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move / copy layers from one file to another


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Thanks. First: on mac the shortcut for "Copy" is simply "Command-C" (not: control-command-c). (ctrl was mentioned above in case you were a windows user but meanwhile we know you aren't)

When you pasted the copied layer it doesn't occur on your other document's canvas because the initial, copied object seems to be buggy.

Can you upload this Affinity document to the forum for a closer look to possibly detect what makes this going wrong?

Added: The first 30 seconds in your video you talk about "bring an image in here I need to resize and shrink down" and all seems not to work. I wonder why you don't show this in your clip but just talk about it? So maybe you can demonstrate this image issues in another screencast?

Note, you can upload videos directly to the forum. It is more comfortable at least for the forums community because it gets played within your post without the need to leaving the forum temporarily.

Edited by thomaso

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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58 minutes ago, thomaso said:

without the need to leaving the forum temporarily.

... and don't click on thousands of ads.

 

1 hour ago, InfaRed said:

But not being able to use the Macro

You keep talking about "Macro" - what do you mean? Is it a real macro that performs some functions/operations, or is that what you call shortcuts (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V)?

 

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2 hours ago, thomaso said:

Thanks. First: on mac the shortcut for "Copy" is simply "Command-C" (not: control-command-c). (ctrl was mentioned above in case you were a windows user but meanwhile we know you aren't)

When you pasted the copied layer it doesn't occur on your other document's canvas because the initial, copied object seems to be buggy.

Can you upload this Affinity document to the forum for a closer look to possibly detect what makes this going wrong?

Added: The first 30 seconds in your video you talk about "bring an image in here I need to resize and shrink down" and all seems not to work. I wonder why you don't show this in your clip but just talk about it? So maybe you can demonstrate this image issues in another screencast?

Note, you can upload videos directly to the forum. It is more comfortable at least for the forums community because it gets played within your post without the need to leaving the forum temporarily.

Ahhh, haha.. Ok, well then I already knew that, I copy and paste like that a lot.. I thought the OP was specifically talking about Macs. Also, I thought the Control-Command-C would tell it to copy a layer and all its stuff opposed to just the image of the layer, *because* I was having buggy issues as you said and when that happens, false thoughts always come to ones mind about what is a fix.. It was not operating properly, so I though Affinity didn't have a copy layer function, only copy selection if you know what I mean.

Yes I will try to also make another video about the resizing thing. But because I do that regularly successfully, I knew it was just a bug specific to this canvas and TBH I bet I caused that bug. But my gripe is I should not be able to. It happens a lot. I know its that dumb lighting box thing that won't go away.

As far as posting the video directly, thats exactly what I tried, it came up as a link, I do not see any other options to upload unless it considers it a "attachment" ? I will try that. But that is not usual to forum video uploading. I am used to a "video upload" button at the top.

1 hour ago, Pšenda said:

... and don't click on thousands of ads.

 

You keep talking about "Macro" - what do you mean? Is it a real macro that performs some functions/operations, or is that what you call shortcuts (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V)?

 

So in my world (Pro Tools, Music Industry, etc..) "Macro" is a word used to also describe when you press a combination of keys to achieve something. Yes "Shortcuts", but shortcuts is longer to say. I agree, its probably wrong by geeky technical definition, but so are several words we all use everyday. So my apologies, but yes I was referring to key combinations. In general, I like to find the manual menu option version at first, THEN learn the macro. I do not like it the other way around. I am a "manual", hands on, go slow type of guy. It does not apply now, but my confusion after googling "how to copy a layer in Affinity" drew me here, then that caused me to think the only way to copy/paste a entire layer is to use Command-Control-C/V. HENCE the confusion of my complaints.

Now I think we are realizing I have a bugged out canvas (again, I bet my fault though, lol)

I do stand behind not understanding why its so easy to brick canvases. I do it a lot and have to start over, when I start over its all good. But getting tired of that so I want to learn now (hopefully on this file) what it is I keep doing. In Pro Tools, when I was a rookie (back in 1998) it was always when you set something you didn't understand to something and can not tell if its engaged or not.. you know them little tiny things.. and when it is engaged (or not) it causes the normal functions to not function correctly due to it being in some "mode". I have a weird feeling this keeps happening to me here in Affinity. Which is why I hate all the little tiny things to be able to press. And new age sh*t lately is so one dimensional (no longer looks like a real button) that I can't tell what is on and what is off. Affinity is riddled with functions. Which for pro's, sure thats great. But its also a recipe for disaster if you are a weekend user like me.

I keep bringing up PhotoShop because no one can say that aint pro... yet it doesn't have those problems with its GUI design (for me). Sadly I won't support subscription based communism, so Adobe been out for me for a while now. Thats how I found Affinity. But unfortunately, its not the PS killer I thought it would be. I'd gladly pay twice (hell 3 times) as much (perpetual license) for it if it was.

I appreciate how inexpensive it is and how they made it almost identical to PS. BUT it is lacking lots of things, and if I can see this being a weekend warrior, I am not sure how pro's utilize it. If you check my other posts over the last couple years, you will see my other complaints/suggestions/customer feedbacks.

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22 minutes ago, InfaRed said:

I will try to attach it below:

There is something seriously wrong with the various fill layers. Delete them and all should work well.

Mac Pro (Late 2013) Mac OS 12.7.4 
Affinity Designer 2.4.0 | Affinity Photo 2.4.0 | Affinity Publisher 2.4.0 | Beta versions as they appear.

I have never mastered color management, period, so I cannot help with that.

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Weird!...had me going not quite sure what the extra box is ..but
No image is showing in resources...but if you GROUP the image you can access it and copy /paste.. between docs

 

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Rig:AMD FX 8350 and AMD Radeon (R9 380 Series) Settings Version 21.04.01 
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20.1.03) + Wacom Intuous 4M with driver 6.3.41-1

 

 

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13 minutes ago, Old Bruce said:

There is something seriously wrong with the various fill layers. Delete them and all should work well.

Even with all 5 fill layers deleted, if I select the Pixel layer, its bounding box covers the same area as the now deleted fill layers, far to the right of where the pixels actually are. Also, if I add a new Fill layer after deleting the existing ones, it does not act like a fill layer should & does not even cover the whole canvas.

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3 minutes ago, StuartRc said:

Weird!...had me going not quite sure what the extra box is ..but
No image is showing in resources...but if you GROUP the image you can access it and copy /paste.. between docs

What image are you talking about? In the uploaded REsingle.afphoto file, I do not see any image layers, just text, fill, & a pixel layer.

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6 minutes ago, R C-R said:

What image are you talking about? In the uploaded REsingle.afphoto file, I do not see any image layers, just text, fill, & a pixel layer.

Sorry the pixel layer is an image (I pulled the file into Designer to have a look...The Pixel layer does not appear to exist as a resource. I thought initially it was some kind of mask. or clipping mask..but If you group the pixel layer/ image in Designer it releases the object..(which is why it it weird!) You can then copy and past and duplicate as much as you like. The elusive box snaps to the position of the image if you group

REsingle.afdesign

 

Affinity Version 1 (10.6) Affinity Version 2.4.1 All (Designer | Photo | Publisher)   Beta; 2.4 2.2356
OS:Windows 10 Pro 22H2 OS Build 19045.4046+ Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19053.1000.0
Rig:AMD FX 8350 and AMD Radeon (R9 380 Series) Settings Version 21.04.01 
Radeon Settings Version 2020
20.1.03) + Wacom Intuous 4M with driver 6.3.41-1

 

 

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BTW, thanks guys for the investigation so far. I gotta run to Costco and grab some groceries. I'll be back.

Like I said in my video, if this files is bugged, then really all I need is that Umbrella logo thing (at full res, with all the layer info position, etc..) if someone can just extract that out for me as a layer and put it in a new Affinity file, then send me that, I would greatly appreciate it. Then I can salvage the rest. But thanks to that bug thing, I can not seem to do that myself. The fill layers won't delete, and I can not copy that layer I need.

Other than that, I would like to learn what I did to get myself into this mess so it doesn't happen again - 

Thanks to all !

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10 minutes ago, StuartRc said:

The Pixel layer does not appear to exist as a resource.

I am not sure what you mean by that. It is just a pixel layer, but its bounding box is not showing up around it. Instead, like in all the videos the bounding box is offset to the right. Weirdly, double-clicking on tyhe thumbnail of the pixel layer zooms correctly to its extent in the document, but the bounding box is still in the wrong place, off-screen at that zoom level.

13 minutes ago, StuartRc said:

but If you group the pixel layer/ image in Designer it releases the object..(which is why it it weird!) You can then copy and past and duplicate as much as you like

For me, it does not 'release' the object or solve the misplaced bounding box, & it does not solve anything if I try to copy either the group or its child pixel layer & paste it into that same document. BUT, I can copy the group or its child pixel layer & use File > New From Clipboard to open it in a new document, where the bounding box is correct.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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7 minutes ago, InfaRed said:

Like I said in my video, if this files is bugged, then really all I need is that Umbrella logo thing (at full res, with all the layer info position, etc..) if someone can just extract that out for me as a layer and put it in a new Affinity file, then send me that, I would greatly appreciate it.

Not sure what you mean about position, but by grouping the pixel layer & using New From Clipboard, I get this  Umbrella thing.afphoto result after moving the pixel layer out of the group.

All 3 1.10.8, & all 3 V2.4.1 Mac apps; 2020 iMac 27"; 3.8GHz i7, Radeon Pro 5700, 32GB RAM; macOS 10.15.7
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In Photo there is a background alpha channel as a mask sitting in the file. but not sure how to delete it...In Lighting effects. removing the effect then apply worked once for me but does not work everytime.

 

Affinity Version 1 (10.6) Affinity Version 2.4.1 All (Designer | Photo | Publisher)   Beta; 2.4 2.2356
OS:Windows 10 Pro 22H2 OS Build 19045.4046+ Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19053.1000.0
Rig:AMD FX 8350 and AMD Radeon (R9 380 Series) Settings Version 21.04.01 
Radeon Settings Version 2020
20.1.03) + Wacom Intuous 4M with driver 6.3.41-1

 

 

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Ah!..
1. Select all in file

2. Go back to Lighting filter.

3. Select remove and then click apply...

This releases the pixel layer or image

 

Affinity Version 1 (10.6) Affinity Version 2.4.1 All (Designer | Photo | Publisher)   Beta; 2.4 2.2356
OS:Windows 10 Pro 22H2 OS Build 19045.4046+ Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19053.1000.0
Rig:AMD FX 8350 and AMD Radeon (R9 380 Series) Settings Version 21.04.01 
Radeon Settings Version 2020
20.1.03) + Wacom Intuous 4M with driver 6.3.41-1

 

 

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Like others, your handling of Fill layers confuses me, too. I wonder why you don't use simple rectangles instead of cutting parts of Fill layers and thus causing an Alpha channel for each.

1. I created a pixel selection + switched to Move Tool.
2. The selection became a bounding box, now combined with the weird small bounding box in the lower middle of the canvas.
3. I deselected everything.
4. Now the weird object was gone and I could resize your image.

Interesting: I saved your file with History of my steps. As long it was opened I could play it forward + backward. But when I closed + reopened it then the history does not show the weird object at all – as if the History was different. At least this behaviour lets me assume your document is someway corrupted. You might recreate it quite simple with 5 rectangles + your pasted image. – I wonder how my document behaves on a different computer.

Edit: Note in my file that the layer thumbnails of the Fill layers are empty whereas in your videos they show their masked parts as black / unasked parts as white.   <– it's just the viewing mode of thumbnails with / without transparency grid.

REsingle_2.afphoto

568638084_REsingle2.thumb.jpg.4c6a60626396c398ebec96de1b1d9d4a.jpg

Edited by thomaso

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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3 minutes ago, StuartRc said:

Ah!..
1. Select all in file

2. Go back to Lighting filter.

3. Select remove and then click apply...

This releases the pixel layer or image

In step 1, do you mean select all the layers in the file? In step 3 do you mean Remove Light 1 or something else? Regardless, that does not work for me. I still see the offset between the actual location of the pixel layer & its bounding box.

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1 minute ago, R C-R said:

In step 1, do you mean select all the layers in the file? In step 3 do you mean Remove Light 1 or something else? Regardless, that does not work for me. I still see the offset between the actual location of the pixel layer & its bounding box.

I just opened the file and CONROL+A (a PC)..then followed with next step

 

Affinity Version 1 (10.6) Affinity Version 2.4.1 All (Designer | Photo | Publisher)   Beta; 2.4 2.2356
OS:Windows 10 Pro 22H2 OS Build 19045.4046+ Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19053.1000.0
Rig:AMD FX 8350 and AMD Radeon (R9 380 Series) Settings Version 21.04.01 
Radeon Settings Version 2020
20.1.03) + Wacom Intuous 4M with driver 6.3.41-1

 

 

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5 minutes ago, StuartRc said:

I just opened the file and CONROL+A (a PC)..then followed with next step

What did you click in step 3? If I have the Lighting Filter window open, the only "Remove" item I see is the one for removing Light 1. That has no effect  for me.

13 minutes ago, thomaso said:

1. I created a pixel selection + switched to Move Tool.
2. The selection became a bounding box, now combined with the weird small bounding box in the lower middle of the canvas.
3. I deselected everything.
4. Now the weird object was gone and I could resize your image.

What also works for me is just selecting the pixel layer, clicking the Invert button in Pixel Selection on the Channels panel, then deselecting the selection.

18 minutes ago, thomaso said:

Note in my file that the layer thumbnails of the Fill layers are empty whereas in your videos they show their unmasked parts as black.

I saw the same thing in the layers panel, but as I click on each of them in turn & refer to the alpha channel Fill Alpha thumbnail in the  Channels panel, there I see them.

So while I still don't know what caused this, it all seems somehow related to the alpha channels of the layers.

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2 minutes ago, R C-R said:

What also works for me is just selecting the pixel layer, clicking the Invert button in Pixel Selection on the Channels panel, then deselecting the selection.

Both ways seem to indicate that the weird bounding box is caused by an issue with a pixel selection. I wonder how the former pixel selection done to the Fill layers may be involved in this oddity.

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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2 hours ago, StuartRc said:

not quite sure what the extra box is

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

but its bounding box is not showing up around it. Instead, like in all the videos the bounding box is offset to the right

So that is not the "bounding box". (as my video said) -  Rather it was a lighting thing I did on a old layer. I later deleted the layer thinking everything for that layer would go away. It did visually, so I thought. Weeks later I come back to it to do the new editing I want, and what ended up happening is for some weird reason the lighting box thing remained though no other information to the layer or the lighting settings remained, and seemed to override other functions for other layers. And basically cause everything we see happening.

1 hour ago, R C-R said:

Not sure what you mean about position, but by grouping the pixel layer & using New From Clipboard, I get this  Umbrella thing.afphoto result after moving the pixel layer out of the group.

Thank you !! What I meant by position is, how it was in the canvas and all info (good info) attached to it, like its position, etc.. but no worries, @N.P.M. did that for me as well. Still thanks man ! This is all useful.

 

1 hour ago, thomaso said:

I wonder why you don't use simple rectangles instead of cutting parts of Fill layers and thus causing an Alpha channel for each

This is what I thought I did. I do not even know what a Alpha channel is, I do not know what a "pixel layer", etc.. is. lol -  I just do what I do and Affinity seems to make this sh*t up on what it does and decides to call it. I basically made rectangular "selections" and then fill them with white. Then since some are identical sizes needed, I just copy it and then move that copy to where I need it. All these names/identities of things confuse me, but I do see them pop up sometimes. One time (in another project I was working on) I even pasted something in like I usually do, and it went in the new document, BUT its like I couldn't do anything with it because it was some different form of pasting, though I didn't chose a different form. Like it needed to be rendered or released or un-anchored before I could do anything. lol So I just quit, tried again and it worked.

1 hour ago, thomaso said:

1. I created a pixel selection + switched to Move Tool.
2. The selection became a bounding box, now combined with the weird small bounding box in the lower middle of the canvas.
3. I deselected everything.
4. Now the weird object was gone and I could resize your image.

This is genius and great ! I just did this on my end and it worked too ! I could then copy the layer to a new document and throw that old one away.

 

So you guys helped me. This is solved and I thank you all greatly. But what isn't solved (if we want to shoot the breeze about it) is how the heck I got into this mess. lol Now, with that Lightbox thing gone, everything works fine (as my assumptions said in the video). So copying a layer to another document is indeed easy breezy in Affinity. You just treat it as anything else you want to copy. I do just feel more comfortable seeing the words "Copy Layer" in the "Layer Drop Down Menu", but that is just me I guess. I just like it. What it would do is remove the confusion I had. Cause of a buggy file, and nowhere does it manually say "copy layer" I came to the *wrong* assumption that Affinity doesn't allow for copying of layers to other documents. With this text in the drop down menu spelt out all simple simon for us idiots, then that wrong assumption would not have even spawned, and right away I would have known something is not functioning properly.

 

 

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Everyone works differently.. sometimes it is difficult to see what the real issue is and how to fix it...just part of the learning process I guess. 

 

Affinity Version 1 (10.6) Affinity Version 2.4.1 All (Designer | Photo | Publisher)   Beta; 2.4 2.2356
OS:Windows 10 Pro 22H2 OS Build 19045.4046+ Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.19053.1000.0
Rig:AMD FX 8350 and AMD Radeon (R9 380 Series) Settings Version 21.04.01 
Radeon Settings Version 2020
20.1.03) + Wacom Intuous 4M with driver 6.3.41-1

 

 

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17 hours ago, InfaRed said:

So in my world (Pro Tools, Music Industry, etc..) "Macro" is a word used to also describe when you press a combination of keys to achieve something.

Thanks for the explanation - in my many years of experience using many types of applications (from office applications, graphic tools to technical drawing AutoCAD and OrCAD, + programming) I have not come across any other meaning of the term Macro than is given here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macro_(computer_science)

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A tricky definition:

Quote

(Thus, they are called "macros" because a "big" block of code can be expanded from a "small" sequence of characters.)

cmd c  😉

In my usage a "macro" is an individual extension of the interface which combines several interface commands, at least two. Since "cmd c" is just 1 command and already exists in the interface I wouldn't call it "macro". Otherwise every existing function or command in an app could be called a "macro", regardless how it gets triggered.

Also, a macro doesn't have to get "written" as text based code but often gets created by recording mouse movements, entirely without any key pressed (without a sequence of characters). So even "copy" could get recorded or written as macro, regardless of its usability. But still I wouldn't call it a macro because it's just 1 command.

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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