Save Affinity Designer's Studio configuration (MAC)

[arkinien]

Unfortunately, there is no "function" to save the studio. (If so, please prove me wrong). That does not mean you can't save it manually, and even keep multiple versions of it to suit your different workspaces. As a bonus or drawback, some of your preferences will also be saved or recalled by the same process.

 

To save your Studio configuration (MAC)

 

The following allows you to keep a safe copy of your studio configuration, including the Toolbar and other preferences (I did not know which ones at this point)

1. Quit Affinity Designer
2. From the finder top drop-down menu, select GO and press [option] — [shift] or [^control] on some systems. A new item called Library should appear in the menu. Click it.
3. Navigate to this location : Macintosh HD/Users/YourUserNameHere/Library/Containers/com.seriflabs.affinitydesigner/Data/Library/Preferences
4. Copy the file com.seriflabs.affinitydesigner to a safe location of your choice. I recommend a cloud base storage, so you can get it back on a new or different system at anytimel.
5. Go back to work with peace of mind, your Studio configuration is now safe. 

 

To recall the Studio

 

If the studio go astray, or the toolbar plays hide and seek on you:

1. Quit Affinity Designer
2. Copy back com.seriflabs.affinitydesigner to its original location (From where you saved it above) — Replace the existing files

 

Note that the studio will come back the exact same way you had it at the time you copied the file for the first time. Changes you made between the two procedures will be lost. Forever. I have not tested it yet, but I'm sure that some other preference settings will be affected as well, I just don't know to what extent.

 

Multiple Studios:

1. You can make multiple Studio arrangements and save them independently. Just copy com.seriflabs.affinitydesigner to different locations. Be sure to label them properly, so you remember what they are. Very useful on a laptop that uses an external monitor that is not always connected.
2. If you're comfortable with MacOS Automator, you can even create series of app/scripts to save or restore your Studio configuration(s) automatically. 

 

Not the smoothest process and I wish there was a prebuilt function for that… But until it does, or someone proves me wrong, it's a workaround.

 

Enjoy!