Showing jpg side by side

[Alfred]

4 minutes ago, DianeF said:

Are you using a PC or a Mac?

 

The screenshot posted by @Cedge shows (at top right) the Windows icons for minimizing, restoring/maximizing and closing the application window. I presume your Mac version has the usual 'traffic lights' at top left.

 

[DianeF]

Alfred, I guess I hadn't noticed the Windows icons on Cedge's post. I haven't used a PC for a long time so I hadn't remembered about the icons.

 

In any case, do you think I'm correct in assuming that the Floating Windows are a new features for PCs, equivalent to the Separated Mode for Macs? That's what I'm trying to ascertain. 

[Alfred]

As Carl mentioned earlier in the thread, the latest beta version for Windows has Float and Float All options which are not available in the current retail version (or even in the previous beta build).

 

[Cedge]

Interestingly, I just discovered that you can drag single or even multiple floating image panels atop another floating panel.  For lack of a better description, they will "Sub Dock" but can still be dragged back out to stand alone, via the mouse. It doesn't seem to create any noticeable problems and it could even become a rather useful function. I already think I'm VERY much liking it.

[JimmyJack]

1 hour ago, DianeF said:

In any case, do you think I'm correct in assuming that the Floating Windows are a new features for PCs, equivalent to the Separated Mode for Macs? That's what I'm trying to ascertain. 

 

Yes.

 

With a slight difference I think.

It looks like all the tool, context and menu windows stay connected in the PC implementation. I like that (I'm on Mac), but that's just me. (Let the fighting begin ). It would be nice to just be able to pull down on a file tab to float. Now (Mac) we have to go to Separated Mode > hit Merge All Windows > and then pull down. Click click click click click. (yes we can set up hot keys..... I've got enough to remember)

Also, I'm not clear if @Cedge's screenshot is of a manually created 3-up, or one of several presets. The later would be very nice. I think everyone would agree on that .

 

Go Pats..... and Cs!!

[Cedge]

The Float panel trick is also possible in the current 1.6.2.97 version. It just doesn't have the new  float/dock menu selections. You have to un-clip the image file from the file display bar and then arrange the panels to suit your taste. The screen shot below shows my current version 1.6.2.97 of AP with a 3 - Up arrangement. the 3 panels are holding a total of 5 images, plus the others that are still docked to the file display bar. The copy and paste capabilities among all of the different images, alone, are pretty darned cool.

Non Beta Float

[Cedge]

Diane,
I'm on  a PC. If you're getting free floating image panels, I'd venture a guess that the Separated mode is probably the same animal, when spoken in MAC

Steve

[JimmyJack]

26 minutes ago, Cedge said:

You have to un-clip the image file from the file display bar and then arrange the panels to suit your taste.

 

Ah. So the 3-up was manually done. Presets would be nice.

 

13 minutes ago, Cedge said:

Diane,
I'm on  a PC. If you're getting free floating image panels, I'd venture a guess that the Separated mode is probably the same animal, when spoken in MAC

Steve

 

Yes free floating image panels are the same. I was referring to all the other panels. They seem to remain connected in your shot. Doesn't happen that way on Mac.

[Cedge]

Jimmy
I arranged them to suit the available space while experimenting. Truth being told the 3 up is just to prove it could be done. They were then manually resized to fit between the existing tool bars. Otherwise the darned things were stacked all over the place Two panes with several images sub docked in one of them is far more usable.

Steve

[JimmyJack]

50 minutes ago, Cedge said:

Jimmy
I arranged them to suit the available space while experimenting. Truth being told the 3 up is just to prove it could be done. They were then manually resized to fit between the existing tool bars. Otherwise the darned things were stacked all over the place Two panes with several images sub docked in one of them is far more usable.

Steve

 

Yeah, I got ya. Stacked all over the place.... yup.

 

I was hoping for some photoshop-like options:

(3-up stacked does, in an instant, what you (edit: WE) have to wrangle into place,.)

 

[R C-R]

4 hours ago, Alfred said:

As Carl mentioned earlier in the thread, the latest beta version for Windows has Float and Float All options which are not available in the current retail version (or even in the previous beta build).

So for those of us that only have Macs, what is the difference between Float and Float All? If I had to guess, I would think that Float only floats the currently selected document window & Float All floats all document windows (but does not affect connected Studio panels). Is that right? Also, is there a float command of any kind in the current retail version?

 

5 hours ago, Alfred said:

The screenshot posted by @Cedge shows (at top right) the Windows icons for minimizing, restoring/maximizing and closing the application window. I presume your Mac version has the usual 'traffic lights' at top left.

The Mac versions do have the 'traffic lights' but there is more to it than many Mac users think. For one thing, the green 'maximize' button does two slightly different things depending on if the alt/option key is held down or not when the button is clicked. Without the key, the window goes into full screen mode, which hides the Mac menu bar & the Dock. With the key, the window expands to as large as is possible without hiding the menu bar or the Dock. Full screen mode precludes (or overrides, depending on how you want to think about it) Separated Mode -- in FSM there can only be one document window, although it can be tabbed if the app provides for that.

 

This functionality is provided by the Mac OS windowing system. It is available in any app that uses standard Mac windows. It is not unique to the Affinity apps.

 

Of course, the Mac windowing system is fundamentally different from the Windows one, so there are differences in what the Affinity apps offer in that respect. The biggest difference is Macs have one, screen-spanning main menu bar shared by all apps, so there is nothing that can be "unclipped" from it like in the Windows versions.

 

Apart from all that (as if it was not already confusing enough!), in Normal (non-separated) Mode all the document window(s) 'float' in the sense that they can be resized & positioned anywhere on the screen(s), but in Normal Mode some Mac apps support only one instance of the document window (which may or may not support tabs), while in others multiple separate floating document windows are supported.

[Alfred]

19 minutes ago, R C-R said:

So for those of us that only have Macs, what is the difference between Float and Float All? If I had to guess, I would think that Float only floats the currently selected document window & Float All floats all document windows (but does not affect connected Studio panels). Is that right?

 

Yes, that sounds right.

 

20 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Also, is there a float command of any kind in the current retail version?

 

No, there isn't even a float command in the previous beta version.

 

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, JimmyJack said:

Yes free floating image panels are the same. I was referring to all the other panels.

Regarding all the other panels, in Separated Mode have you noticed that Studio panels can be grouped together, more or less like in the default for Normal Mode, or separated into individual tabbed or un-tabbed panels, but it is difficult to add an individual panel to a group (so the whole group can be moved around as a single unit), & that changing the height of a panel group can't be done but dragging downward on its bottom edge?

 

Also, is it just me or does anyone else see the behavior I mentioned earlier where switching back to Normal from Separated Mode in the retail versions hides the Right Studio? I think @DianeF said this was not happening for her, so I would like to know if this is something I need to fix on my system, different for different Mac OS versions (I am using High Sierra), the result of some system or application preference setting I am using that others are not, or what.

[DianeF]

Wow, all these options are dizzying! And it's interesting to see the differences in the Mac and Windows versions.

 

In Separated Mode on the Mac (retail, not beta version), I am able to see all the right studio panels, both in the Separated Mode version and when I uncheck Separated Mode, but I am still unable to see the left side Tools panel in Separated Mode. This makes Separated Mode essentially useless unless I can figure out how to bring the Tools panel back. As I commented earlier, Show Tools is checked. I just tried unchecking and then rechecking it, but I still can't see the tools. 

 

I just checked the beta version to see if the tools are visible. In the beta version, the Tools panel is visible and is now a free-floating panel. So it's possible this is one of the improvements that was made in the Mac beta.

[JimmyJack]

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

Regarding all the other panels, in Separated Mode have you noticed that Studio panels can be grouped together, more or less like in the default for Normal Mode, or separated into individual tabbed or un-tabbed panels, but it is difficult to add an individual panel to a group (so the whole group can be moved around as a single unit), & that changing the height of a panel group can't be done but dragging downward on its bottom edge?

 

Oh yes, I've noticed. I still prefer all the support windows together. This option is available in PShop on Mac, going back to at least CS4.

 

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

Also, is it just me or does anyone else see the behavior I mentioned earlier where switching back to Normal from Separated Mode in the retail versions hides the Right Studio? I think @DianeF said this was not happening for her, so I would like to know if this is something I need to fix on my system, different for different Mac OS versions (I am using High Sierra), the result of some system or application preference setting I am using that others are not, or what.

 

Well my answer was about to be....Yes! .... and It's annoying!!

BUT I just temporarily fixed it...... and I don't know how. Was fine for a few stress tests. And then I broke it again.... and I don't know how. (At least the Beta seems more stable when it comes to this particular issue.)

 

32 minutes ago, DianeF said:

....but I am still unable to see the left side Tools panel in Separated Mode.

 

@DianeF is it possible to post a full screen grab of your separated none-tool bar screen? Or better yet, a quick vid of it disappearing when switching back and forth?

 

 

[R C-R]

37 minutes ago, DianeF said:

In Separated Mode on the Mac (retail, not beta version), I am able to see all the right studio panels, both in the Separated Mode version and when I uncheck Separated Mode, but I am still unable to see the left side Tools panel in Separated Mode. This makes Separated Mode essentially useless unless I can figure out how to bring the Tools panel back.

Huh! While I was trying to figure out what might help with your missing Tools panel issue, I just solved my issue with the Right Studio being hidden after exiting Separated Mode by choosing the View > Studio > Reset Studio item while in Separated Mode.

 

This had no apparent effect on my panels layout in Separated Mode but much to my surprise it fixed the disappearance of Right Studio after exiting it without altering anything else about how I had configured the panels layout in Normal Mode, including where I had set the Layers panel to float at nearly full screen height about 2" from the right edge of my screen.

So I don't know if the Reset Studio option would help with your issue, or if it would make any difference if you applied it in one or the other window modes.

 

EDIT: I just saw what @JimmyJack wrote about the same issue I was having with the Right Studio disappearing. I would be interested in knowing if my fix works for him as well....

Edited January 16, 2018 by R C-R

[JimmyJack]

17 minutes ago, R C-R said:

EDIT: I just saw what @JimmyJack wrote about the same issue I was having with the Right Studio disappearing. I would be interested in knowing if my fix works for him as well....

 

Nope. In fact, in separated mode hitting Reset Studio causes a render error for the histogram panel.

And the right side is still blank coming back into consolidated mode.

 

Also, hitting reset causes any customization to disappear.

If I have to go through extra steps, I'd rather just hit View > Studio > Show Right Studio when back in consolidated mode. 

 

 

[R C-R]

5 minutes ago, JimmyJack said:

Nope. In fact, in separated mode hitting reset studio causes a render error for the histogram panel.

And the right side is still blank coming back into consolidated mode.

Well then, I am officially & thoroughly clueless about what causes the Right Studio disappearance, your rendering error, or Diane's MIA Tools panel. 

 

I think maybe there are just too many possibilities here for a 'one size fits all' diagnosis or fix. Maybe the OS version has something to do with it, or Metal vs Open GL, or who knows what else.

[JimmyJack]

9 minutes ago, R C-R said:

Well then, I am officially & thoroughly clueless about what causes the Right Studio disappearance, your rendering error, or Diane's MIA Tools panel. 

 

I think maybe there are just too many possibilities here for a 'one size fits all' diagnosis or fix. Maybe the OS version has something to do with it, or Metal vs Open GL, or who knows what else.

 

Well, I'm back to report that clicking Show Right Studio seems to have fixed the whole thing on my end.

From time to time though it seems to get unchecked by some operation or key stroke that I haven't pinned down. I'm certainly not unchecking it.

But now I can clear it up.

 

Also interesting is that changes done to the right studio panels in separated mode are NOT reflected in the right studio on return. Looks like they are two separate beings. Hmmm.

[DianeF]

I definitely think the OS version has something to do with the different behaviors we're seeing.

 

I'm not having any of the problems R-C-R mentioned: "but it is difficult to add an individual panel to a group (so the whole group can be moved around as a single unit), & that changing the height of a panel group can't be done but dragging downward on its bottom edge?" I'm able to do both of these things.

 

But my tools are still missing. I tried resetting the studio while in Separated Mode but it didn't make a difference.

 

Attached is a screenshot showing the missing tools. As I went to create this screenshot, I noticed that the reds in my righthand image are now missing, and I have no idea why. I must have inadvertently done something to cause this. But I think this is an unrelated issue.

[R C-R]

6 minutes ago, DianeF said:

Attached is a screenshot showing the missing tools.

Unless my old eyes are just too weak to see them, besides the Tools panel it looks like the Affinity Photo Main & Context toolbars are also missing. Does toggling on either or both make any difference?

 

10 minutes ago, DianeF said:

As I went to create this screenshot, I noticed that the reds in my righthand image are now missing, and I have no idea why. I must have inadvertently done something to cause this. But I think this is an unrelated issue.

Look at the layers panel. It shows a Black & White Adjustment layer above the Pixel layer. Uncheck that & my guess is the color will be restored.

[JimmyJack]

1 minute ago, R C-R said:

Unless my old eyes are just too weak to see them, besides the Tools panel it looks like the Affinity Photo Main & Context toolbars are also missing. Does toggling on either or both make any difference?

 

Look at the layers panel. It shows a Black & White Adjustment layer above the Pixel layer. Uncheck that & my guess is the color will be restored.

 

Yes more is missing. Which confuses the problem.

I CAN REPRODUCE @DianeF's problem when it come to the tool bar.... but not the others.

 

@DianeF can you post a picture of the same thing in non-separated mode please? Don't touch any other settings...

[R C-R]

1 minute ago, JimmyJack said:

I CAN REPRODUCE @DianeF's problem when it come to the tool bar....

How?

[DianeF]

R-C-R, toggling on the Main and Context toolbars made no difference. All continued to be missing.

 

You were right that unchecking the B and W adjustment layer brought back the colors in my image.

 

 

JimmyJack, I'm attaching a screenshot in non separated mode. All the toolbars and tool panels are back.

[R C-R]

@DianeF one other thought: if from the Affinity Photo menu at the top of the screen you select "Hide Others" so only the AP windows panels & such are visible, is there now any sign of the MIA Tools panel?