Opening image window

[Freddie360]

Opening an existing image in AP shows a quite small window with my chosen image in it. Why does the windows open so small and not open to fill the whole space (see 2 images - What I get and What I want), it is tedious to rejig every image file I open in AP. Even if I save the image file in the size I wish it to open, it does not.

 

[toltec]

You didn't say. but it looks like you are using a Mac and you are in separated mode.

[Freddie360]

On 27/12/2017 at 4:23 PM, Freddie360 said:

Repeated insertion - deleted content

 

 

 

 

[Freddie360]

toltec - Yes, I am on a iMac running Sierra OS and I am in Separated mode. This is how I have successfully worked in Photoshop (see attached image) and would like to do the same in AP.

 

 

[Freddie360]

Does anyone out there know why this happens or a way to overcome the issue?

[v_kyr]

On 27.12.2017 at 5:23 PM, Freddie360 said:

Opening an existing image in AP shows a quite small window with my chosen image in it. Why does the windows open so small and not open to fill the whole space (see 2 images - What I get and What I want), it is tedious to rejig every image file I open in AP. Even if I save the image file in the size I wish it to open, it does not.

Can't see and check your images, they seem to be not accessable anymore, thus it's hard to tell at all.

[Freddie360]

v_kyr - Sorry about the images, I seemed to have repeated my original insertion and fouled up when I tried to rectify this. However, I have attached the What I get and What I want images again. I hope this will help with an answer to my question.

 

 

[Fixx]

This happens in my system also a lot. Nuisance. Possibly it has something to do with having larger display sometimes connected, sometimes doing the work in smaller MBP display.

[Pšenda]

On 28. 12. 2017 at 1:57 PM, Freddie360 said:

I am in Separated mode

Why you use Separated mode?

"What I want images" is exactly like Tabbed mode. 

[Freddie360]

I prefer to work in Separated mode as it the best for my type of multiple working. Tabbed mode will give me the "What I want images" only if I am working on one image, unless I have missed something I have to go into Separated mode to visually work on 2 or more images. The other problem with AP is that one you set up the floating palettes in the position you want them, you cannot save that workspace. This means you are reluctant to change working conditions if you cannot get your preferred default back easily.

[R C-R]

12 minutes ago, Freddie360 said:

The other problem with AP is that one you set up the floating palettes in the position you want them, you cannot save that workspace. This means you are reluctant to change working conditions if you cannot get your preferred default back easily.

The panels positions for separated & non-separated window modes should be saved & retained separately. (There seems to be some weird issue when using the 'Clean up floating windows' options that hides the Studio panels when returning from separated to non-separated mode, but it could just be that I don't understand how that is designed to work.)

 

Regarding the default positions & window sizes documents open in while in separated mode, there seems to be no way for users to control that. As best as I can tell, the default window sizes are determined by the screen size & the document dimensions: if the document dimensions are small enough to be opened at full size the window is sized for that; if larger than the default maximum window size for that screen size, they are opened 'zoomed to fit' at that window size. Multiple document windows always seem to open cascaded on top of each other, in much the same way as multiple Finder windows once did on older OS X versions.

 

My guess is this default behavior is based on the fact that the number, size, & positions of all the document windows a user might open while in separated mode is unknowable in advance, so there is no default behavior that would work in every situation.

[Pšenda]

Handling windows is knowning problem, for example

That's why I would not worry with Separated mode, until it gets better.

[R C-R]

Just now, Pšenda said:

That's why I would not worry with Separated mode, until it gets better.

Even with its quirkiness, Separated mode is very useful for certain workflows, not the least of which is keeping two (or more) views of the same document visible at different zoom levels at the same time. Yes, it is a PITA to set up all the windows positions & sizes as desired, but once that is done it can really speed things up.

[Freddie360]

A good set of replies, and I now know I have work slightly differently from how I have been working in PS for 27 years. But, its hard habit to break when it becomes intuitive, I hope AP workspace evolution also becomes more intuitive as I am committed to working in AP rather than continuing with PS. Thanks again for the input.

[smadell]

I'm going to chime in here on a few things. First of all, I would also love it if AP would open my photos in a Separated Mode window that used the maximum available space. But... it doesn't. However, I also like working in Separated Mode much more than in the Unified window mode. It gives me the availablility of two Studio palettes on the right (instead of using Left Studio and Right Studio, which I find looks and feels clunky). It also lets me open more than one image in different windows (yeah, I know I can do that in Unified mode also, but it's an extra step that I don't like). So, here's my particular workaround.

First, I assigned a Keyboard Shortcut to the "Merge All Windows" command (in the Window menu). If I open more than one image (which is common, if I'm working on a group of images after shooting a bunch) I can immediately group them into a single window.

More importantly, I came across a wonderful little Mac utility called "BetterSnapTool." It's available in the Mac App Store, and costs all of $2.99. It loads on startup, and lets you assign hot spots on the screen that appear when you grab and drag window title bars. If you drag the title bar over the hot spot, the window resizes to a predetermined size and position. You can configure the hot spots so that they only appear within certain applications. So, I programmed a hot spot on my screen (the red arrow in the screen shot below) that only appears when I'm running Affinity Photo or Affinity Photo Beta. Dragging a window over this hot spot will automatically resize that window to the size I want (the green arrows).

So, yeah, it would be nice if AP would just do this automatically. But I've found this to be a nice little workaround, and it saves me a boatload of time and frustration.

[R C-R]

7 minutes ago, smadell said:

However, I also like working in Separated Mode much more than in the Unified window mode. It gives me the availablility of two Studio palettes on the right (instead of using Left Studio and Right Studio, which I find looks and feels clunky).

You know that you can have two (or more) Studio panel groups on the right in either mode, right? The only thing special in this respect about non-separated mode is you can 'dock' panel groups to the left and/or right sides of the document window, but you do not have to do that. You can float some or all of the panel groups if you want.

 

My normal setup for non-separated mode in Affinity Photo is to have the Library & Macro panels grouped into the Left Studio, the Layers panel floating to the right of the document window & Right Studio group, & the other panels grouped into the Right Studio. But I could just as easily have the Library & Macro panel group floating on the right, outside the document window, or float everything.

[smadell]

I know I could get pretty much the same configuration in Non-Separated Mode, but the anal retentive part of me just likes docking the panels in Separated Mode and having the whole thing look like a single unit. Maybe I've just gotten used to this look over time and now believe it's "better," but I still prefer it over the "floaties" in Non-Separated Mode. Also, the OP seems to prefer Separated Mode and I thought I would speak to that. Your points are well taken, though!

[R C-R]

1 minute ago, smadell said:

Maybe I've just gotten used to this look over time and now believe it's "better," but I still prefer it over the "floaties" in Non-Separated Mode.

But in Separated Mode all the Studio panel groups are "floaties." 

 

One reason I prefer non-separated mode for most of my work is I have assigned a shortcut key to hide/show the Left Studio, where I keep the Library & Macro panels as a group. Since I don't use macros all the time, this makes it very convenient to tap a single key on the keyboard when I want to use them, but otherwise keep that space available for the document view. I keep the Layers panel floating outside the document window so that I can extend it to the full height of my screen, giving me plenty of room to see lots of layers & child layers without having to do a lot of scrolling, which is a real time saver on more complex documents.

 

In fact, the only time I use Separated Mode is when I want to be able to see two or more documents or document views at the same time, so for me having the first document window open into all the space available in Separated Mode would be the last thing I wanted, since that would leave no room for the next document or document view. Maybe cascading smaller windows isn't optimal either, but for me at least it is much preferred to the suggested 'all space' behavior.

[Fixx]

Well, I like separated mode for exactly the same reasons :-D

I want document window to fill whole monitor (actually I prefer even more Photoshop's "F-mode" where is NO document window, photo fills whole monitor without borders, some tools work in that mode much better when as it is easy to go "beyond" image borders), and I use shortcut to call up just those floating panels and tools I need at the moment.

Of course when having multiple images on display it is easy to drag thingies between them in separated mode, or campare them side by side.

[R C-R]

2 hours ago, Fixx said:

I want document window to fill whole monitor ...

So why not work in Full Screen mode?

[Fixx]

I prefer floating panels. Monolithic user interfaces feel restrictive. But possibly I could get used to non-separated. Besides, "full-screen" works both in separated and non-separated mode (though it is mac only I think).

[R C-R]

49 minutes ago, Fixx said:

I prefer floating panels.

Panels also can be floated in Full Screen mode for both separated and non-separated windows modes.

 

I could be wrong but I think the only significant difference between the two window modes is that in one all documents must be in tabs of one window (but the document window size is 'sticky' & retains whatever size you set it to between app launches) & that in the other document windows do not have to be in tabs of one window (but the window sizes are not 'sticky'), if that makes any sense.