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Affinity Designer Customer Beta (1.6 - Beta 2.1)


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Hi Steve,

I am happy that you don’t feel offended by these suggestions. Well, I thought I could then append my review of the Character panel as well. You must know, this is one of the main places where I go whenever I am using Designer. Okay, you got me … Designer is my Publisher substitute …  ;)

But anyway, I find the visual hierarchies in this panel still not clear enough. I believe the sub-header background (“Underline and Strikethrough”, “Positioning and Transform” etc.) is still a bit too dark in proportion to the bars that separate the sidebar panels themselves. I believe you could go somewhat brighter here. In figure (A.) I quickly added some remarks to the current layout. You will see that we encounter roughly the same issues as in the context toolbars. In figure (B.), I brightened the sub-header backgrounds a bit and removed some of the positioning issues, just in order to see if it makes any difference. And to my eyes, it does. It helps clear up the hierarchies.

Nonetheless, and this is entirely tentative, I wondered if you could organize the panel in a somewhat different way. First off, I am aware that you will be facing conflicts with the design of other panels, such as the Text Styles panel, as soon as you revisit the current design. But I wondered what would happen if we replaced the “bar” structure with a “well” structure, as indicated in figure (C.). I think that would make the visual hierarchies even clearer. You would avoid splitting the panel horizontally, indicating that all these options are belonging to the same category. And last but not least, such a layout might save you a few pixels, since each “well” would be less tall than the corresponding combination of “bars” or “strips.” (But that would have to be checked more closely, since we would have to take into account the distances between the wells. In the end, both methods would presumably create the same panel height.)

Again, I know this is a pretty “local” suggestion that might create problems with the overall consistency of the interface. Nonetheless, I thought it might help to illustrate the issues I have with this panel. I hope that makes sense …  :)

Thanks again for your work! I know that redoing an interface of such a complex app is a bit more difficult than just nudging pixels around in Affinity Photo …  ;)

Alex

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Recently, there was a thread about rounding numeric inputs:

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/42886-decimal-places-for-units-doesnt-actually-round-to-chosen-units/

Now, since the suggestion of having quantized (or rastered) sliders isn’t bad at all, in my opinion, here is an idea you could try in one of the next betas: Since we already have modifiers for the arrow keys in numeric input contexts, what about using modifiers for quantizing (or rastering) slider inputs? I could imagine it the following way:

  • When we hold down the Option key and move the slider, it would “snap to a small grid” and “jump” in small increments (or decrements), say in steps of 1, depending on the input context.
  • When we hold down the Shift key and move the slider, it would “snap to a large grid” and “jump” in large increments (or decrements), say in steps of 10.

Would not only be useful for pixel perfect scenarios, but also for selecting colors, say grayscale values. Imagine holding down the Shift key for exactly selecting 90%, 80%, 70%, etc. grey.  :)

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[…] for example the borders around the side panels now make them stand out a little more against windows in the background.

 

Now that I look at it again: is there any reason why the toolbars and windows (in separated mode) have drop shadows but the panels don’t? As I said, it is better than before but I’m still wondering (especially since our favorite competitor’s applications have this).

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Hey Steve if I can jump on Alex's train here — hope you don't mind Alex ;)

 

I've noticed in several places in the UI in the Preferences panel specifically but generally in the UI as well, the lower parts of the UI text fields (set to Large in the UI section, and I have a non-retina MBP) seem to be cropping the fonts descenders... Again it's minor, but I whole-heartedly agree with Alex that the UI refinement via consistency and attention to details and polish translates for a more efficient and professional tool to use.

Attached are some places to look into when you have time...

 

Also my account is reaching it's total upload quota... can one of the Admin's up my quota again? Thanks!

 

Thanks again Alex. Really appreciate your feedback and suggestions. They really help.

 

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2021 16” Macbook Pro w/ M1 Max 10c cpu /24c gpu, 32 GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Ventura 13.6

2018 11" iPad Pro w/ A12X cpu/gpu, 256 GB, iPadOS 17

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I believe this has been happening only since 1.6, when I go into Document Setup and select the Type Print, Page Preset Letter (ANSI A) AD automatically selects Include Margins.  I do not want the margins to always show on my drawings.  How can I shut this off so that it isn't automatically selected?  I figured it would remember it for the next time, but it doesn't.  I know what margins I have, so I don't need a blue square always showing it.  And if I did need it shown it would only be at print time.

 

Also the first time I noticed this my margins were set to 1 inch for all.  I changed them all to 0.25 in.  Now when I go in the top 3 margins are 0.24 in. (not to badly off) and the bottom is 0.3 in.  I have not clicked on "Retrieve Margin from Printer" and my printer is off any time I do a Document Setup.  Where does this come from?

 

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iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) with macOS Sierra

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Hey Steve if I can jump on Alex's train here — hope you don't mind Alex ;)

 

I've noticed in several places in the UI in the Preferences panel specifically but generally in the UI as well, the lower parts of the UI text fields (set to Large in the UI section, and I have a non-retina MBP) seem to be cropping the fonts descenders... Again it's minor, but I whole-heartedly agree with Alex that the UI refinement via consistency and attention to details and polish translates for a more efficient and professional tool to use.

Attached are some places to look into when you have time...

 

Also my account is reaching it's total upload quota... can one of the Admin's up my quota again? Thanks!

Thanks very much for this Ronnyb. Good spot!

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Great update, I especially love the new "align to" function as well as the ability to adjust the size of boxes to text. Regarding the latter: As of now clicking on the handle in the bottom center adjusts the height and double-clicking the handle in the right center adjusts the width. Wouldn't it be great if then clicking on the handle in the corner adjusted both at the same time?

 

Regarding the "align to" option I slightly agree with others' opinions in that I liked AI's solution a little better - it saves a click to just select the object you want to align to rather than having to unselect/select if you first selected all of them at once, but maybe that's me having to get used to the new workflow. I found a couple of small bugs that I hope I'll have the time to write up soon!

Thanks again.

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A very good thing about workflow :

 

In AD 1.5, you select several objects. You want to add fx. You click fx. All objects are deselected but one. You must reselect objects. How many times I've done this !

 

In AD 1.6, selection objects stay safe.

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EDIT: I have updated the beta to version 1.6 Beta 2.1 - it's exactly the same as the last build apart from some fixes for High Sierra and Metal. If you weren't using High Sierra or Metal, there is no difference, so don't feel compelled to download it again!...

 

Status: Beta Release

Purpose: New features, fixes

Requirements: Purchased Affinity Designer

Mac App Store: Not Submitted

Download: Here

 

This beta version represents a substantial change to our codebase and as much as we have tried to ensure the quality of the code, it should be considered to be not suitable for production use. This means that you should not attempt to use it for commercial purposes or for any other activity that may be adversely affected by the application failing. In addition it is definitely worth noting that files created in Affinity 1.6 may not open in 1.5 so always make a copy of your important documents before opening them in 1.6 to ensure you do not accidentally overwrite them and are unable to open them in your 1.5 version.

 

To use this beta, simply download the file from the link given above and double-click on the file to open the installer. Follow the instructions to install the beta version. The beta sits alongside the Mac App Store version and will not interfere with it.

 

Fixes/Improvements:

 

  • Light UI improvements
  • Metal accelerated view (available in Sierra or High Sierra - defaulted 'on' for High Sierra) and hardware grid *
  • Artboards are created pixel-aligned
  • Images are pasted pixel-aligned
  • Items are copied to the same relative position between artboards
  • Fixed guide/margin visibility
  • Fixed Select-all (pixels) on artboard documents
  • Numerous bug fixes and other improvements
 

* please note that macOS Sierra has a bug in Metal with AMD graphics cards which means colour correction will not function perfectly, hence why it is disabled by default. If you have an Intel or Nvidia card then feel free to try it. This bug was fixed in High Sierra so all cards should work as expected :)

Metal

 

Does this mean 10bit support für mac could be made possible? (Using 30fps maybe?)

 

Cheers

 

 

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Is the Symbol bug already being addressed?

I mean the one where Symbols that worked fine in Designer and Photo (App Store versions) go completely out of whack.

 

PS can we have plaintext variables in 1.6? It would really help with label making automation. 

Example: Part of a symbol's text is a variable that's styled differently across a couple of different symbols, but the text is only changed once. Currently that's not possible. 

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Affinity Designer Beta 2.1 Mac reliably crashes every time I go to switch between light UI and dark UI. Just like clockwork.

2.5 ghz Intel Core i5 with 8 GB ram.

Hi Timber. Thanks for that. Could you let me know which version of macOS you're running?

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This version started to render custom grid differently - from coordinates 0,0 even if Gutter is set to 8 px. In the previous beta, the grid has been drawn with the gutter on the Y-axis, i.e. from coordinates 0,8 (as the position of the icons on the screenshot suggests).

 

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Is this a new feature (i.e. should I adjust elements positions) or is it a bug?

 

Thanks for info ;)

UX/UI designer, IT analyst & consultant, Business Architect at Cool Ticket (www.coolticket.co).

MacBook Pro 13'' Early 2015, 3,1 GHz Intel Core i7, 16 GB 1867 MHz DDR3, Apple Thunderbolt Display 27'' (2560 x 1440).

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Posted Today, 04:52 AM

Timber, on 06 Jul 2017 - 12:07 PM, said:snapback.png

Affinity Designer Beta 2.1 Mac reliably crashes every time I go to switch between light UI and dark UI. Just like clockwork.

2.5 ghz Intel Core i5 with 8 GB ram.

Hi Timber. Thanks for that. Could you let me know which version of macOS you're running?

 
This is in OS X 10.9.5 Mavericks. - Timber

 

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Posted Today, 04:52 AM

Timber, on 06 Jul 2017 - 12:07 PM, said:snapback.png

Hi Timber. Thanks for that. Could you let me know which version of macOS you're running?

 
This is in OS X 10.9.5 Mavericks. - Timber

 

Thanks Timber. 

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Despite pivot point when scaling (great improvement), I prefer stay with AD 1.5.5 in production.

 

Previous updates worked well but this one seems less solid.

 

 

One specific demand about ring tool :

inner circle is in %. Can we get it in mm too ?

Thanks

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Some instances I encounter a dark screen bug on this beta. Whenever I change my document to gray/16 color fomat, saved the file, close it... re-open the file again,...presto! Black document.

 

The solution is to change the color format again to rgb or cmyk to see the layout.

test.afdesign

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Всем привет!

Большое спасибо разработчикам для новых плюшек в программе :)))) и, конечно , на мой родной язык русский :)
У меня есть ряд замечаний и предложений
В картине № 1 - переставлены местами «по вертикали» «по горизонтали». И предложение заменить имя кнопки «Done» с «Применить», потому что «Готово» означает, что действие выполняется, осуществляется.
В картине № 2 - Заменить слово «Экспорт» на кнопку с «Экспорт»
В картине № 3 - Заменить слово «Группа» словом «группа».
Слово «группа» призыв к действию.
 
 
Tatyana
 
 
Привет всем!
Спасибо большое разработчикам за новые плюшки в программе, :)))) и конечно же за мой родной язык русский :)
У меня есть ряд замечаний и предложений
На картинке №1 - перепутаны местами "по вертикали" "по горизонтали". И предложение заменить название кнопки "Выполнено" на "Применить", т.к. "Выполнено" означает что действие сделано, приведено в исполнение.
На картинке №2 - Заменить слово "Экспортировать" на кнопке на "Экспорт"
На картинке №3 - Заменить слово "Сгруппировать" на слово "Группа".
Слово "Сгруппировать" это призыв к действию.
 
 
Татьяна
 

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Привет Татьяна! Your screenshots are small and blurry. Please use PNG instead of compressed JPEG for clear and legible text in screenshots of dialogs.

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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Привет Татьяна! Your screenshots are small and blurry. Please use PNG instead of compressed JPEG for clear and legible text in screenshots of dialogs.

 

 

 

 

Привет Татьяна! Your screenshots are small and blurry. Please use PNG instead of compressed JPEG for clear and legible text in screenshots of dialogs.

 

Hello, Alfred!

 

Here's a png

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Hello, Alfred!

 

Here's a png

 

 

Thanks, Tatyana! Those are much clearer, and the file sizes are still quite reasonable. thumbup1.gif

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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