set inches as the default unit

[Bri-ko]

Will affinity allow me to set inches as the default unit so all photos open with inches selected?

[stokerg]

Hi Bri-ko and Welcome to the Forums,

 

You can only set the default unit for New Documents.  If you start a new document and set the unit to Inches, any further new documents will be set to use inches.  Any images you open will always be displayed in pixels unless you switch to the View Tool and change the units on the Context toolbar to inches.

 

 @toltec has explained, really well, why it's not the best idea to use inches when working with images here  

[Miss Daisy]

I absolutely MUST have inches because I create sewing patterns and they are published for use in inches.    Everything I do is based on inches and it is critical that I have that capability, and not be modified at any time by the program or the patterns once cut out, will not fit the user.     Currently I use Photoshop CS6.   I have it all set to inches, it never changes at any time.  What I set stays that way.   I spend hours creating these, and have to depend on my program.    I did not have Illustrator, so I bought your entire  suite of products today.    I need to set design  to draw a seam allowance line 1/4" when need to.  Right now, I do them all manually.   Illustrator is used by all pattern creators and can set it in Illustrator (design) to move the seam allowance whatever width is needed.     I just tried importing a pattern piece into photo and it made  it pixels even though it was saved in inches in photoshop.  Anyway I can avoid that happening, or, do I have to each time  change the document switch to the view tool and change the units on the context toolbar (whatever that is... I will find it) to inches. 

[walt.farrell]

5 hours ago, Miss Daisy said:

Anyway I can avoid that happening, or, do I have to each time  change the document switch to the view tool and change the units on the context toolbar (whatever that is... I will find it) to inches. 

Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums.

If you open a native Affinity file (.afphoto, .afdesign, .afpub) that is set to inches you will have inches. If you open a JPG, TIFF, or PNG file that was created as inches it will use pixels, instead.

There are several methods of changing to inches. The simplest in Photo may be to use the Context Toolbar, as you mentioned, because the default tool is the View Tool in Photo. The simplest in Designer or Publisher may be to have the Rulers displayed by default (View > Show Rulers). Then you can right-click the units shown at the intersection of the two rules and choose the units you want. That will work with any tool except the View Tool, and in Designer or Publisher the default tool is the Move Tool.

That way, when you open an existing non-native file you've only one click and a choice away from changing to inches as you want. But when you work with native files the application will simply remember your choice.

[Miss Daisy]

Thank you Walt.   That helps.  I am rambling through trying find my way around the interface.    I also found, and you can correct me if I am wrong on this, if I change my workspace to inches, which is what I must have, the pen tool won't work in pixels, it only will work in inches.  That kills me.   I have my workspace for my patterns in inches so the patterns are true to sizing, and then I draw my lines, armscye's etc., using the pen tool and of course it is pixels in Photoshop.     Is there a way to do that?  Only to have my workspace in inches, but my type and tools all operate in pixels.    I can do this in PSP.    I hope that will happen (or perhaps it does) in Affinity. 

[walt.farrell]

34 minutes ago, Miss Daisy said:

the pen tool won't work in pixels, it only will work in inches.

In Preferences, User Interface, you can set an option to show lines in points. Perhaps that would help?

[xoneeleven]

Telling the users why it is best that they do not use inches, is not good customer support.

There should be a way to set the default to inches, regardless of what you recommend.

Please fix this. A large number of your customers use inches. Don't tell them that you do not allow the default settings, because you discourage it.

Listen to the userbase and add the feature.

Thanks...

Mark

[zenmom]

I'm glad to find this thread, b/c I also have this question. My need isn't as critical as Miss Daisy's, but I still would like to be able to change the default to inches instead of pixels. I grew up with inches in the U.S., and even though I know centimeters or pixels or cubits are better choices for objects or images or arks, I still don't have the same feel for how big "x" number of pixels is vs. "x" number of inches. I want to make inches the default, and then switch to pixels if necessary, instead of the other way around. Now that I know how to display the Context toolbar, that's an easy way to change units of measurement. 

P.S. I know it'd be a good idea to get a better "feel" for pixels, but I'm not a graphic designer so am not working with these things every day. So the task of training myself on that is on the list, but below the dotted line where my time runs out.

[OGMedia]

I know this thread is old, but I would love to be able to set the default to every document, in publisher, to inches. I tried setting my first document to inches, then saving it, then opening a new document, and the settings went right back to millimeters. 

I work in inches, my suppliers and vendors work in inches, and my clients work in inches. I need inches. 🙂

[Joachim_L]

2 minutes ago, OGMedia said:

I tried setting my first document to inches, then saving it, then opening a new document, and the settings went right back to millimeters.

What about using templates? Creating new from templates, inch as unit is preserved (if the document unit were set to inch).

[walt.farrell]

48 minutes ago, OGMedia said:

I work in inches, my suppliers and vendors work in inches, and my clients work in inches. I need inches. 🙂

When you use File > New you have a selection of Presets to use. Some are in inches, some in mm, depending on the standards for their names. Can't you just use one of the Presets that's in inches?

Or, can't you create your own Preset if none of the default ones is right?

[OGMedia]

On 11/4/2021 at 9:31 AM, walt.farrell said:

When you use File > New you have a selection of Presets to use. Some are in inches, some in mm, depending on the standards for their names. Can't you just use one of the Presets that's in inches?

Or, can't you create your own Preset if none of the default ones is right?

I work in various file sizes because I use Publisher to design multiple items (flyers, stickers, tickets, business cards, etc.), and to set up a preset as a workaround for every document would be counterproductive. I would like to just set the default to inches and go from there, not have to change a document to inches every time I create a new one. They've taken everything that was in Page Plus and either complicated it or added many more steps to it. 

[walt.farrell]

26 minutes ago, OGMedia said:

I work in various file sizes because I use Publisher to design multiple items (flyers, stickers, tickets, business cards, etc.), and to set up a preset as a workaround for every document would be counterproductive.

If you're working in the US, and working on things with standard US sizes, then there are probably already Presets with the size you want in inches. It's not just the units that are different between Europe or Japan and the US, as far as I know. The actual paper sizes are different, too. So if you use a Preset designed for Europe or the UK for a US project, then you probably need to change both the units and the dimensions. Or you can pick a Preset designed for use in the US, or make your own so the next time you work on that size you don't need to make any changes.

[R C-R]

3 hours ago, OGMedia said:

I would like to just set the default to inches and go from there, not have to change a document to inches every time I create a new one.

The simplest way I know to do this is to create a custom preset in "My Presets" of any width, height, DPI, orientation, etc. -- just make sure the Document Units is set to inches. So just chose that preset every time you create a new document & change width, height, number of pages, & so on to whatever to you need for the project you are starting.

Of course, you could do the same thing starting with any of the builtin presets that use inches as the document units but if you do not have any custom presets now, the inches one will be the first one in "My Presets" so even if you add more later, you won't have to scroll to find it like you might have to do in (for example) the built-in Print presets to get to the first one that uses inches.

Also, I think you will find that for certain kinds of projects, a few custom presets will be useful, even if you need to change a few settings to suit the project you are starting.

[Old Bruce]

If you want to just use the builtin default presets just change the Document units in the New File dialog window to inches. Your new file will have inches as the units.

[Willy Pimentel]

Again, Why is MM the default?  can we add a default tab for user to choose whatever we want?

My brain does not function in Milimetters  

Please add this feature//...

 

[Alfred]

5 minutes ago, Willy Pimentel said:

Again, Why is MM the default?

Because the ‘A’ series of paper sizes is fundamentally a metric series! A0 has an area of one square metre, A1 is half of that, and so on. It doesn’t make sense to quote the length of an A4 sheet as 11.69291 inches instead of 297 mm.

[walt.farrell]

11 minutes ago, Willy Pimentel said:

Again, Why is MM the default?  can we add a default tab for user to choose whatever we want?

My brain does not function in Milimetters  

You have chosen to use an "A" size, which is defined in the Standard as being in mm.

If you want inches, perhaps you should use a US size like Letter, instead?

Or you should create your own Preset, or use a Template.

[chuck902]

Not being able to set everything to default to inches is a problem here too.

Is this on the roadmap to fix?

[Juan]

I mostly work with centimeters. I don't work with pixels unless the job demands it. The given solutions are for just one JPEG at the time. You have to set your image to centimeters (or inches, or whatever unit you mostly work with) each time you open a new image. It drives me nuts. This should be a preference you can set as you wish.

[cjezell]

I'm going to continue beating this dead horse and say that your US customers almost exclusively work in inches, and having to switch to inches every time we open an external file is maddening. Just allow us to set that as a global default and be done with it. I know for me personally, as a paper publisher, there will NEVER be an instance where I need anything other than inches...period. 

[R C-R]

16 hours ago, cjezell said:

I'm going to continue beating this dead horse and say that your US customers almost exclusively work in inches, and having to switch to inches every time we open an external file is maddening.

I am a US user & I rarely work in inches. But if you do, you can use templates, or create or use presets, as has been explained above.

[walt.farrell]

27 minutes ago, R C-R said:

I am a US user & I rarely work in inches. But if you do, you can use templates, or create or use presets, as has been explained above.

That doesn't help when opening a non-Affinity file, as cjezell mentioned. They will always open in px (image files) or pt (PDF files), for example.

[zenmom]

I'm with cjezell on this one. On general merits, the metric system is better than the imperial system (inches etc). But I grew up with the imperial system. I've got a good feel for how big, say, 3 inches or 2 feet is, and I don't have that same "feel" for centimeters. So in order to have it display in my preferred measurement system, I have to manually change the file's dimensions to inches EVERY SINGLE TIME. Surely it wouldn't be that hard to add a feature to the program that would allow you to set a global measurement default (to inches, or pixels, or whatever). Yes, templates & pre-sets can be used as workarounds, but I'd still prefer a "set it and forget it" solution.