returned copy?  Here's a screenshot:

post-62458-0-90946500-1497826684_thumb.png

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It is possible the "Default" & "Large" Font UI size buttons only appear in the Mac versions, but since I do not have a computer running Windows I cannot check that. Hopefully someone that does can clear that up.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
Affinity Photo 
1.10.8; Affinity Designer 1.108; & all 3 V2 apps for iPad; 6th Generation iPad 32 GB; Apple Pencil; iPadOS 15.7

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Yeah, I wanted to show the ugly fonts. The screenshot is a little blurry but check the "d" on "rendering" (6th line) and compare it to any "d" on the Inkscape side.

In regards to the screen font button, I don't have it! I've checked on the trial version and now in my brand new copy of Designer B) and nope. Maybe I got a used returned copy?  Here's a screenshot:

 

Fco9, you should run the ClearType wizard on Windows (open the Windows/Start menu, type "ClearType" and hit Enter on the appropriate result). Your fonts look ugly because your ClearType setting is either turned off or it is set to draw small font sizes with minimum aliasing.

Also as MEB said, you can change the UI font size through Windows.

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Fco9, you should run the ClearType wizard on Windows (open the Windows/Start menu, type "ClearType" and hit Enter on the appropriate result). Your fonts look ugly because your ClearType setting is either turned off or it is set to draw small font sizes with minimum aliasing.

Also as MEB said, you can change the UI font size through Windows.

I've done all that, no change. I run Win7 with 115% fonts and do Clear Type every so often. I tried 125% (medium) and same thing, the only app with ugly fonts is AD :(

Here's a sample:

post-62458-0-62892700-1497911905_thumb.jpg

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I've done all that, no change. I run Win7 with 115% fonts and do Clear Type every so often. I tried 125% (medium) and same thing, the only app with ugly fonts is AD :(

Here's a sample:

 

Yeah, it looks the same here, but at 100% though, I always had issue scaling up the fonts.

 

If you really can't live with that, you can always try MacType.

If you decide to give it a try, don't install the service, use just the tray app, it's the least obtrusive.

Andrew
-
Win10 x64 AMD Threadripper 1950x, 64GB, 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD + 2TB, dual GTX 1080ti
Dual Monitor Dell Ultra HD 4k P2715Q 27-Inch

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Yeah, it looks the same here, but at 100% though, I always had issue scaling up the fonts.

 

If you really can't live with that, you can always try MacType.

If you decide to give it a try, don't install the service, use just the tray app, it's the least obtrusive.

 

I tried Mac Type, It made no difference in AD and blocked a couple of programs from launching. But then it hit me, why do I have to troubleshoot this software? The mods/staff have offered NO solution at all, WTH? Why keep wasting my time?

And it's not only the fonts. It's the many instances when customers have asked in this forum, "can we have / do you you have this feature" and the answer is always No. FFS, the ugly font issue has existed since the first beta and no fix yet. People keep asking for auto trace since 2015! Inkscape has had it since I don't know when! Another beauty? They're finally bringing a light UI! Not so fast, it's on beta, scheduled for Easter 2017!

You see, being a Windows user I'm not used to what's-his-name-with-the turtleneck's doctrine of "We know what you need and you'll like it"

So, for anybody with the same woes as me: AVOID Affinity Designer. AVOID Affinity Photo.

 

Refund requested. We'll -maybe- check back on you on v2.0 or v3.0 for sure  :)

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I use MacType not because of Affinity but because it improved the font rendering in Windows overall and I never had any issues like the one you mentioned.

It works with Affinity too, in fact, the fonts look good.

 

As for the other requests you mentioned, I always find those requests kind of interesting, to use a euphemism.

Bear with me for a moment: people saying "What? No auto trace? I'm done, forget Affinity" or for instance "What? No ALT+DRAG?" or "No this feature X like in PS/AI?" always make me wonder: if you can't live without the auto trace, then what you really need is an auto trace program, it's as simple as that. Did it change my life when Adobe finally (after years) added the auto trace to AI? No, it only made my life a little easier in a few occasions. If they wouldn't add it, I would still use free alternatives because I use that tool sporadically. I need to use a vector software to create vector graphics, and I don't think anyone would consider auto trace the most important feature to have in a vector software, as is not ALT+DRAG to drag and copy layers in Photo, as is not export for web, and so on so forth.

Are these missing features? YES.

Are these fundamental features? NO.

Can I live for the time being without them and still be productive? I personally can't, and not because of the missing features, but because of stability and performance, something that people here never complain (or a very minority). But, still, I think Affinity are great products and I'll keep using them. I wish I could bring them in a production environment, but since my work assumes big files and fast turn around, I have to use Affinity only for my personal stuff at home. Which sucks in a way, because I know how valuable they could be and I have the feeling Serif doesn't still realize how many people are willing to give up on Adobe. But no one would switch software knowing that, yes, the new player on the field looks shiny but can't finish a half game.

 

Anyway, the thing is, probably the fact that I started with the bare minimum 22 years ago, when adjustment layers didn't exist, macro didn't exist, save for web didn't exist, etc., I feel I don't care if a feature is missing, because at the end of the day, pressing a hotkey rather than doing a couple of clicks doesn't change my life, or tracing with vector magic rather than in AI. What really matters to me is a reliable system that doesn't crash and that doesn't break a sweat if I drop a 1Gb file on it.

 

But when I come here, the only thing I read is people asking for features, features, features... 

Andrew
-
Win10 x64 AMD Threadripper 1950x, 64GB, 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD + 2TB, dual GTX 1080ti
Dual Monitor Dell Ultra HD 4k P2715Q 27-Inch

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if you want to read bugs:

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/38-bugs-in-affinity-designer-affinity-photo/

 

this here is the general "Questions and Feedback" Subforum 

 

The Feature Requests would be better located in the "Feature Request" Subforum though 

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/6-feature-requests/

 

Yes, although the way I see it, stability and performance improvement are the most important *feature requests*.

 

Edit: also, consider that feature request is so dominant in this forum that you find them everywhere: in the questions section, in the roadmap, the beta.

Andrew
-
Win10 x64 AMD Threadripper 1950x, 64GB, 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD + 2TB, dual GTX 1080ti
Dual Monitor Dell Ultra HD 4k P2715Q 27-Inch

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Staff

if you want to read bugs:

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/38-bugs-in-affinity-designer-affinity-photo/

 

this here is the general "Questions and Feedback" Subforum 

 

The Feature Requests would be better located in the "Feature Request" Subforum though 

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/6-feature-requests/

 

 

Yes, although the way I see it, stability and performance improvement are the most important *feature requests*.

 

Edit: also, consider that feature request is so dominant in this forum that you find them everywhere: in the questions section, in the roadmap, the beta.

 

This useful thread is typical of something that is more of a users statement than a question (requiring Tech Support to respond). I often find it difficult to know whether to move these type of threads to "feature requests" and normally the answer was no. However we think that there is a better solution. The name of the "Feature Requests" forum has been changed to include "Suggestions and Feedback".  As such threads that comment on the state of the app also belong there now. I have moved this thread accordingly.

 

We hope this arrangement of the forums works better.

Patrick Connor
Serif Europe Ltd

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self."  W. L. Sheldon

 

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I tried Mac Type, It made no difference in AD and blocked a couple of programs from launching. But then it hit me, why do I have to troubleshoot this software? The mods/staff have offered NO solution at all, WTH? Why keep wasting my time?

And it's not only the fonts. It's the many instances when customers have asked in this forum, "can we have / do you you have this feature" and the answer is always No. FFS, the ugly font issue has existed since the first beta and no fix yet. People keep asking for auto trace since 2015! Inkscape has had it since I don't know when! Another beauty? They're finally bringing a light UI! Not so fast, it's on beta, scheduled for Easter 2017!

You see, being a Windows user I'm not used to what's-his-name-with-the turtleneck's doctrine of "We know what you need and you'll like it"

So, for anybody with the same woes as me: AVOID Affinity Designer. AVOID Affinity Photo.

 

Refund requested. We'll -maybe- check back on you on v2.0 or v3.0 for sure  :)

There are good ways and bad ways to make suggestions, offer criticisms, ask for help, or to contribute to these forums and discussions and to me, you have offered the perfect example of how not to do those things. Even your screen name is off putting. Is Affinity Designer or Photo perfect? No, but the developers are actively engaging with users to learn what they need and want and then they work hard to try and add those features and functionality. You'd be hard pressed to find a group of developers like the ones at Serif. Why don't you try to make contributions to the forums that are actually useful and help to push the programs forward instead of just complaining and being negative? Instead of being so negative, why not try to be more positive and make some worthwhile contributions to the forums?

 

Just a thought.

Hokusai

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Hokusai, thanks for that. I imagine "Affinity Designer SUCKS" (great that's now added to my phones autocorrect dictionary!!) will not be back. We welcome positive criticism, but even leave posts like this visible, as someone actually felt like this for whatever reason. In my experience 1 in 4 returns, apologizes for their first post and comes back to the forum with good posts. I'm not sure this is the one.

 

His 'version 3 for sure' comment at the end was the funniest, like we can look forward to his trying it again when we make that version... hmm seems quite unlikely to happen now he has advised no one to give us their money.... ;)

Patrick Connor
Serif Europe Ltd

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self."  W. L. Sheldon

 

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His 'version 3 for sure' comment at the end was the funniest, like we can look forward to his trying it again when we make that version... hmm seems quite unlikely to happen now he has advised no one to give us their money.... ;)

 

It's worth noting that the 'version 3 for sure' comment came at the end of a sentence which began with "We'll -maybe- check back on you". So, which is it: 'for sure' or 'maybe'? :huh:

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)

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I had the impression that the user name got truncated by the forum software. I was pretty sure the original poster meant to use the nickname “Affinity Designer Sucks Me Off My Ad*obe Subscription, Yeah!” … ;)

Then it's a good thing it didn't truncate at 30 characters!

Patrick Connor
Serif Europe Ltd

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man. True nobility lies in being superior to your previous self."  W. L. Sheldon

 

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