Duplicate layer to other open document

[ianborcic]

A feature I use very often in Photoshop and which I seem to be missing in Affinity Photo is the option to duplicate a layer from one open document to another. I use this feature on a day to day basis and I think it is very handy. Would be great to have that in Photo. I am a new user so I hope I didn't miss it if it exists already by any chance, but since I didn't find it in the help section I guess it isn't available.

 

Thanks!

[MEB]

Hi ianborcic,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

There's no way to duplicate a layer directly to another document but you can select the layer, copy it to Clipboard then paste it in the second document or alternatively drag the layer from one document over the canvas of the other - you must have Separated Mode enabled on a Mac to do this (menu Window ▸ Separated Mode). The latter method only work on Macs. Hope it helps a little.

[ianborcic]

Hey there, thanks a lot. Sounds like a solid alternative. Thanks for your help :)

Kind regards,

Ian

[paristo]

Hi ianborcic,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

There's no way to duplicate a layer directly to another document but you can select the layer, copy it to Clipboard then paste it in the second document or alternatively drag the layer from one document over the canvas of the other - you must have Separated Mode enabled on a Mac to do this (menu Window ▸ Separated Mode). The latter method only work on Macs. Hope it helps a little.

 

Little off-topic but is that "Separate Mode" (ain't that a "Multi-Window Environment"?) coming to Windows too? 

[Alfred]

Little off-topic but is that "Separate Mode" (ain't that a "Multi-Window Environment"?) coming to Windows too? 

 

Separated mode is a Mac thing,not an Affinity thing.

[Lorox]

On 7/5/2017 at 6:44 PM, MEB said:

There's no way to duplicate a layer directly to another document

It would be VERY convenient, though, if this feature could be added. E.g. via the Layers panel’s options menu or a right click context menu. Often it's these little things that make a really pleasant and ergonomic workflow and eventually will make you miss PS even less...

I won't say PS's UI and its features are or have been perfect and I'm really glad about Affinity Photo offering such a great alternative, but some things – especially workflowwise – are certainly worth learning (and adopting) from all those years/decades of a rival’s refining an industry standard application.