[AD] clicking eyedropper assigns color

[Gear maker]

Is this a feature or a bug.  If I click on the eyedropper in the Color Panel, but don't move it then the color in the sample circle (picked color swatch) is assigned to the selected layer.  Just as if I had clicked on the sample circle.

 

In a way it's handy if you expect it, I usually don't (something about short term memory vs long term I think).  Then it causes an undo.

 

I'm not seeing anything in Help that explains/mentions this "feature".

[toltec]

In Photo

 

You drag the little eyedropper picker over a colour to sample it. You then click on it (the picker or small well) to apply it to the secondary or primary colour well (whichever one is active). They become fill or stroke colours when dealing with vectors.

 

The colour eyedropper on the Tools Panel works differently. When you click on a colour, it immediately applies it to the active colour well, primary or secondary. If you are painting with the brush tool, you can also temporarily select the eyedropper tool and select a colour by pressing Alt and clicking. Again, it immediately applies it to the active well, primary or secondary.

 

If you are painting with the brush tool and press Alt and then drag a little, you get the magnified eyedropper selector which sets the colour when you release. That too immediately applies the colour to the active well.

 

As for why the small picker requires a two stage process. Only Serif knows. You are better off using the proper eyedropper on Tools which also has a shortcut (I) and a temporary selection with Alt.

 

At least that's how it works on Photo. I think it's the same with AD

[Gear maker]

toltec, so your opinion is that it's a feature the Affinity products have that applies the color when the eyedropper is clicked and not moved.  Could be.  I find that sometimes I'll click on the eyedropper (in the color panel) then think no that's not what I want.  I need to remember to then move it before letting go or it applies the previously sampled color.

 

I don't like the eyedropper tool for many uses.  The main fault is that the default is to apply the color as soon as selected.  I have wiped out more than a few gradients that way.

 

I'd like to hear what others think.

[ambiroa]

There is a logic for the eye-dropper to have a two-stage action, drag and sample, then click to apply. If you want a certain color that is not in use yet, you just click it in the color spectrum. The dropper is usually used when a color is already in use, and you either want that same tint to apply somewhere else, or you want a slightly different tint of the same color. So then you sample the tint of the color, change some values making it a different tint, and then apply it.

 

In certain cases you just want to apply the sampled color, and it could void the second step. But to be honest, I got used to it very fast. If someone would put in a ticket to have that fixed/as a feature, I wouldn't support it, simply because others things are more important. Like, why on earth didn't they put in gradient on stroke. It's the only thing that requires me to go back to Illustrator.

[dutchshader]

what do you mean with: no gradiënt on stroke, this is possible in designer.

[toltec]

I think he means putting a gradient on the line, aka stroke.

 

You can do it, but you have to use layer effects.

[toltec]

 Like, why on earth didn't they put in gradient on stroke. It's the only thing that requires me to go back to Illustrator.

You can do it, but you have to use layer effects. 

 

Saves using Illustrator ?

[Alfred]

 

Like, why on earth didn't they put in gradient on stroke. It's the only thing that requires me to go back to Illustrator.

 

You can do it, but you have to use layer effects. 

 

How so? As @dutchshader says, applying a gradient to a stroke is possible in Designer; it's also possible (the same way, as far as I can see) in Affinity Photo. Draw a stroke with the Pen Tool and click on the Stroke swatch on the Context toolbar to reveal a flyout with tabs labelled 'None', 'Swatches', 'Colour' and 'Gradient'. Click on the Gradient tab and set stops at whatever positions you want, with the desired colour, opacity and noise for each one.

[- S -]

On 7/9/2017 at 10:55 PM, Alfred said:

How so? As @dutchshader says, applying a gradient to a stroke is possible in Designer; it's also possible (the same way, as far as I can see) in Affinity Photo. Draw a stroke with the Pen Tool and click on the Stroke swatch on the Context toolbar to reveal a flyout with tabs labelled 'None', 'Swatches', 'Colour' and 'Gradient'. Click on the Gradient tab and set stops at whatever positions you want, with the desired colour, opacity and noise for each one.

I'm not sure whether the poster who brought the gradient part up is using Affinity Designer or Affinity Photo, however the reply was a workaround for Affinity Photo due to the Gradient tool being slightly different in Affinity Photo than it is in Designer.

When you use the Gradient tool in Affinity Designer, you have a 'Context' drop down for 'Fill' and 'Stroke', which allows you to use the Gradient tool for both the fill and the stroke of a shape.

When you use the Gradient tool in Affinity Photo, it doesn't have the 'Context' drop down, therefore you can only use the Gradient tool for the fill of a shape, not the stroke.  It's possible to click on 'Stroke', go to the Gradient tab and apply a gradient, however that only allows you to use a left-to-right gradient on the stroke.  You can't move the nodes around and control the direction like you can with the Gradient tool.

Therefore, if you want to apply a gradient to a stroke in Affinity Photo and also control the direction, as a sort of workaround (if the shape has a fill colour) you can set the shape's stroke to 'None', and then instead go to the Layer Effects, select 'Outline' and use a Gradient 'Fill Style'.  This will allow you to change the angle with the direction wheel.

[ambiroa]

When you use the Gradient tool in Affinity Designer, you have a 'Context' drop down for 'Fill' and 'Stroke', which allows you to use the Gradient tool for both the fill and the stroke of a shape.

 

Danggg didn't know this lol. I don't think the very first version of AD had an option to select the Stroke, so along the way with updates, didn't pay attention what went in. Or maybe it did have it from the start ... hmmm  :blink:

 

Anyway, back to the OP's topic 'why the 2-step eye sample and apply'.