Project jumping all over the "desktop"

[pixiegirl]

I'm still a total novice at Affinity Photo but I'm getting there and liking it.  I have a lot to learn, however. 

 

Here is what is driving me nuts. 

 

I'm making a postcard for a Commercial RE agent to have printed and then send out.  No problems there.

 

However, I work on the project centered on Affinity "desktop" but the second I touch my very sensitive magic mouse the project moves way to the left or right or why up or down. Is there a way to "lock" it in the middle of the desktop while I work?  I spend half my time in affinity chasing the project.

 

I've attached 2 screenshots just in case I'm not being super clear.

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Susan

[firstdefence]

Take a look at this: Magic Mouse config

[pixiegirl]

19 minutes ago, firstdefence said:

Take a look at this: Magic Mouse config

 

So does that mean there is no way to "lock" my project on the desktop?

 

Because that's exactly how my mouse is set up. I tried it again and it's still jumping all over the place. 

 

Susan

Edited December 20, 2017 by pixiegirl
added info

[firstdefence]

Not that I'm aware of. I've had instances of lightly touching the mouse and stuff flying off or zooming in, I never got to the bottom of it. It wasn't tied to a particular app either. But it did happen in Illustrator  quite a bit but I used illustrator a lot. 

You could try taping the corners down with some low tack tape

[pixiegirl]

Just now, firstdefence said:

Not that I'm aware of. I've had instances of lightly touching the mouse and stuff flying off or zooming in, I never got to the bottom of it. It wasn't tied to a particular app either. But it did happen in Illustrator  quite a bit but I used illustrator a lot. 

 

I think it would be a great addition to the program!  I spend as much time chasing it all over the screen as I do working on it.  Am I the only person this happens to in Affinity?  I can't believe it's not happening with everyone. Oh well.

 

 

Susan

[firstdefence]

I haven't had it happen to me yet but give me time and I'll report back.

 

[v_kyr]

You can blend things centered in (also only individual layer parts here) on AD when performing a double click on a layer thumb image inside the layer panel here. For example when you have a group with all other layers grouped inside, a double click on the group layers thumb image should recenter things again (though you might loose previous zoom level here). - I believe it will probably work in AP too that way.

[v_kyr]

BTW the keyboard shortcut command Cmd-0 should do the same centering here!

[GaryLearnTech]

Maybe not quite a perfect solution for your problem, but here's what I have 'trained' myself to do…  Start with the keyboard shortcut 

 

cmd-0  (View > Zoom to Fit)  NB that's a zero, not the upper case 'oh'.

 

Commonly followed by, in my instance, cmd-1 (View > 100%) - though one of the other zoom options might suit you better, depending on pixel dimensions and DPI.

 

I use the Magic trackPad - I don't much like the Magic Mouse - and I use this pair of shortcuts not because I'm chasing the image around the screen like you are, but because I'm maybe finished editing while zoomed into one area and I want to reset my view before moving to the next area.  I use this frequently and am happy with it until Affinity can perfect their psychic interface…  

 

 

[MEB]

Hi pixiegirl,

Welcome to Affinity Forums

There's no way to turn it off other than at a system level in the OSX Preferences. It may be a little distracting/troubling in the beginning - i remember i had the same problem - but after you get used to it, it becomes quite useful. Give it a try.

[pixiegirl]

I've used Photoshop for years and this doesn't happen, I don't know why.  I can move it but it's not skittering all over the desktop like Affinity does. Oh well, I'll try those shortcuts but I still think you should be able to lock it in the middle!

 

[Gear maker]

I'm surprised you didn't have the problem with Photoshop.  In 2010 I threw away my magic mouse for this exact reason.  It wasn't as extreme as what you are showing, but I just couldn't keep the cursor exactly where I wanted it.  I bought a Logitech mouse and have never had a regret.  Now that I have moved to Affinity Designer and Photo it (the Logitech) works great.  And I have to change batteries for my wireless Logitech less than once a year.  The Magic Mouse was lucky to last a month if I remember right.

[MEB]

The only difference is that we move the image/canvas no matter the zoom level, while Photoshop only moves it when the image is larger than the available screen space. This is probaly the difference you are experiencing. Feel free to create a thread in the Feature Requests section if you feel this is important for you.

.

[pixiegirl]

1 hour ago, Gear maker said:

I'm surprised you didn't have the problem with Photoshop.  In 2010 I threw away my magic mouse for this exact reason.  It wasn't as extreme as what you are showing, but I just couldn't keep the cursor exactly where I wanted it.  I bought a Logitech mouse and have never had a regret.  Now that I have moved to Affinity Designer and Photo it (the Logitech) works great.  And I have to change batteries for my wireless Logitech less than once a year.  The Magic Mouse was lucky to last a month if I remember right.

 

I think I had CS5 and it stopped working when I got High Sierra. There was a fix I think, downloading a legacy java but I didn't want to do that I had read that others had issues with new software with that java version. I couldn't get updates and I'm just opposed to the online version of Photoshop. (I'm not a huge Adobe fan). So I thought I'd try Affinity, I like it.

 

So I can't really go back and test my Photoshop, but it never moved around like this does or I would have noticed. Maybe I'll look into a new mouse but I've gotten so use to using the top of the mouse sort of like a trackpad. But I too go thru batteries a LOT. I buy them in HUGE quantities!  So after the holidays, I'll start looking at other sorts of "mice." 

 

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate all your help. 

 

Susan

[firstdefence]

Just been reading a post about After Effects and mouse issues, these may help you a little, firstly make sure the mouse is clean by using a can of compressed air, a few short puffs will clean the laser area, once that's done try the mouse, if you still have issues look into this...

Quote

In System Preferences, click on Accessibility, then choose Mouse & Trackpad on the left side, and then click Mouse Options (or Trackpad Options, if you are using an Apple trackpad).

Here you can control the scrolling speed and whether or not scrolling inertia is used. This will apply to all applications, but it specifically does help with scrolling to zoom the viewer panels in After Effects.

Scrolling without inertia, specifically, removes the twitchiness that can occur when you lightly or accidentally stroke your finger across the touch surface.

 

[R C-R]

10 hours ago, pixiegirl said:

Maybe I'll look into a new mouse but I've gotten so use to using the top of the mouse sort of like a trackpad. But I too go thru batteries a LOT. I buy them in HUGE quantities!  So after the holidays, I'll start looking at other sorts of "mice." 

My wife's iMac came with a Magic Mouse 2. That is the current one with a rechargeable battery but I think otherwise it is functionally identical to the earlier one I assume you have. Both of us found it frustratingly hard to use because, like @Gear maker mentioned, it was far too easy to accidentally touch the surface & trigger scrolling with even the slightest movement of the finger touching it. She doesn't do any graphics work but just while using it for web browsing this regularly caused the pointer to move off of a button on a web page while trying to click on it, making the whole experience seem a lot like playing 'Whac-A-Mole' with the mouse.

 

Anyway, after about 2 weeks of putting up with this nonsense I got her a Logitech M535 mouse, which she likes it much better than the Apple one. I decided on the M535 for a number of reasons:

1. It is a bluetooth mouse, so it does not require an extra dongle that uses a USB port on the Mac.

2. It is inexpensive, widely available in the US for less than $30.

3. The scroll wheel also has a 'tilt' feature for side to side scrolling. (This does not work in Affinity if "Use mouse wheel to zoom" is enabled in Preferences > Tools, but with it enabled it is so easy to zoom in & out around wherever the pointer is on the canvas that I never have to use the Zoom Tool.)

4. Battery life is quite good -- it requires a single AA battery & a regular alkaline one lasts at least 5-6 months.

5. The Logitech Options software allows substantial customization of the buttons & is frequently updated to support the latest macOS versions.

6. Using that software, the small square button below the scroll wheel can be set to pan the window by moving the mouse, which works nicely with the Affinity "Use mouse wheel to zoom" preference for sure & easy pan & zoom control without having to change tools.

 

On my own Mac, I use a Kensington "Expert Mouse" trackball, but if I was going to use a mouse with the Affinity apps, the M535 is the one I would get.

[pixiegirl]

4 minutes ago, R C-R said:

 

Anyway, after about 2 weeks of putting up with this nonsense I got her a Logitech M535 mouse, which she likes it much better than the Apple one. I decided on the M535 for a number of reasons.......

1

 

Hi. I actually like my Magic Mouse for everything and after using it for years I'm quite used to it. This is the only time I've had an issue with it and I work on my computer so I'm using it 6 days a week 7 hours a day.

 

That being said like I mentioned before the battery life in it is terrible and it seems worse lately not that it's getting older. I'd be willing to try and new mouse but don't really have any place nearby to see the one you mentioned. Is it small?  That's one thing I do like about the Magic Mouse it's tiny and I have small hands!

 

Susan

[MEB]

I currently have two additional bluetooth Logitech mouses here (if i exclude a third that is wired): the MX Anywhere 2 (this one is tiny) and the MX Master. Neither of them work reliably when using bluetooth in a busy environment (with other bluetooth devices). They jump while moving on screen or disconnect when i turn on other devices. This is an issue that's been reported frequently on Amazon as well. Their USB dongles work a little better but they take an additional USB port on your computer. Although they certainly fix the canvas movement issue (no touch surface here) i would also take a look at other brands if you are considering a new mouse.

 

Regarding the batteries, you can invest on a Apple Battery Charger (which comes with six NiMH batteries). I've got one for my first generation Magic Mouse and i think it worths it. Or simply get the actual second generation Magic Mouse which includes a rechargeable battery.

[v_kyr]

It always depends, since I commonly have to deal with various different OS'es and hardware, I've also a bunch of mices (Logitech, MS etc.) flying around here. On OSX the majority of third party mices showed sometimes strange driver behaviour here (performing double clicks instead of one etc.), especially the Logitech bluetooth mices I tried. This is of course frustrating during coding in editors and when using other software etc., so I tried the Magic Mouse 2 on the Mac here which at least doesn't suffer from these button click behaviour problems.

 

[R C-R]

5 minutes ago, pixiegirl said:

Is it small?  That's one thing I do like about the Magic Mouse it's tiny and I have small hands!

It is about the same width as the MM, about 2/3" shorter front to back, & about 3/4" taller at its highest point. My wife has fairly small (but not overly tiny) hands & she finds it very comfortable to use.

 

Regarding reliability problems with Bluetooth wireless devices, there is a known issue with high speed USB 3 devices interfering with Bluetooth radios. This is mostly a problem caused by USB 3 cables and/or plastic cased USB 3 hard drives that do not provide adequate shielding placed too close to the BT device. That said, there is a USB 3 drive sitting less than a foot from my wife's M535 & a total of three other USB 3 drives sitting within three feet of it. That has never caused the M535 (or the Apple Magic Mouse, which is also a Bluetooth device) to behave erratically.

 

I have taken reasonable care to follow recommended practices to prevent interference from USB 3 devices -- the USB 3 cables are fully extended, routed to maximize the distance from the mouse, & so on -- but I think it is safe to assume that if you are not experiencing reliability issues with the Magic Mouse you would not have any with the M535 either.

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, MEB said:

I currently have two additional bluetooth Logitech mouses here (if i exclude a third that is wired): the MX Anywhere 2 and the MX Master. Neither of them work reliably when using bluetooth in a busy environment (with other bluetooth devices).

Just curious but do you use the tiny Logitech "Pico Unifying Receiver" with them or the built-in BT radio (if provided in your computer)?

 

One of the reasons I went with the M535 is it does not require (or support) the Logitech receiver. This was because I had read some stuff on the web about the  Logitech receiver not being the best choice for use with iMacs, partially because plugging it into one of the iMac USB ports puts a lot of metal between it & the mouse, & puts the receiver very near any USB ports connected to high speed USB 3 devices. Either one potentially increases the chances of reliability problems. I don't know how true that is in practice but it seems like a reasonable assumption.

[MEB]

I'm not talking about interferences from USB devices on bluetooth frequencies. Let me put it this way: both Logitech devices and Apple Magic Mouse are connected via bluetooth (not all at the same time) and placed over the exact same mousepad/location/conditions. The Apple Magic Mouse works flawlessly. Both Logitech mouses have issues.

[R C-R]

1 minute ago, MEB said:

Let me put it this way: both Logitech devices and Apple Magic Mouse are connected via bluetooth (not all at the same time) and placed over the exact same mousepad/location. The Apple Magic Mouse works flawlessly. Both Logitech mouses have issues.

Interesting. Here, we can connect both the MM2 & M535 to an iMac at the same time & both work great without interfering with each other (as long as only one at a time is actually being moved to prevent the tug-of-war effect of the iMac trying to simultaneously respond to two different pointer inputs, of course).

 

I have also experimented with pairing & powering up both rodents, two Apple wireless keyboards, & an OontZ bluetooth speaker with an iMac & have as yet detected no interference or reliability issues with any of them, even when everything is placed in close proximity.

 

I don't know why we get such different results but if I had to guess I think it might be because we are in a residential environment where it is unlikely there are any other interfering radio devices within BT range.

[Gear maker]

6 hours ago, R C-R said:

One of the reasons I went with the M535 is it does not require (or support) the Logitech receiver. This was because I had read some stuff on the web about the  Logitech receiver not being the best choice for use with iMacs, partially because plugging it into one of the iMac USB ports puts a lot of metal between it & the mouse, & puts the receiver very near any USB ports connected to high speed USB 3 devices. Either one potentially increases the chances of reliability problems. I don't know how true that is in practice but it seems like a reasonable assumption.

Maybe that's why i don't have a problem with this.  My Logitech mouse uses a receiver dongle but I have it plugged into a hub that's below desk level instead of into the back of the mac.